Black Zetsu, pinned down by the Truth-Seeking Orb, watched Kurama's giant body drop. A huge shadow covered him, and a fear he couldn't put into words rose in his heart.
"Yo, placenta, long time no see." Kurama grinned wide, his scary face enough to make kids too afraid to cry.
"Nine-Tails... what are you going to do?" Black Zetsu's voice shook a little.
He wasn't scared of death, since he knew he had his mother's immortality. But he still felt fear. Who knew what this fox with a bad brain would do to him.
"What am I going to do? That's a fun question." Kurama let out a creepy laugh. "But I don't mind answering it. Your fear is one of my enjoyments, heh heh heh heh..."
"Cough!" He laughed too hard.
Not everyone could be an elder in the Soul Hall.
Black Zetsu blinked, totally confused.
Kurama didn't care. He sat down hard on the ground and picked up Black Zetsu with his hand. He looked toward the distant roar. "Before that, I have a question for you. Do you know what the Otsutsuki clan needs to plant the Divine Tree, and what it takes for the Divine Tree to grow into the Ten-Tails?"
Black Zetsu froze.
He did know the answer. He was a placenta split off from his mother before she was sealed... the third son. To make sure he could bring her back, she gave him many memories of the Otsutsuki clan when she split him off.
Those included the Divine Tree, the Ten-Tails, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He knew how to plant the Divine Tree, and how it grew into the Ten-Tails.
After planting the Divine Tree, it keeps sucking up the planet's energy, which is natural energy. Once the energy hits a certain level, you offer up a body from an Otsutsuki clan member for the Divine Tree to eat. Then the Divine Tree gains the Otsutsuki clan's power and grows into the Ten-Tails.
That's why the Ten-Tails has the Rinne Sharingan. One Ten-Tails means one Otsutsuki body.
Of course, Otsutsuki can implant their info into others to make a wedge, then revive through that wedge. And since the Otsutsuki clan has strict ranks, a guardian who sees a subordinate get eaten won't feel a thing.
You could say Kaguya was the only one in the Otsutsuki clan who was a "subordinate" but killed her "guardian," then fed the "guardian" to the
Ten-Tails as food for her people.
That's why Kaguya feared the Otsutsuki clan coming after her.
But... why was this Nine-Tails guy asking about all this?
Kurama didn't know Black Zetsu had thought so much. He just kept talking. "It needs three things: a huge amount of natural energy, a body that can hold it, and the last one... a corpse from the Otsutsuki clan."
Black Zetsu's eyes went wide. "How do you know..."
"Doesn't matter." Kurama grinned, his smile scary. "I didn't think of this before, so I just gathered the chakra of the nine tailed beasts, got the Six Paths power, and used my own body to hold the merge. That made me the Ten-Tails."
"But something felt off, because my power was way weaker than Kaguya's." Kurama tilted his head. "In theory, the Ten-Tails isn't the same as an Otsutsuki. The Ten-Tails is just a tool to grow chakra. So... the goal I need isn't the Ten-Tails. It's Kaguya."
"I'm the Chakra Fruit myself. Then I eat myself, and... I'll become a second Kaguya." Kurama's mouth stretched wider, his eyes turning scary. "And what am I missing now? Do you know... Otsutsuki Black Zetsu?"
Black Zetsu: "..."
This guy wants to eat me.
No doubt about it.
And I can't fight back, because I have no power to do so.
Black Zetsu's body was split off from Kaguya in an emergency. He has little chakra, so no fighting power, but he actually has energy to use all bloodline limits, like Wood Release.
So Black Zetsu's true form isn't just Kaguya's third son. He's really part of Kaguya's body.
Of course, not the placenta.
So Black Zetsu has the same immortality as Kaguya. He... is an unchangeable, man-made Otsutsuki clan member, fixed from the start!
The ultimate horror brought ultimate calm. That's how Black Zetsu felt right now.
Even if his heart was full of fear, even if he wanted to scream, his brain was totally calm, like the still water in a toilet. You never know how wild the sewer connected to it really is.
"So, what are you going to do?" Black Zetsu looked at Kurama, his voice even and calm.
But Kurama didn't care.
He laughed low, his voice growing louder. He laughed big, his voice turning wild. He went wild, his voice twisting.
"Black Zetsu, tailed beasts have limits. In my short life as a beast, I learned one thing. The more you pile on chakra, the more you see tailed beasts have limits, unless you go beyond them." Kurama's eyes shone.
Black Zetsu's eyes went wide. "What... are you trying to say?"
"Heh heh heh... ha ha ha ha..." Kurama laughed to the sky. His right hand stabbed into Kaguya's severed sleeve and yanked out all of Black Zetsu. Facing Black Zetsu's fear-maxed face, Kurama's voice twisted fully. "Oh wow..."
"I'm not a tailed beast anymore! Black Zetsu!"
Six Paths power, tailed beast power, natural energy, plus the Otsutsuki body in his hand. All the parts to become the Ten-Tails were ready. Now Kurama just had to use these powers to hatch the Chakra Fruit and eat it.
But another problem came up. Kurama was using his own body to hatch the Chakra Fruit, so how would he eat himself?
Good question.
Do you remember... the Tailed Beast Severing Clone Technique!
Now, reverse it. Cut off his main body and chakra. Use that tail clone as the Ten-Tails to hatch into the fruit, then the main body eats it.
He made hand signs with both hands. His nine tails broke off at once. With a pained look on his face, the nine tails fused into another Kurama.
The clone Kurama looked at the main body and grinned. No need for orders. He clapped his hands, all power gathered inside, and opened his big mouth wide to swallow the confused Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu's body acted as the bed. The Six Paths power shaped the form. The tailed beast power and natural energy mixed into purer power.
A strong aura filled the whole space right away. The main Kurama had lost all his power now. He gave everything to the clone, and the main body couldn't even squeeze out a bit of chakra.
His huge body got skinny like skin and bones, eyes bulging out, making his scary shape even scarier.
But he was laughing, laughing with pure joy.
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