"Mother, there's a shortcut up ahead on the Hurricane Track—it was deliberately marked on the route. When we get there, we can cut through it."
Acting like a live-action GPS, Black Zetsu had already memorized the entire map. And with thousands of White Zetsu clones hidden along the course, this race really was just as Tobi had said—
The winner had already been decided.
"Just stay on the right side and you'll find it."
"..."
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya gave a small nod in response, her usual emotionless face unchanging.
But after a brief pause—
"Uchiha clan…"
"Oh~ Mother, you're asking about the Uchiha?"
Even though Kaguya hadn't finished her sentence, Black Zetsu instantly understood what she meant.
"They're descendants of Hagoromo. The Uzumaki and Senju clans are also descended from him. Sunagakure's Uzumaki Kushina belongs to the Uzumaki clan. Each inherited a portion of Hagoromo's power. But the Senju and Uzumaki... most of them are already dead. There aren't many left in the shinobi world."
"Oh, and—combining Senju cells with the Uchiha's Sharingan can result in the Rinnegan. But it's extremely difficult. So far, only the already-deceased Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara have succeeded."
Though Black Zetsu despised all of Hagoromo's descendants, he had to admit—Hashirama and Madara were the most outstanding inheritors of Asura and Indra's bloodlines.
He grinned with satisfaction.
"The Rinnegan in Amegakure actually belonged to Uchiha Madara. He deliberately implanted it in Uzumaki Nagato. And Mother... as long as we obtain the Rinnegan, I can bring you back to the world. You'll return to the shinobi realm in full—not just as a projection like now."
"Mmm."
Kaguya gave another emotionless nod.
She had already seen that little Uchiha brat earlier—his Sharingan really did resemble Hagoromo's. Though Hagoromo's had evolved into the Rinnegan in the end...
Her eyes remained calm. She said nothing more.
But Black Zetsu knew—Mother's heart was far from calm.
Because just now—
One of the horns on her head twitched.
Still, since she didn't say anything aloud, he—being a dutiful child—wouldn't question her.
He popped his inky little head out of her sleeve and looked ahead at the racetrack.
"Mother, there it is! The shortcut! I'll point it out."
From the sleeve of Kaguya's robe, a small black finger extended and pointed ahead.
"Just head that way. The wind's weaker there and the path is shorter. Wait—guess I don't need to point anymore."
Ahead stood a White Zetsu clone holding a giant foam finger-shaped sign. Even more clones had gathered with portable lights to guide their way.
Black Zetsu sighed.
"That's the route White Zetsu's pointing to."
Seriously—
Why did I bother memorizing the damn map?
There were thousands of White Zetsus all along the track. Why would the mastermind of the shinobi world need to give directions?
And yet—
Why are even the White Zetsus trying to steal Mother's attention now?
Black Zetsu felt a pang of heartbreak.
Meanwhile, behind Kaguya...
Chaos had erupted among the racers.
No one knew which village's ninja had first shouted the slogan—
"We can lose the race, but Konoha must die!"
But the moment those words rang out—
The front half of the track exploded into mayhem. The non-Konoha racers went berserk, swarming the Konoha 4WDs in a vengeful frenzy.
Several Konoha cars were already ruined—unable to move, their teams forced to stop and attempt emergency repairs.
"This is just a damn race… do they really have to take it this seriously?"
Kakashi wore his usual slouchy expression as he glanced at the enemy cars swarming him from behind. He sighed in helpless frustration.
But still—
Even if it was just a game, as a Konoha shinobi, surrendering wasn't in his nature.
He quickly formed hand seals. Without wasting time, he flooded his Shadow car with lightning chakra, surging it forward at high speed.
But then—
"Too slow! Get him!"
A loud shout came from behind.
Kakashi instantly sensed something wrong.
He glanced back at the Iwagakure ninja who had encircled him, eyes narrowing. The lazy look vanished from his face, replaced by cold focus.
As one of Konoha's top geniuses, he knew exactly what needed to be done at a time like this.
Then—
"Got it!"
A pudgy Iwa-nin on Kakashi's left nodded. Despite his chubby hands, his seals flew fast.
"Earth Style: Rock Lid! Charge, Boulder Drive!"
Boom—!
A massive red 4WD car covered in jagged rocks roared in from behind.
Its front wheels lifted like a rearing beast, the whole vehicle bearing down like a mountain to crush Shadow car beneath it.
Kakashi's eyes widened. He immediately formed more seals.
Shadow Drive fired off two mini shuriken from its undercarriage—but predictably, both bounced off the stone armor of Boulder car.
It kept charging.
Crashing down like a falling boulder. Iwa-nin around the track grinned, thinking they were about to squash Kakashi's car like a pancake—
"Clang!"
Sparks flew.
Kakashi wiped sweat from his brow, staring at Shadow car—now propped up by two tiny kunai that had deployed from beneath it at the last second, grinding against the track.
Boulder car was stuck—unable to push any further.
But—
"Shadow car's speed is down!"
Even though they hadn't crushed the car completely, they'd successfully slowed it.
And at this point, none of the Iwa-nin cared about winning anymore.
They had only one goal:
Take down Team Konoha.
"Wreck it!"
"Ah, looks like Shadow car is in trouble!"
Tobi whistled, his voice full of gleeful sarcasm.
"What's it gonna do now? It's surrounded by five—count 'em, five—Iwagakure 4WDs! No way to escape! And dragging Boulder car behind it is only making things worse!"
"Will the Konoha racer admit defeat? Or... is there a secret technique ready to help Shadow Drive out of this tight spot?"
He paused dramatically.
"And as for getting help from his teammates? Pfft~"
He sneered mockingly.
"The only one close enough is Uchiha Shisui, but he's surrounded too—by a whole squad from Kumogakure. He's got no chance of helping."
But just as he finished—
His voice suddenly shot up with excitement.
"No, wait—look! There's another! That glowing green car—Youth Express—it's just ahead of Shadow car! And look who's running back toward it!"
"It's the owner of Youth Express! He's coming back! He saw his teammate in danger and now—he's charging back to save him!!"
The entire crowd froze.
No one had expected this.
The green-clad lunatic who had vanished at the start of the race was actually coming back?
What was he planning?
Just as everyone held their breath, eyes glued to the track—
"Now it's time for a commercial break."
Tobi's smug voice broke the tension.
"Stay tuned for the next chapter."