Obito did not know what Black Zetsu was thinking at this moment. In his understanding, Black Zetsu represented the will of Madara Uchiha. So when he saw the signal from Black Zetsu, his guard immediately went up, and his first thought was that the monster really was powerful, powerful enough that even Madara Uchiha was wary.
After a moment of silence, Obito Uchiha nodded and agreed to Nagato's suggestion. No matter what, the Rinnegan could not be allowed to slip away.
At the same time, inside Amegakure, Konan slowly opened her eyes. The person sitting in front of her, Ryuji Hyuga, smiled and asked how it went, while Hanzo also looked at her with curiosity. Konan looked at the man before her, someone far more mysterious than "Madara," and a trace of shock and wariness flashed in her eyes before she nodded.
"Just like you said, Madara agreed."
Indeed, the final outcome was exactly as "Shadow" had predicted. Even Zetsu's reaction had been within his expectations, and "Madara" had actually cared about what Black Zetsu thought. This made Konan finally unable to hold back as she asked what he really wanted to do, while the silent Hanzo also raised his head.
At this moment, the two of them had already realized that everything now seemed to be guided by "Shadow." This was also the reason Konan felt shocked and wary. Yet strangely, she could not feel hostility toward "Shadow" the way she did toward "Madara."
She could not sense any clear purpose from him, nor could she feel him trying to use Akatsuki for anything. If Nagato had really been treated as a pawn since childhood, then the one who exposed the lies and revealed the truth had undoubtedly saved her, Nagato, and the future of Akatsuki. So what was it all for?
"Hm?" Ryuji Hyuga raised his head and smiled in mild confusion, saying that he had already explained it, that they only needed to do whatever they wanted to do. He paused briefly and added that if Konan insisted on an answer, then he was merely clearing away pests and trimming branches while waiting to see what kind of flower would bloom.
That was all.
Konan stared at him blankly, able to hear nothing in his words but sincerity. Just do what we want to do, and only trimming branches while waiting to see the flowers. The words echoed in her mind, leaving her momentarily at a loss.
A notification rang out, declaring that his lies had been judged as empty talk, sweet words, affected deception, and killing with a borrowed knife. Hanzo, Nagato, and Konan experienced intense emotional fluctuations, reaching the level of deep belief, and he gained 2000 Reality Points. His Remaining Reality Points rose to 14254.
Hearing the prompt in his mind, Ryuji Hyuga showed a calm smile beneath the shadows on his face. Of course he was not without desires, he simply did not need to speak them aloud like Obito did. Turning his own desires into theirs without them realizing it was his way.
Since "Madara" had already been drawn out, what came next was clear. Under the gazes of Hanzo and Konan, Ryuji Hyuga slowly stood up and said with a smile that he would help Nagato tear off that man's mask. Before that, he said, he needed to make some preparations and asked if they could find him a room.
Hanzo stood as well and led him into his private chamber, then considerately withdrew. After Hanzo left, Ryuji Hyuga sat down cross legged, took out a White Zetsu sealed by a Sealing Technique from the Scroll, and then took out a bloody chunk of flesh. It was flesh taken from Tenzo.
He had always wondered why, despite possessing the Otsutsuki Bloodline, he could not awaken those Kekkei Genkai. It was probably not because he lacked mastery of earth and water nature transformations of Chakra. If that were enough, then it would not be only Hashirama Senju and Tenzo who could use Wood Release.
He could choose to directly devour or transplant like Hiruko or Obito, but in his view both methods had drawbacks. With the Otsutsuki Bloodline, he should have a better option. As his understanding deepened, he gradually realized that the life essence of the Otsutsuki Clan seemed to be fundamentally different from that of humans made of cells.
Why did the Otsutsuki Clan naturally possess so many abilities, was it because of the Otsutsuki Bloodline, and what exactly was the essence of that bloodline? He thought of the effect of the wedge, of the divine techniques of the Otsutsuki Clan, and even of the meaning behind their name. Isshiki Otsutsuki, Kinshiki, Urashiki, Momoshiki.
