Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

But Sasuke knew that Itachi was merely waiting for death to come in his dying state.

Just like... Sasuke himself.

Sasuke's situation was perhaps worse than Itachi's; Orochimaru forcibly extracted his last bit of chakra, transforming him into the Yamata no Orochi.

But none of that matters anymore.

Because Itachi will also die this time.

Sasuke glanced at Itachi one last time, then collapsed in a daze beside Itachi.

In this revenge that belonged to the Uchiha, both the avenger and the avenged fell to the ground.

It seems there are no winners.

……

Chapter 66 Sealing

After a while, Zetsu, who had been lurking in the shadows, finally appeared in front of Sasuke and Itachi, who were lying in the ruins.

"Itachi is dead."

White Zetsu could no longer sense Itachi's life. He asked his other half, Black Zetsu, "What do we do next?"

"As with the previous plan, go and inform Tobi about the situation of Itachi and Sasuke's duel."

After thinking for a while, Black Zetsu made a decision.

Aren't you going?

“The previous duel between Itachi and Sasuke already involved an unexpected third party… The fact that a third party appeared means that this place is not safe.”

If there is a third party, there is no guarantee that a fourth party won't appear.

"Ah, you mean that little girl from the Uzumaki clan?" White Zetsu sensed for a moment, then his tone turned surprised: "That girl is still alive. She wasn't caught in Sasuke's lightning release just now."

With that, White Zetsu then asked Black Zetsu for his opinion: "Should we kill her?"

"That woman possesses a sealing technique that can suppress the Nine-Tails. Perhaps we can use it too. Let's tell Afei the information and let him make the decision."

"I see."

Having received instructions from Black Zetsu, White Zetsu reached out and grabbed his own white half of his head, tearing himself apart from Black Zetsu with his hands.

The original black and white Zetsu became two separate entities: White Zetsu and Black Zetsu.

The White Zetsu, now a solitary entity, burrowed underground and moved towards the forest to transmit information.

As for Black Zetsu...

He came to Sasuke's side.

Unlike Itachi, Sasuke is still alive.

Although he couldn't change the fact that he was dying, Sasuke did have a breath left to prolong his life.

Black is not surprised by Sasuke's tenacious vitality.

After all, Uchiha Sasuke is the owner of the "Indra" chakra in this life.

But Sasuke being alive might not be a good thing for Black Zetsu.

Generally speaking, Black would never prematurely interfere with the chakra successors of Indra and Ashura.

These brothers, who inherited the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths, have completely opposite ideologies, and their choice of successor is a perfect replica of this situation.

Black Zetsu only needs to appear at crucial moments to deepen the rift between the successors due to their differing ideologies.

The previous generation of Indra and Ashura chakra possessors were like this—Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama. They were born into opposing families, and in countless battles, they were opposed, understood, and eventually became unable to accept each other.

This situation has been repeating itself for thousands of years without any surprises, and even Black Zetsu is getting a little tired of seeing it.

But this time, the owner of the "Ashura" chakra in this life, corresponding to Sasuke... is too strange.

Naruto Uzumaki, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, is the owner of the "Ashura" chakra, which corresponds to Sasuke's "Indra" chakra.

Naruto and the previous Ashura chakra users have extremely strong personality contrasts.

Naruto's inner extremes even surpassed those of the Indra chakra possessor, who was already more susceptible to external influences.

In this situation, Naruto and Sasuke, Ashura and Indra actually joined forces.

This is not a good sign, at least Blackie doesn't like it.

Naruto's appearance made Black Zetsu feel a sense of being out of control of the situation for the first time in a long period of time.

Even Madara Uchiha, Black Zetsu never felt this way.

But dealing with this is also quite simple.

It would be fine if Indra's or Asura's chakra were allowed to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.

This wasn't the first time Black Zetsu had done this; for thousands of years he had instigated those who possessed the chakra of Ashura and Indra to break apart.

Until decades ago, Black Zetsu found someone who could "perfectly" execute the plan in Black Zetsu's heart: Madara Uchiha, the owner of Indra's chakra.

Black Zetsu's true form doesn't actually possess much power, but even he could easily take Sasuke's life in his current state.

Black Zetsu was closing in on Sasuke, and ending Sasuke's life was just a matter of a single thought for Black Zetsu.

But just as Black Zetsu had said to White Zetsu before...

