Chapter 164: Heavenly Scourge! Black Zetsu
It was at that very moment.
A horrifying blaze of fire suddenly erupted from Black Zetsu's left arm. The flames, appearing from thin air, fiercely scorched Black Zetsu's left arm, causing the already-screaming creature to widen its eyes in agony. Its round, yellow eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.
"It's burning my soul! Aaaaaah!!!" Black Zetsu's desperate, distorted cry made Obito's blood run cold. "This bizarre jutsu will kill me! Quick, aaaaaah! Quick... quickly save me! Aaaaaah!!!"
Save him? How? Would it work to just suck half of his body into the Kamui dimension?
But if that strange flame was sucked into the Kamui dimension, would his own soul be scorched by it?
Obito hesitated.
And in that brief moment of hesitation, the Heavenly Scourge Flame had already enveloped Black Zetsu's entire arm and shoulder. The expression of extreme pain made Spiral Zetsu retreat a few steps in panic.
"If you have the ability to split your soul, then immediately separate the left half of the soul from the right. This is how Danzo Shimura evaded this ability. At the very least, it will prevent the flames from consuming the entire body."
A slightly childish, cold voice suddenly broke the silence, causing both Obito and Spiral Zetsu to turn their heads.
They saw a small ninja wearing an ANBU mask crouching in a tree nearby.
The ninja continued. "You can choose not to trust me, but this is the only way to save him."
Obito stared deeply at the person and said to Black Zetsu, "Separate yourself from that body now!"
The moment the words left his mouth.
The black half of the black-and-white body rapidly receded like a tide. Black Zetsu completely detached from the White Zetsu's body, transforming into a strange, viscous black substance with a pair of eyes and a mouth.
After Black Zetsu had separated, the aloe-like special White Zetsu began to roll around on the ground in agony. The Heavenly Scourge Flame on its left arm had now enveloped most of its body.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Black Zetsu's round, yellow eyes were wide as he gasped for breath, staring in shock at the aloe-shaped White Zetsu engulfed in flames.
The next second.
The endless despair and pain in its mind once again swallowed up most of Black Zetsu's consciousness, causing it to roll around on the ground and let out the same agonizing screams as the aloe-like White Zetsu.
"Why is it still like this?!" Seeing Black Zetsu, now just a puddle of goo, still in such a miserable state, Obito turned to the ANBU ninja crouching in the tree and demanded an answer.
The ANBU ninja with the childish voice replied, "At the very least, the flames that would have turned its soul to ashes haven't reached it, have they?"
"Uchiha Ikeizumi's left eye ability seems to make people feel extreme pain, as was clearly demonstrated on Danzo."
"His right eye ability releases a bizarre flame that, once it sticks to you, you can never get rid of, unless you manage to split your soul."
At this, the ANBU ninja looked at the puddle that was Black Zetsu.
He paused, then continued. "It seems this body had two souls. Uchiha Ikeizumi's flame branded the white soul. After the two souls separated, the strange flame was not carried over to the black soul. At the very least, my suggestion saved it, didn't it?"
"As for why the left eye's ability wasn't eliminated, I don't know. After all, the information I have is only based on my analysis of Uchiha Ikeizumi's use of the Mangekyo against Danzo."
"Speaking of which, you people are truly strange. So strange, in fact, that you don't even seem to be human." The ANBU ninja stared at Black Zetsu. "He seems more like a special summoning beast."
Obito's brow furrowed under his mask. He found the young ANBU's voice to have a certain air of condescending arrogance.
The feeling annoyed him greatly.
But... he could probably confirm that Black Zetsu wouldn't die. The one who would be incinerated was the aloe-like White Zetsu. The White Zetsu's screams had already stopped, and the strange flames had consumed its entire body, leaving not even ashes behind. The body seemed to have been erased from existence.
Obito's eyes took on a sinister glint.
The bizarre, aloe-like White Zetsu had once taken care of him, and seeing it burn to a painful death right before his eyes left him feeling a certain degree of emotion.
He took a deep breath, his expression becoming blank again. He looked up at the ANBU ninja in front of him.
His raspy voice held a hint of weariness. "What's your goal? Youngster of the Uchiha clan."
Now it was Uchiha Itachi's turn to be stunned.
