Chapter 138: Testing Uchiha Kou
Black Zetsu remained completely silent. The viscous, ink-like substance of his body writhed in the dim light, betraying the sheer, unadulterated fury boiling beneath his featureless visage.
Uchiha Kou, however, casually continued to add fuel to the fire.
"This teammate of mine really doesn't take Lord Black Zetsu seriously," she mused, her tone dripping with feigned innocence. "Leaving behind not even a single shred of information... Surely you have a specific way of contacting them? Please, tell me. I will set out immediately to track them down for you."
The moment the words left her lips, the curse mark Black Zetsu had planted on her flared to life. Jagged, dark seals erupted from the center of her chest, branching out like venomous veins across her pale skin. Kou collapsed to the cold stone floor, her breath hitching as blinding agony tore through her nervous system.
Black Zetsu loomed over her, his voice a harsh, grating whisper. "Stop asking about things that do not concern you!"
He was rattled. Thoroughly and completely rattled.
Yet, the violent flare of temper was brief. The earlier loss of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan had already pushed his rage to its absolute limit. Now, having lost a precious Wood Release test subject, his mind forcefully pivoted into cold, calculating survival mode.
Ye was an exceptionally rare Wood Release ninja. If she wandered blindly into the open, she would inevitably be snatched up by one of the hidden villages. A lucky outcome meant she would be brainwashed and molded into a loyal weapon for their military. An unlucky one? She would be strapped to an operating table for gruesome research.
The absolute worst-case scenario was immediate dissection. But even then, a corpse retained its value. As long as he could eventually recover her body and extract the Hashirama cells, the path to awakening the Rinnegan remained open.
There was no need to panic.
As long as the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan rested securely in his grasp, and he secured Senju Hashirama's cells, he only needed a suitable host to manifest the Rinnegan.
His yellow eyes shifted toward Kou, who was slowly picking herself up from the floor, her chest heaving. Her aptitude was undeniably excellent. Though her chakra reserves leaned toward the shallow end, she wasn't entirely disqualified as a potential vessel. The Uchiha clan still boasted a sizable population; replacements could always be cultivated if she burned out.
But first, he needed absolute certainty. He had to test her again to ensure his brainwashing had taken deep, unbreakable root.
That woman—Ida Stelle—was far too uncanny. Using a pawn snatched directly from the Fourth Hokage's hands left a lingering itch of paranoia in his mind.
If Kou proved loyal, he would hunt down that wretched brat, Ye. She had better pray she hadn't been dissected yet; otherwise, he would take immense pleasure in dissecting her himself.
Reaching into his dark cloak, Black Zetsu withdrew a heavy glass vial. Inside, suspended in clear preservative fluid, floated the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He scrutinized the crimson irises, ensuring their absolute perfection, before tucking the vial safely away.
"What was the exact situation during your skirmish with the Fourth Hokage?" he demanded, his tone measured. "To what extent has her strength truly declined?"
Kou brushed the dust from her clothes, weighing her response with practiced care.
"She is not as powerless as your intelligence suggested. While her physical stamina has noticeably waned, she remains an absolute monster among Kage-level combatants. More dangerously, she understands the fundamental mechanics of her own ultimate techniques flawlessly. My jutsu were dismantled the moment they took shape. That is precisely why I was forced to manifest the Susanoo."
Black Zetsu accepted this logic. It made sense. If Ida Stelle had been easily assassinated for some inexplicable reason, he would have immediately suspected a trap.
Still, the Fourth Hokage stood as the single greatest obstacle to the Infinite Tsukuyomi. She had to die. Every human possessed a fatal flaw; he simply hadn't unearthed hers yet.
His gaze sharpened, locking onto Kou's face, his eyes gleaming with dark intent. "I recall that, aside from Jiraiya, you maintain a handful of close acquaintances within Konoha."
Kou gave a stiff nod, her answer aligning perfectly with his gathered intelligence.
Black Zetsu ran the calculations. Konoha was still reeling from recent upheavals. Stelle would be on high alert. Sending Kou directly into the village to stir up chaos was a foolish gamble; losing her to the Hokage would be a massive net negative.
But there was another target, conveniently stationed at the border of the Land of Fire.
"Deploy to the border," Black Zetsu ordered, his voice echoing in the damp cavern. "Bring back the severed head of your dear friend, Tsukiki."
He watched Kou's features like a hawk, searching for a twitch of hesitation, a flash of grief. Nothing. Her expression remained a mask of blank apathy, as if the name belonged to a complete stranger.
"Very well," Kou replied, her pitch-black pupils locking onto his. "But..."
"But what?"
"Lord Black Zetsu, she is my sworn sister. My absolute dearest friend. If I am to slaughter her, may I request a reward?"
"What do you want?"