A fourth person intruded into these ruins.

The person appeared in front of him without any warning.

Black Zetsu suddenly looked at yet another uninvited guest.

What I feared most came to pass.

Naruto Uzumaki!

Shouldn't he be fighting Kisame?!

In fact, the battle between Kisame and Naruto should have moved in the opposite direction from where Sasuke and Itachi were fighting!

Black Zetsu fears that the chakra possessors of Naruto and Sasuke's Six Paths Brothers in this life will cooperate and continue to affect the progress of the "Eye of the Moon" project.

Naruto then simply appeared in front of Sasuke at that moment.

Black Zetsu was stunned.

The Flying Thunder God Technique, a space-time instantaneous movement technique, is too effective against sensory ninjas like him. When Black Zetsu sensed Naruto's chakra, it meant that Black Zetsu was already in danger!

Sensing something was wrong, Black Zetsu hurriedly tried to escape underground.

However, Black Zetsu's brief moment of distraction was enough for Naruto, who was prepared, to unleash a ninjutsu on him.

Several glowing chains formed from chakra wrapped around Black Zetsu several times, binding him tightly.

The powerful sealing technique prevented Black Zetsu from changing his form to escape the scene, which was in a bad situation for him.

"Could you please... stay away from Sasuke?"

Naruto tugged at the chains slightly, but Black Zetsu felt a tremendous force pull him away from Sasuke!

Black Zetsu felt the chains binding him in horror: "Diamond Lockdown?!"

Naruto gripped the chakra chains that had bound Black Zetsu.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke first, confirming that Sasuke was still alive.

"The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques?! No! If you can also use the Adamantine Sealing Technique, why do you always keep that guy named Karin by your side?!"

Black Zetsu stared in astonishment at Naruto, who was using the "Diamond Sealing Technique." Naruto could actually use the Diamond Sealing Technique on his own!

Blackbeard is unbelievable.

But Black Zetsu's performance was exactly what Naruto expected.

Judging from what happened when Kakuzu and Hidan died, it seems that Black Zetsu had already obtained all the information through White Zetsu.

Even Karin's use of the Adamantine Lock to block Sakura's punch aimed at Naruto was perfectly clear.

For the ninja world, unaware of the existence of the Impersonation Technique, the complete information being stolen by White Zetsu was an inevitable outcome.

Having the ability to completely transform into someone else is indeed a tricky intelligence-gathering ninjutsu.

No one would be wary of a "spy" who can completely replicate even ninjutsu and chakra.

The art of disguise always allows Zetsu to obtain the most crucial and authentic information from various ninja villages.

In the original story, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, White Zetsu caused considerable disruption to the Allied Shinobi Forces' rear by using this wondrous transformation technique.

But what if someone takes advantage of that?

For example, Naruto, who knows the original plot.

Did Sakura really need Karin to use the Adamantine Sealing Barrier to save Naruto from his attack?

He protected Karin during the battle, and immediately after revealing his Tailed Beast Cloak and fighting Team 3, he had Karin use the Adamantine Sealing Technique on her.

It was all Naruto's intention.

Sixteen years ago, during the Nine-Tails' rampage that was "stopped" by the Fourth Hokage, Kushina Uzumaki, on the verge of death, used the Adamantine Sealing Technique to suppress the complete Nine-Tails, buying time for the Fourth Hokage to use the Reaper Death Seal to reseal the Nine-Tails.

The Uzumaki clan's potential to suppress tailed beasts was once again proven by an example sixteen years ago.

Not only did the higher-ups in Konoha know this, but Zetsu, who liberated the Nine-Tails alongside Obito, also knew it.

Therefore, after Naruto defeated the Immortal Duo, he had that battle with the people of Konoha because of the "information leak".

It is important to seize the opportunity during the battle to steal Obito Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan from Kakashi.

But sending false information to Konoha... or rather, to Zetsu, was equally important to Naruto.

Naruto Uzumaki can control the Nine-Tails, but he cannot control it alone.

Karin, a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, needs the help of an ally who uses the Adamantine Sealing Chains.

This is the information that Naruto has been passing on.

He misled everyone with his actions time and time again—no, it wasn't exactly misleading, Naruto certainly didn't know the Adamantine Sealing Chains—but he never said he couldn't use them.

Vajra Seal.