Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 254 Kaedeji Takes Action

Inside the Gedo Mazo, Obito had already entered a deep slumber, completely unaware of everything happening in the outside world.

Only Afei is still active. As the son of the divine tree, he can obtain information from the outside world through the roots of plants, while Konan, who is responsible for guarding the demon statue of the heretic, knows nothing about this.

"It seems that it is not the cell division technique I understood. The power of the Tree People is indeed not that simple... It's a pity that there is too little information, and the indirect understanding is also very limited."

Abi enveloped Obito, quietly receiving information from the outside world. He already regarded the Divine Tree People outside as his opponents. Once Obito was fully nurtured, the first thing he would do was to find a way to eliminate the Divine Tree People on Jigen's side.

While Afei could continue to endure, Hei Jue could not. He had already returned silently and was moving stealthily underground.

"Who?!"

Xiao Nan suddenly turned around, raised his hand, and an area a kilometer away from him exploded with a bang. A large amount of paper was scattered along with the shock wave of the explosion. At the explosion site, countless explosive tags flew and fell one after another, turning the area into a restricted zone.

"You're much faster at casting spells than before. This size of explosive tags... that's definitely your style, Konan."

Black Zetsu's figure slowly emerged from the blast: "It's been years. You've become stronger. You can now control the Paper Release technique at will."

"Black Zetsu?! How could it be you? You were clearly killed by Obito!"

"You think he killed me? It wasn't easy to fool you. I almost really died that time," Black Zetsu sneered. "But it's all in the past, and there's no point in bringing it up now."

"You appeared while Nagato was fighting a powerful enemy, trying to destroy the Akatsuki? I will never let you succeed. The one hundred million explosive tags buried here are enough to kill you." Konan assumed a fighting stance.

Black Zetsu just sneered, and the next second, six White Zetsu suddenly emerged from Konan's body.

"La la la la~ Didn't expect that, did you? All your chakra is now mine!"

"Don't move, or I'll kill you!"

The six White Zetsu continued to grow larger, instantly consuming most of Konan's chakra. Even though Konan reacted quickly, she hurriedly summoned numerous explosive tags to fly over, intending to blow all the White Zetsu to pieces.

Even if a close-range explosion would still harm her, the White Zetsu must not be allowed to succeed.

"Hee hee hee……"

The White Zetsu rushed towards the detonating tags, triggering a series of intense explosions. As the smoke cleared, Konan, covered in soot, was about to take to the sky when the Black Zetsu suddenly emerged from the ground, grabbed her ankle, and climbed up like a black shadow, covering half of Konan's body.

"That's fine. Why do you insist on guarding the Demonic Statue of the Heretic? It's such a pity. I could have left quietly after seeing that guy and caused you no loss."

Black Zetsu held Konan's body tightly. No matter how hard Konan resisted, whether she used her limited chakra, tried to use the Paper Release technique, or even tried to detonate the explosive tags under her feet, it was all in vain.

No matter how much power she used, Black Zetsu could always suppress all her movements, even interfering with the chakra within her body.

This was the first time Konan had been possessed by Black Zetsu. It was as if another consciousness had invaded her body, and it was stronger than her own consciousness, able to powerfully control her body.

"This is impossible..." Xiao Nan said in disbelief, "And your ability..."

"Can't believe it? Do you really think my strength is similar to that of an ordinary White Zetsu? I have existed in this world for thousands of years. Although many of my plans have been broken in the last few years, I am still not someone a little girl like you can match. I just didn't need to use my strength before."

Black Zetsu snorted coldly, forcefully controlling Konan's body as he walked step by step toward the Gedo Mazo: "As my mother's child, I bear the heavy responsibility of reviving her, and I will not act lightly unless it is absolutely necessary."

At his level, controlling Xiao Nan would be incredibly easy. Once he touched her, Xiao Nan would be finished, reduced to a body at his beck and call.

"Of course, you probably don't know much information and can't understand what I mean. If Nagato and the others were even slightly smart, they wouldn't reveal too many secrets to you, and Madara wouldn't allow Nagato to do so either. So, you are honored to witness a corner of Mother's power."

Black Zetsu, controlling Konan, brought her to the Gedo Mazo.

