The Uchiha's Path to the Top, Starting from Konoha

Chapter 70 I Just Love Bullying the Weak

From the shadow of a collapsed cliff, a soft-bodied creature, resembling a lump of black mud, emerged silently, capable of changing its shape at will.

It was unclear whether the body was at the top or the bottom, but it opened a pair of bright yellow round eyes, and its mouth below had neatly arranged triangular, sharp white teeth.

(Research alone is not enough to explain the creation of the Rinnegan.)

Black Zetsu was created by Kaguya Otsutsuki, the progenitor of chakra in the ninja world and the goddess of the earth, using her will and Yin-Yang Release.

After overhearing the conversation between Uchiha Takeo and Uchiha Madara from the shadows, he scoffed at Uchiha Takeo's words.

He was quite clear about the conditions for the Rinnegan to be born—

These Rinnegan eyes originated from her mother and were passed down in the ninja world by the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, who was also her elder brother.

It's not as simple as just fusing the power of the Uchiha and the Senju of the Forest; it requires much more demanding conditions.

Otherwise, Black Zetsu would have started his operation long ago, in order to save his mother Kaguya Otsutsuki, who was sealed on the moon by his two beastly brothers, Hagoromo and Hamura. He wouldn't have had to wait a thousand years for Madara Uchiha, who was the most likely to awaken the Rinnegan.

The Uchiha lineage traces back to Indra, the eldest son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, who inherited the Sage's Eye, the Sharingan.

The Senju of the Forest lineage traces back to Ashura, the second son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, who inherited the body of a sage.

Only when the powers of these two merge into one, reaching a state of neither life nor death, a state of profound enlightenment, can they draw out the remaining chakra left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, giving birth to the true Rinnegan.

Ordinary Uchiha and Senju clans would never have the possibility of developing the Rinnegan.

In Black Zetsu's view, although Uchiha Wu'an was exceptionally talented, his potential was predictable, and he was at most a minor god among mortals, not worth mentioning.

Chakra is the power refined from a person's spirit and body. When a person's strength reaches its peak, that is, the realm of the Sage of Six Paths, even if they die of old age, as long as their personal obsession remains, their chakra can endure for eternity, achieving a different kind of immortality.

Therefore, the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, is still alive, forcing Black Zetsu, who is an unregistered ninja, to act cautiously in the ninja world.

Indra and Ashura were not as strong as Hagoromo Otsutsuki, but their chakra also circulated in the world, constantly parasitizing their respective bloodline families. Just like in their previous lives, they became leaders of their respective families, and with a little provocation, they would lead their clans to fight and kill each other.

The hatred between the two bloodlines has lasted for thousands of years.

The reincarnation of Indra's chakra in this generation is Madara Uchiha, and Ashura is Hashirama Senju.

Their sudden alliance surprised Black Zetsu, but the subsequent life-and-death struggle made him feel at ease and comfortable—he loved watching the descendants of his rebellious sons fight each other to the death.

Meanwhile, in order to guide Madara Uchiha to awaken the Rinnegan and embark on the path of the Infinite Tsukuyomi in order to save his mother Kaguya Otsutsuki, who had been trapped for a thousand years, Black Zetsu altered the stone tablet left by Hagoromo Otsutsuki in the underground space of the Naka Shrine.

(Next, all that remained was to wait for it to blossom and bear fruit; I finally saw a glimmer of hope.)

Full of confidence, Black Zetsu was about to set off to follow behind Madara Uchiha and keep a close watch when he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of chakra behind him.

He had no chance to react at all; a hand was pressed against his body like a branding iron.

"Five Elements Seal!"

"Aaaaaaah!"

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Black Zetsu stared wide-eyed at Uchiha Takeo, who had silently appeared beside him with his Mangekyou Sharingan. His bright yellow eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his mouthful of sharp teeth bared as he let out a howl of disbelief and deep shame.

Listening to Black Zetsu's painful screams, Uchiha Takeo chuckled and tossed the sealed Black Zetsu, now a small black ball, into the air before finally catching it in his hand. He thought to himself, "I've searched high and low for this, and now it's right here in my hands."

Without [Tian Chang Li Zun] in control of the entire situation, capturing Voldemort, who is skilled in [Mayfly Technique] and can merge with the earth to sever all traces of his presence, would be an incredibly difficult task.

(Uchiha Takeo, you're despicable! You actually launched a sneak attack!)

(There are no Flying Thunder God kunai around, so how did you get here, and how did you find me?!)

(Could this be a new type of kaleidoscope eye technique?!)

Even Black Zetsu couldn't fathom the truth behind the Uchiha clan's myriad Mangekyou Sharingan techniques, but he absolutely couldn't let them be sealed away like this; he had just begun to have hope!

Suppressing the urge to unleash a torrent of curses, Black Zetsu pretended to know nothing and quickly begged for mercy.

"Master Ninja, Master Ninja, I am just a pitiful and weak monster..."

"I just like bullying the weak."

Uchiha Takeo chuckled casually, "Especially for an ugly little black guy like you."

"..."

Seeing Black Zetsu open his mouth, looking like he wanted to get angry but didn't dare to, Uchiha Muan found it amusing and funny. He then ignored this guy whose actual combat power was zero, a mere verbal powerhouse in the truest sense.

With this sinister spy hiding in the shadows gone, and having dealt with Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Takeo believed that carefree and wonderful days were just around the corner.

However, while the Five Elements Seal can firmly seal away demons, it may not be able to completely seal away Black Zetsu, a product of Kaguya Otsutsuki's will.

(The best way to seal this Yin-Yang Escape artifact, which cannot be destroyed by anything other than the Six Paths level, is to completely seal it away as a corpse demon, or to throw it into a closed space and let it die out on its own.)

Having neither of these, Uchiha Muan simply grabbed a bird flying in the sky and used the Four Symbols Seal, a technique for sealing tailed beasts, to seal Black Zetsu inside the bird's body. He then covered the bird with another Four Symbols Seal, forming a complete Bagua Seal.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Once we've dealt with the matters in Kumogakure, we'll go back and have Minako reinforce it."

"Perhaps the eight thousand spears of light will also bring me unexpected joy."

Uchiha Muan teleported with Asuka to Inuzuka Blade's location, a cliff platform not far from Kumogakure. Inuzuka Blade was bandaging the wounds of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and giving them basic treatment.

"Lord Hokage."

"Chief Inuzuka, how is the situation?"

After the three were taken to a safe environment by Uchiha Muan, they fell into a deep coma. When training ninja dogs, bumps and bruises are inevitable. Inuzuka Blade is good at treating external injuries, but he is somewhat powerless when it comes to internal injuries. Yamanaka Take, whose spirit was severely damaged, is an area he has never been exposed to before.

"I'll inscribe a temporary spatial teleportation array here. You take them back to Konoha first, and then spread the word that Madara Uchiha will be returning to Konoha. This can't be kept secret."

"A secret document I wrote is tied to this bird. Just give the bird to Secretary Minako."

"I'm going to wipe out the current Hidden Cloud Village."

"Understood, Hokage-sama!"

Inuzuka Jin swallowed hard, suppressing his shock, and then disappeared into the teleportation array. The news he brought caused a huge uproar in Konoha.

The death of Uchiha Setsuna, in particular, brought the panic to a climax. If someone could kill even their own subordinates at will, how could they care about the lives of others?

For a time, the ninja clan was filled with fear. Uchiha Yomo and Uzumaki Mito stepped forward to suppress the panic, but the dark cloud still hung over the hearts of the Konoha ninja clan.

(End of this chapter)