Brook looked at the White Zetsu clone shaped like a pitcher plant, with only half its body emerging from the ground.
"So you really are here."
He smiled faintly.
"I know you have strong intelligence gathering abilities. As long as you help me find someone, I can give you a reward worthy of the effort."
Seeing that only a single White Zetsu clone had appeared, Brook could not help but sigh inwardly at Black Zetsu's caution.
"Please speak, sir!" the pitcher plant White Zetsu said with a respectful and eager expression. "It would be my honor to serve you! May I ask who this person is, and what their characteristics are?"
"As for rewards, I do not need anything. I only hope you will accept me as your subordinate!"
"After seeing your heroic bearing today, defeating the demigod of the ninja world in a single stroke, I was completely overwhelmed by your greatness. I wish to follow you for the rest of my life!"
Its acting was flawless.
Brook chuckled, but did not expose it.
"This person is extremely dangerous. You must be very careful. If you discover anything, report it to me immediately. Otherwise, you will die."
His tone turned colder.
"Because the other party is an alien. His power may once have rivaled that of the Sage of Six Paths, and his temperament is extremely cruel and cold blooded."
"He is currently planning to destroy the moon, then use the shattered fragments to crush our ninja world."
Brook said all of this with a perfectly serious face.
He wanted to see whether Black Zetsu would panic.
Did Black Zetsu not want the moon where Kaguya was sealed to be destroyed?
If that rumor spread, then Black Zetsu would have no choice but to work harder to find Jigen, the vessel of Otsutsuki Isshiki.
"What? An alien??"
The White Zetsu clone was visibly shocked.
At the same time, Black Zetsu hiding underground broke out in cold sweat.
Could this be a member of Kaguya's Otsutsuki clan?
Even Obito, who was still hiding in Kamui space, was baffled.
Destroy the moon?
Destroy the ninja world?
Was this real, or was the so called Death God simply insane?
"But don't panic," Brook continued calmly. "According to the information I gathered, this alien was once heavily injured by the legendary Rabbit Goddess. He is currently hiding inside a human vessel."
"At most, he only has one tenth of his original power left. Right now, he is probably only at the level of a Kage."
"But he is actively searching for a more suitable human vessel. If he regains his full strength, even I may not be able to defeat him."
"And if that day comes, we can only watch him destroy the moon and bury the ninja world."
Brook's face was full of righteous concern, as though he were sincerely carrying the future of the entire world on his shoulders.
"That is why I need you to find him as soon as possible. Do not give him time to recover."
"Yes, sir!" the White Zetsu clone immediately replied in a solemn tone. "For the sake of the ninja world, I will do everything in my power!"
"Please give me more details about this alien vessel!"
Black Zetsu, hidden below, was almost certain now that the alien Brook mentioned was one of the Otsutsuki.
Was the so called Rabbit Goddess not obviously Kaguya Otsutsuki?
As Kaguya's will, Black Zetsu knew some things about the Otsutsuki clan. He knew Kaguya had once attacked another member of her clan.
But he had never imagined that person might still be alive, lurking in the ninja world, waiting for a chance to destroy the moon where Kaguya was sealed.
That was exactly why Kaguya had created the White Zetsu army in the first place. She had feared the Otsutsuki would come after her.
The problem was that even Black Zetsu had never managed to find any trace of them.
So how had this Death God found such information?
For a moment, Black Zetsu's thoughts were in complete chaos.
Obito, meanwhile, understood even less. But he had heard one thing clearly.
If the moon were destroyed, then the Moon Eye Plan would become impossible.
And if aliens destroyed the ninja world, then even resurrecting Rin would mean nothing.
"Very good."
Brook nodded in satisfaction.
"Remember this well. If you find that alien, you must report it to me first. Do not alert him."
"If he notices you too soon, he may summon more of his kind. Once that happens, the ninja world is finished."
Then Brook gave the most crucial detail.
"Right now, that alien is living in the body of a monk named Jigen. He is wandering the ninja world and searching for children with great potential, using them for experiments."
"You can investigate from that direction."
Then Brook gave one last warning in a grave tone.
"Do not expose yourself. The moment you get any information, tell me immediately."
"As you command!" the White Zetsu clone answered without hesitation. "I will be extremely cautious and never expose myself. But… how should I contact you, sir?"
Black Zetsu still had some confidence in investigating an enemy who only currently possessed Kage level strength.
And with this Death God, who now held the Rinnegan, perhaps they could even use him to remove some hidden threats for Kaguya.