If the Otsutsuki Bloodline he possessed was an initial formula, did he need to fill in other formulas to calculate different results? Why did Tenzo's Wood Release manifest as wood, while Hashirama's appeared as trees, and Obito Uchiha's became thorns? The manifestations differed, yet there seemed to be a shared core.
From the fact that the White Zetsu Tobi could also use Wood Release, the decisive factor seemed to be the divine tree. Asura and Hashirama, as Asura's reincarnation, had inherited something from it. There was even an existence called Otsutsuki Shibai in old records, who became a god by consuming countless Chakra fruits and gained divine techniques that could be called rules.
Perhaps divine trees and fruits grown in different worlds were different complex formulas, and consuming them was a way of completing oneself. Turning oneself into a formula, even into data, in order to grasp the concepts and rules of the world. It was a mad guess, and if others knew it they would surely think it absurd.
But when everyone thinks you are insane, that means you are not far from the truth of the world.
"Let me verify it," Ryuji Hyuga narrowed his eyes and silently willed the extraction of the core formula of Wood Release from the White Zetsu and the flesh, and to fill it into his own Otsutsuki Bloodline. The response came back, saying it could not be manifested.
He frowned, wondering whether his guess was wrong or whether it was because it could not act directly on himself. Objects could be manifested, Ninjutsu could be manifested, but bloodlines could not. After a long pause, he raised his head with a glint in his eyes and adjusted the command, to manifest the extraction of the underlying formula of Wood Release from the flesh and the White Zetsu and convert it into a technique.
He added that the cost should not exceed 4254 points, since he only had 14254 left and needed to be careful. The voice in his mind hesitated briefly before continuing, saying it would cost 4500 Reality Points and asking for confirmation. He pursed his dry lips, noted the pity of it, and agreed to manifest.
Another prompt confirmed the deduction, leaving his Remaining Reality Points at 9704. In the next instant, the world before his eyes changed. Countless fine, cold threads emitting faint glows of different colors filled his vision, and the world shed its familiar shape to become a vast, precise structure woven from flowing, intertwining threads that were constantly forming and vanishing.
Feeling the chill as some threads brushed across his face, he realized they represented the concept of wind. Everything was merely phenomena produced by these threads operating under specific rules, things he could not yet touch or change. Until he noticed, in the crack between two walls, a patch of vivid green and a stem extending downward several times longer than expected.
It was just a wild blade of grass, no bigger than the tip of a needle, fragile and weak. Two pale yellow leaves clung stubbornly to life in the narrow crack, surviving on meager nutrients in a struggle destined to end early. Feeling something stir, Ryuji Hyuga reached out and gently touched it.
In the next moment, it was as if he had plucked a string. The feeble grass instantly spread its withered leaves, shedding their dull color and turning a lively green. The thin stem shot upward, more leaves sprouting and unfurling, while roots extended downward and branched at a frantic pace.
At that moment, Ryuji Hyuga finally understood what he had gained. It was an instruction, an instruction that interfered with rules. It was incredibly weak for now, but it touched the essence of the world. Growth.
This was divine authority, a primordial divine technique. The core inherited by Wood Release from the divine tree was actually a rule of the world itself. As he stood there stunned, another notification suddenly sounded in his mind.
It declared that his lie had been judged as deception on a grand scale, causing Gamamaru to experience intense emotional fluctuation and reach a state of shock and doubt, granting him 8000 Reality Points. His Remaining Reality Points soared to 17754.
Looking at the suddenly skyrocketing points, Ryuji Hyuga was completely stunned. He wondered what lie he had even told, and then froze as he realized the name Gamamaru. The old toad who liked to play at being mysterious.
Northwest of Land of Rain lay Iwagakure in the Land of Earth. High mountains and rolling hills ringed the area, forming a natural fortress around a secret stronghold tied to Zetsu. This terrain became a natural barrier that protected Iwagakure from the outside.