Chapter 104: Discovering Black Zetsu
Kiyoshi slowly surveyed his surroundings, his gaze falling upon ruins and devastation. The houses located on the outskirts of the small town had already been battered and broken by the aftershocks of the battle. The civilians in the town had long been awakened from their sleep by the intense sounds of the fighting. They hurriedly packed their bags and fled this place with fear and panic. Now, the entire small town had fallen into a deathly silence, with only the sounds of wind and rain whistling past his ears.
Kiyoshi stood quietly in place, silent for a long time. A deep helplessness and sorrow were revealed in his eyes. He deeply understood that this was a cruel reality. In this ninja world where power reigned supreme, without sufficiently strong power, even one's own home could not be protected.
Finally, Kiyoshi sighed deeply, turned around, and left. His steps seemed heavy and firm, as if carrying the weight of the entire world.
Deep down, Kiyoshi still had the influence left from his previous life. After coming to the ninja world, besides the two goals of improving his bloodline, growing into a complete Ōtsutsuki, and planting trees to collect Chakra fruits, he also wanted to bring the kind of peace he had experienced in his previous life's country to the ninja world.
However, he understood that the premise of peace was actually power. Only by constantly improving his own strength could he have enough power to change all of this. When he possessed the power to overwhelm the entire ninja world, he could bring peace to the ninja world and end all wars.
Actually, he believed that Uchiha Madara's idea back then was correct to a certain extent. If Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama had joined forces to unify the entire ninja world back then, perhaps there wouldn't be such a tragic dispute and conflict now. When there was only one country, then what remained were just internal contradictions, and it was unlikely that such a war sweeping the ninja world would occur again.
It was just that Senju Hashirama ultimately rejected Uchiha Madara's idea, and the distorted system of one country, one village was finally established.
"Swish!"
Kiyoshi appeared instantly in front of the three children's cave base.
"Who?!?"
The three children, hearing the sound, cried out loudly. Still in a state of escaping death and their nerves on edge, their emotions were extremely volatile and sensitive right now.
Black Zetsu, hidden in the shadows, couldn't help but have a headache when he saw Kiyoshi suddenly appear. Why was this Kaguya clan ninja so persistent?
He hadn't been present during Kiyoshi's battle with Orochimaru and the others. After seeing Nagato being saved by Kiyoshi and leaving unharmed, he had also been secretly following Nagato back to the cave base for the sake of the Rinnegan's safety, lurking in the shadows to spy. Therefore, without having sensed the Ōtsutsuki-like Chakra that Kiyoshi had emitted during the battle, Black Zetsu still hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation.
However, this time, he saw Kiyoshi's Jōgan, which hadn't yet closed.
Although information about the Jōgan wasn't considered very secret within the Ōtsutsuki clan, and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki also had some understanding of it, Black Zetsu was only hastily created by her using Yin-Yang Release on the eve of her sealing by "Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei." He had no combat power and hadn't been taught much knowledge. Therefore, Black Zetsu hadn't been able to recognize the Jōgan, only feeling a certain curiosity towards Kiyoshi. Having lived for thousands of years, he had never heard of the Kaguya clan being able to produce dōjutsu.
Therefore, Black Zetsu decided to investigate Kiyoshi further.
"It's me!" Kiyoshi said calmly, hearing the exclamation, "How are you guys?"
"It's big brother's voice!" The sharp-witted Konan was the first to recognize Kiyoshi's voice and said happily. Then, she put down the weapon she was holding tightly and walked out with Yahiko and Nagato.
A smile appeared on Yahiko's face. "Big brother, it's so good that you're alright!!!" The simple-minded boy had heard the various roars of battle afterwards, but after all, he hadn't undergone systematic ninja training. In his heart, he thought that the Hidden Leaf ninjas had the advantage in numbers, and Kiyoshi shouldn't be their match. But Kiyoshi, who could save the three of them and leave unharmed, was definitely a powerful ninja.
Kiyoshi understood Yahiko's underlying meaning, smiled, but didn't explain. He didn't really care about it.
Nagato on the side remained silent, quietly being a small, transparent figure. He kept his head lowered, his red hair covering his eyes. At this moment, Nagato was still immersed in his own inner world. He was somewhat afraid of his eyes now. If it weren't for him, today they wouldn't have had this disaster. These eyes, for the current him, contained misfortune and were ominous.
Kiyoshi turned his head and looked at Nagato, who hadn't spoken. His red hair and the extraordinary powerful life force and vast Chakra within his body, observed by the Jōgan, all showed his identity as a member of the Uzumaki clan.
(Nagato has Chakra in his body, but he probably doesn't know how to use it. He hasn't learned ninjutsu.)
His gaze passed through the long hair hanging down from Nagato's forehead, directly looking at his purple Rinnegan with a hint of mystery. Nagato's inner world seemed to be directly presented in Kiyoshi's Jōgan, and Kiyoshi clearly saw everything within it through the Jōgan.
Forcefully ruffling Nagato's hair, Kiyoshi was using his own way to ease Nagato's tense nerves and his spiraling thoughts.
At this moment, Konan walked lightly to Kiyoshi's front. The little girl's emotions came and went quickly. Seeing Kiyoshi, who had saved the three of them, return unharmed, she quickly forgot all the dangers of tonight. At this moment, a bright smile bloomed on her face, like a blossoming flower. "Big brother, your eyes are so beautiful!!!"
"Hahaha!" Kiyoshi couldn't help but be infected by Konan's optimism. The somewhat depressed mood he had from Orochimaru's escape was swept away by Konan's innocent and pure smile.
Although he knew she was trying to liven up the atmosphere, for a war orphan to maintain this innocence was truly rare.
"What a cute little angel!" Kiyoshi thought to himself.
"Let's eat something first, then rest!" Kiyoshi said at this moment, then took out some food from the Takamagahara space and handed it to the three children. "We'll talk about other things tomorrow!" Kiyoshi saw that Yahiko seemed to have something he wanted to say but hesitated, so he continued.
Black Zetsu, hidden in the shadows, had a violent fluctuation in his heart when he saw Kiyoshi use "Takamagahara." This exceeded his understanding. A member of the Kaguya clan, awakening the Bone Pulse was one thing, but there actually appeared a kind of eye he didn't know about. Not only that, but these sky-blue eyes also possessed dōjutsu like the Mangekyō Sharingan, and it was even related to space-time abilities!!!
Black Zetsu was only shocked for this instant, which caused him to lose control of himself. A slight fluctuation appeared in his hidden aura.
"Damn it!" Black Zetsu, who deeply understood the ways of old schemers, knew he had been exposed. For Kiyoshi, the possessor of this unknown dōjutsu, he didn't dare to gamble on whether Kiyoshi could discover him. So, he decisively and immediately deeply underground, leaving rapidly. As for Nagato's side, with Kiyoshi here for the time being, there shouldn't be any major problems. Once he returned, he would send a few White Zetsu over to replace him in monitoring Nagato.
As for the Rinnegan, he was even less worried. Uchiha Madara, the Demon of the Ninja World, had hidden a contingency plan on it. If someone ignorant tried to seize the eyes and implant them in themselves, then Uchiha Madara would teach them a lesson.
In this era where no Six Paths level figures appeared, in Black Zetsu's understanding, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were the strongest.
●●●
● 24 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
● https://www.patreon.com/c/Devmaya
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)