"You can remain in Amegakure and assist my three disciples," Brook said. "I will appear there from time to time."
He then taught White Zetsu a Rinnegan based jutsu, [Astral Projection Technique], and handed over a bracelet engraved with both a Flying Thunder God formula and an Impure World soul mark, presenting it as a token for his subordinate.
As for why he gave that bracelet, those who understood would understand.
Black Zetsu would not be slipping away from him so easily.
"Thank you for the reward, sir!"
The White Zetsu clone immediately put on the bracelet with a look of absolute loyalty.
Then Brook seemed to remember something and casually dropped another bomb.
"Oh, right. I recently developed a new Rinnegan technique."
"I can resurrect one person a year."
He smiled.
"As long as you complete this investigation quickly, perhaps I can help you revive a family member."
On the surface, he was speaking to White Zetsu.
In reality, his true target was Obito, still hiding in Kamui space.
And it worked.
Not only did Black Zetsu's eyes light up, but Obito's expression also changed instantly, filling with desire and hope.
But unlike Obito, who was almost intoxicated by that hope, Black Zetsu remained suspicious.
After all, Madara had never mentioned that the Rinnegan possessed such an ability.
Black Zetsu knew very well about the Outer Path and the [Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique], the Rinnegan's power to drag souls back from the Pure Land into the living world.
But that technique demanded the caster's life as the price.
And the longer the dead had been gone, or the more people one tried to revive, the more chakra it consumed.
Now this Death God was claiming that he could revive one person every year without sacrificing his own life.
And he had only just taken the Rinnegan.
Could he really have developed such a terrifying resurrection technique already?
For the first time, even Black Zetsu felt tempted.
---------------
After thinking it over, Black Zetsu began to believe Brook's claim a little.
After all, a lie like that could be exposed in just one year. A man like this Death God would not casually say something so easy to verify.
"Really? Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!"
The pitcher plant White Zetsu immediately put on a tearful, overjoyed face. Its performance was so flawless that even Brook wanted to applaud. The acting was truly Oscar level.
"Don't mention it."
Brook smiled faintly.
"Then I'll leave the task of finding Jigen to you. For the sake of the ninja world, give it everything you've got!"
He patted White Zetsu on the shoulder in encouragement, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to vanish on the spot, displaying the air of a true final boss.
After waiting there for a long while, White Zetsu slowly sank back into the ground.
Far away, Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu met again in secret.
"Black Zetsu! Find a chance to introduce me to that guy too!"
Obito's eyes burned with desire.
He wanted that mission reward, the chance to "resurrect one person." For Rin's sake, he was willing to pay any price.
"Have you already forgotten the Moon Eye Plan?"
Black Zetsu glanced at him coldly. In its heart, it already knew this little brat's resolve had begun to waver.
After all, the Rinnegan had already been taken by the Death God, and that had made their Moon Eye Plan far more difficult to carry out.
If that same Death God could use the Rinnegan to resurrect someone directly, then Obito would obviously chase that chance with everything he had.
Black Zetsu itself was also thinking furiously.
Should it find a way to lure this Death God into carrying out the Moon Eye Plan?
Or perhaps use him to revive Uchiha Madara first, then proceed from there?
But before any of that, the highest priority was obvious.
They had to borrow the power of this "Death God" to eliminate the hidden threat from Kaguya's Otsutsuki clan.
Aliens?
Those had to be Otsutsuki.
Whether it was to protect the moon, where his mother was sealed, or to ensure the Moon Eye Plan could be completed smoothly and rescue her, Black Zetsu had to find a way to kill that lurking Otsutsuki first.
Brook, meanwhile, was hidden elsewhere.
He had not expected Black Zetsu to be this cautious. That bastard still had not merged with the pitcher plant White Zetsu clone, which meant Brook still had no way to pinpoint the real Black Zetsu, or even Obito.
"Forget it," Brook muttered. "I'll let Black Zetsu and Obito go for today."
"I should go find the Sage of Six Paths first and stir the water a little. Otherwise, if Isshiki gets spooked and calls for backup, things will get messy."
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Brook suddenly remembered one important problem.
He did not actually have any way to contact the Sage of Six Paths.
Even if he wanted to find him, he had no idea where to start.
Left with no better option, Brook returned to Amegakure and helped Yahiko and the others stabilize the situation there, speeding up their takeover of the Hidden Rain Village.
