How Dare You Call Him Wei Yuan

It had to be said...

Black Zetsu was rather good at telling stories.

In Black Zetsu's story, Kaguya became the Rabbit Goddess who pitied the people of the world, a victim harmed by those close to her.

Even though her fate had been so tragic...

The great Kaguya had still chosen to put the greater good first for the sake of everyone's lives.

The story vividly portrayed the Rabbit Goddess people wished to believe in, especially for someone like Shirou Emiya, who had always believed in the God Tree and Kaguya.

"..."

Shirou Emiya was a little dazed.

Was this the Shinobi World?

Was this seriously the Shinobi World?

If the storyteller had not been Black Zetsu, Shirou Emiya might have believed this tragic tale. Logically speaking, it had only one tiny flaw.

Because...

That flaw was Black Zetsu.

During the Ancient Era, Black Zetsu had always wanted revenge against the Sage of Six Paths.

Black Zetsu was the will Kaguya had left behind in this world. A kindhearted mother who dearly loved her sons, a mother who had even taken the initiative to back down amid a conflict that could have destroyed the world—yet the will she left behind had always wanted revenge on her own sons?

Clearly...

Black Zetsu did not understand human emotions very well.

As a good person, Shirou Emiya naturally had to take the initiative to patch up this flaw for Black Zetsu. It also eased much of the guilt he had felt toward Black Zetsu.

"Truly..."

"A god worthy of reverence..."

"I can hardly imagine..."

Shirou Emiya let out a long sigh, deliberately revealing a hint of sympathy. "Such a great god was clearly walking the right path, yet she was betrayed and sealed away by the children she cherished. How much pain must she have suppressed in her heart..."

"..."

Black Zetsu's face suddenly froze.

It had not expected...

Its story to work so well!

Shirou Emiya's reverence for Kaguya was growing ever stronger...

This guy...

Had even thought of Kaguya's pain when she had been sealed!

Although when Kaguya had been sealed by the Sage of Six Paths and his brother, she had felt more than just pain. In truth, she had also been filled with fury and resentment at her two sons' betrayal.

However, Shirou Emiya's words immediately gave Black Zetsu a new idea, and it promptly found an origin for its own existence.

"Yes..."

"This pain was unbearable..."

"Even the Rabbit Goddess could not bear it..."

"This pain was also the reason I was born into this world..."

Black Zetsu's voice gradually turned somber as it voluntarily took the blame. "Before that great mother was sealed, she had been unwilling to hate her sons. Kaguya separated her pain from her body, and from then on, I was born into this world..."

"So..."

"I have always concealed it..."

Black Zetsu acted as though it were somewhat inferior, fabricating its own history. "Because I am the will of pain that Mom gave birth to, I did not dare reveal my true identity..."

"..."

Shirou Emiya looked at Black Zetsu with sudden realization.

"Black Zetsu..."

Shirou Emiya seemed to have developed compassion.

At that moment, the man appeared to have completely accepted Black Zetsu's identity and forgiven its past deception. He even felt some sympathy for Black Zetsu's life.

"You are the will of the Rabbit Goddess..."

"That should be something to be proud of."

Shirou Emiya comforted Black Zetsu, sounding somewhat sorrowful. "Gods are always saving the suffering people of the world. Someone should save the suffering of the gods too..."

Shirou Emiya gently soothed Black Zetsu's heart. "As the will of pain left behind by the Rabbit Goddess, you must also feel indignant over what she suffered..."

"Wei Yuan-sama..."

Black Zetsu felt somewhat moved.

From today onward...

Shirou Emiya would be the pawn it could truly control perfectly.

No...

It could not think that way right now...

It should say...

Shirou Emiya was its true companion in reviving Kaguya.

Although Black Zetsu felt that, once Shirou Emiya revived Kaguya and saw her true form, he would probably fly into a rage...

Still...

To keep Shirou Emiya from becoming too angry...

Black Zetsu did not intend to let Shirou Emiya witness Kaguya's revival.

After all, Shirou Emiya was the sacrificial vessel Black Zetsu planned to use to revive Kaguya. Only Shirou Emiya was the pawn Black Zetsu trusted most.

As for Madara Uchiha...