To Xiao Nan's astonishment, a vortex-shaped face slowly emerged from the Outer Path Demon Statue. The eyes exposed at the core of the vortex were tightly closed, as if the person enveloped by A Fei had fallen into a deep sleep.

"Ah Fei, it's you! You were hiding inside the Gedo Mazo! No wonder you've been missing all this time, I couldn't find you anywhere!" Konan was furious. Even if she was stupid, she knew that Black Zetsu and Ah Fei had joined forces to use the power of the Gedo Mazo for something.

"The Gedo Mazo is something left behind by Yahiko and Nagato. It is the medium through which they realized their ideals. What right do you shady creatures have to use the Gedo Mazo!" Konan's voice was shrill.

"Qualifications? That's not important. What's important is that we can indeed tap into the power of the Gedo Mazo. This is Kaguya Otsutsuki's will."

Afei glanced at Xiaonan, then asked Heijue, "Approaching us at this time is too risky. You'd better give me a proper explanation."

"After this, I will take Konan away and make her disappear. There are already a lot of White Zetsu hiding in the ground and trees around here, so no one will know that I was here."

Black Zetsu stated bluntly, "The Divine Tree beings on Jigen's side are more powerful than imagined, and there is a high probability that new Divine Tree beings are being conceived. It is no secret that Jigen massacred Mount Myōboku and captured Jiraiya."

"In the end, you're still scared, doubting that someone like me or Obito, a half-baked God Tree Man, has no chance of turning the tide, right?"

"Hmph, that's a perfectly normal thought. Our enemies include Jigen, an unknown number of Divine Tree People, and Kaedeji. Kaedeji is the easiest one to deal with."

Black Zetsu paused for a moment, then said, "Most importantly, that Tree Spirit possesses the Rinnegan. Each time it splits, it's like creating a new pair of Rinnegan. Once you are successfully born, you will also possess the Rinnegan, right?"

"What do you want to say?"

"The Rinnegan, this supreme eye, is no longer the most important thing. Since that's the case, I plan to target Indra and Ashura of this generation."

Black Zetsu coldly said, "Since Madara's complete death, this generation's Indra and Ashura should have been reincarnated one after another. Currently, it seems to be Naruto and Sasuke."

"Oh? Why not Itachi? Obito had been eyeing Itachi for a long time, and even made a move, but he ended up with a terrible fate, having both his eyes gouged out by Kaede Tsukasa." "Because no one of his generation could be Itachi's match. Ashura could never be a waste. Even if he couldn't compare to Indra in terms of strength and talent in the early stages, he shouldn't have been just another ordinary person. I've secretly observed both the Senju and Uzumaki clans, and none of them fit Ashura's characteristics at all."

That means it can only be Sasuke and Naruto. These two children happen to come from those two great clans and both happen to have remarkable talents. It seems that Naruto has also suddenly awakened the Wood Release bloodline limit, which further confirms Black Zetsu's opinion.

These two brothers are an obstacle and are no longer of any use. It's best to get rid of them before they grow up. He doesn't want to have more enemies of Hashirama and Madara's caliber in the future.

Every time Black Zetsu examines the world around him, he feels a sense of oppression—what has been the purpose of his relentless efforts and struggles over the past thousand years? To put it bluntly, it's all about finding a way to create a pair of Rinnegan!

He instigated a civil war between Indra and Ashura, and guided Madara step by step to obtain Hashirama's bloodline limit. His ultimate goal was to obtain a pair of Rinnegan!

Only those with the Rinnegan can control the Ten-Tails, become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, and serve as the vessel needed for their mother's resurrection!
Now, things are getting worse. The Rinnegan keeps appearing one after another, and it often confuses Black Zetsu, making him feel that his past efforts were largely a joke.

"...This is risky and will attract the attention of the Sage of Six Paths. If Hamura could be resurrected, it's normal for the Sage of Six Paths to have the means to do so as well. You are the key to resurrecting Kaguya-sama. Don't take the risk. It's better to wait a few years until Obito and I transform into the Divine Tree People."

"Don't worry, I have a way." Black Zetsu sneered. "I haven't been waiting around all these years."

Hagoromo Otsutsuki... So what if he's alive? Even if he personally intervenes to stop him, so what? His motives were never pure to begin with.

Afei couldn't understand why Black Zetsu, burdened with such a heavy responsibility, seemed completely unconcerned about the consequences of anything going wrong. Or perhaps, he had already found an alternative...

