The border of the Land of Rain, a desolate hilly area.
In this lifeless scene, a non-human entity, completely out of place with its surroundings, is frantically sweeping across the ground in a liquid-like, incredibly fast manner.
They fled for their lives toward the borders of the Land of Rain —or more precisely, toward the seas far from Rain Village and the land where a decisive battle had just ended.
It has no fixed shape; it is more like a thick, black mud that has been forcibly endowed with will and action.
The main body kept writhing, and a distorted mouth made of simple lines and a pair of dark yellow eyes emerged on its surface.
It was Black Zetsu who slipped away from the battlefield in Rain Village ahead of time and decisively abandoned all his pieces when he saw the situation was not good.
At this moment, Black Zetsu's inner world was in stark contrast to its silent, stealthy demeanor; it was boiling with a violent emotion that threatened to consume it entirely!
Damn it... bastard... utterly despicable!!!
A silent roar echoed wildly within its chaotic core of consciousness.
There is no specific target of the curse, or rather, the target of the curse is fate itself, this damned God!
Why?!
Why play games with yourself like this?!
A thousand years of waiting! A thousand years of forbearance! A thousand years of meticulous planning and covert manipulation! It's like a spider lurking in the dark cracks of history, tirelessly weaving a giant web spanning countless years, waiting to finally close it and welcome its mother back!
And so it seems, this generation has finally produced a genius like Uchiha Madara, who even successfully fused with the power of Asura and ultimately awakened the Rinnegan in his later years—the reincarnation of Indra! This is a breakthrough unprecedented in a thousand years! It is the most crucial step in the plan!
It guided Madara... step by step, it was about to begin collecting the Tailed Beast, about to activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi, about to recover the chakra his mother had scattered throughout the world, about to prepare the perfect vessel for his mother's resurrection...
Why?! Why did everything just vanish so completely, without warning?!
That damned, inexplicable [Ember] organization! That leader who wears Fox Mask, calls himself " Menma," and whose strength is unbelievably powerful!
How could he know so many secrets?!
Especially that " Menma "... no, now we know, he's Uzumaki Naruto! The reincarnation of Asura Chakra in this generation!
Why?! Why would this reincarnation of Asura know those top-secret things—things even Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju didn't know—about his mother, the Ōtsutsuki Clan, and the truth about the Moon Eye?!
Black Zetsu was filled with grief, anger, and resentment. It felt that its millennia of effort had been like a sandcastle meticulously built over countless days and nights, which had been easily and completely destroyed by a passing child's casual kick, leaving no room for redemption!
A thousand years!
It endures loneliness, witnessing the birth, aging, sickness, and death, love, and hatred of generations of humanity, sowing discord between the reincarnations of Indra and Asura like a chess piece. Each failure means another decades of waiting and rearranging...
Why is it that the Indra throughout history... can never defeat the Asura?
This resentment almost became its nightmare.
The plan has completely failed. Forget about reviving their mother Kaguya; now they can't even revive Uchiha Madara, a crucial pawn in their scheme.
Obito is dead, Nagato is crippled, the Akatsuki a mere shell of its former self, and not a single Tailed Beast has been captured... All its hard work has been destroyed in an instant!
"But..."
Within that pool of black liquid, an eye flickered, revealing a cold and twisted glint of calculating light.
At this point... there's no other way.
Almost all of its pawns, both overt and covert, are gone. That Uzumaki Naruto, the reincarnation of Asura in this generation, is ridiculously strong and knows too much. With him around, it's impossible for it to have any chance to implement the Moon Eye Plan.
But what good is being powerful or knowing so much?
Black Zetsu thought bitterly.
Ultimately, Uzumaki Naruto... no matter how strong he is, no matter how much he knows, he is still a human being. He is made of flesh and blood, and he will age, get tired, and die.
Even the Sage of Six Paths... that mother's biological son, Otsutsuki and the power of a god... ultimately couldn't escape being taken away by lifespan and turning into dust of history, could he?
Human beings have their limits.
As for Black Zetsu, a product of consciousness created by Kaguya using Yin-Yang Release, it possesses an infinite lifespan! It can wait! Time is the one thing it has in abundance!
Anyway... we've already waited a thousand years...
So what if we wait for another cycle...?
When Uzumaki Naruto's generation passes away, when his power weakens with the passage of time or his lineage changes, when new reincarnations of Indra and Asura appear, when new hatred and conflict arise in this world...
At that time, it will Black Zetsu, just as it has been for the past thousand years, quietly emerging from the shadows of history to begin its provocations, schemes, and guidance once again.