He jumped down from the tree and walked toward Obito, asking, "How did you know I was an Uchiha ninja?"
"Hmph!" Along with Black Zetsu's agonizing scream, Obito crossed his arms and let out a cold laugh. "I know Konoha inside and out. There is only one person in the ANBU who is the youngest—and that is the only Uchiha ninja in the ANBU, Uchiha Itachi."
"I understand kids like you. You wouldn't help for no reason. Tell me your goal. You'd better do it before I get the urge to kill you, or you won't be going home tonight."
Uchiha Itachi was silent for half a second. He took off his ANBU mask, revealing a slightly boyish face.
But this youthful face was trying so hard to project a mature adult demeanor that it seemed incongruous.
Uchiha Itachi spoke. "I can see that you are very intent on dealing with Uchiha Ikeizumi. Or rather... very intent on killing him. You may know Konoha well, but you definitely don't know Uchiha Ikeizumi as well as I do. Perhaps, in some respects, we can cooperate."
"Oh?"
Obito was intrigued. "Go on?"
Uchiha Itachi said coldly, "For example—cooperating to eliminate Uchiha Ikeizumi. Or rather—cooperating to eliminate the Uchiha clan."
Obito: "???"
On the other side.
"Jiraiya the Sage has arrived! Everyone stop what you're doing right now! Outside of Konoha is no place for you to run wild!" The late-arriving Jiraiya descended from the sky, landing steadily on the ground. He immediately shouted, raising his voice.
However, the sight before him, although scarred and bearing the signs of a recent fierce battle, was now completely peaceful, leaving him quite bewildered.
In Jiraiya's line of sight were only two people and a cat.
Uchiha Ikeizumi, Juzo Biwa, and Kūjirō.
This caused Jiraiya to freeze. "Why are you here?"
"It's over, meow." Kūjirō, who had shrunk back to his normal size, had a hint of exhaustion in his eyes. It seemed that inflating his body to such a large size consumed his strength and chakra very quickly.
Kūjirō rolled his eyes at Jiraiya and mockingly complained. "Is this the resolve you have to reform the ninja world? You can't even get here in time, and you still want to find a so-called savior? You want to train that savior to be what you want them to be?!"
Jiraiya: "..."
He hadn't even had a chance to say anything, and this ninja cat was already scolding him? Why did the cat dislike him so much? Was he born to be unlucky with cats?
But as one of the Sannin, it wouldn't be right to argue with a cat.
Jiraiya could only hold a straight face and ask Uchiha Ikeizumi, "Ikeizumi, I could see a Wood Golem from a great distance, and why are all the roots of these trees sticking out of the ground? Who used Wood Release just now?"
Before Uchiha Ikeizumi could answer, Jiraiya's peripheral vision caught sight of Juzo Biwa, who had suddenly turned to stare at Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Why was this guy looking at Uchiha Ikeizumi like that?
Huh?
Wait a minute!
Jiraiya's eyes widened. He looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi, dumbfounded. "Did you use Wood Release?!"
"Not just him." Juzo Biwa patted the dust off himself with lingering fear. "There were two other strange-looking guys who also used Wood Release Jutsu."
With that, Juzo could no longer hold back his inner complaint. "What happened to the lineage of your Konoha's clans? It feels like everyone in the ninja world can use the legendary Wood Release now! It looks like you're wholesaling it, like it's free."
Jiraiya: "..."
He had read a lot of shocking information from Juzo Biwa's words.
—Uchiha Ikeizumi really had Wood Release.
—Ikeizumi had been fighting at least two enemies from other villages, and both of them also had Wood Release.
iraiya's heart sank slightly.
Wood Release...
He knew that it was the bloodline limit that had once pacified the ninja world under the First Hokage. Since the First Hokage's death, there had been no new Wood Release ninja in the Senju clan.
He had heard from the old man that Orochimaru had researched Wood Release and had one successful case, but the old man had hidden that success away.
Wait!
Could this be related to Orochimaru?
At the very mention of Orochimaru's name, it was as if a switch had been flipped. Jiraiya urgently continued to ask, "Ikeizumi, did you encounter Orochimaru? Or one of his subordinates? Or... one of his disciples?!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi said plainly, "He's your grand-disciple."
"Huh???"
Jiraiya was taken aback.
He didn't get it.
(End of Chapter)
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