Watching the White Zetsu body transform into Minato Namikaze, Brook could not help but marvel. Yet another tool had completed an unconventional resurrection.
"Be firmer next time. Remember the way I spoke just now."
Brook slowly returned to his original appearance and spoke to Minato Namikaze. He put away his sunglasses and tied a black ribbon over his eyes, temporarily concealing the Rinnegan.
And just like that, Brook's new identity was born.
Senju Brook, over a hundred years old, yet possessing a youthful appearance. His eyes were hidden behind a black ribbon, making it impossible to tell whether he was blind. He possessed Wood Release, and his strength was terrifying enough to surpass even a Kage.
"Understood, Lord Death!"
Minato Namikaze dropped to one knee and answered respectfully.
"Good. Keep handling things here. I can finally go out and enjoy myself."
Brook vanished from the spot and reappeared in Orochimaru's laboratory, where his gaze landed on the corpse lying on the table.
"Danzo, I have to admit, you really do suit the Animal Path. Beast."
Brook looked down at Danzo's corpse. Orochimaru had already taken the Sharingan Danzo had hidden away, and even cut off quite a few samples from Hashirama's arm.
Brook raised a hand and produced six small black rods, then drove them one by one into Danzo's corpse.
"The Six Paths of Samsara, Animal Path."
Activating the Rinnegan, Brook bestowed the power of one of the Six Paths upon Danzo and turned him into a Six Paths puppet, Animal Path Danzo.
"Hanzo for the Asura Path, Danzo for the Animal Path. Who should be next?"
Brook chuckled. The people he chose were all ruthless figures who could intimidate the ninja world by name alone. Onoki might not be a bad backup option either.
His laughter gradually faded, and the laboratory fell back into dead silence.
Brook did not need sleep, but for a moment, he suddenly felt a strange emptiness.
Otsutsuki Isshiki had still not shown himself, and Brook honestly did not know what he should do next.
Should he take a trip to Ryuchi Cave, one of the three great sacred lands?
In the next instant, he appeared atop Hokage Rock, standing there idly as he looked down over the whole of Konoha.
"How lonely it is to be invincible."
Brook suddenly hummed to himself, lost in thought.
If he could reclaim all the bloodline and powers of Hirasaka, the Northern Death God, could he become the new Northern Death God himself? Would he then earn the recognition of higher gods?
"Hey! What are you doing standing on Hokage Rock? Don't you know that's disrespectful to the Hokage? And what was that song you were singing? It sounded awful. And way too arrogant!"
A little girl with crimson eyes and black hair suddenly appeared behind Brook, speaking loudly, her pretty face filled with displeasure.
Her name was Kurenai Yuhi, a chunin of Konoha. Her father had died during the Nine Tails attack, so for the past two days she had been secretly going to the mountain behind Hokage Rock to cry.
At the same time, she had been pushing herself harder and harder, constantly polishing her genjutsu and trying to become stronger.
She had been in the same class as Kakashi and Asuma. Now Kakashi had already become a jonin and joined the Fourth Hokage's guard, something she admired greatly.
Even Sarutobi Asuma had already become a special jonin and had been selected by the daimyo to become one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, while she was still just an ordinary genjutsu ninja.
What she could not understand most of all was why Might Guy, who was also still only a chunin, had been allowed to join the Fourth Hokage's guard.
That news had hit her especially hard.
Brook, his eyes hidden behind the black ribbon, came back to himself and turned to look at the little girl who had suddenly appeared.
Under the bright moonlight, Yuhi Kurenai's fair face seemed almost to glow, while Brook's handsome Earth features and black ribbon gave him a strange and mysterious air beneath the moon.
"Ah, are you blind? Or are you training with your eyes covered?"
Kurenai looked at the arrogant and mysterious man in front of her, only to realize he was actually a handsome young man with silk tied across his eyes. At once, much of her earlier dissatisfaction faded.
"I'm not blind, little one."
Brook smiled faintly and clearly did not take the girl too seriously. If he remembered correctly, she was supposed to become Sarutobi Asuma's future wife.
Brook had no interest in a young chunin of fifteen or sixteen. He simply turned his gaze back to the moon, where the thousand year old, foolishly innocent Kaguya remained sealed. That was his real target.
"Hmph! Little one? How old are you supposed to be? Don't act so mature. Where's your forehead protector? You're not even a genin, are you?"
Kurenai Yuhi, who had only just calmed down, immediately got annoyed again by this blindfolded man.
"Me? I'm not sure. Maybe fifty, maybe seventy, maybe a hundred. Come to think of it, I've never actually taken the genin exam."
Brook answered casually. He truly did not know how he should calculate his age. Should he count from his Earth life, or from before he transmigrated, or only from the moment he entered the Naruto world?
