Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 211 Illusion Connection, Mission Accomplished

For a moment, Jigen really wanted to kill Black Zetsu, but he quickly changed his mind and abandoned this pointless endeavor.

"How pitiful. Whether it's you or me, the glory we had when we first came to this planet is now matched by our current wretched state. As the victor, you have been betrayed by your own offspring and are trapped on the moon, unable to move. As for me, I have to patiently wait for the vessel to grow and also find some humans to help me."

This was undoubtedly a great humiliation for Cixian, but there was nothing he could do; the fact that he had been defeated by the natives was undeniable.

And the fact that Kaguya's son is still alive is also true.

"Hamura is completely dead, but Hagoromo Otsutsuki should still be hiding somewhere observing this planet, keeping track of my every move. Compared to those natives, he is the one I need to pay the most attention to."

Jigen felt regretful. Hagoromo definitely had a relatively pure bloodline. Any Otsutsuki would be willing to acknowledge Hagoromo as a fellow clansman.

Black Zetsu was terrified, but he still stood firmly in front of Jigen, using his humble body to make a meaningless attempt to "cover" him. Even if it meant death, he wanted to prevent Jigen from attacking the Outer Path Demon Statue.

“That’s right. The Sage of Six Paths is still alive and can take action at any time. He sealed Mother with his own hands, and he will not allow someone from outside the heavens like you to harm Mother.”

Black Jue, though fierce on the outside, was actually cowardly: "When he was ruling this planet, you didn't even know where you were hiding, and you didn't dare to show your face at all!"

He could appear and disappear in an instant; this was the power of the Sage of Six Paths at his peak.

“You’re right. Kaguya gave birth to an excellent offspring. She chose to fuse with the Ten-Tails, and her son eventually made the same decision, using his body as a vessel to seal the Ten-Tails, thus perfectly obtaining the Ten-Tails’ power.”

Rather than speaking to Kuro, Jigen was more like having a conversation with Kaguya, greeting his old friend in this way: "Ever since I was fed to the Ten-Tails by Kaguya and had to use Sumina Biko to shrink my remaining incomplete body to escape, I have no longer been a match for Hagoromo. Just adjusting Jigen's body has repeatedly exhausted my already limited energy."

Even if the Sage of Six Paths had become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, I'm afraid even if Isshiki were at his peak, he wouldn't be a match for him.

"But his body is ultimately decaying. At most, he has some residual consciousness and strength left. If he suddenly appeared and attacked me at this moment, I would probably only be able to passively fight back. But he did not do that."

Jigen raised his foot and stomped on Black Zetsu, who was blocking his way. He then reached out and pressed his hand on the Gedo Mazo, forcibly extracting chakra from it.

A steady stream of red chakra flowed from his palm into Jigen's body, accelerating the repair of the cracks on his body. In just a short while, it was equivalent to several days of recuperation.

Unfortunately, the total amount was ultimately too small. The Gedo Mazo only devoured one tail, and that tail was only after Kaede Tsukasa severely cut it off.

"Without the Ten-Tails, I can only make do with the chakra in this empty shell. I don't have Momoshiki's technique for making pills, otherwise the recovery effect should be better."

Jigen pondered for a moment, seemingly hesitant about whether to destroy the Gedo Mazo. He then looked up at the sky, his gaze seemingly fixed on the empty surface of the moon, but ultimately did not do so.

According to the rules of the Otsutsuki clan, since he and Kaguya had not reported the tree planting situation for a long time, Momoshiki and his group nearby had an obligation to investigate. A thousand years had passed, and Momoshiki might have already set off, and he might appear in the ninja world at any time.

This is also a huge hidden danger. It's not so bad against natives like Kaedeji and Nagato; they can just run away if they can't win. But what if Momoshiki comes...?

For the Ten-Tails to evolve into its Divine Tree form, it needs to devour an Otsutsuki. Now that Momoshiki is here, which Otsutsuki will he feed to the Ten-Tails? There's no need to even think about it.

If Jigen wants to plant a tree and cultivate his own Ten-Tails, he will need to bring over an Otsutsuki as a sacrifice for the Ten-Tails. But where can he steal an Otsutsuki?

After regaining their strength, should they wait for the Sage of Six Paths? Or should they hope that one of the ninja clans on this planet will produce a new Otsutsuki whose bloodline has reverted to its ancestral form? That's too difficult.

