Black Zetsu's face was full of disgust. He now hated Obito to the bone. It was because of his self-righteousness that he messed up his plan completely.
He had made up his mind that he absolutely could not release his mother. But Obito stubbornly insisted on going through with it.
Did he think his mother hadn't died fast enough?
Or did he think Takeshiki wasn't strong enough?
Moreover, a pawn suddenly wanting to be the player, who could tolerate that?
He now had only one thought: he could not let Obito mess things up.
If there was an opportunity, he must strengthen the seal and absolutely prevent anyone from discovering it.
Especially Takeshiki…
For a moment, Black Zetsu even wondered if his two older brothers had sealed their mother to protect her?
But his mother hadn't understood any of this, leading to such a misunderstanding?
'What am I even thinking?'
Black Zetsu quickly became somewhat self-mocking. Although he was now somewhat similar to his two rebellious older brothers...
'I am protecting Mother. I will absolutely not let mother be harmed.'
Black Zetsu clenched his fists, but just as he was pondering, Madara spoke again.
"A pawn will never make it to the table, and the Rinnegan will always be mine. Don't mind him. How is your mission progressing?"
"There's already a lead." Black Zetsu snapped back to reality and immediately nodded.
"Although many things are not clear, there is finally a direction, and besides, it's Konoha, so I need time."
"Hurry up."
Madara nodded. He stood up and overlooked everything below.
The Land of Fire was still the same Land of Fire. Although there had been significant changes in its topography, past memories kept flooding into his mind.
Looking at everything before him, he murmured, "I really can't wait…"
"Hashirama, I wonder if you, like me, have also been waiting for a long time?"
"Tch, I didn't expect war to come."
Shikamaru, holding a skewer in his mouth, complained. His words resonated with many others.
War was relatively distant for them, they had only heard about it in their parents' conversations. They hadn't expected that now, all of this would finally fall upon them.
"It's not like we wanted to fight. It's the Akatsuki, those lunatics, who caused this trouble."
Takemi was eating dumplings nearby, and upon hearing Shikamaru's words, he shook his head.
"Also, with that kind of awareness, how are you going to take over from your dad?"
"Hey, although you haven't officially been sworn in, you are practically the Hokage already." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and spoke glumly.
"As the Fifth Hokage, you're still so relaxed at this time. Shouldn't you be more serious?"
"You know I'm the Fifth Hokage, huh? I'm giving you a chance to apologize now, otherwise you wouldn't want your father to retire on the spot, would you?" Takemi raised an eyebrow and spoke with a mischievous smile.
He advocated for a 'monarch-offline system'. With so many people working, why should he be the one to suffer?
"Hey, no way…"
Shikamaru immediately fell silent. Although he knew it was a joke, Takemi sometimes acted quite unreliably.
"Alright, you two, now isn't the time to be talking about this, is it?"
Ino couldn't stand it anymore. At a time like this, only she could intervene. Hinata and Sakura both nodded.
"War, huh…"
However, Neji, who had been quiet, seemed somewhat expectant, and Lee clenched his fists even tighter.
"Although war is cruel, none of us will be afraid, and I hear the situation is very different this time."
"Yes, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and we are allies. Everyone will move together." Takemi smiled at Ino and spoke.
Shikamaru cooperatively took over the conversation, "Besides that, the Land of Iron, the Land of Frost, and even Sunagakure have actively responded. Actually, the Land of Grass also wanted to participate, but…"
"Tch, those scumbags, it doesn't matter if they come or not."
Before Shikamaru could finish, Karin interrupted him, extremely displeased. What she had experienced in the Land of Grass back then was something she could never forget for the rest of her life.
"Besides, that broken village was already destroyed years ago. They probably can't send out any good troops."
"Indeed, whether Kusagakure comes or not doesn't really make much difference." Shikamaru nodded, though his gaze occasionally swept over Takemi.
He clearly knew how that village had ended up in such a state.
"Senpai…"
Just as they were chatting, Hinata, who had been mostly silent, suddenly looked at Takemi.
"Um… Naruto and Sasuke… I haven't seen them. Where are they now?"
"That's right, senpai!"
Sakura also spoke upon hearing this.
"How is Sasuke doing now?"
"Those two, you can rest assured." Takemi smiled upon hearing this.
"They are doing very well. The next time you see them, they might have already undergone a complete transformation."
Sasuke and Naruto had now begun their respective training and transformations.
Sasuke, needless to say, already had Itachi's eyes, and what he needed to do now was to ensure that the energy of those eyes was fully utilized by him. As long as he ensured this, he would complete his transformation.
As for Naruto…
His situation was even better, he was about to obtain the complete Nine-Tails Chakra. However, he's also going to suffer.
Naruto and Nine-Tails were in a bad state. If Nine-Tails became stronger, he would definitely be in trouble. But Takemi believed that Naruto would eventually be able to activate Nine-Tails Mode.
'If I remember correctly, Naruto gradually appeased Nine-Tails and reached a reconciliation with him when he was fighting desperately against Obito, finally becoming a perfect Jinchuriki.'
So, there was no big problem now. At worst, he would personally pat Nine-Tails' head and help them speed things up.
"Hmm?"
However, just as Takemi was pondering, Kaguya, who was inside him, suddenly let out a questioning sound.
This made Takemi raise an eyebrow. He calmly continued chatting with the genin, but asked in his mind. "What's wrong?"
"I seem to have sensed Zetsu's presence." Kaguya frowned, speaking with some confusion.
"Although he is very hidden, his Chakra originally belongs to me, so I wouldn't be mistaken. It's strange, why would he be here?"
Kaguya was indeed somewhat confused. Although Takemi had never told her exactly what had transpired with Black Zetsu, she hadn't forgotten that her Chakra signature was within Takemi's God tree.
Coupled with Takemi's stance, she knew that these two were likely enemies. This made her somewhat conflicted.
On one hand, there was the existence of her Chakra condensed, essentially her child.
On the other side was the true source of terror in this world.
Under the influence of her son, Hagoromo, Takeshiki had surpassed his sensei, becoming even more terrifying, cruel, and cold-blooded.
The only good news was that this cold-blooded and cruel person didn't seem prepared to kill.
"Zetsu was trying to save me." After thinking for a moment, Kaguya spoke.
"Although I don't know his purpose for coming here, but—"
"I know what you mean. I'm also waiting to see how he plans to save you."
(End of Chapter)
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