In short, even he could not say for sure how old he was supposed to be.
"How can you be this dishonest? All you do is brag. You couldn't even pass the genin exam, and you're standing up here acting mysterious. Come down right now. If you fall off Hokage Rock, you'll die for sure. And with your eyes covered, it's even more dangerous!"
Kurenai Yuhi immediately rushed forward, intending to drag this weakling, who was not even a genin, back down to the mountain path.
But in the next moment, she felt herself float backward through the air and land exactly where she had started.
"Good child. Tomorrow is the funeral for your father and many other martyrs. Go home and get some rest."
Brook lay back, gazing at the moon as he continued contemplating life. And now, if he thought about it, there should still be a giant Tenseigan on the moon.
It felt as though he had found his next target.
"What did you just do to me? You used a jutsu without hand seals? Are you a ninja with some kind of bloodline limit?"
Kurenai Yuhi cried out in shock. She had not even seen the mysterious young man move, yet an invisible force had lifted her and placed her right back where she had been.
"Who in their right mind still uses hand seals? Isn't ninjutsu just about making your wishes come true?"
Brook suddenly laughed. He thought of Kakashi needing forty four hand seals just to use a Water Dragon Bullet, while Hashirama Senju could simply clap his hands and summon whatever he pleased.
The joys and sorrows of ninja really were never shared.
"Hmph! You really know how to show off."
Kurenai jumped right back beside Brook and sat down. She was extremely curious about this handsome man now and felt sure he had to be some hidden expert.
"What do you mean, showing off? I usually don't need hand seals at all."
Brook kept staring at the moon while mulling over a new thought.
Speaking of which, was there some kind of teleportation or portal leading to the moon?
Otherwise, how had Otsutsuki Toneri's puppets reached Earth?
Or could he just fly up there directly?
The moon in this world seemed to have been created by the Otsutsuki brothers, Hagoromo and Hamura, when they sealed Kaguya Otsutsuki with Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.
It should only be a near Earth asteroid, and perhaps it even had an atmosphere, since Hamura's descendants had lived there for a thousand years.
Wait a second.
If the moon in this world had been created by the Otsutsuki brothers, then what moon had Kaguya Otsutsuki used for Infinite Tsukuyomi in ancient times?
Brook suddenly felt like he had found a bug in the world's logic. No, this really needed serious thought.
As expected, the Naruto world was just like the One Piece world.
Both were utterly unreasonable.
"Then... can you teach me a ninjutsu that doesn't need hand seals?"
Kurenai suddenly turned toward the mysterious handsome man and asked with bright, expectant eyes. She truly wanted to become stronger too.
-----------
Looking at the red-eyed little girl before him, Brook found Kurenai Yuhi far too young to interest him. Kanna, Hela, and Shana were already older than her, and his current goal was far grander than flirting with a village girl.
He wanted the Sage of Six Paths to call him Dad.
"I do know a ninjutsu that doesn't need hand seals, but I'm busy."
Brook rejected her without even thinking. Although he knew how to train the Rasengan, a true no-hand-sign ninjutsu, he had no intention of teaching it to anyone else.
"Oh..."
Kurenai's mood sank at once. Her voice came out a little choked, and grievance was written all over her face.
She had thought she had run into a hidden master and was about to have some kind of adventure.
Turns out it was all just wishful thinking.
"Fine. Since you look so pitiful, I'll make a small concession. I can have Minato Namikaze accept you as a reserve guard and let him teach you a little."
Brook spoke casually, though in truth his mind was already on other things. He planned to kill the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and after wrapping up the war between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, head straight for the moon to seize Otsutsuki Toneri's Tenseigan.
"Huh? You're bragging again! What right do you have to order the Fourth Hokage around? Forget it. I'm going home!"
Kurenai turned and stormed off. If this guy was not going to teach her, then he should not have said any of that in the first place.
She would just have to keep relying on herself.
"..."
Brook watched her leap away in a few bounds and said nothing more.
Would this count as giving himself another chance to show off tomorrow?
Chuckling to himself, Brook used the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from Konoha.
Because he had just thought of another way to find Uchiha Madara's lair.
[Summoning Technique: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!]
Brook's Rinnegan spun as he slammed one hand against the ground. A pair of sharp claws suddenly tore up from the earth, followed by a hideous giant creature that looked like a dead tree dragged out of some ancient nightmare.
Its eyes were covered by a strip of white cloth, and ten massive pillar-like protrusions jutted from its back.
The instant it appeared, it shot out a rain of black receivers, trying to pierce Brook's body.
These black rods were chakra receivers that absorbed the user's chakra and made it easier to control the Gedo Statue.
This had also been one of the safeguards Madara left behind before his death, specifically so Nagato could take command of the Gedo Statue as quickly as possible.
But Brook had no interest in being skewered by the Ten Tails' empty shell.
