Chapter 394: Chapter 394: Sunny boy Orochimaru, sneaky little man Kurama
"I will never let anyone threaten the village. Even if it’s my parents or brothers, as long as they put the village in danger, no matter who they are..."
You’ve changed, Hashirama.
Madara stood with his arms crossed, looking at the scenes from the past. His bright red armor had turned dark over the years from the blood it soaked up, which only made it look even more intimidating.
In front of him were countless familiar memories.
He once led the Uchiha clan to fight against the Senju clan, fought against Hashirama Senju himself, lost to him, but was moved by his words, and together they founded Konohagakure.
But... I thought Hashirama was the one who changed. Turns out I might have changed without even realizing it.
"What boring memories." Madara closed his eyes, shook his head, and sighed. "So, why are you showing me this?"
"Rat."
Madara opened his eyes, his gaze turning cold as he looked behind him.
Standing there, Orochimaru gave a cold smile—or rather, his smile had never been warm in the first place.
Orochimaru shrugged. "I’m not the one showing you this. If you really want to put it that way, these are your own memories. This is your soul space. You wanted to see them, so you’re seeing them."
It really had nothing to do with him.
"Oh?" Madara’s tone was full of indifference. "So what?"
Orochimaru wasn’t in a rush. He let out a light chuckle, then licked his lips. "So, Madara-sama, don’t you want to be revived once more?"
Madara lifted his chin. "Go on."
"Give me your body, and I can help you get revenge." Orochimaru didn’t bother beating around the bush—he went straight to the point.
After speaking, he couldn’t help but stick out his tongue again, licking his lips in excitement. "Your body is probably the best vessel I’ve ever seen. As long as you’re willing, I can ’bring you back’ right away, and then we can make everyone pay the price."
"With just you?" Madara let out a mocking laugh. "Those three together—no one in the ninja world can match them. Even if I teamed up with Hashirama, we couldn’t defeat any one of them. And you think you can?"
"You’re right." Orochimaru pulled his tongue back and shrugged. "But... have you forgotten? There’s someone who doesn’t exist in this world, someone with power far beyond all shinobi."
Madara frowned. "Kaguya."
Indeed, if it were Kaguya, she might actually be able to defeat those three working together.
But Madara wasn’t a fool. "So... what does that have to do with me?"
Even setting aside the question of what Kaguya killing those three had to do with him, the real point was—what made this rat think he would ever hand over his body to him?
Even if his body wasn’t destroyed—if he were still alive but on the verge of death—he would never give his body to such a disgusting little rat.
Orochimaru looked disappointed. "That’s a shame."
"I don’t think so." Madara turned his head back toward the memory in front of him, though the corner of his mouth curved upward where Orochimaru couldn’t see.
Orochimaru shook his head, and his soul vanished from the spot.
...
On the other side of the battlefield—or maybe far away from it—Black Zetsu slowly rose from the ground, looking ahead with a helpless expression. "Madara is dead."
He let out a sigh.
Obito was dead, Madara was dead, Orochimaru was dead too.
How was he supposed to play this game now?
"For now, I can only hide and wait for the future," Black Zetsu said, looking troubled.
He had already waited thousands of years, so waiting a few thousand more wasn’t a big deal. But the problem was, this generation’s Asura and Indra had already made peace. That meant it would be much harder to find the right person to carry out his plans.
Just thinking about it felt depressing.
Mother, it’s not that your son isn’t working hard—it’s just that your other two sons are too much.
One had Six Paths power plus the Tenseigan, another had Six Paths power plus the Karma mark, and on top of that there was a tailed beast as strong as the Ten-Tails. How was he supposed to compete? He couldn’t! Those two brothers really threw away all dignity just to make his life harder.
And now all three of them had incredible sensing abilities. It was like being back in the Sage of Six Paths era. Black Zetsu didn’t even dare show his face, hiding underground in misery, waiting for Naruto and Sasuke to die.
Then he could cause trouble while Kurama wasn’t paying attention.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t get killed when the time came.
Oh, right—he couldn’t die. Never mind then.
Black Zetsu sighed again, slowly sinking back into the earth. He needed to find a good hiding place, stay there, and wait until Naruto and Sasuke were gone before making a move.
But just as he was about to leave, a small white snake suddenly slithered up from underground. Before Black Zetsu could react, the snake suddenly leapt like a crazy dog and bit him on the neck without a word.
Then its teeth broke.
Black Zetsu froze. "Even a snake thinks it can bully me?"
It couldn’t break his body’s defense, but it broke his mental defense.
Black Zetsu almost cried on the spot. His plan had failed, there was no fixing it, and those two shameless—
—brothers had passed their power on to their descendants, forcing him to hide. The tailed beasts in his plan had turned into something like the Ten-Tails. He had finally decided to let everything go and start over, and now a snake just ran up and bit him.
Sure, he was weak, but he could still use Wood Release! Didn’t it think to check the difference in strength before biting him?
Black Zetsu’s patience snapped.
But just as he was about to kill the snake to vent his anger, he noticed the snake—with broken teeth—show a human-like mocking smile. Then a cold but familiar voice came from its mouth. "Found you, Black Zetsu."
Black Zetsu froze, then his guard shot up. "Orochimaru!"
This guy was still alive?
He was even better at hiding than Black Zetsu?
Wait—this guy could find him?
Black Zetsu’s scalp tingled. Even Hagoromo and Hamura couldn’t find him, but Orochimaru could? What was this? Magic?
No—it was science.
The white snake let out a sinister chuckle. "You let me study the White Zetsu. Did you think I wouldn’t also study you?"
The snake landed on the ground and coiled up, staring at Black Zetsu. "Though to be fair, your chakra presence is hard to track. If you hadn’t shown yourself just now, I wouldn’t have been able to detect you. You could even say this snake didn’t find you—you called it out yourself."
Black Zetsu’s face darkened. "What do you want?"
"What do I want? Of course, to continue our deal." Orochimaru’s voice carried a strange excitement. "Madara refused my reincarnation technique, so I need a new vessel. Find me a White Zetsu to reincarnate into, and leave the rest to me..."
"I will bring Kaguya back."
Black Zetsu froze, staring at Orochimaru in disbelief.
It sounded strange even to himself, but he still asked without thinking,
"You... know what’s needed to bring back Mother—Kaguya?"
"Of course." Orochimaru’s voice was filled with amusement.
"The God Tree, Infinite Tsukuyomi, and a body that holds the power of the Sage of Six Paths."
"The Ten-Tails is the God Tree. Inside Madara’s body, it has already grown to a certain stage.
Once I absorb it, I can use Infinite Tsukuyomi.
As for a body with Six Paths power... well, isn’t there one right here?"
The white snake flicked its tongue while looking at Black Zetsu.
Still, there was something very unsettling about that laugh.
Black Zetsu clenched his fists, face pale.
"You mean... me?"
"What’s wrong? Not willing?" The white snake tilted its head.
Orochimaru’s smile... suddenly brightened like sunshine.
Kurama shivered.
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