It was already approaching evening, and Itachi had been taken by Mikoto for a feeding before Naraku finally awoke from his dream, rubbing his eyes and shakily getting up.
Then, under the gaze of a pair of golden beady eyes, he suddenly became sober.
"Black Zetsu…?"
The pure black monster was hidden in the corner, only half of his head visible.
Perhaps Mikoto had gone out with Itachi, which was why he dared to be so reckless.
"Lord Madara has something for you to do."
Black Zetsu wriggled his body closer: "To be precise, it's for Jinn to do. I brought a White Zetsu to replace you, so there won't be any flaws."
Naraku thought for a moment and decided that finding a smart White Zetsu to pretend to be him, holed up at home for a couple of days, was feasible.
Kakashi would definitely be busy adapting to his new teammates these next few days, coming home late and leaving early;
Kana had already graduated a few days ago and joined a team that was short-handed, and was now on a mission outside the village;
Fugaku was still finalizing the Uchiha's personnel exchange, constantly on the move;
Mikoto also couldn't leave Itachi's side, so she couldn't watch him all day long… As for the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, there was no need to worry; judging from the Fourth Ninja World War, the Byakugan couldn't see through White Zetsu's disguise.
Furthermore, he could also have "Jinn" use his left eye to make a wish, creating a bit of a coincidence.
When Sakumo was on the verge of death, he had no choice but to expend his lifespan to use Pseudo-Izanagi: Time Reversal Modification, fulfilling his greatest wish — to reverse fate.
The Mangekyo that was born at the same time naturally responded to this wish, with the power to overturn fate residing in his left eye.
[Tenmei Gyokumei: Modifies fate/timeline. Using this ability can change the probability of certain events occurring, allowing him to arrive at the one out of countless world-lines where his goal is achieved.]
In other words, from small things like Ninjutsu projectiles hitting their mark every time, to large things like summoning a meteor to crash into Earth and destroy the world, as long as he could pay the price, whatever he wanted to accomplish would definitely be accomplished.
Theoretically, this was a "What If" phone booth, but with his current Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) or popularity points, he could only change the probability of things that were currently happening or about to happen.
Wanting Black Zetsu to suddenly drop dead for no reason, even if he drained all his Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power), he couldn't do it, and the popularity points required would be an astronomical number.
After all, the original probability of this happening was infinitely close to zero, and to change it to one hundred percent naturally required an extremely high price.
Naraku didn't hesitate: "Okay."
If "Jinn" wasn't let out, their agreement would become invalid, and then no one would benefit… "Speeding" all the way to Mountain Prison, Naraku detached from the White Zetsu, a smile belonging to "Jinn" blooming on his face.
This deliberately performed smile also contained a few traces of sincerity: the feeling of being able to mobilize Hashirama cells to stabilize his bloodline limit sickness was wonderful; now he could finally move his body freely without spitting blood.
"Oh my~ Lord Madara, long time no see~ Did you miss me?"
Madara was too lazy to answer such a cloying question, and said sarcastically: "Who was it that promised me to kill the main personality as soon as possible? But then he let him take his body back again, you useless little brat."
"I can't help it~"
Naraku's smile didn't fade, but he insisted on poking the tiger's whiskers with his words: "Who made Lord Madara's potion have side effects and almost kill me? Of course, he seized the opportunity."
Before Madara could react, he ingratiatingly leaned closer to him, showcasing his mutated new bloodline.
"But it's okay~ Lord Madara, I found that I benefited from misfortune and have new power!"
Pure Black Flame burned and danced in Naraku's palm, occasionally sparking black and blue electrical arcs, surging like a living thing.
Just this small cluster made Madara feel a powerful and destructive aura.
He recalled the flame appearing out of thin air just now and quickly grasped the key point: "No hand seals?"
"Bingo~"
Naraku snapped his fingers, and the Black Flame automatically divided into several strands, spreading and coiling up his arm, rapidly growing into a large expanse of raging inferno.
"It seems to be due to the Hashirama cells, allowing the two elemental Chakras to fuse."
The extreme high temperature of the flames themselves caused the surrounding air to begin to distort, but even so, they only obediently swirled around Naraku, not even burning a corner of his clothes.
The Black Flame circled him a few times, finally gathering in his other hand, transforming into a pitch-black long spear.
Naraku's smile faded, leaving only a cold, stern expression brimming with killing intent. He turned and performed a few beautiful spear flourishes, ending with a powerful strike, "Parting Clouds and Seeing the Sun," throwing the long spear out.
Madara only saw a black line flash across his eyes, bringing with it gusts of strong wind.
Zing—
The next instant, the long spear slammed into the incredibly hard rock wall not far away, the entire spear body completely embedded, not a trace remaining. After a few breaths, under the control of its master, it transformed back into Black Flame, slowly dissipating into the air.
Just that one move revealed the terrifying destructive power of the Black Flame and the user's extremely high level of control.
Feeling the gaze from behind, Naraku's deliberately feigned aloof expression immediately broke. He turned back and raised an eyebrow at Madara, hands on his hips, looking smug and seeking praise.
-- Dumbfounded, old Madara! Never seen a spearman before, have you?
-- Being cool is a lifelong pursuit!
-- Although spear users traditionally have E-rank luck, it doesn't matter, with Tenmei Gyokumei, there's nothing to fear!
"Flashy," Madara seemed completely unmoved, "Condensing flames into a cold weapon is putting the cart before the horse, isn't it?"
Naraku puffed out his cheeks: "No taste! How cool is a long spear! Who cares if it's putting the cart before the horse, coolness is my life-saving charm, okay?!"
"According to White Zetsu's intelligence, Takigakure's Seven-Tails is about to get a new Jinchuriki. Go and retrieve it."
Naraku pointed at himself with his backhand, making a joke: "Me, go fight the Seven-Tails? Really? Lord Madara, I can't use Susanoo, otherwise that Uchiha Naraku guy will be exposed, you know."
"Less talk, do you need Susanoo to catch a Seven-Tails? Go now!"
Although Madara didn't understand the joke, he could feel that this brat was deliberately playing dumb, wanting to see him get angry.
He didn't understand why Jinn, ever since his birth, had been particularly fixated on seeing him angry, as if he derived some pleasure from it.
And the reason Naraku did this, in the end, was just two words: fun.
Uchiha Madara in the original timeline had been miserably deceived by Black Zetsu for most of his life, which made him also want to tease the other party.
"Alright, alright."
Naraku nodded, stopped messing around, and happily ran off to replenish his weapons, then once again boarded the "White Zetsu Express" high-speed train, speeding towards Takigakure…