Black Zetsu: It Was Like Seeing a Friend Who Had Been Dead for a Thousand Years

Crack...

The coffin in the Secret Chamber slowly opened from within.

A burly man crawled out of the coffin.

With disheveled long hair draped over his shoulders, the man opened his mouth and spat a chunk of flesh into his right palm before once again savoring the feeling of being alive.

It was none other than Madara Uchiha.

No one would have thought that Madara Uchiha was still alive.

Perhaps the entire Shinobi World already knew that Madara Uchiha had been personally killed by Hashirama Senju. No one would ever have imagined that this man could return from the dead.

"The timing is just right."

"It seems my guess was correct after all..."

Madara Uchiha raised his head to survey the Secret Chamber deep in the mountains, mockingly sneering at the person he hated most. "Even if I died in battle against Hashirama, that sinister, despicable little man Tobirama Senju would not dispose of my corpse immediately..."

Madara Uchiha raised his left hand and instinctively touched his eyes. One of them was clouded gray-white, the color of blindness.

Clearly.

This blind eye was the price he had paid to return from the dead.

"I set up Izanagi's formula and activation time in advance, using Transcription Seal to leave it within my Sharingan for delayed activation. This method worked after all..."

This was a secret technique of the Uchiha Clan.

Izanagi was the Uchiha Clan's ultimate secret technique. For a brief period of time, it could turn all adverse effects suffered by its user into a dream.

Even death.

Transcription Seal was a Sharingan secret technique of the Uchiha Clan. It allowed one to prepare a technique in advance and seal it within the Sharingan, while also setting an activation time or special condition. The technique would then activate at a particular time or under a particular circumstance.

It would remain effective even after the caster who set the Transcription Seal had died.

Before his great battle with Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha had already prepared for the possibility of defeat. He used Izanagi and Transcription Seal to escape death.

Madara Uchiha felt some regret over his blinded eye and reached up to stroke his eye socket. "It's just a pity, the eye Izuna left me..."

This was the eye his younger brother, Uchiha Izuna, had left him.

However, when Madara Uchiha recalled why he had taken the initiative to provoke a battle with Hashirama Senju, his spirits quickly lifted again.

"Hashirama's flesh..."

Madara Uchiha stared intently at the flesh in his hand. He had bitten it off Hashirama Senju during their battle, and it was the spoils of this fight.

This was the most important thing.

It was even more important than the outcome of the battle.

This was also the result Madara Uchiha had sought by provoking the battle, a result that could only be obtained through a life-and-death struggle.

"Hashirama..."

"This time, my plan succeeded."

"As long as I transplant this flesh into my wound, I will obtain Hashirama's cells. I should be able to obtain his Chakra as well..."

Madara Uchiha clenched Hashirama Senju's flesh in his fist. He could feel the vigorous vitality contained within it, imagining the result after the transplantation.

"The mutual interaction of positive and negative forces gives rise to the Power of All Things..."

"It should mean that if the Chakra of the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan, who have fought each other for generations, are fused together, one can obtain the power to save all people..."

"I hope..."

"You won't disappoint me."

Before leaving the Secret Chamber, Madara Uchiha seemed to think of something and abruptly raised his fingers. "Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Technique!"

Poof!

A Shadow Clone appeared beside him!

Madara Uchiha watched his Shadow Clone lie down in the coffin and impersonate his corpse. Only then did a cold smile appear on his face.

"Hmph..."

"I'll leave behind a Shadow Clone for now..."

"If anything happens to my Shadow Clone here, it will relay all the information it encounters back to me when it disappears..."

"That way, when that sinister, despicable little man Tobirama Senju fails in his attempt to study my corpse and realizes that I am still alive, I'll know about it..."

"Then I can prepare in advance."

As a shinobi who had endured brutal slaughter and bloody schemes during the Warring States Period, Madara Uchiha did not believe that faking his death would allow him to escape entirely. He merely wanted to buy as much time as possible, so he could obtain the so-called Power of All Things during that time.

The Shadow Clone Technique was extremely practical for powerful people like them.

The Shadow Clone he left behind was a safeguard against his fake death being discovered, because the defining feature of the Shadow Clone Technique was that it relayed information to the original body before it died.

Only after Madara Uchiha believed he had prepared everything did he quietly leave the Secret Chamber. He needed to find a quiet place to transplant Hashirama's flesh.

But...

Before that...

Madara Uchiha wanted to see Hashirama one more time.

