Chapter 253: Useless Guy
A cube flashing with dazzling white light flew across the battlefield.
A lightning-infused water dragon soared into the sky.
A dark storm of magnetic sand churned above like a black tempest.
With the assistance of the Two Great Sages of Mount Myoboku, the powerful Senjutsu: Goemon—rivaling even Flame Release—ignited the sky into a sea of fire.
Black lightning twisted violently before morphing into two jagged panthers that lunged upward like beasts unleashed.
Five high-level techniques—each harnessing the full extent of chakra manipulation—formed from the coordinated hands of the Five Kage and converged on Nagato, who remained motionless in the sky.
As Kage, they had endured hundreds—if not thousands—of battles, many involving split-second decisions between life and death.
In high-intensity warfare, hesitation meant disaster. These veterans were masters at capitalizing on brief windows of opportunity.
The moment Nagato's body froze, and Ōnoki made his move, the other four responded in perfect unison.
Though from rival nations…
Though once enemies…
Just half a day of fighting had allowed them to adjust to each other's rhythm. Years of battlefield intuition now flourished into flawless long-range cooperation.
But—
No matter how honed their instincts, no matter how perfectly timed their attacks… the results defied their expectations.
The thin barrier surrounding Nagato absorbed every technique without fail.
Not even residue remained.
"…How… how is this possible!?"
The Five Kage stared in disbelief, their faces contorted with shock.
Based on what they'd observed during combat, Nagato's absorption ability clearly had a limit. He'd struggled before with high-level jutsu and couldn't take on multiple techniques at once.
But now, five super-advanced techniques had vanished without resistance.
It didn't match their calculated limits at all.
If he had this kind of defensive capability from the beginning, why did he waste time dodging and retreating?
Was he simply toying with them?
What the Five Kage didn't know… was that Nagato himself was just as shocked.
"You… How are you absorbing techniques so easily—using the Sealing Technique?!"
Although he was being suppressed within his own body, this body still belonged to Nagato. He could see and sense everything.
And watching Black Zetsu manipulate his Rinnegan and perform such refined chakra absorption, doubt clawed at his heart.
After awakening the Rinnegan, he'd spent years struggling to understand it.
Even Black Zetsu had only seen the Rinnegan in action—how could he control it this perfectly?
More importantly… this guy's mastery of sealing techniques surpassed even his own.
"Heh… Did you really think you awakened these eyes yourself?"
Black Zetsu's mocking tone echoed in his ears.
"All these years, haven't you once questioned it?"
"How does an Uzumaki—someone with no direct Uchiha blood—awaken the Rinnegan?"
"Did you really think the Sage of Six Paths gave you this power? Well… in a way, he did. After all, Madara-sama is the closest thing to a god left in this world."
"You're just a vessel. A shell meant to nourish these eyes while Madara-sama was gone."
"You poor fool… didn't you ever stop to think that your so-called dream—to make the world feel pain—wasn't even yours to begin with?"
"You… what are you saying?!"
Nagato's voice was filled with disbelief.
But then… anger surged.
"I thought Madara was the pinnacle of the last generation! A legend who fought for his ideals! At least he had some dignity. But you're just like the rest—just after my eyes!"
"You spin your stories and justify your theft with riddles. You're no different from thieves!"
Black Zetsu's tone darkened.
"What if I told you your parents' deaths were our doing?"
"You, a child of the Uzumaki clan… and yet your parents were killed by Konoha shinobi, despite the alliance between the two clans."
"Didn't that ever strike you as odd?"
Nagato's voice trembled. "…When the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, Konoha never sent help."
"And what if… Yahiko's dream to build Akatsuki was also orchestrated by us?"
Black Zetsu's words were heavy, venomous.
"During those long, rainy days… a white-haired old man gave his life to make Yahiko realize the cruelty of war. In his final moments, he painted a dream—of peace, of love, of understanding."
"There is no hatred between people. We understand one another. Through dialogue—not violence—we can change the world."
"That's what Yahiko believed. But those words weren't his."
"They were Madara's. Whispered through lips that weren't his own."
Though that old man wasn't Madara himself, the ideology he preached had been carefully planted. Black Zetsu knew everything about that time. He had been there.
And now, inside Nagato, he could feel it—
Trembling. Confusion. Despair.
Nagato's resistance began to falter.
"You are the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' will," Black Zetsu continued. "A symbol of order and peace—but only for the great nations. While smaller countries rot in the shadows."
"That's why you awakened the Rinnegan—to save them. But that too… was part of the plan."
He could still hear Madara's words clearly from their first meeting:
"We won't bring peace through domination. We'll build a bridge with words. Nagato will be the bridge. I'll be the pillar."
And Yahiko's voice echoed too:
"We'll save this crying nation. Not with war—but with compassion."
The ideas… were identical.
So then—had everything been preordained?
His beliefs, his pain, his mission… were they never his?
Had his entire life… been someone else's script?
Darkness crushed his heart. His mind spun wildly, unable to process the betrayal.
Every ideal… every purpose he'd clung to was unraveling.
He was just a pawn.
A cog in a divine machine.
And the weight of that truth—
Was unbearable.
"...That's right."
Sensing that Nagato's will to resist had weakened, Black Zetsu nodded with satisfaction and turned his gaze downward toward the Five Kage.