The power of the Yin Nine Tails immediately extended into nine chakra arms, catching every black rod and letting them absorb as much as they pleased.
Very soon, Brook had taken control of the Gedo Statue and also learned the abilities stored within it.
Chakra Dragon.
Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals.
Chakra Sealing Chains.
Outer Path Lightning.
Ten Tails Tailed Beast Ball.
These were the abilities it possessed in its current shell form. As long as it absorbed the chakra of the other tailed beasts, it would gradually unlock its first and second forms until, after devouring all nine tailed beasts, it would recover completely.
Somewhere deep underground, Black Zetsu and Uchiha Obito watched as the Gedo Statue vanished. They immediately knew that it had been summoned away by the Death God who stole the Rinnegan.
"Black Zetsu, what do we do now?"
Obito was only fifteen or sixteen now. Even after launching the Nine Tails attack, he had not suddenly developed the calm, calculating aura of a true mastermind. He was still raw.
"We need to gain that man's trust as quickly as possible and join his side."
Black Zetsu was also at a loss.
It did not dare approach this mysterious powerhouse rashly, especially when so many White Zetsu clones had already been sent out to search for Jigen.
"Then let White Zetsu introduce me to him!"
Obito spoke with growing excitement. Whether it was for the chance to resurrect Rin or for a chance to reclaim the Rinnegan, he had to get close to this so-called Death God.
"Calm down. Your attempt to steal the Rinnegan has already exposed Kamui. You need a new identity."
"Let Tobi keep possessing you. From now on, you'll move under Tobi's Wood Release."
Black Zetsu also wanted more hands near the Death God, so it did not mind throwing Obito into the mix, especially since Obito had the strongest self-preservation ability among them.
"Alright!"
Obito immediately agreed.
The White Zetsu called Tobi had a special physique. Not only could it enhance the host's overall physical ability, it also allowed the host to use the rare Wood Release.
Back then, it was Tobi who carried Obito, whose body had been crushed to half its original state, all the way back to the battlefield where Rin and Kakashi were.
There, Obito witnessed Kakashi's Chidori pierce straight through Rin's chest.
It was also at that moment that both Obito and Kakashi evolved their Sharingan from two tomoe into the Mangekyo.
After Kakashi collapsed from exhaustion, Obito, maddened by grief, used Tobi's Wood Release and slaughtered every Kirigakure ANBU present.
That was the beginning of his descent into Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan.
All so he could create a world where Rin still existed.
"Surely you haven't really forgotten the Eye of the Moon Project just because of one resurrection slot, have you?"
Black Zetsu looked at Obito indifferently. This brat's hatred still was not deep enough.
"Obito, you killed Kushina. Do you really think Rin would forgive you if you brought her back now?"
"Wake up. Only the Eye of the Moon Plan can create true peace. Only it can revive Kushina and the others, and let everyone live happily ever after."
"And in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, your Rin will belong only to you forever."
"There is no turning back now," Black Zetsu said in a sinister tone. "Obito, you have to walk this road to the end."
The moment Obito heard those words, his face turned deathly pale.
He did not want Rin to hate him.
He wanted to create a world that belonged to him and Rin alone.
In truth, he already knew the answer.
He knew how Rin felt about Kakashi.
And how little she ever saw him.
Even if Rin were truly brought back now, there was a high chance she would never stay by his side.
"I understand."
Obito fell silent, countless thoughts surging through his mind.
"For the sake of a peaceful world, what does it matter if I reunite with Rin a little later? I'll get close to that Death God, convince him to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi, or take the Rinnegan back."
Black Zetsu continued guiding him with soft, poisonous words, though inwardly it sneered.
Obito was still far too green compared to itself, an old schemer who had lived for centuries.
The carrot and stick method was still the most reliable.
"Before I go to Amegakure and join that Death God's camp, I want to go to Kirigakure first and make them pay for Rin's death!"
Obito's voice turned murderous.
Back then, Kirigakure sealed the Three Tails inside Rin and intended for her to return to Konoha so the beast could break free there and destroy the village from within.
That was what forced Rin to throw herself onto Kakashi's Chidori, perishing together with the Three Tails.
According to White Zetsu's latest intelligence, Kirigakure had already found the resurrected Three Tails and sealed it into the new Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
Now that he had firsthand experience controlling the Nine Tails, Obito felt confident he could also control Yagura, the Three Tails jinchuriki.
He wanted Kirigakure to drown in its own blood.
He had even already planned it all.
Once he took control of the Hidden Mist, he would close the village off completely and implement the Bloody Mist policy, wiping out every bloodline family there.
Even the students at the Ninja Academy would be forced to kill each other, destroying Kirigakure's future completely.
Rin had died because of them.
So the entire village would pay the price.
.....
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