This battle had been the fiercest one they had ever fought.

Although Madara Uchiha knew that he had lost this battle to Hashirama Senju, he also knew that he must have dealt his former close friend unprecedentedly severe injuries.

Perhaps...

That fellow Hashirama was gravely wounded and on the verge of death?

Although that idiot's healing ability was powerful, Madara had dealt him a devastating blow. He should not have awakened again so soon, right?

One final visit...

He would treat it as a farewell to his former self.

Madara Uchiha had already made up his mind. Once he obtained the Power of All Things in the future and faced Hashirama Senju again, he would surely fight with the resolve to kill him!

"Hashirama."

"I learned something from you too."

Madara Uchiha recalled their final exchange and the pain of Hashirama piercing his body from behind with a ninja blade.

"Hashirama..."

Madara Uchiha clenched his fists and ground his teeth, proving that his resolve had become utterly firm!

"I will become just like you."

"Whether it is my own brother..."

"My friends, my own children..."

"To fulfill my beliefs, they are all people I can kill..."

"Hashirama."

"This is what you taught me."

"This dark will..."

"I accept it."

Madara Uchiha gradually relaxed.

Because once he had made his choice, it seemed that nothing was so difficult anymore.

Madara Uchiha's expression slowly returned to normal as he stepped into the darkness of Konoha Village.

Although Konoha Village's defenses were tight, they were completely useless against Madara Uchiha. To him, these guards were like children playing house.

In all of Konoha.

Only Hashirama Senju could make him feel troubled.

However...

Madara Uchiha never could have imagined it.

Just as he left, Black Zetsu, which had remained in the Secret Chamber to observe, followed beneath Madara Uchiha, watching every one of his actions.

Likewise...

It did not arouse his vigilance in the slightest.

"Hehehehe..."

"Madara really is quite clever..."

Black Zetsu was somewhat surprised by Madara Uchiha's secret arrangements. The scheme had nearly deceived even it, and a sinister, pleased smile finally appeared on its face.

"I never expected to see hope for the plan's success in Madara..."

Truly...

What a turn of events!

Black Zetsu could not have been more delighted!

Black Zetsu noticed Madara Uchiha leaving behind a Shadow Clone in the Secret Chamber, and it understood very well that Madara Uchiha definitely wanted to conceal the fact that he had faked his death.

"Let me help you, then."

As Black Zetsu hid underground and followed Madara Uchiha's footsteps, it secretly considered how to help Madara Uchiha conceal his fake death.

"That Tobirama Senju collected Madara's corpse. He definitely wants to study Madara's secrets. Then I'll find a way to give Tobirama Senju some trouble, so he has no time to pay attention to Madara's corpse..."

"As long as no one notices Madara's fake death..."

Black Zetsu felt that its plan was proceeding perfectly, and the smile at the corner of its mouth simply would not stop. "That way, after Madara transplants Hashirama Senju's flesh, he can peacefully wait for the Rinnegan of All Things of Nature Power to awaken..."

Black Zetsu envisioned the wonderful prospect of its plan succeeding, and the smile on its face grew increasingly sinister and terrifying. "Once the power belonging to the Sage of Six Paths awakens within Madara, it will be time for me to truly make my entrance!"

"Hm?"

Just as Black Zetsu happily continued tailing Madara Uchiha and considered how to provide him with a secure environment to awaken the Rinnegan, it discovered that Madara Uchiha had suddenly stopped and quietly hidden himself for some unknown reason.

"Hm?"

Black Zetsu became somewhat suspicious, not understanding why.

"Could I have been exposed?"

Black Zetsu did not believe its ability to hide had been exposed, and even found evidence to support itself. "I watched Indra all that time. This concealment ability came from Mom—even that Sage of Six Paths could not detect it!"

Very soon.

Black Zetsu realized why Madara Uchiha had stopped.

Because Black Zetsu also discovered two people walking through Konoha's streets. They had been discussing Hashirama Senju's condition, and one of them happened to be Tobirama Senju, the person Black Zetsu had intended to secretly cause trouble for.

As for the other person...

Black Zetsu initially thought he was an ordinary Konoha shinobi.

To Black Zetsu, aside from Hashirama Senju, everyone else was an ordinary shinobi.

Then...

Black Zetsu casually glanced at him.

That single glance made its thoughts go blank for an instant, causing it to question whether something had gone wrong with its life.

"This..."

"Is this a thousand years later?"

"Why does it seem like... I just saw Shirou Emiya?"