In the shadow beneath a collapsed cliffside, something viscous, shapeless, quiet as rotting mud, crawled across the stone. It was impossible to tell which part was head or tail.
Then —
Two round, yellow eyes opened.
A mouth split wide, revealing rows of tiny triangular teeth.
Black Zetsu, the living will of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, stirred.
(The Rinnegan cannot be born through research alone.)
He sneered inwardly at the words he'd overheard between Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Soren. Mortals always thought too small. Soren—brilliant, dangerous, but still a mortal—understood nothing of the true laws behind the eye of godhood.
The Rinnegan could only be awakened under very specific, brutal cosmic conditions:
Indra's chakra reborn in one descendant
Ashura's chakra reborn in another
Their wills clashing, merging, tearing, dying
A singular soul forged from both paths
A remnant of Hagoromo's own chakra reawakening in the vessel
Only then would the Rinnegan bloom.
(If it were as simple as mixing Uchiha and Senju blood, I would have birthed a Rinnegan centuries ago—long before Hagoromo's sons sealed Mother away.)
Black Zetsu chuckled from deep within his throat.
Humans were amusing in their ignorance.
Even Madara — who carried Indra's reincarnation — had needed decades of hatred, loss, and death to even start toward awakening.
Soren, despite his brilliance, was at best a flickering spark.
He remembered Hagoromo's chakra lingering like a stubborn ghost in the world. As long as that divine will remained, Black Zetsu had to move carefully. And he had been moving carefully for a thousand years.
He puffed himself up and prepared to follow Madara's trail to ensure the legend stayed on course, when—
A chakra ripple slammed into him from behind.
A hand — burning hot like molten iron — pressed onto his form.
"Four-Element Seal!"
"Aaaaaah—!!"
Black Zetsu shrieked in disbelief as a Mangekyō Sharingan user materialized beside him without a sound.
Uchiha Soren.
His yellow eyes bulged. His voice cracked in rage and humiliation.
(Uchiha Soren — you filthy little sneak attacker!!)
(No Flying Thunder God kunai! No chakra signature! HOW!?)
(Is this some new Mangekyō ability!?)
Soren ignored the screaming creature, casually bouncing the little sealed-black-ball that Black Zetsu had just been compressed into.
He looked bored. Annoyed.
Amused.
(Damn him — that expression—!)
Black Zetsu swallowed his rage, forcing his tone into pitiful whining.
"Ninja-sama, ninja-sama, I'm pathetic, weak, defenseless—truly, a worthless creature—"
Soren smiled gently.
"I just like bullying the weak."
"Especially tiny, ugly little things like you."
Black Zetsu's triangular teeth clenched so tightly they nearly cracked. But he dared not speak another word.
To Soren, he was nothing more than a disgusting, noncombative pest — hardly worth killing.
Soren sighed.
The Five-Element Seal compressed Black Zetsu completely, but it wouldn't destroy him. As a Yin–Yang creation of Kaguya, not even a mountain of fire or a thousand seals could erase him.
Only:
a Six Paths–level sealing method
or a Shinigami-binding technique
or deep, permanent containment
could suppress him.
With none available right now, Soren improvised.
He flicked his hand — snatching a passing bird straight from the air.
"Four Symbols Seal."
"Eight Trigrams Seal."
The creature was sealed inside the bird, inside two layers of interlocking seals, inside an Eight Trigrams matrix.
A prison inside a prison.
Soren dusted his hands.
"That'll do. Once the gorge is handled, Minako can reinforce it. Maybe Hikari's Yashachihoko will give me ideas later."
He teleported to the rocky platform where Inuzuka Jin was tending to the battered Ino–Shika–Chō trio.
"Hokage-sama!"
Soren knelt beside the wounded.
"Clan Leader Inuzuka — how are they?"
Each shinobi had fallen into deep unconsciousness after the teleport. Jin was skilled at battlefield triage, but internal trauma — especially the psychic collapse afflicting Yamanaka Bamboo — was beyond what an Inuzuka specialist could manage.
Soren pressed his palm to the rock.
"I'll inscribe a temporary space-transmission sigil here."
A complex Flying Thunder God array glowed beneath his fingers.
"Take them back to Konoha. Then spread the word — Madara has returned."
"No one can suppress this news now."
He handed Jin the bird containing Black Zetsu.
"I bound a confidential pass to the seal. Give it to Minako. I'll handle Cloud Village."
"Understood, Hokage-sama!"
Jin stepped into the array — vanishing in a flash.
And the news he carried back ignited Konoha like a thrown torch:
Madara alive
Setsuna dead
Hyūga Ashikaga dead
High-ranking captains near death
Panic erupted instantly.
If even Setsuna's Kage-level squad could be massacred without leaving battlefield scars, then no one — not even clan heads — felt safe.
Uchiha and Uzumaki Mito worked desperately to steady morale, but dread hung over Konoha like a storm cloud.
The enemy was back.
The legend had risen.
And the village trembled.
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