Chapter 10: Black Zetsu — Quack! I Can't Die!
The dim cavern deep beneath the earth trembled faintly, as though the world itself was anxious. Uchiha Obito leaned against the wall, panting heavily, his body in tatters. His right arm, wrapped in White Zetsu's organic flesh, twitched unnaturally as if it did not belong to him at all. His face was grim, filled with a frustration he had not felt in years.
"It succeeded… but it also failed. There was an accident," Obito muttered hoarsely, his Mangekyō Sharingan spinning sluggishly in his eye socket.
From the shadows, Black Zetsu slithered out of the ground like a dark phantom. His eerie, half-white, half-black face regarded Obito with silent curiosity.
"What accident?" Black Zetsu finally asked.
Obito clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms. He raised his gaze, recounting everything that had occurred during the night of the Uchiha clan's annihilation—Itachi's blade, Raizen's sudden awakening, and the overwhelming force that had twisted the fate of the massacre into something unexpected.
By the time he finished, Black Zetsu was silent for a long moment. The cavern was filled with the sound of dripping water, echoing like an ominous countdown.
"…Good grief," Black Zetsu finally hissed. "A plan as simple as wiping out a clan, one that should have been flawless, derailed so spectacularly? Itachi died, and you, Obito, barely escaped with your life. Two supposed prodigies… and yet both of you were humbled."
Obito's expression twisted with humiliation.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan has defects," Black Zetsu continued coldly. "Obito, are you certain? Is the Uchiha clan truly gone? Or is that man—the one you call Uchiha Raizen—the only survivor left?"
Obito's lips curled into a bitter sneer. "Yes. The clan was already on the brink of annihilation by the time he revealed himself. Almost all were dead. By the time his eye power runs dry, I'll personally end that lunatic. Mark my words."
His voice was thick with rage. He had never imagined that a simple purge would produce such a wild variable. Why couldn't these cursed Uchiha simply die obediently? Why must one of them awaken power beyond reason, throwing everything into chaos?
Black Zetsu folded his arms, his gaze flickering like a serpent in the dark. "Perhaps. But regardless, even the strongest Mangekyō Sharingan is still just a Mangekyō. Without a sibling to transplant eyes from, he will never achieve the Eternal Mangekyō. That ceiling cannot be broken."
Yet, even as he spoke, Black Zetsu's thoughts wavered. He remembered clearly the terrifying sight Obito had described. Raizen had awakened his Mangekyō and instantly conjured a Susanoo strong enough to slaughter Itachi and force Obito to retreat. That alone was monstrous. If such a man were ever to obtain the Eternal Mangekyō… the consequences would be catastrophic for his millennium-spanning plan.
Obito, however, waved his hand dismissively. "You worry too much. Konoha itself will move against him now. Shimura Danzo won't sit idle with such a monster alive. By now, Raizen is probably already dead."
Black Zetsu's golden eye gleamed faintly. "We shall see. In fact, perhaps this chaos is to our advantage. Let us travel to Konoha. If he has fallen, we may yet harvest a new pair of Mangekyō Sharingan."
Obito hesitated, then nodded. "Fine. Let's move."
He raised his mutilated arm, flexing the flesh graft of White Zetsu that still pulsated with vitality. Though unnatural, it allowed him to weave signs again. In an instant, Obito activated his space-time ninjutsu, and together the two figures flickered toward the Land of Fire.
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They moved swiftly, cloaked in shadows, not daring to slow. If Raizen truly was alive, they needed to confirm before Konoha's forces acted. If he was dead, his eyes could not be allowed to fall into another's hands.
But as they arrived near Konoha, the two halted abruptly, their breath catching in their throats.
"What… is this?"
Before them, Konoha no longer looked like the bustling Hidden Village of Fire. Instead, it was a wasteland. The once lively streets were empty, choked in a suffocating stillness. A biting chill lingered in the air, so unnatural it pierced even Obito's war-hardened heart.
Snowflakes, impossibly out of season, drifted down. The moon hung high, yet its silver light was muted, swallowed by an invisible force. Overhead, strange lights shimmered faintly, twisting like an aurora, but with a menacing undertone.
And then they saw it.
In the sky above Konoha loomed a colossal, indistinct shadow—a humanoid figure wreathed in a haze of violent chakra. Its presence pressed down like a mountain, suffocating, absolute.
"This… this can't be real," Obito whispered, his single Sharingan trembling. This was not the scene he had envisioned. He had imagined Raizen going berserk, clashing with Danzo's forces, and eventually being subdued by Sarutobi Hiruzen. Then, in the chaos, he and Black Zetsu would swoop in and pluck the Mangekyō from Raizen's corpse.
But this… this was beyond imagination.
Konoha was in ruins. The air itself trembled beneath a power that should not exist in this world.
Black Zetsu's voice cracked, disbelief seeping through his normally calm tone. "Obito… this is the one you spoke of? This is Uchiha Raizen? Are you sure? Are you certain what you see is Mangekyō Sharingan?!"
Obito's lips quivered. For the first time in years, he had no answer. "I… I don't know anymore."
Then, without warning, a wave of oppressive force rippled outward from the shadow. It washed over them, and instantly Obito felt his chakra being devoured. His body shuddered as if every ounce of vitality was being pulled from him.
"Not good!"
Black Zetsu's instincts screamed. He dived into the ground to escape, but even in the safety of the earth, the draining sensation continued, ripping away at his very essence. He shot back out, retreating frantically.
"Impossible! This power… it doesn't just drain chakra—it consumes everything! Even me!"
Terror flashed in Black Zetsu's eye. Unlike ordinary shinobi, he did not possess a flesh-and-blood body. He was chakra incarnate, a will given form. For ordinary shinobi, even if drained, their body might survive. But for him, if this draining continued, his very existence would unravel.
"I'm going to die," he whispered hoarsely.
The thought was unthinkable. For a thousand years, he had schemed in the shadows, guiding the shinobi world toward his mother's resurrection. Death had never once crossed his mind. But now—standing beneath that monstrous shadow—true fear gnawed at him.
That figure was no mere Uchiha. It was something else. A black hole of power, devouring life itself.
"I can't die… I must not die! I am Mother's will. If I die here, who will bring her back?"
His golden eye widened in horror. He turned away, fleeing with all his strength.
Nearby, Obito staggered out of the draining field as well, his chest heaving. He looked at Black Zetsu, his expression pale. "Zetsu… you felt it too, didn't you? That force… the longer we remain in its reach, the more power it takes from us. Even if we do nothing, even if we resist, the end result is the same. Death."
Both stood trembling on the outskirts of Konoha's ruins, staring at the colossal shadow that was once Uchiha Raizen.
And for the first time, Obito wondered if he had unleashed something even Madara Uchiha would have feared.