They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 164 Black Zetsu: That's right, I am the will of the planet!

That night, the moon was hidden above the clouds, and it was pitch black. Logically speaking, this was the perfect opportunity for a thief to show off his skills.

In the northwest of Kirigakure, near the Chakra Research Institute, a seemingly inconspicuous warehouse is surrounded by countless sentries.

Because of the mass and size of the Chakra Cannon, it could not be placed underground like the Chakra Research Institute. Therefore, Hozuki Shingetsu built a warehouse specifically near the Chakra Research Institute to store this behemoth.

"Yuuji, what's going on today? The Mizukage specifically sent so many of us to guard this thing."

A ninja with deep red hair glanced casually at the treetops, rooftops, and shadowy corners around her, then whispered to her companion.

Although Hozuki Shingetsu has not yet officially succeeded as Mizukage, given his prestige and the fact that he currently works in the Mizukage's office and wields power over Kirigakure, it is practically a foregone conclusion that he will become Mizukage.

Therefore, when ninjas from Kirigakure talk in private, they generally regard Hozuki Shingetsu as the Mizukage and refer to him as such in their conversations.

"Who knows! Perhaps there are still envoys from other villages in the village, and Lord Crescent Moon is worried that after witnessing the power of this chakra cannon during the day, they might be unable to resist coming to investigate at night!"

The one who answered was a ninja with pale skin and a chilling aura. The stark contrast between his pale skin and the crimson dot between his eyebrows made him seem even more unapproachable.

Since Kaguya Yoshio, the patriarch of the Kaguya clan, committed suicide due to the failure of the "Bloody Mist Rebellion," the Kaguya clan has kept a low profile for a while.

After all, the Kaguya clan likes to act recklessly, but they are not stupid.

As the loser, and the one who initiated the war, and whose own strength has been greatly diminished, if they don't keep a low profile and protect themselves under these circumstances, then they really want to have a clan-wide elimination game.

Due to its shift towards a more subdued foreign policy, coupled with the fact that the various ninja clans in Kirigakure were also worried about being targeted by Hozuki Shingetsu and thus severed ties with the Kaguya clan, the Kaguya clan found itself in a very unusual position within Kirigakure for a time.

Despite being a powerful ninja clan that is no less formidable than the Hozuki and Yuki clans, no one dares to cross paths with them.

This situation only gradually improved after Hozuki Shingetsu returned from mastering Sage Mode and, in a public setting, recruited Kaguya Yoshiyuki, a rising genius of the Kaguya clan, into the Anbu, repeatedly praising the Kaguya clan in his words.

As a leader with both grand dreams and formidable strength, Hozuki Shingetsu naturally wouldn't care about the Kaguya clan's past. If he didn't have that kind of magnanimity, he wouldn't be able to conquer the ninja world.

Therefore, after noticing the public opinion in the village towards the Kaguya clan, Hozuki Shingetsu specially arranged this play to express his goodwill towards the Kaguya clan to the outside world.

Furthermore, at Hozuki Shingetsu's suggestion, the Uzumaki clan began to interact more frequently with the Kaguya clan.

As Hozuki Shingetsu's close relatives, it would be too politically risky for the Hozuki clan to step forward. On the other hand, having the Uzumaki clan, a powerful but shallow-rooted outsider ninja clan that is related to Hozuki Shingetsu by marriage, step forward would greatly increase their room for maneuver.

Therefore, among the current generation of young ninjas, the Uzumaki clan and the Kaguya clan have a fairly good relationship.

"Even so, there are far too many ninjas guarding this place..."

As a clan related to Hozuki Shingetsu by marriage, the Uzumaki clan has always followed Hozuki Shingetsu's lead. Therefore, the ninja guarding this place include not only elites who are proficient in sealing techniques, but also geniuses who have mastered Kagura's Mind's Eye.

The ninja in front of me is a genius ninja who has mastered Kagura's Mind's Eye.

In his mental vision, there were no fewer than fifty ninjas scattered throughout the warehouse, which was less than 800 square meters in size. Moreover, judging from their chakra reactions, their strength was all above that of elite Chunin.

This power is capable of overthrowing the regime of a small country. Isn't it a bit too cautious to use this power to guard a weapon within Kirigakure?

Just as he was filled with doubt, a different kind of ripple suddenly appeared in the spiritual world created by Kagura's Mind's Eye, catching his attention.

He turned his head and saw a ninja from the mist perched on a tree in that direction, quietly keeping watch over the surroundings.

"Is it just my imagination...?"

He shook his head, turned around, and continued chatting with the Kaguya ninja. As close relatives of Kaguya Otsutsuki, they had quite a few things to talk about…

-

"Kagura's Mind's Eye, a member of the Uzumaki clan?"

At the same time, Black Zetsu peeked out from the tree and looked at the Uzumaki ninja over there.

Strangely, even though there was an elite Chunin-level Mist Ninja on guard in the tree, he seemed completely oblivious to the half-head that had appeared beneath him.

"Heh, it seems Kirigakure values ​​this chakra cannon quite a bit! So many people are guarding it."

Black Zetsu had just briefly patrolled the outer perimeter to check the level of security in Kirigakure.

"Despite its many shortcomings, it is still a strategic weapon. I guess they were worried about someone sabotaging it at night!"

White Zetsu split off from its shoulder and answered.

"Trying to sabotage us, are they? With their strength?"

Black Zetsu laughed heartily upon hearing this, then his body sank into the ground.

Before long, Black Zetsu broke through the layers of defenses and entered the warehouse, where he saw the fierce weapon that still gleamed with a cold light in the darkness.

The steel behemoth, tens of meters long, lay quietly in the dark warehouse. Its streamlined cannon, made entirely of high-quality steel, exuded a unique industrial aesthetic. The eerie muzzle pointed directly at the door, as if it were about to pounce and devour people at any moment.

