The death of Fourth Hokage's Obito signaled that this timeline would no longer follow the developments shown in the Light screen video.
As for how it would ultimately unfold—no one knew.
Still, with the death of Fourth Hokage's Obito, the Nine-Tails Incident was considered resolved.
It was even possible that the outbreak of the Fourth Great Ninja War would be delayed.
After all, Black Zetsu would still need time to train a powerful pawn.
In the Third Timeline, within the Uzumaki Clan's forbidden land—Namian Hall— Orochimaru placed Black Zetsu's corpse, which was essentially a pile of black, muddy yin-yang matter, on the ground.
Then, right in front of Sage of Six Paths Madara and the others, he summoned the Shinigami.
As the Shinigami descended and Orochimaru prepared to act, he suddenly noticed a change in the expression on the death god's face.
Previously, although the Shinigami looked dignified, its face was always wooden—completely lifeless.
But now, Orochimaru could clearly sense an emotion: irritation.
Almost like it was saying—"Damn it, it's you guys again."
In response, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue with excitement.
Originally, they thought the Shinigami was merely the manifestation of chakra—but now, that didn't seem entirely accurate.
If the situation allowed, Orochimaru truly wished he could study it thoroughly.
Slash—
A blade cut through the air, leaving a long gash across the Shinigami's belly.
Seizing the opportunity, Black Zetsu's soul rushed out and attached itself to the pile of sludge.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru once again deceived the Shinigami using his shedding technique.
And just like that, after revealing a trace of helplessness, the Shinigami vanished once more.
"Where... am I?"
Flesh (rotten) met soul (mud), like dry wood meeting a blazing fire.
No need for Edo Tensei, cloning, or resurrection techniques—Black Zetsu had been truly brought back to life just like that.
Before it could even figure out what was going on, it saw Madara, Hashirama, and a group of people standing behind them, instantly sending a chill down its spine.
"What are you trying to do?"
"Black Zetsu, don't be afraid. We've got something good for you."
Faced with Black Zetsu, the Six Paths Madara stepped forward without hesitation.
"Something good? For me, unless it's about saving my mother, I couldn't care less about anything else on this continent. You pulled me out of the Shinigami's stomach… don't tell me you're actually planning to save my mother? Hahaha."
Black Zetsu let out a few dry laughs, pretending to stay calm, but noticed something off about the expressions of the people in front of him.
Then it hit him.
"No way… you're actually planning to save my mother?"
"You could say that."
Black Zetsu had no idea what was wrong with these people's heads.
His mother was the progenitor of chakra, after all.
Did they really think that having him as a hostage would be enough to threaten her?
Never.
I will never become a burden to Mother.
"You despicable, sneaky humans... I will never let you succeed!"
As he spoke, Black Zetsu pressed his palms together, ready to self-destruct on the spot.
"Boom~"
Seeing Black Zetsu getting all worked up, Six Paths Madara kicked him flying without hesitation.
"Talk properly. What are you getting so riled up for?"
"You bastards!"
Climbing back to his feet, Black Zetsu roared, "I will never let you use me against my mother!"
After shouting, he tried to self-destruct again.
At that moment, Six Paths Hashirama couldn't take it anymore — a Wood descended and successfully restrained Black Zetsu.
"I'm asking you — what the hell is wrong with you? When did I ever say I was going to use you against Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"
"Wait a minute — how do you even know my mother's name?"
Black Zetsu was certain — he had never revealed the name Ōtsutsuki Kaguya to them.
He looked closely at Madara and noticed something strange about his state.
Those two black orbs floating behind Madara gave him a bone-chilling feeling.
What the hell are those things?
"Never mind where we learned the name Ōtsutsuki Kaguya from. The reason we let you out this time is because we want you to convince her... to join Konoha."
"Join Konoha? Impossible! Madara, you've completely lost your mind! My mother is the progenitor of chakra! A village built by rotten tomatoes and smelly eggs like you… you think it's worthy of her joining?"
"Whether we're worthy or not isn't the point right now. We're going to fight her anyway. Once we defeat your mother, I hope you'll convince her. Otherwise, I'll kill her."
Madara's words were filled with murderous intent.
Black Zetsu had wanted to mock him again.
But then a thought crossed his mind—these people wanted to bring his mother over to Konoha.
In other words, they planned to rescue her.
With his mother's power, once she's freed—even if she's still weak—these shinobi wouldn't stand a chance against her.
Maybe he should pretend to agree for now. Once they get her out, things would no longer be under their control.
"Fine. I agree."
Madara gave Black Zetsu a deep look. He knew this thing was just pretending to go along with it.
But that didn't matter.
Black Zetsu was merely a tool to show Otsutsuki Kaguya their sincerity. Whether or not he tried to persuade her didn't really mean much.
As long as they could defeat Kaguya, unless she wanted to die, she would definitely agree to join them.
Wasn't that exactly what happened in the Fifth Timeline?
"All right, Black Zetsu has agreed. Now it's up to Madara and the First Hokage."
After leaving the Nara Clan Hall, Six Paths Madara and Six Paths Hashirama said nothing and immediately flew toward the moon.
With their bodies as Jinchūriki of the Ten Tails, they could move through space for a short time.
But to avoid unnecessary risk, they didn't leave the atmosphere.
When they felt they were close enough, they remotely commanded the Truth-Seeking Orbs to destroy the moon.
"Madara, I sense a lot of chakra coming from the moon. Do you think people are still living up there?"
Don't be fooled by their equal status as Six Paths-level beings—Hashirama's sensory abilities were still stronger than Madara's.
At the very least, Hashirama could sense people living on the moon, while Madara could only vaguely feel something.
"The video from the light screen said that the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother, Hamura, took a lot of people to the moon, right? These people are probably his descendants, guarding Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
"Should we go notify them?"
"No need. We don't have much time. Let's not meddle in unnecessary things."
"Alright."
Freeing Ōtsutsuki Kaguya didn't require destroying the entire moon.
They calculated it—destroying about a quarter, or even just a tenth, would be enough.
A sealing technique is like a complete program—if even one part of it is damaged, then the seal is no longer whole.
And if it's not whole, there's room to break through.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had been sealed for over a thousand years.
Once someone started damaging the seal from the outside, she definitely wouldn't miss that chance.
And that's exactly what happened.
When Madara and Hashirama controlled their Truth-Seeking Orbs to attack the edge of the moon, it didn't take long before Ōtsutsuki Kaguya burst out from the damaged section.
At that point, the moon had only been damaged by about one-seventh.
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