However, this has nothing to do with Ah Fei anymore.

The two remained silent for a while, while simultaneously receiving messages from the Land of Rain, and gradually came to realize something.

They knew that Madara and Nagato were in dire straits. Each of them was fighting against a Divine Tree Man, and while they couldn't be said to be completely powerless, they were suffering a crushing defeat and were in a very sorry state. Now they could only try their best to evade and buy time.

"After the split, their strength did not decrease, but other aspects seem to have changed." Black Zetsu suddenly said, "With the power of the Divine Tree People, they should have ended the battle long ago and completely killed Madara and Nagato, but in reality they did not... According to the information provided by the White Zetsu, the two Divine Tree People seem to have become somewhat slow in their attacks."

"It's a strange ability. My strength and chakra haven't decreased, but my speed has slowed down?"

"No, it's more likely a mental problem. Does this splitting technique damage the mind and consciousness?"

The two quickly analyzed the situation, but it was useless to know. They were still no match for the Tree Spirit. But that didn't stop Black Zetsu from being envious. If he could directly control a Tree Spirit and possess its strength and Rinnegan... unfortunately, he could only dream about it.

It would be better to wait until Tobi and Obito transform into God Tree People, then we can achieve it all in one step.

"However, it's hard to say whether I can still control the divine tree people that my mother created in this way. Otherwise, my mother could have created powerful divine tree people long ago instead of being forced to do so when she had no other choice."

To create the Divine Tree Man, one needs the Gedo Mazo, and to obtain the Gedo Mazo, one must first possess the Rinnegan and summon the Gedo Mazo from the moon to the ninja world.

Although Black Zetsu's efforts over the past thousand years have been largely wasted, they have not been entirely useless. However, even he did not know about the artificial beings known as the Tree People before.

"Ok?"

Suddenly, Black Zetsu and A Fei spoke up at the same time, utterly astonished.

"News has come back from Iwagakure: Kaedeji has actually shown up."

"Strange. Kaedeji doesn't seem to care about the survival of Iwagakure. Coming to the Land of Rain to ambush the two Tree Spirits is undoubtedly the most correct decision he could have made. What exactly does he want to do?"

Black Zetsu and Tobi were both confused, but they were certain that Kaede Tsukasa was not the kind of guy who was willing to cooperate with Madara and Nagato. There must be a more important reason for him doing so.

“This will cause the Tree Spirit to keep splitting itself. If it splits into several more, none of them will be a match for it. It seems that Kaede doesn’t have any information about the Tree Spirit, which is why he’s doing something so overconfident,” Afei said. “But this has nothing to do with us. I’m going back to sleep.”

Black Zetsu ignored Tobi, who had shrunk back into the Gedo Mazo, and continued to control Konan, moving her towards Konoha Village.

Now is a good opportunity. It seems that all the troublesome guys are tied up and unable to spare any attention, making it the perfect time for him to make his move.

The Indras and Asuras of this generation are no longer of any use.

……

Iwagakure Village.

Kaede Tsukasa appeared, his feet firmly planted on the ground, seemingly unconcerned that the information about his presence would be leaked.

"Another excellent village, but unfortunately, we don't know how many people will survive this battle."

Kaede glanced around. Most of the people in the village had indifferent expressions. Years of war and the accumulated blood loss had forced Iwagakure to desperately exploit the war potential of the Land of Earth, training and sacrificing ninjas at all costs. This had numbed the ninjas of the village.

It's hard to see any hope; it's just persisting for the sake of persisting. If Kaedeji had accepted the surrender, this village would probably have collapsed long ago. Even if Onoki were still alive, he couldn't hold on alone.

"It seems that the Tree Man has already chosen his favorite hunting target. No matter who he has set his sights on, we cannot let him succeed."

Kaedeji rushed back from the Limited Tsukuyomi, so naturally he wouldn't let the Divine Tree Man go easily. He came to Iwagakure specifically to capture this Divine Tree Man.

From another perspective, this tree-man with the ability to split has its own unique value, but it depends on how it is utilized.

Kaede Tsukasa already had a preliminary idea.

"Then, we must first target the Tree Spirit, forcing it to split continuously, and then survive this terrifying onslaught."

(End of this chapter)