"Although this method is slower, and the resurrected Ten-Tails might be unstable, I can't worry about that anymore."
Black Zetsu thought with secret hatred. "Damn that Sky Screen!"
Ever since the Sky Screen appeared, it had guessed that it would be exposed. Therefore, it had hidden itself within the Gedo Mazo just to be safe. But it had not expected to be exposed so quickly. This forced it to strike immediately, ambushing Nagato and snatching the Rinnegan from his body.
"White Zetsu can be used as substitutes for the one presiding over the Gedo Mazo's absorption of Tailed Beast Chakra, and the Tailed Beast Chakra itself can be supplemented by jinchuriki brought back via Reanimation Jutsu."
"With the abilities of the Gedo Mazo—no, the Ten-Tails—as long as there is a shred of the corresponding Tailed Beast's Chakra, it can recover automatically. The only difference is the length of time it takes."
"And I have plenty of time!"
"The Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation (Edo Tensei) was traded from Orochimaru, and I've obtained jinchuriki body tissues and individuals containing Tailed Beast Chakra from various Ninja Villages."
"Now all the puzzle pieces have been gathered. All that's left is time!"
As it thought, Black Zetsu still felt its current location was unsafe. Thus, it left the area, intending to choose a more secure spot.
"When the Gedo Mazo recovers its Chakra, it causes Honkai Energy to rise. If I don't solve this problem, I'll be found sooner or later. What should I do? Is there any place in the Ninja World that is safe?"
"No, currently, there is no safe place in the entire Ninja World. I have been exposed to the eyes of the Ninja World's Ninjas. No matter where I go, someone will be watching, unless... I leave the Ninja World!"
On a thick branch of a sturdy tree, Black Zetsu, possessing a White Zetsu, poked its head out from the canopy and looked into the distance.
"I remember that on the other side of the ocean lies the Land of Water, and even further beyond the Land of Water, across the great oceans, is another continent!"
"However, such a vast distance is impossible for ordinary ships to cross. Besides, traveling by boat is too dangerous."
Honk, honk~
Just then, a flock of wild geese flew over its head, giving Black Zetsu a flash of inspiration.
"I have it. Summoning Jutsu!"
Black Zetsu used the Summoning Jutsu to call forth a flying Summoned Beast (Kuchiyose). Then, it controlled the creature to prevent it from resisting, allowing a White Zetsu to devour its Chakra. The Summoned Beast, its Chakra drained, vanished in a puff of white smoke. Meanwhile, that White Zetsu transformed into the shape of the bird.
Black Zetsu hopped onto the bird's back, hiding beneath its feathers.
"Fortunately, Summoned Beasts summoned by the Sharingan are massive; otherwise, it truly would be hard to hide."
Caw~
The giant Summoned Beast let out a cry and took to the sky, flapping its wings.
"Another continent... Black Zetsu is coming!"
Black Zetsu fled, but the hunt for it did not stop.
After Konan returned, she saw Nagato with a gaping hole in his chest, holding onto his final breath just to see her one last time.
The remaining members of the Akatsuki were also furious due to Black Zetsu's deception. Previously, they captured Tailed Beasts and sought to resurrect the Ten-Tails to bring peace to the Ninja World. Now, with the appearance of the Honkai, they were even more desperate to resurrect the Ten-Tails. Only through the power of the Ten-Tails would it be possible to protect more people!
And now, you're telling me the resurrection of the Ten-Tails is a conspiracy? That they were deceived? And the mastermind is Black Zetsu? That Black Zetsu has another goal for resurrecting the Ten-Tails?
It wasn't just those few who were deceived; the ones tricked most deeply were actually Obito and Madara. One believed firmly in the Eye of the Moon Plan, while the other wanted to create another world where Rin existed. Now, neither of those goals could be achieved!
At this moment, Uchiha Obito was also searching for Black Zetsu. But unfortunately, since the second appearance of the Sky Screen, Black Zetsu had rarely shown itself. Previously, he thought Black Zetsu was busy with experiments; he hadn't expected it had long known it would be exposed and had hidden in the Gedo Mazo to ambush Nagato!
Since the Eye of the Moon Plan was a scam from the start, what did all his actions amount to?
"Stop it, Gaara. Fighting any further is meaningless now."
In the desert outside the Hidden Sand Village, the two battling sides separated—it was Deidara, Gaara, and the others. Seeing that Gaara did not continue his attack, Deidara and Sasori stared warily at him, slowly backing away. After reaching a certain distance, they accelerated and left the desert. They wanted to go back and see what had become of their leader.
At the same time, all Akatsuki members—whether they were currently capturing jinchuriki or had already captured them—stopped their actions. In the current situation, continuing to capture jinchuriki was pointless.
Yugito Nii: "Lord Raikage, the Akatsuki members who sealed me have released me. I am returning to Kumogakure now."
Not just her; other jinchuriki abroad, under the influence of the Tailed Beasts within them, all returned to their respective villages.
Gyuki: "Now that the Rinnegan has been stolen and the recovery of the Tailed Beasts has stalled, as long as we are careful and don't let that fellow called Black Zetsu succeed, the Ten-Tails shouldn't be resurrected, right?"
Uchiha Obito: "..."
Hard to say.
Uchiha Obito fell into silence as he watched the optimistic Tailed Beasts on the Sky Screen. He had not forgotten that he and Black Zetsu had a backup plan. In the event that they couldn't recover all the Tailed Beasts' Chakra, they would use jinchuriki brought back through Reanimation Jutsu to recover the Tailed Beast Chakra.
And the even worse news was that all the Sacrifices capable of summoning those jinchuriki were with Black Zetsu! In other words, if nothing unexpected happened, it wouldn't be long before the Ten-Tails was resurrected.
"But before that, I will find you!"
"When the Ten-Tails recovers Chakra, the Honkai Energy will rise. You cannot hide such a commotion. I want to see where you can possibly hide!"
This wasn't just something Obito noticed. Naturally, others noticed as well. Although they didn't know Black Zetsu had found a compromise, the method of searching for Black Zetsu by monitoring abnormal rises in Honkai Energy was correct.
For a time, the entire Ninja World went into action.
[Uchiha Hoshi had no intention of stopping the resurrection of the Ten-Tails; in fact, she was happy to see it happen.
She was just worrying about having no way to eliminate the existence of Chakra, and she hadn't expected them to hand the executioner's blade directly to her. How could Uchiha Hoshi refuse?
"Although many doubts have been cleared, even more questions have appeared."
"Specifically, the origin of the Ten-Tails was not written on the stone tablet."
Uchiha Hoshi sighed. "It seems that as for the origin of the Ten-Tails, I'm afraid I won't be able to find out anytime soon."]