"I want to live in that room." Kou gestured vaguely toward the living quarters formerly occupied by Ye.
Since they shared the exact same origin, their tastes naturally aligned. The child persona, Ye, had decorated the space to absolute perfection—plush, cozy, and absurdly comfortable. Since Ye was currently off gallivanting across the continent, Kou fully intended to claim the luxurious setup for herself.
"Fine," Black Zetsu agreed, dismissing the trivial request. "I expect to see the head within ten days."
He fully intended to trail her from the shadows, watching her every move to ensure there was no lingering deception.
"Lord Black Zetsu, are you insulting me?" Kou's chin tilted up, the signature arrogance of her bloodline bleeding into her tone. "A mere Jonin is nothing before my Mangekyo. Give me five days. That will be more than enough."
The eerie, haughty declaration rang familiar in Black Zetsu's ears, dragging up memories of that utterly useless Uchiha Setsuna. It seemed the Uchiha truly did undergo a drastic, arrogant personality shift the moment they awakened the Mangekyo.
Later that night, deep within the safety of her mental space, Stelle received the encrypted ping from Kou. It was time for the temporary alias, Tsukiki, to clock in for her final shift. Black Zetsu wanted Tsukiki's head on a silver platter.
Stelle's brow twitched in dry amusement. Of her three System-provided, high-tier Shadow Clones, one was currently sweating in the Land of Wind, dutifully planting trees and manipulating sand. The second was busy running scams and fleecing wealthy marks in the Land of Lightning. The third was actively playing double agent alongside Black Zetsu.
A standard shadow clone simply wouldn't hold up under Black Zetsu's paranoid scrutiny. For this specific alias—whose sole purpose in life was to be dramatically murdered—she had to go and play the victim herself.
['System, why are there only three of these specialized Shadow Clones, even at the maxed-out version? A proper scammer needs at least eight or ten.']
['Because normal hosts actually start on the path of caution,'] the System replied, its mechanical voice dripping with digital sass. ['It takes a normal person a lifetime of grueling practice to reach the max version. Only a Host like you, who started with a hundred-consecutive draw and became instantly invincible, would have the audacity to complain about having "only" three reality-bending clones.']
Left with no other viable options, Stelle sighed. She summoned a standard shadow clone to handle the mountain of Hokage paperwork, erected a heavy privacy barrier around her home, and left a note claiming she was deep in ninjutsu research.
Then, tapping into the Flying Thunder God technique, she vanished in a flash of yellow light, zipping directly toward the border camp.
The perks of being the Hokage were truly unmatched in moments like this. She could draft her own mission scrolls, assign herself to an isolated patrol route where she wouldn't encounter a single soul, and only needed to transmit routine intelligence reports.
Arriving at the border outpost, she handed over her duty reassignment scroll. Everything was perfectly standard. The only glaring anomaly was the boy standing in the courtyard.
Why in the world was Hyuga Gen at the border?
Worse, he had somehow managed to get assigned to her exact patrol squad. The kid truly lived up to his reputation as a walking landmine-tripper.
"You're a member of the Hyuga Main Family," Stelle pointed out, genuinely baffled as she adjusted her Tsukiki disguise. "Why are you running around in a high-risk zone?"
Gen had practically begged his father for weeks. Once he discovered that Tsukiki had been assigned to the border patrol near the Land of Earth, he had exhausted every connection and pulled every string available to the Main Branch just to get stuffed into the same squad. Naturally, he wasn't about to admit any of that to the girl he was crushing on.
"I just felt that being stationed at the border would better demonstrate the tactical utility of the Byakugan," Gen replied, puffing out his chest slightly. "So, I submitted a formal application."
You're the heir to the Main Family, Stelle thought, staring at him blankly. Can you please stop wandering into danger zones? Someone is actually going to gouge your eyes out.
"Right. Well... good luck with that," Stelle said, her voice entirely devoid of enthusiasm.
"Yeah! I'll do my best," Gen beamed, entirely missing her deadpan tone. "You too, Tsukiki. Please look after me during tonight's patrol."
He hovered awkwardly for a moment, shifting his weight from foot to foot. A heavy blush crept up his neck. "Um, do you have time tomorrow? I know a great place in the nearby town, and I'd love to treat you to a meal. I..."
He swallowed hard, his pale eyes shining with nervous determination. "I have something really important I want to say to you, Tsukiki. Please, you have to agree."
Tomorrow? Stelle thought, suppressing a sigh. Tomorrow, this little alias of mine is going to be a decapitated corpse. What meal?
"Alright," she smiled gently. "I agree."
As Gen practically vibrated with joy, Stelle casually forwarded his coordinates and status into her mental space. The little landmine-tripper had done it again. He had wandered straight into a premeditated murder scene. She would just have to knock him out with a heavy dose of genjutsu when the time came.
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