Wait for the next generation... wait for the next generation after that...
I am certain I can find a way to bring my mother back to life!
"Found you."
However, a voice suddenly appeared, directly piercing into the core of Black Zetsu's consciousness, which was boiling with anger and scheming.
"We can't let you get away with this!"
"Whoosh--!"
Less than three meters in front of Black Zetsu, a pitch-black rift suddenly appeared without warning—[ Yomotsu Hirasaka ]!
Immediately afterwards, a figure stepped out from the abyss-like teleportation portal.
Uzumaki Naruto, just like that, abruptly yet naturally, intercepted Black Zetsu, who was fleeing for his life, blocking all his paths.
His gaze calmly fell upon the mass of black liquid in front of him, which had suddenly frozen in extreme shock and even seemed to be boiling.
"You bastard!!!"
"I can't let you pull any more tricks."
Naruto, seeing the shock and resentment on Black Zetsu's face, slowly spoke. "By manipulating people's hearts, sowing discord, exploiting tragedy and obsession... he treated the entire world as a chessboard, and countless lives as pawns, pushing them step by step to this point..."
"In some ways, you're really scary."
As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto raised his right hand, palm up.
A pure white light silently appeared and coalesced.
[ Rasengan ·Japan Core].
Black Zetsu's eyes were fixed intently on the small white sphere. "Wait... wait a minute!!!"
Black Zetsu's voice suddenly became sharp and urgent, filled with unprecedented panic and pleading.
"We can discuss this! You know, right? In a few decades, Mother's clan—the true Ōtsutsuki Clan —will arrive on this planet!"
It hastily threw out what it considered its most valuable bargaining chip.
"You helped me resurrect my mother! With her power, plus yours, we can absolutely fight against those Otsutsuki! I can help you persuade my mother! We can cooperate! We can rule this world, and even..."
"This is not necessary."
Naruto decisively interrupted Black Zetsu's tempting and survival-driven proposal.
"What you've been doing for the past thousand years, in the end, is nothing more than sowing discord, inciting hatred, and creating and exploiting war and tragedy?"
"And I, as a person, hate war the most."
I hate those pointless sacrifices, I hate those hatreds twisted by conspiracies, I hate those wars ignited by selfish desires.
"However..." Naruto suddenly changed the subject, "I am rather curious."
"A creation of Yin-Yang Release... Do you have a soul?"
Black Zetsu was taken aback by this abrupt question.
If there is.
"You might... see Kaguya soon."
"!!?"
Black Zetsu's thoughts froze for a moment, but there was no time for it to continue thinking or reacting.
Because the [ Rasengan: Sun Core] that was floating in Naruto's palm had already been gently pushed forward by him.
With a constant and unavoidable speed, it calmly and straightened... drifted towards the pool of frozen black liquid.
"Damn it! You bastard!!!"
Black Zetsu let out a final roar, filled with resentment and venom!
"You're nothing but a part of the Ninja history I created! A brat who was born by chance, a lucky bastard—!! Don't even think about... don't even think about killing me like that—!!!"
It cursed wildly, making a final, desperate struggle.
However, all resistance appears so pale and powerless in the face of absolute power.
The white sphere of light gently, silently... touched the edge of the pool of black liquid.
The instant they touched each other, Black Zetsu's body, composed of Yin-Yang Release and existing for a thousand years, along with the malevolent consciousness it carried, was completely enveloped by the extreme temperature and energy of 15 million degrees Celsius.
Black Zetsu didn't have time to feel any pain; its final form remained twisted, cursing, and filled with resentment.
Then—it disappeared.
Naruto slowly lowered his hand, the light in his palm completely disappearing. He stood quietly in place, the golden pupil markings of his [ Star Eye ] gradually smoothing out, returning to a normal azure blue.
His perception swept meticulously across a radius of dozens of miles, capturing every inch of land, every breath of air, and every subtle movement of chakra.
That cold, sticky, and malicious atmosphere was gone.
The ghost that lurked in the shadows of history, orchestrating countless tragedies, is no more.
"Finally..."
Naruto let out a long, deep breath, and the invisible burden was slowly released.
In the distance, the dark clouds have settled low again, but the oppressive storm of chakra battle in the direction of Rain Village has completely subsided.
Obito was killed, Black Zetsu was annihilated, Nagato was persuaded, and the core conspirators and executors of the Moon Eye Plan were eradicated...
"... It's over."
(The author still has a lot of outline to write, and it won't be finished by the end of winter break anyway.)