Black Zetsu had completely forgotten that still-useless pawn.

Black Zetsu imagined its future plan succeeding. When the day came for it to pierce Shirou Emiya's heart and revive Kaguya, should it look smug?

Or should it...

Put on a sorrowful, helpless expression?

No...

It should do both.

It could sorrowfully explain its helplessness while smugly revealing the deception it had painstakingly plotted for all these years...

That state...

Seemed a little schizophrenic.

Although Black Zetsu felt a little sorry for Shirou Emiya's trust, it also believed that it was Kaguya's will to begin with, and every purpose it had was for Kaguya's revival.

Mm.

When that time came...

At worst, it could say a few more things.

Praise Shirou Emiya a little...

Tell him how much it liked him as a pawn...

How happy it had been when it truly used him as a pawn...

Before he died...

It should at least let Shirou Emiya know the truth.

That would count as doing justice to their friendship over the years.

Black Zetsu silently made its little calculations for the future. It even felt somewhat guilty as it thought about them, and its attitude toward Shirou Emiya unconsciously became warmer and more intimate.

"Wei Yuan..."

"..."

Hearing Black Zetsu's form of address, Shirou Emiya felt rather conflicted.

This Black Zetsu...

Did it think that because it was Kaguya's will...

Its status had risen...

And it no longer needed to call him Wei Yuan-sama?

Wei Yuan...

Was a name only true friends could use!

The sort of true friends who could entrust their final affairs to one another!

Wei Yuan was the name he had personally allowed Slug to use for convenience in conversation, yet that little fool had insisted on adding the honorific sama afterward.

As for Black Zetsu...

Calling him Wei Yuan-sama had been fine...

But now it would not even add an honorific afterward. Did it really think it could arrogantly look down on him just because it was Kaguya's will?

Although he was broad-minded and did not intend to argue with Black Zetsu over such trivial matters, Black Zetsu's conduct was truly rather arrogant...

The moment it gained a little power...

It had not even gained any power yet!

Black Zetsu was already putting on airs as the will of a god!

Although he was magnanimous and did not care about a mere form of address, Black Zetsu's attitude was truly going too far...

Had this guy forgotten the important matter at hand!

It still needed to ask favors of others right now!

"Wei Yuan."

Black Zetsu very much liked this intimate form of address.

Black Zetsu instead felt that its relationship with Shirou Emiya had grown closer. It believed that Shirou Emiya had completely accepted its identity and even forgiven it for concealing its identity.

The time had come.

It was time to discuss the real matter.

"Reviving Kaguya will not be easy."

"When Mom was sealed, it was over a thousand years ago. Reviving her had still been relatively easy then, but Mom's Chakra has gradually dissipated over the past thousand years..."

Black Zetsu paused here before fabricating another line. "Now, Mom has only her lingering thoughts left, still protecting the world she once dearly loved..."

"How great..."

Shirou Emiya could not help but praise her. Only then did he seem to suddenly realize something, furrowing his brow with apparent unease. "If Lady Kaguya only has lingering thoughts left, then this is a divine domain I have never encountered before. I may need quite some time to see whether I can explore and study it, but I am worried that I may not be able to do it..."

"..."

Black Zetsu smiled.

Black Zetsu did not care about Shirou Emiya's inability.

It was very satisfied with Shirou Emiya's attitude. It was even somewhat overjoyed, because Shirou Emiya's words brought back that familiar feeling from before!

As expected of Shirou Emiya!

As expected of its favorite pawn!

Whenever he encountered a problem, Shirou Emiya would instinctively seek a way to solve it.

However...

This time, Shirou Emiya definitely would not be able to do it.

Because the method of reviving Kaguya was certainly beyond Shirou Emiya's imagination.

"I think... Hm?"

Shirou Emiya had originally intended to keep chatting and see what other tricks Black Zetsu could come up with to deceive him, but then he sensed someone rapidly approaching them!

Black Zetsu's sensory abilities were equally powerful. It too noticed someone rapidly approaching and was somewhat annoyed at being interrupted while it was happily talking with Shirou Emiya.

"Someone's coming!"

"Wait..."

Black Zetsu sensed the approaching person with surprise, as though it could not believe their identity. "Why would he come here?"