Hokage office.
After everyone had left, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to this familiar office.
He stood by the tall window, smoking his pipe and gazing at Konoha's bustling streets below.
At the same time, he was deep in thought.
Why would Heiyan hide his identity as a member of the Uzumaki clan?
This puzzled Hiruzen the most.
The Master of Ninjutsu, from just a few words spoken by Sakumo Hatake, had deduced that Heiyan used [Adamantine Sealing Chains].
As far as he knew, this sealing technique could only be performed by members of the Uzumaki clan.
After assigning someone to conduct a brief investigation, he indeed confirmed Heiyan's true origins—as someone born in Uzugakure.
Everyone knows that Uzugakure and Konoha have always been allied. The Uzumaki and Senju clans had maintained close ties across generations. Even the uniforms worn by Konoha shinobi bore the crest of the Uzumaki clan.
Uzumaki shinobi had always been welcomed in Konoha.
Yet Heiyan had hidden his surname, living all along in Konoha under the guise of a commoner.
Hiruzen truly felt curious about this.
Still, he hadn't directly asked Heiyan about it.
This was the Hokage's high emotional intelligence in action.
Let Heiyan's matter rest… for now.
"Danzo and Orochimaru have seemed rather off lately," Hiruzen mused, frowning slightly.
His original plan had been to send Orochimaru into Root—not only to assist Danzo publicly but more importantly, to keep an eye on him secretly.
Orochimaru was his top pupil—a student he deeply valued and trusted.
Therefore, Hiruzen had entrusted this task with full confidence.
Recently, however, according to intelligence reports, Orochimaru and Danzo had grown unusually close over the past few days.
Hiruzen's gut told him—they were hiding something from him.
Sigh...
Thinking thus, he couldn't help but feel regret creeping in.
Perhaps sending Orochimaru to monitor Danzo wasn't such a wise decision after all.
After all, Danzo always excelled at detecting the darkness within people's hearts, then subtly guiding and exploiting it for his own purposes.
Behind Konoha.
Inside the underground secret lab of Root.
"Do you really think you're free now, Black Zetsu?" Orochimaru and Danzo were asked, the voice dark and mocking.
"But that woman is already dead. The jutsu she placed upon us should have been nullified, shouldn't it?" Orochimaru retorted with narrowed, serpentine eyes.
"Who told you she's dead?"
Black Zetsu scoffed, boasting smugly while riding on someone else's power, "The Nagare is merely one of that man's clones. He could take your lives anytime the Lord wishes. If you don't believe me, by all means—try testing it."
Just as expected.
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru and Danzo exchanged glances, their expressions turning grim.
Test it? They wouldn't dare risk their lives so recklessly.
They thought they were finally free—but apparently, they'd been way too optimistic.
"Enough nonsense. I'm here because I have a mission for you two."
Black Zetsu's gaze swept across the laboratory, nodding with clear satisfaction before dropping a bombshell. "From now on, your top priority is assisting me in cultivating tissue samples of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. The ultimate goal is to perform successful human transplants."
"This…"
At those words, both men were visibly taken aback.
Before encountering Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu, Danzo had been discussing research regarding Hashirama cells with Orochimaru.
Well now, isn't that something?
Then, Black Zetsu pulled out several scrolls filled with detailed intelligence on Hashirama cells and Wood Release, sending both men into a whirlwind of thoughts.
They had no idea that, in fact, these were the accumulated results of Uchiha Madara's many years of research.
"I don't care what methods you use. Within one year, you must cultivate transplantable Hashirama cells."
Black Zetsu issued a death command to Danzo and Orochimaru.
Half an hour later, under respectful escort from Danzo and Orochimaru, Black Zetsu slowly exited the underground laboratory.
"Ultimately, it's all because that old fool Uchiha Madara was useless. If he had activated the Rinnegan, he could've summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, using it as a medium to massively cultivate Hashirama cells."
Black Zetsu grumbled under his breath. "But then again, I originally planned to keep this secret from him."
His purpose for cultivating Hashirama cells was very simple—eventually transplanting them into Uchiha Fugaku.
After all, Uchiha Madara himself had already demonstrated through personal experience that successfully transplanting Hashirama cells could fuse the powers of the Uchiha and Senju clans, granting partial control over myriad phenomena in the universe, ultimately activating the Rinnegan.
Now things would be much easier.
Black Zetsu had grown tired of watching those pointless battles between Indra's and Asura's reincarnations.
