Chapter 287: The Deceased Orochimaru Still Has Value!
"Before Orochimaru joined Akatsuki, he was already researching a certain forbidden jutsu of Konoha."
"That is a jutsu capable of pulling the deceased back from the Pure Land!"
"Uchiha Madara also knew of that forbidden jutsu. It's just that it wasn't completely perfected back then. However, the Reanimation Jutsu in Orochimaru's hands is highly likely to have been perfected already!"
Uchiha Obito's thinking was very simple: since his own brain wasn't enough to use, he would simply bring out someone whose brain was enough!
As it happened, Obito felt that Uchiha Madara's brain was exceptionally useful!
"Reanimating Master Uchiha Madara?"
White Zetsu felt that Obito's idea was great. He was just a Zetsu who didn't understand anything. On what grounds should he be expected to help Obito come up with ideas? He didn't even have brain cells, so what kind of good ideas could he offer?
"Precisely. For the next period of time, have the Zetsu army search for Orochimaru's research bases."
"Right, I recall Orochimaru had an assistant named Kabuto, correct?"
"Search for him along the way too. I suspect the Reanimation Jutsu in his hands might be even more complete. If it's still not perfect enough, make him continue perfecting it!"
"When the timing is right, I will reanimate Master Madara."
Obito's eye began to gleam with perceived wisdom. At this moment, he felt like he was a total genius!
"Everyone says you, Uchiha Ikeizumi, can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama... but Uchiha Madara never agreed to that claim!"
"If you want to truly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, you at least have to clash with one of them first!"
A harsh look flashed through Obito's eye. It was true that he didn't dare appear before Uchiha Ikeizumi again—after all, Black Zetsu's encounter had left him with a massive psychological shadow.
But Obito refused to believe that Uchiha Ikeizumi could apply that bizarre ability of his onto a dead person!
At this point, Obito didn't know that when Shimura Danzo was reanimated by Orochimaru, his body was completely engulfed in the Flames of Judgment. If Obito knew this—
He would probably still choose to let Uchiha Madara go and clash with Uchiha Ikeizumi.
After all, even if someone got hurt, it wouldn't be him, right?
Furthermore, regarding the Eye of the Moon Plan, Obito wanted to hold the reins of everything himself. Creating a world with Rin was his primary concern. If it were left to Uchiha Madara to execute, what if Madara deemed his thoughts childish?
"Heh—no—do not... disturb Master Madara!"
"The—the plan hasn't... reached that stage yet!"
To everyone's surprise, Black Zetsu, who had been continuously struggling and howling in agony within the Flames of Judgment, actually spoke up at this moment!
Even though the Flames of Judgment were still fiercely burning on his body, and even Obito could feel that Black Zetsu was enduring unimaginable agony, he actually forced the words out!
It had to be said that Black Zetsu was truly a filial son—the kind that could easily win a "Most Filial Son of the Ninja World" award.
He indeed hadn't escaped the agony brought by the burning of the Flames of Judgment. Coupled with the fact that he was an entity born of Yin-Yang Release and lacked the concept of death entirely, dying had become a luxury for him.
Upon realizing this, Black Zetsu had relied entirely on his boundless filial piety to force himself to adapt to the agony of the Flames of Judgment!
"Black Zetsu, you—"
Looking at the fire-engulfed Black Zetsu, Obito couldn't help but marvel at his ironclad willpower.
To think that even at a time like this, Black Zetsu was still worrying about Uchiha Madara. Obito actually felt a bit envious. What virtue or capability did Uchiha Madara possess to deserve a subordinate like Black Zetsu!
"I am fine!"
Black Zetsu practically squeezed these few words out from his throat through gritted teeth—if he had teeth, that is.
"Pay no attention to Uchiha Ikeizumi. Let him do whatever he wishes, because everything he does will ultimately be futile!"
"Remember, our sole objective is the Eye of the Moon Plan!"
"Only the Eye of the Moon can bring true peace to the ninja world, and only the Eye of the Moon can create the world you desire!"
Enduring the severe pain racking his body, Black Zetsu heavily panted as he earnestly exhorted Uchiha Obito.
He admitted that the ability of Uchiha Ikeizumi's Sharingan was somewhat bizarre, but so what?
Throughout the millennium of the ninja world's history, who knew how many bizarre Sharingan abilities had emerged from the Uchiha clan? Those abilities had similarly posed threats to Black Zetsu, yet hadn't they all ended up dead anyway?
Black Zetsu held absolute confidence in his mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Once Kaguya was resurrected, no matter how bizarre an ability was, it would be utterly useless before her!
Do you understand the weight carried by the Progenitor of Chakra?!
"But what if Uchiha Ikeizumi sets his sights on the Tailed Beasts?"
Obito admired Black Zetsu's willpower, but he was still somewhat worried that Uchiha Ikeizumi might target the Tailed Beasts one day.
After all, in Obito's eyes, that guy was a lunatic—a lunatic flying the banner of justice!
Even Senju Hashirama could pin the Nine-Tails down with one hand and tell it that it was just too dangerous. If Uchiha Ikeizumi went wild and directly beat the Tailed Beasts to death, claiming their existence disrupted the justice of the ninja world, what would they do?
"The moment he shows any intention of moving against the Tailed Beasts, we will immediately reanimate Master Madara!"
Black Zetsu felt a bit gratified. He was glad that during these days of his own suffering, the otherwise useless Obito finally knew how to use his brain and think.
"Then doesn't that mean we still have to go find Orochimaru's legacy, and search for Kabuto along the way?"
Obito let out a disdainful, cold sneer. He had thought Black Zetsu had some brilliant insight, but it turned out he was just pinning his hopes on Uchiha Madara in the end. Looking at it this way, his and Black Zetsu's IQs were clearly on par!
Ryuchi Cave.
Ever since Ryuchi Cave had been ravaged by a certain individual flying the banner of justice, the White Snake Sage hadn't returned a single time.
After all, the location of Ryuchi Cave had already been exposed to Uchiha Ikeizumi. If Ikeizumi ever came to Ryuchi Cave again on a whim, wouldn't he, the White Snake Sage, have to die a bit?
To be safe, the White Snake Sage dug a new cave a considerable distance away from the original Ryuchi Cave.
However, Kabuto was not so fortunate. Ever since he was taken away by the White Snake Sage, he had been directly thrown into Ryuchi Cave. Under the beautiful pretext of the White Snake Sage testing his capacity, he was actually just being forced to test the Sage Mode of Ryuchi Cave.
If Kabuto truly succeeded in mastering the Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode, the White Snake Sage felt that even if Kabuto couldn't defeat Uchiha Ikeizumi, at least he could help buy a massive amount of time when Ikeizumi came knocking again, allowing him, the White Snake Sage, to make a strategic retreat.
"White Snake Sage, I believe there is someone who might be far more worthy of your attention than I am!"
Kabuto reversed-summoned himself into the White Snake Sage's new cave with a hint of helplessness. After confirming Orochimaru's death, Kabuto's very first thought had been to inherit Orochimaru's legacy, but his luck was terrible, and he had happened to run straight into the White Snake Sage.
As his comprehension of the Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode consistently failed to yield results, Kabuto felt that he should first strive to secure Orochimaru's legacy!