If it weren't for the series of events in recent years, Jigen would have really kept hiding until Momoshiki and the others came to the ninja world, giving Jigen a target to take action against.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Sealing you is indeed the best way to protect you, preventing you from destroying this planet while also preventing me from killing you in one fell swoop... You have two excellent sons, Kaguya."

The portal opened, swallowing Jigen's figure: "Madara, who has mastered the Rinnegan, is plotting to revive you. I will intervene appropriately to help them clear obstacles in their search for the Tailed Beasts. You will thank me for that."

Jigen left without killing Black Zetsu or destroying the Gedo Mazo. Perhaps he has other plans, and if absolutely necessary, he might try to steal Kaguya's Ten-Tails.

"Mother……"

Black Zetsu, disregarding his own safety, awkwardly touched the Gedo Mazo, sensing that the enormous creature before him was actually severely depleted, having had too much chakra forcibly taken away by Jigen.

No matter how you look at it, this was a huge loss. It seems that Jigen had been lying in wait all along, specifically to check on Kaguya's condition, and he did indeed confirm it.

“Mother, we cannot let Jigen succeed. Every time the Gedo Mazo devours a tailed beast, it will eventually become an excuse for him to extract chakra! In the end, your power will be continuously taken away by him.”

Black Zetsu was very anxious, but Kaguya did not respond to him again. Silence was the best response she could give. Just a few years ago, things were looking good. They were just waiting for Nagato to develop, for Madara to be resurrected, and for the Infinite Tsukuyomi to be activated. But how long has it been? The situation has deteriorated to this point.

This was a situation that even the Otsutsuki clan couldn't reverse. Overnight, regardless of status or wealth, it seemed like everyone was competing to see who was worse off, and no one's situation was much better.

After a while, Black Zetsu decided to leave. He was also in a crippled state, and everyone thought he had died at Obito's hands. If Madara and Nagato found out, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"hooligan……"

At this moment, a thought emanated from the Gedo Mazo, then fell silent, leaving Black Zetsu utterly perplexed. No matter how he pressed for answers, he received no response, as if Kaguya had also exhausted her power and fallen into a deep sleep.

"Tobi? Why did Mother mention Tobi? He's just a slightly special White Zetsu who can use Wood Release... Obito has been the one controlling Tobi all these years, why is Mother bringing this up?"

Black Zetsu frowned, suspecting there were things he hadn't yet figured out. The fragmented information he had just obtained was insufficient for him to uncover the true secrets of what happened back then.

"Tobi... he should be with Obito in Konoha right now. How can I contact him?"

Black Zetsu burrowed into the ground and disappeared. Some time passed, and Madara and Nagato headed towards Konoha Village, intending to visit the Uchiha clan's memorial stone once more.

Madara had too many doubts in his heart. Even though he had memorized the contents of the stone tablet, he would never be satisfied without seeing it all with his own eyes again using his Rinnegan.

“Once we get to Konoha, I’ll find a chance to kill Obito. You won’t stop me, will you?” Nagato suddenly asked.

“Obito is still very useful to our plan. The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan contains exceptionally powerful energy. Why do you suddenly have this idea?”

“If it weren’t for Obito, Yahiko wouldn’t have been forced to use the power of Karma and would never have been able to turn back. Jigen deserves to die, and Obito deserves to die too.”

"Such straightforward logic, very good, Nagato. It seems you have begun to recognize the ugliness of this world. Mutual hatred is an inescapable knot, but you have also fallen into it."

"What does it matter? The process and the result are the same, so there's no point in hating or not. You're already suspicious of the Eye of the Moon Plan, aren't you? There are just too many coincidences. Who knows how many more Otsutsuki are hiding behind the scenes? At least the Sage of Six Paths is one, and the person who gave birth to both the Sage of Six Paths and Otsutsuki Hamura is another."

Nagato said coldly, "Overly complicated pursuits can easily lead to unpredictable quagmires. It's better to follow my plan and obtain all the tailed beasts, including the Ten-Tails! We can use absolute power to intimidate the world. If any country dares to disobey, we can bomb them from a distance, or we can divide the power of the tailed beasts into many equal parts and distribute them to various countries so that they can intimidate each other."

"Project Eye of the Moon must continue. As long as there are no absolutely intolerable flaws, and until a better method is found, we should continue along the path I have laid out. Your method is no good; it has not brought happiness and peace to the world," Madara said.