After searching the warehouse and finding it unguarded, Black Zetsu finally revealed himself and approached the place that might be the only hope to save his mother.

"Technological weapons... I never imagined that ordinary ninjas, combined with human ingenuity, could create such a weapon that could shatter a mountain in a single strike, comparable to a Tailed Beast Ball..."

Black Zetsu stroked the cold, gigantic beast, a hint of amazement appearing on his face.

Due to its purpose and origin, it can be said that in the past thousand years, no ninja below the Kage level was worthy of appearing in its memory.

If even ninjas are treated this way, one can imagine how they are regarded in the eyes of ordinary people who are not even ninjas.

However, in this very situation, a group of ordinary people, along with ordinary ninjas whom he looked down upon, actually created a weapon capable of shattering mountains with a single strike. How could he not be shocked?

Moreover, according to what Hozuki Shingetsu said at the time, this chakra cannon was only a semi-finished product, and its power and range still had a lot of room for improvement.

If what they say is true, according to their calculations, they could even destroy the moon!

Destroy the moon!

He painstakingly and tirelessly instigated generation after generation of Indra and Asura reincarnations, wasn't that his purpose?

It was all to save the mother who was trapped on the moon!

Even so, this long-cherished wish of a thousand years has only seen the light of day twenty years ago, and whether it can be fulfilled is still unknown.

After all, with Madara Uchiha already old, the difficulty of absorbing nine tailed beasts from six ninja villages with just a pair of Rinnegan is unimaginable.

But now someone suddenly tells it that right now, at this very moment, the weapon in front of Black Zetsu only requires Kirigakure to invest for ten years to achieve a breakthrough, destroy the moon, and directly release its mother. How could it not be itching to get rid of it?

As Black Zetsu imagined that scene, a drop of unidentified liquid even trickled from the corner of his eye.

"However, judging from what Hozuki Shingetsu said, it seems that because the chakra cannon requires too much investment in research and development, and its obvious shortcomings make it not cost-effective, they don't want to continue developing it..."

After calming his excitement, Black Zetsu suddenly remembered Hozuki Shingetsu's words, and a chill ran through him.

Even if it had the ability to take away such a sophisticated weapon, it wouldn't modify it!

Moreover, according to its investigation, all the well-known scientific research talents in the ninja world, except for a few in other ninja villages, have been recruited by Kirigakure.

In this situation, even if it wanted others to study it, there was simply no way to do so!

"No, I have to stop that brat! How can such a powerful weapon be stopped by such an idiot!"

It will never agree with this approach of giving it hope only to disappoint it!

Thinking of Hozuki Shingetsu, the boy who had left a deep impression on it before, Black Zetsu's brain began to work at lightning speed, racking its brains to think of how to fool Hozuki Shingetsu.

However, Black Zetsu sadly discovered that, given its intelligence, it might not be able to fool Hozuki Shingetsu.

After all, Hozuki Shingetsu is not like Uchiha Madara, who has such obvious loopholes to exploit. Moreover, his control over conspiracies and tricks is among the top three in the thousand-year memory of the ninja world, even among Black Zetsu.

In this situation, it really couldn't think of a way to fool Hozuki Shingetsu.

"Fine! If all else fails, I'll just steal the data on the Chakra Cannon and start from scratch, slowly training people to research it!"

After much deliberation, Black Zetsu realized he couldn't find a good way to fool people, and finally, in a fit of rage, he came up with this idea.

It has endured for thousands of years, so if we start researching this thing from scratch, it will only take another thousand years!

Moreover, compared to absorbing the nine tailed beasts to summon the Ten-Tails and becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki to unleash the Infinite Tsukuyomi in order to save his mother, this plan to develop a chakra cannon to shatter the moon is simple and brutal, without so many variables.

However, just as it was taking one last, reluctant look at the chakra cannon and attempting to retreat to the chakra research institute to steal relevant data, a mocking voice rang out from behind it.

"For someone to be out in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, sneaking into a key location of Kirigakure, isn't that a huge disrespect to Kirigakure?"

That sound... is bad!

Black Zetsu immediately recognized the voice as Hozuki Shingetsu's, and feeling guilty, it immediately chose to run away.

Duang!

However, to its surprise, just as it was about to use its mayfly technique to escape, the ground, which had been so comfortable for it, suddenly became incredibly hard, causing it to crash headfirst into the ground.

"The sealing technique of the Uzumaki clan?"

Black Zetsu stared at the golden sealing array that suddenly appeared on the ground, a look of astonishment on his face.

"While I don't know where your superb earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of escaping technique) comes from, to come and go as you please in my Hidden Mist Village is simply too disrespectful to us, isn't it?"

Hozuki Shingetsu emerged from the shadows, his scarlet sage-like face shining brightly in the darkness, as he looked at the stiff-bodied Black Zetsu.

At this moment, Black Zetsu was completely covered in a black robe, his peculiar appearance hidden under the hood, making it impossible to discern anything about him.

Hozuki Shingetsu carefully examined the biggest mastermind in the original work, but his face showed a cautious expression.

"Tell me, who are you? Have you come to my Hidden Mist Village to spy on secrets?"

With his escape route cut off, Black Zetsu's mind raced as he considered how to extricate himself from the situation.

Perhaps it is the life-or-death crisis that can truly unleash potential, and Black Zetsu instantly came up with a brilliant idea.

"Who am I? Young man, I was reluctant to tell you, but since you convened the peace conference and single-handedly stopped the war, I will tell you!"

He suddenly ripped off his hood, revealing a face identical to Hozuki Shingetsu's, and with a calm laugh in Hozuki Shingetsu's voice, said:

"who I am?"

"I am the embodiment of the planet's will!"

(End of this chapter)