They were still frozen in disbelief, stunned by how their techniques had been absorbed so effortlessly.
The confrontation between Black Zetsu and Nagato had occurred entirely within the mind. To the outside world, it had only lasted a few seconds.
"Hello."
A new voice rang out from Nagato's mouth—twisted, overlapped, almost echoing with a second layer of sound.
"Do you guys… want to dance?"
It was laced with arrogance, dripping with mockery, a tone that struck deep in the hearts of the Kage.
"...What?!"
Ōnoki's voice shook with disbelief.
That sentence… That voice…
It was so familiar, too familiar.
Like a ghost rising from the past, it struck him like a hammer to the soul.
That condescending gaze—those words that mocked all beneath him.
It brought him back to that moonless night…
Back to when he was just a powerless child… facing that man.
"Tsuchikage, what's wrong with you?"
The others noticed his trembling and confusion began to spread.
"You… you don't understand the meaning behind those words."
Ōnoki took a step back. Fear clawed at his spine.
"Uchiha Madara… That's Uchiha Madara!"
All the battles, all the wisdom earned through the decades… meant nothing in the face of that name.
For a long time, he'd believed himself to have grown strong—seasoned by countless wars.
He thought he was no longer the frightened boy from back then.
But now, face-to-face with this presence again…
He realized he was wrong.
In front of that overwhelming force, he was still just a child.
The terror etched into him back then hadn't faded with time.
It had only gone dormant.
"Uchiha Madara...?"
Hearing that name, the others stiffened. Their faces grew grim.
Still, their reactions weren't as visceral as Ōnoki's.
After all, they had never seen Madara with their own eyes.
None of the present Five Kage had—except for Ōnoki.
Not even Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, had encountered him.
Madara had already left Konoha and disappeared long before they were born.
"That phrase… 'Do you want to dance?' That was his signature line," Ōnoki said, his voice tight with dread.
"Uchiha Madara is a combat genius who lived for the thrill of battle. Illusion, taijutsu, ninjutsu—he mastered them all."
"He controlled the pace of every fight as easily as breathing. While others fought to survive, he danced through battle like it was art."
"Unless he considered you a worthy opponent, you were nothing more than a weed to be crushed without thought."
"His dance... was the dance of death. The dance of annihilation."
"A dance that harvested shinobi lives with terrifying grace."
"Is it really that exaggerated?" the Fifth Raikage muttered skeptically, staring up at the dark figure.
"Isn't that still just Nagato?"
"I don't know what's going on," Jiraiya said, his voice tense, "but there's no doubt… that man's aura has changed."
Now in Sage Mode, Jiraiya's senses were razor sharp.
"What I feel from him is layered. It's teeming with life… but also something deeply malevolent."
"You're right, Jiraiya-chan," Fukasaku said grimly from his perch.
"That presence isn't natural."
"Old woman," he added, glancing toward Shima, "you've figured it out too, haven't you?"
"Hmph." Shima's expression was serious. "That's the power of Yin-Yang Release."
"Yin-Yang Release?" Darui echoed, confused.
"It's not just Yin or just Yang," Shima explained, glancing at the young Raikage. "It's a fusion—a different system from the basic Five Element releases."
"Yin Release governs spiritual energy—think genjutsu and illusions."
"Yang Release governs physical energy—like healing techniques that restore the body."
"But Yin-Yang Release… that's something else entirely."
She raised her two frog paws as she spoke.
"All living things are born from the union of spiritual and physical energy. So, Yin-Yang Release has the power to create life from nothing."
"Legend has it, the Sage of Six Paths used this very technique to create the Tailed Beasts from raw chakra."
The two Toad Sages didn't hide this ancient knowledge now.
Because the return of Yin-Yang Release meant one thing—
Something that should never exist in this world… had returned.
"Create something from nothing…?"
The Kage were stunned.
Even though some of them had read ancient records on Yin-Yang Release, their understanding was superficial.
The truth—about the Sage and the creation of the Tailed Beasts—was a secret known only to the immortal clans.
"That guy's making a move. Is it summoning?" Ōnoki suddenly asked, eyes narrowing.
Everyone turned their focus back to Nagato.
They hadn't attacked again, not after witnessing his absorption technique.
It had been too risky to engage blindly.
They'd agreed to hold back, watch carefully, and coordinate anew before the next assault.
Above them—
Black Zetsu, now fully in control of Nagato's body, began forming hand seals with practiced ease.
With Nagato's internal resistance gone, he had no trouble manipulating the vessel.
Once the seals were complete, he pressed his hand into the void.
A heavy sound echoed across the field.
From the sky fell a pitch-black coffin, wrapped in thorny roots and branches.
It slammed into the earth, sending dust spiraling outward.
The Five Kage watched, tension rising.
Black Zetsu descended beside the coffin with casual ease.
They knew whatever was about to happen wouldn't be good.
But they had no immediate countermeasure.
They didn't yet understand what kind of resurrection or summoning was at play.
"Honestly, I didn't want to call you out so soon," Black Zetsu muttered as he looked down at the coffin.
"But with this useless brat and that pathetic Akatsuki organization, your grand plan may never be realized, Madara-sama."
Feigning regret, he formed another sequence of seals using Nagato's hands.
"Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique."
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