Somewhere in the Land of Rain, a dark cave buried deep underground.
The damp, cold air was heavy with moisture, condensing into droplets that slowly slid down the jagged rock walls, making a monotonous and lonely dripping sound.
The man wearing an orange spiral mask, Uchiha Obito, sat casually on a rock.
He was like a frozen statue, with only his right eye, the scarlet Sharingan, visible beneath the mask, flickering with an eerie glow in the dim light.
Three pitch-black tomoe rotated silently and slowly within it, like a vortex peering into reality from the abyss.
Zetsu, in his half-black, half-white form, slowly emerged from the ground, like a plant breaking through soil.
"I have the latest intel on Kakashi Hatake. He seems to have gotten a girlfriend recently!"
"Is that so?"
Obito's voice rang out, deep and calm, without any noticeable fluctuations, as if he were merely confirming an insignificant triviality.
"That guy Kakashi… found a girlfriend?"
The voice echoed in the spacious, damp cave, absorbed by the rocks, sounding particularly hollow.
White Zetsu blinked his white eye, tilting his head, seemingly expecting a more intense reaction.
"That's the intel, Obito."
Black Zetsu's voice answered for him.
"The target seems to be a spy sent to Konoha from Sengoku Village. She abandoned her Village's mission for Kakashi and was eventually allowed to stay in Konoha Village as an exception. Specific intelligence is still being gathered."
Upon hearing this, the tomoe in Obito's Sharingan seemed to spin slightly faster.
Obito's posture remained unchanged, but the knuckles of the hand resting on his knee seemed to unconsciously tighten for a moment in the shadows, then relaxed again.
"Heh…"
An extremely faint, ambiguous exhalation escaped from beneath the mask, like a sigh, or perhaps a cold mockery.
He paused, his voice still maintaining that unsettling calm.
"That guy… has he finally moved on?"
To make a spy abandon her mission for him, how capable, Kakashi!
"Moved on?"
White Zetsu couldn't help but interject, his tone filled with confusion.
"I thought you'd be furious! After all, he…"
"No need for anger."
Obito interrupted White Zetsu, his voice suddenly clearer, revealing a resolute determination.
Beneath the calm tone, a hint of unyielding coldness finally seeped through.
The Sharingan pattern instantly changed, like a blade skimming across water.
"Anger is meaningless. It cannot change the past, nor can it shape the future."
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemingly penetrating the thick rock layers, cast towards a vague, distant
That scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan, in the dim light, shimmered with an almost fanatical, pathological yearning.
"When the day the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan is realized…"
His voice deepened, yet carried a strange, heart-stirring tenderness.
"When the light of the Infinite Tsukuyomi envelops the entire world, when dreams become the sole and eternal reality… all pain will be soothed, all regrets will be compensated.
This false reality, filled with scars, betrayal, and disappointment, will completely vanish."
He paused, and the corner of his mouth beneath the mask seemed to curve into a twisted arc, unseen by anyone.
"At that time, whether it's Kakashi or his so-called 'girlfriend'… they will all find their deserved 'happiness' in the perfect world. And Rin and I…"
When that name was mentioned, a barely perceptible, almost completely suppressed tremor appeared in his voice, but it was immediately covered by a stronger, iron-cold will.
"…At that time, I will have him properly introduce her to Rin and me.
In eternal peace and happiness, there will be no pain, no sacrifice, no separation by life or death.
Rin… she will be happy for Kakashi's change, in that perfect world."
His final words, imbued with an almost devout obsession, like a curse and a promise, fell heavily into the damp cave.
Black Zetsu silently watched Obito, his half-black face devoid of expression, but in the depths of his yellow pupils, a glimmer of understanding and an almost pitying, profound light flashed.
This pity was not benevolence, but stemmed from the condescension of his absolutely superior position, a cold indifference towards Obito's unawareness of his deep immersion in pain and illusion.
'Yes, Obito. That's it!'
'Burn, use your pain and despair as fuel, let it be the driving force that pushes you forward.
The more resolute your will to activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan, the better; the crazier, the better!'
Every time Obito looked gloomy and melancholic, Black Zetsu wanted to laugh.
Those statements sounded like splendid recitations to Black Zetsu, every word seemingly telling him:
"See! The tool you found is being played like a fiddle, mistakenly believing he's on the path to realizing his ideals and changing the Ninja World.
In reality, they are on the path to resurrecting Mother!"
After the Three-Tails is resurrected, the Tailed Beast capture plan can begin.
If the great Ninja Villages unite, they would still be too powerful; even Nagato might not fare well against them. Therefore, the Tailed Beast capture must be a blitzkrieg, catching the great Ninja Villages off guard.
An indescribable
He looked at Obito, immersed in self-pity and vengeful obsession, and then thought of Uchiha Madara, who was also being manipulated in his palm.
'I have to say, Obito and Madara are truly useful tools.'
Black Zetsu's consciousness was filled with cold mockery.
'They possess power beyond the reach of mortals—the Mangekyo Sharingan, the Rinnegan, and even the great power to control Tailed Beasts.
They are arrogant, stubborn, and harbor their own seemingly grand ideals: Madara pursues that ethereal 'true peace,' while Obito is lost in an irreversible past.
They believe they are making history, changing the world, unaware that they are merely pawns of mine.'
'While being useful, they also lack brains. Just like their ancestor, that utterly foolish Indra!'
At the thought of Indra's name, Black Zetsu's consciousness churned with disdain.
That idiot who inherited Hagoromo's powerful ocular jutsu but only sought power, blinded by jealousy.
He was easily provoked into the fated battle with his younger brother Ashura, initiating this world of conflict for Ninja, and also planting the first seed for Black Zetsu's millennium-long plan.
And precisely because Hagoromo and Hamura's descendants are so foolish, it is only right that I, Black Zetsu, resurrect Mother.
I've waited a thousand years, so a few more years won't make a difference.