The world is in such a terrible state, how can we talk about happiness and peace? The villagers of Konoha should be happy and peaceful, but that's only because Kaede Tsukasa bleeds other forces dry.

Moreover, this happiness and peace is only temporary; they are all just backup zombies.

The two ignored the barrier of Konoha Village and barged in, an action that immediately attracted the attention of the barrier team.

"There are two powerful chakra reactions!"

"The Hokage has given the order not to be heeded."

Everything appeared calm and peaceful, but no one knew how violent the undercurrents beneath the surface had become.

The two walked through Konoha Village, leaping swiftly across numerous rooftops, looking down at the village's twinkling lights and bustling crowds, briefly marveling at its prosperity.

If that were all, it wouldn't have been so bad. What caught their attention even more was that every now and then a ninja would find a place to sit quietly, their chakra fluctuating violently, clearly indicating that they were under a genjutsu.

"This is the Musou Tsukuyomi? This is the first time I've seen it. Although I can't personally experience what they went through in the genjutsu, it's a fact that their chakra was constantly being consumed and taken away by Kaede Tsukasa. This is the power of the Eight Thousand Spears eye technique. It can manipulate the chakra in the subject's body at will."

Spot commented on the genjutsu, saying that if Infinite Tsukuyomi couldn't be broken, then Mukotsuki-yomi was probably the most powerful genjutsu, extremely difficult to break. However, their main purpose in coming to Konoha was not for this.

The two entered the Uchiha clan's territory and, under the cover of night, found the Naka Shrine and went into the basement.

The Uchiha ninja on guard duty was dozing off, completely lacking any sense of vigilance—in fact, there was nothing to be vigilant about. Let alone who would dare to infiltrate the Uchiha clan's territory, even if they did, who would cause trouble at the Naka Shrine?

In the flickering candlelight, the two looked at the ancient stone tablet before them.

"A stone tablet that has been passed down for over a thousand years, with inscriptions written by the Sage of Six Paths himself? There's something wrong with that in itself. Why would the Sage of Six Paths do something like that?"

Nagato glanced at it with his Rinnegan and couldn't help but make a comment.

Madara snorted coldly: "You're using hindsight to deduce the cause, which makes your perspective much simpler. If you really have such high intelligence, why didn't you realize sooner that the Rinnegan is my eye and not yours?"

Nagato was speechless.

In the intervals between their conversations, they had already examined the inscriptions on the stone tablet many times.

"The Rinnegan is a necessary power for the Eye of the Moon Plan in order to control the Ten-Tails. At least that's certain. Even if it really is a trap set by someone, it should be set up at the last step, not by using lies from the very first step."

Nagato said, "We are the only people in the world who can effectively deal with the Ten-Tails. I'm afraid even Jigen is no match for us in this regard. He has the Byakugan, not the Rinnegan! We must formulate a plan to capture the Ten-Tails as soon as possible, and it would be best to succeed before Kaedeji. If he intervenes, even if we win, he will take away most of the Ten-Tails."

That would be completely meaningless, a more terrifying form of slow suicide, and Kaede Tsukasa's relative advantage would only become greater.

Just then, a commotion arose, and even though they were in the basement, Madara and Nagato could vaguely sense it.

The two immediately walked out of the Naga Shrine. The ninja on guard was shocked and was about to shout at them, but Madara gave him a look and the man immediately fell silent.

"An update and upgrade? It connects to another illusion world called Limited Tsukuyomi, where all logged-in users can organize forces to conquer it?"

"Not only can he steal ninjutsu from another world, but he can even steal bloodline limits? Is this what Kaede Tsukasa has been busy with all along? Harvesting so much chakra, he painstakingly created another genjutsu world, instigating a false war between two fake worlds?"

Nagato looked on with suspicion. Was this some other way of harvesting chakra? With Kaede Tsukasa's abilities, there was absolutely no need for him to go to such lengths.

"Limited... Tsukuyomi? Even I've never heard of this technique before. It seems to be related to Infinite Tsukuyomi. Kaede Tsukasa wouldn't name it that way for no reason."

Ban was also confused.

The true developer of this technique is Madara in the anime timeline, so it's normal that he doesn't know it. However, he can confirm one thing: once he understands the situation of the Limited Tsukuyomi, he will know what Kaede Tsukasa's true purpose is...

What could possibly be more important than the Ten-Tails?

(End of this chapter)