In his hand was a picture of Jigen, or rather, of Ootsutsuki Ishiki.
— It's impossible! This is... this is…
He recognized these features at a glance—the signs of the Ootsutsuki clan. What the hell is going on? Why did Ootsutsuki suddenly appear in the Shinobi world, whom he had never seen or remembered anything about? Who is this guy and where did he come from?
In an instant, Black Zetsu's mind plunged into chaos, and a chilling chill ran down his spine. If it had just been a prophet, it would have been fine, but the sudden appearance of a stranger with the features of the Ootsutsuki clan unsettled Zetsu.
—No... wrong. Is... is this the descendant of those two creatures, Ootsutsuki Hagoromo and Hamura?
Black Zetsu closed his eyes, his hands trembling slightly. He took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and forced himself to calm down. When he came to his senses, he reasoned that it wasn't that bad.
This guy probably didn't know about his existence or his plan. If we're talking about the Ootsutsuki clan, then it could only be the descendants of those two. This Jigen must have just inherited the blood of the Ootsutsuki clan and awakened it.
Yes, it must be so. Up to this point, Jigen probably led a secluded lifestyle in the Shinobi world. Most likely, it was Ootsutsuki's bloodline that he had overlooked until now.
Perhaps the illegitimate son of Ootsutsuki Hagoromo or some mutated pureblood branch of his descendants.
Although the Black Zetsu was created by Ootsutsuki Kaguya and knew a lot, but due to the haste in its creation, there was not much information about the Ootsutsuki clan in memory, and even more so about Ishiki. After all, in Kaguya's eyes, Ishiki had been dead for a long time. In that critical situation, why on earth would she idly put information about a long-dead person into Zetsu's brain? That would be crazy.
Therefore, even after seeing Ishiki's true face, he could not recognize his mother's enemy in him — he simply did not have such memories. Due to his lack of knowledge, he did not even think that this guy could be a relative of his creator. Instead, he decided that it was a descendant of the Hagoromo brothers, the one who silently watched the development of the Shinobi world and decided to intervene when the world was in danger.
Even if he had memories of the Ootsutsuki clan in his head, he would still have come to this conclusion. After all, if this guy really was from the clan, then now he would have to plant a Divine Tree and destroy this planet, or even engage in battle with Uchiha Yue. And not to play some kind of games with these lower aborigines here with the search for the child from the prophecy. It's just ridiculous.
The prophecy, the search for the destiny's child, the salvation of the Shinobi world, and therefore the salvation of oneself — all this fully corresponded to the behavior of a local resident who cannot escape and is forced to boldly face danger. After all, if it was the real Ootsutsuki, then after discovering that he couldn't defeat a monster like Uchiha Yue, wouldn't he have left this planet to return to the clan for reinforcements?
What kind of quest is the child of prophecy? This was completely out of line with Ootsutsuki's logic and behavior. Only the aborigines of the Shinobi world are capable of this.
Thinking about this, Black Zetsu breathed a sigh of relief, and the tension left his body. He almost died of fright. At such a critical moment, Ootsutsuki's sudden appearance was truly frightening.
But if it's just a descendant of the brothers, then it's fine. As soon as the mother is resurrected, everything will be fine.
If Ootsutsuki Ishiki found out that the scion of that bitch Kaguya mistook him for that bitch's descendant, he probably would have died of rage. And he certainly would not have calmed down until he subjected Black Zetsu to severe torture, crushed him to powder and scattered him to the wind.
***
"This is... this is…
Meanwhile, on Mount Myoboku, the Great Toad Sage was looking at the photo in his hands and was also shocked to the core. His first thought was that the Ootsutsuki clan had invaded this world again. A great calamity will befall the planet again, and the Sage of the Six Paths is long dead.
But then he realized that it probably wasn't a stranger. After all, if this was the true Ootsutsuki, he wouldn't need to find some child from the prophecy and save the world. It's already a great stroke of luck that he's not trying to destroy it.
—That's how it is...haha, it looks like I've really aged. My foresight ability is not what it used to be!
The Great Toad Sage laughed with relief. Obviously, like Black Zetsu, he mistook Ishiki for a descendant of the Sage of the Six Paths. And not just a descendant, but someone who inherited the power of the Sage, perhaps even his reincarnation.
Everything will be all right now. Since the Sage of the Six Paths himself intervened, everything will be fine. This world is saved.
The Great Toad Sage felt like a huge weight pressing down on him suddenly disappeared. If he had known earlier that Jigen would interfere, if he had known about the existence of the child from the prophecy, he would not have spread the senjutsu of Mount Myoboku. After all, it was undermining the foundations of their holy land.
When Uchiha Yue is finished, thanks to these techniques, new holy lands will appear in the Shinobi world sooner or later. No, maybe even worse. Then the ninja will stop seeing something special in the inhabitants of the holy lands. Their former mystery will disappear without a trace. They will be reduced from the status of sages to mere summoning beasts wielding senjutsu. That would be terrible.
It was as if someone who had previously been put on a pedestal turned out to be the most ordinary.
Now that the senjutsu techniques had already spread all over the world, it was too late to change anything. He regretted his decision.
He now fully believed in Ishiki's prophecy about the destiny's child. In the end, the prophet was right: he really had grown old. Ishiki could see the future that was hidden from him.
—Fukasaku, Shima!
Soon, he summoned two wise toads, telling them to support Jigen's actions with all their might. Saving the world may happen very soon.
***
In the prison cell, two guards were talking, from time to time casting glances of disgust at Naruto.
—Damn you, you little bastard! They say he's also the son of the Fourth Hokage. Damn, and the Fourth managed to give birth to such a creature!
— Why not just extract the Tailed One from him? Why was it necessary to seal the beast in this guy?
Naruto sat with his head down and completely ignored them.
"Damn it…