Now there was just one thing left to figure out—that was helping Uchiha Fugaku unlock his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Suddenly, Black Zetsu stopped walking, raising his head to look at the endless sky, his expression unusually solemn.
His urgency stemmed from sensing that someone from the Otsutsuki Clan might soon appear in this world.
As part of Kaguya Otsutsuki's consciousness, Black Zetsu inherited some of her memories. He understood perfectly well that only reviving his mother could defend against members of the main house of the Otsutsuki Clan.
He had already squandered over a thousand years—he couldn't afford to lose any more time.
He needed to accelerate progress.
To Black Zetsu, whether Uchiha Madara or Uchiha Fugaku, they were nothing but tools for reviving his mother.
As for whether these tools might go out of control—Black Zetsu wasn't worried at all.
Because although whenever combat occurred he immediately burrowed deep beneath the earth, it wasn't due to weakness, but rather because he simply detested fighting.
Within his body lay an extremely terrifying power, bestowed by Kaguya herself—enough to kill even strong individuals who possessed the Rinnegan.
However, this power was a "consumable"—only to be used at the most critical moments.
Black Zetsu eagerly awaited that day.
Meanwhile,
In the hidden chamber beneath Naka Shrine,
Before the Uchiha Clan's stone tablet within the underground sanctum, flames crackled in a brazier, casting flickering orange light onto surrounding walls.
"The situation is exactly as I've described."
Fugaku Uchiha told them everything—holding nothing back about his encounters with Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu.
Moreover, he presented the counterfeit blazing war fan for Heiyan to inspect.
"Heiyan, what's your take on this?" Fugaku finally asked.
"They're betting big on you—they must see real potential in you. Eventually, they'll prop you up as the Uchiha clan head, then use you to influence or manipulate the entire clan."
Heiyan replied after deep thought.
"Hmm, it seems I must find ways to shake off their influence," Fugaku mused, frowning deeply.
"Not necessarily."
Heiyan countered, "Why not take advantage of what's freely offered? If they want to use you, you can also turn the table and use them to enhance your own strength."
"I understand now."
At these words, Fugaku's eyes lit up.
Heiyan's words dissolved his inner confusion, allowing him to suddenly see things clearly.
The two shared more intel before finally leaving the hidden room.
Ten minutes later.
Whoosh!
A figure abruptly appeared inside the empty hidden chamber.
To everyone's surprise, it was Heiyan returning. Actually, Heiyan hadn't planned on leaving at all.
He walked straight toward the stone tablet belonging to the Uchiha clan.
This tablet had been left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, originally intended to guide Indra's reincarnation away from deviating onto the wrong path.
Standing before the stone tablet, Heiyan fixed his gaze upon the rows of black characters inscribed upon it.
These mysterious writings weren't some ancient language, nor were they encrypted symbols. They followed no discernible pattern and couldn't be deciphered using conventional methods.
Heiyan had already discovered that their essence was a type of genjutsu—one possessing only deceptive qualities rather than offensive capabilities.
Only the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan could penetrate this illusion.
In truth, reading the tablet's content required progressing sequentially through the Sharingan → Mangekyou Sharingan → Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan → Rinnegan stages to gradually interpret its full meaning.
However, it had already been tampered with by Black Zetsu.
"If Black Zetsu could alter the Sage's stone tablet without anyone suspecting, his body must definitely contain Kaguya's Kekkei Mora chakra." Heiyan mused inwardly.
He recalled how, in the original timeline, Black Zetsu executed the final technique called [Heart Ripper], which instantly killed Madara Uchiha.
How ruthless.
Returning his focus to the present.
"Madara Uchiha hasn't awakened the Rinnegan yet, so he hasn't uncovered all of this tablet's contents. That final section of text must have been fabricated by Black Zetsu—the so-called 'Moon Eye Plan' (a scheme to manipulate the entire ninja world through an illusionary moon)."
As Heiyan stared at the stone tablet before him, rubbing his chin, an audacious idea suddenly sprang to mind.
What if he smashed this stone tablet?
What expressions would Black Zetsu and Madara Uchiha make then?
Better remove such harmful artifacts threatening the ninja world altogether.
With this decision, Heiyan no longer hesitated.
Boom!
A powerful gust erupted from his entire being as he clenched his right fist tightly. With a lightning-fast strike, he launched a devastating punch straight at the stone tablet in front of him.
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