"Uchiha Madara... has changed." Black Zetsu kept repeating those words. After quickly glancing at the silent Obito beside him, it turned to look at Uchiha Madara in the distance.
On Nine-Tailed Night, after witnessing Uchiha Madara's various actions, Black Zetsu had begun considering replacing him.
An Uchiha Madara who had not completely severed his ties to the past had stopped the rampaging Nine-Tails over some ridiculous notions, becoming a hero who saved the Uchiha Clan and the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Heh."
A cold smile suddenly curled across Black Zetsu's lips. Turning to Uchiha Obito, it said, "We all know about the grudge between Lord Madara, the Uchiha, and Konoha. Yet two years ago, he stopped the Nine-Tails.
"If, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, he develops certain thoughts again..."
Though Black Zetsu did not finish its sentence, Obito roughly understood what it meant.
His eyes shifted slightly as he glanced at Uchiha Madara in the distance. With some hesitation in his voice, he said, "He was the one who initiated the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He... probably wouldn't do something like that, would he?"
"Who knows!"
Black Zetsu shrugged, then looked at the First Hokage below and said wistfully, "Back then, none of us expected Lord Madara to stop the Nine-Tails from destroying Konoha, did we?"
Obito gave Black Zetsu a thoughtful look.
From the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Obito had vaguely sensed that Madara's will seemed to want him to take charge of the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.
At the time, he had thought that this will had inherited Uchiha Madara's personality and wanted to complete the plan through its own power, keeping the original body as a second choice.
Now, it seemed he had been half right.
*The will created by Uchiha Madara did indeed treat the original