Black Zetsu Loses His Composure

For a moment, both of them fell silent.

Black Zetsu lowered his head, past memories flashing rapidly through his mind as he began to reminisce.

However, no matter how hard he searched his memory, he could not find a single trace of Uchiha Brahman. Even if he racked his brains, he could not figure out how Uchiha Brahman had discovered the truth about Obito.

Just how much does he know!!!

Obito was also deep in thought, but like Black Zetsu, no matter how he analyzed it, he could not understand. He had hidden himself so well; he was Uchiha Madara. How on earth did Uchiha Brahman know that he wasn't Uchiha Madara, but actually Obito Uchiha?

It shouldn't be possible; it was completely irrational and illogical! It was absolutely impossible, because they had hidden their tracks so well that even a fool would know that no one could have possibly uncovered their plans.

Furthermore, the background information on Uchiha Brahman was completely unguarded; they had known about his entire past for a long time.

Before this, he was just a very ordinary, very average Uchiha—a commoner whose parents had died, who lacked the talent to become a ninja, and who survived in Konoha by relying on the fish shop passed down by his grandfather. That was until the day the former Daimyo of the Land of Fire arrived in Konoha, and this noble, elderly figure, who was nominally the supreme leader of the Land of Fire, offered his loyalty to this fish-selling youth.

And then, Sarutobi Hiruzen became a rogue ninja.

Wait...

Is there a possibility that these so-called past events of Uchiha Brahman were merely a disguise? Were they just fabricated?

But even so, what of it? Whether it was forged or not didn't matter, because even if Uchiha Brahman's past had been a constant act, there was no way he could have known Obito's identity or their plans!

"Uchiha Brahman, who exactly are you!"

A nameless, indescribable sense of unease welled up in Black Zetsu's heart. It was a terror far greater than knowing Uchiha Brahman possessed the power to kill him, or that he was disrupting his plans at the very moment he was closest to success.

It was like looking at flowers through a fog; you think you know everything, but the more carefully you think, the more you realize you haven't seen anything clearly at all.

Uchiha Brahman felt like a black hole, filling Black Zetsu with incomparable dread.

Just how much does he know!

Does he know my identity? Does he know my true plan? Is that power capable of killing me really just something he stumbled upon by coincidence?

Could he know everything... this monster... am I really... going to be able to rescue Mother?

At the thought of this, Black Zetsu felt a sense of despair, a bone-chilling cold, and even a touch of madness.

"No! Impossible!"

Suddenly, Black Zetsu let out a loud cry and recoiled.

"No, it's impossible! He couldn't have discovered it! Absolutely impossible!!!!"

Obito hadn't even broken down yet, but Black Zetsu had already terrified himself. He collapsed to the ground, his body cold, shouting and roaring.

He didn't believe it, he absolutely refused to believe it. This was a genjutsu, this was fake, it was all fake.

Uchiha Brahman could never have known his identity or his plans. It was impossible, absolutely impossible!

Waa, Mother!!! I will save you, I won't be killed by him, I won't, waa, Mother!!!

Black Zetsu roared loudly, his frantic thoughts echoing in his mind.

"Even the Six Paths doesn't know of my existence, even the ancestor of the Uchiha clan, Indra, doesn't know of my plans or my true identity. How could he, a mere descendant of Indra with only a faint trace of the Six Paths' bloodline, not a reincarnation of anyone, just a fishmonger, know my identity and my plans..."

"Even if he were a reincarnation of the Six Paths, so what? Even the Six Paths didn't know I existed, so how could a reincarnation know? Besides, he isn't any reincarnation; he's just an ordinary Uchiha. How could the Six Paths have done what Uchiha Brahman is doing now! It must be a coincidence, it must be a coincidence. Maybe it was that guy Uchiha Madara... it was Uchiha Madara who accidentally leaked the plan when I wasn't looking..."

Black Zetsu roared frantically in his heart, searching for reasons why Uchiha Brahman might know their plans. He had long since lost the composure of his past years; he had been scared out of his wits by the truth buried deep within.

Because things were different now than in the past. Uchiha Brahman could discover him, and even kill him. He had shifted from a spectator and a chess player into a piece on the board, and all his advantages had been shattered in front of Uchiha Brahman.

Uchiha Brahman was different from any Uchiha he had tempted in the past. If he dared to appear before Uchiha Brahman, Black Zetsu felt he would truly die.

He couldn't die; if he died, what would happen to Mother?

It must be a coincidence! It must be a coincidence! Uchiha Brahman doesn't know his true identity, doesn't know his true plan. That must be it, hahaha, an ordinary Uchiha knowing the history of the ninja world and his true identity—how could he have such a hallucination, hahaha!!!

Black Zetsu comforted himself and slowly calmed down.

Beside him, Obito Uchiha had no mood to care about Black Zetsu's loss of composure. Because when his true identity and even his plans were spoken aloud by Kakashi, his own heart was filled with immense shock and panic. He didn't know what had gone wrong to allow Uchiha Brahman to discover his true identity.

"Tell me, could it be that Uchiha Madara accidentally leaked our plans, or perhaps Uchiha Brahman is just another pawn of Uchiha Madara?"

Obito lay on the ground, feeling the effects of the anesthesia gradually wearing off and his mind becoming clearer, and then he voiced the most likely conclusion.

Great minds think alike!

However, there was still a problem. Uchiha Brahman was so powerful; why would he listen to Uchiha Madara? Based on their understanding of Uchiha Brahman, this monster's first reaction upon meeting Uchiha Madara would likely be to strike directly, stick Madara with a needle, and control him immediately, rather than listening to anything Madara had to say.

"It's possible that Uchiha Madara recorded our plans on something, and then Uchiha Brahman obtained it!"

Obito Uchiha turned his world-shaking intellect and finally arrived at this conclusion.

"That's right, it must be that!"

Black Zetsu nodded. After all, although he acted as the manifestation of Madara's will, he was ultimately just a manifestation. If Uchiha Madara had done something in secret without telling him, it would be impossible for him to know.