··
At that same time, deep within Mount Myoboku, one of the Three Great Sage Regions, the chakra body of the Sage of Six Paths had already come here to discuss the matter of the new Death God with the Great Toad Sage.
A few hours earlier, the Great Toad Sage had entered a prophetic dream to search for the future connected to the new Death God and the Otsutsuki clan.
"Hagoromo," the old toad said slowly as he opened his eyes, looking deeply exhausted, "the Otsutsuki clan will indeed descend in the future."
"But I saw no trace at all of this new Death God."
He had spent the equivalent of decades wandering through dreams, yet this Death God never appeared even once.
It was as though the new Death God did not exist within destiny at all.
"Then were you able to see the Otsutsuki hidden in the ninja world?" the Sage of Six Paths asked immediately. "As long as that one is killed, he won't be able to summon more Otsutsuki."
If the Death God had spoken the truth, and this Otsutsuki's status was even higher than Kaguya's, then his threat could not be underestimated.
"Hagoromo, you know I cannot reveal too much," the Great Toad Sage replied slowly. "Otherwise, I will suffer the backlash of fate."
The Great Toad Sage had lived for over a thousand years.
Hagoromo, despite being half Otsutsuki, had lived less than a hundred before dying and continuing only as a chakra soul inside the Pure Land.
"Then tell me everything you can reveal."
The Sage of Six Paths could only sigh helplessly. His chakra body could not remain in the real world for too long. The chakra it consumed there was dozens of times greater than in the Pure Land.
"The Child of Prophecy has already been born," the Great Toad Sage said at last. "He will resolve your mother's problem."
"In the future, the Child of Prophecy and his own son will deal with the Otsutsuki clan together."
At least, in the Great Toad Sage's visions, he had not seen the destruction of the ninja world.
That alone meant the future had not yet reached a completely irreversible point.
If he had not manipulated the Otsutsuki brothers into sealing Kaguya all those years ago, then the Divine Tree would have drained the planet dry, and every living thing on it would have perished.
To be honest, the toads had already saved this world once.
That was why they saw no problem with Mount Myoboku, the holy land richest in natural energy, being their domain and making them the foremost of the three great sage regions.
"Gamamaru," Hagoromo said helplessly, "can you truly tell me nothing more about the Otsutsuki currently hiding in the ninja world?"
The Sage of Six Paths felt a headache coming on. He had spent so long speaking with the old toad, and even waited through several hours of its dreaming, yet in the end he had still received almost no useful information.
"Perhaps you should find that new Death God," the Great Toad Sage said slowly. "He may also possess the ability to see the future."
As a native sage beast of this planet, the Great Toad Sage also despised the foreign Otsutsuki clan and wanted them gone.
But he truly could not reveal too much about the future without paying a terrible price.
Hagoromo, at least, was still half native to this world and naturally kindhearted, which was why the two of them had become friends in the first place.
"Fine," Hagoromo said at last. "Judging from your attitude, perhaps the future hasn't truly reached the point of disaster yet."
"Then I'll investigate on my own."
The chakra soul of the Sage of Six Paths slowly faded from Mount Myoboku, returning to the Pure Land to replenish its chakra before resuming its observation of the ninja world.
··
Meanwhile, news of the Nine Tails Rebellion in Konoha spread quickly throughout the ninja world.
The rumor that the Nine Tails jinchuriki might have died, along with the confirmed death of the Third Hokage, further shook the major nations.
And when the funeral of the Third Hokage was publicly announced, that was enough to confirm the truth of those rumors in the eyes of many.
This immediately stirred the ambitions of Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
The Fourth Raikage, A, and the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, both wanted to launch attacks on the wealthy and weakened Konoha in order to seize more benefits.
They also wanted revenge for the humiliation they had suffered in the Third Shinobi World War.
Of course, Kumogakure and Iwagakure still hated each other just as much. After all, ninja from Iwagakure had once killed the Third Raikage.
But that did not stop both villages from preparing for war against Konoha.
Under the recall order of the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya was already on his way back to the village.
There was still no news from Tsunade for the moment, but Orochimaru had already set out personally to find her.
The entire ninja world once again fell under the shadow of war.
After all, the Third Shinobi World War had ended only one or two years earlier.
Then another rumor began to spread.
Shimura Danzo had been killed, and the other two senior advisors had been dismissed.
That news made the Fire Daimyo deeply dissatisfied with the Fourth Hokage.
At the same time, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth accelerated their own war preparations.
The next great ninja war was already beginning to take shape.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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