Black Zetsu?

"Obito Uchiha, your end has come."

Just as the giant hand was about to seize Obito, a faint spatial ripple suddenly erupted beneath him. A pitch-black figure shot out like a ghost, grabbed Obito, then turned to dive into a spatial rift.

"Hm?" Genki's gaze turned cold. "A rat that hides its head and shows its tail dares to act so brazenly before me?"

He controlled the Susanoo Armor and swung the Eight-Handled Sword fiercely. Carrying the force to destroy heaven and earth, its blade slashed viciously toward the black figure and the spatial rift.

Before the blade could even fall, the spatial rift was forcibly torn apart and annihilated. The black figure was struck by the aftershock of the sword aura, letting out a pained grunt as he flew backward miserably with Obito and crashed onto the scorched ground.

As the dust cleared, the black figure's appearance gradually came into view—a long black robe, a mask covering his face, and only one scarlet Sharingan exposed.

"Black Zetsu..." Obito spoke with difficulty, disbelief flashing through his eyes. "You... why are you here?"

Black Zetsu ignored Obito. He merely raised his head and stared fixedly at the Susanoo Armor, his eyes filled with profound wariness and a strange glint that was difficult to detect.

He could clearly sense that Genki's power had already far surpassed his expectations. It was even more terrifying than Kaguya, whom he had waited thousands of years for.

Genki's icy voice rang out again, laden with undisguised killing intent. "Another Uchiha traitor? Since you've come, stay here with him!"

As soon as his words fell, the Susanoo Armor raised the Eight-Handled Sword again. Countless phantom souls atop the blade howled madly once more as pitch-black energy intertwined with dark golden patterns, forming an even more terrifying sword aura than before.

This time, he would end everything once and for all—end Obito, end Black Zetsu, end this world filled with sin!

Watching the sword aura that pierced the heavens and earth, Black Zetsu's expression changed drastically. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and tried to flee again with Obito.

But this time, Genki would not give them another chance.

"Cleave—!!!"

The sword aura crashed down, slashing ruthlessly toward Black Zetsu and Obito.

Everything between heaven and earth became tiny and fragile before that sword aura. In Black Zetsu and Obito's eyes, nothing remained but utter despair—this time, they truly had nowhere left to run.

"Rumble—!!!"

The deafening roar nearly tore apart the sky as the Eight-Handled Sword's aura slammed down. The place where Black Zetsu and Obito stood was instantly swallowed by surging black energy.

Dust shot into the sky, forming an enormous mushroom cloud. The scorched earth was forcibly crushed thousands of meters downward, becoming a bottomless crater. The space around it continued to warp and collapse, while fine spatial cracks slithered like venomous snakes, devouring every scattered stone and mist of blood.

The Black Susanoo Armor slowly straightened. Genki's eyes, burning with towering fury, stared fixedly at the rolling dust in the center of the crater. His voice was as cold as a ten-thousand-year frozen pool, yet it concealed a violence that nearly threatened to burn him alive. "Black Zetsu! I thought you would have died long ago in the aftershock of Hagoromo's and my battle! Who would have thought... you were quite hard to kill!"

He paused. His gritted voice was steeped in blood and tears, every word seeming to be squeezed from his throat. "But this is good too... saves me the trouble of searching everywhere for you! This time, I'll personally tear you—limb, from, limb!"

In his mind, painful memories buried in dust surged forth wildly like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam.

Genki would never forget that blood-red dusk, nor would he forget Black Zetsu controlling White Zetsu, surrounding and hunting him with chilling Wood Release blades.

He would never forget exhausting every effort to find Itachi Uchiha and all but begging as he reached an agreement with him—trading every secret he knew for a slim chance of survival for his mother Hazuki and his sister Izumi.

They had been only one step away! His mother and sister could have lived!

It was Black Zetsu!

That cowardly bastard who hid in the shadows!

The instant he and Itachi reached their agreement, Black Zetsu had suddenly burst from the shadows, controlling White Zetsu to launch a fatal ambush!

Wood Release spikes descended like a torrential storm. Without hesitation, his mother shielded him behind her, and his sister followed right after. Their two warm bodies forcibly took those spikes that pierced through their organs for him!

"Aah—!!!"

The agony of those memories tore at Genki's consciousness, and he released a heart-wrenching roar. There was no madness of destruction in that cry, only pain and hatred carved deep into his bones.

The dark golden patterns around the Susanoo Armor instantly swelled. On the Eight-Handled Sword, countless phantom souls howled madly as black energy condensed into an even sharper form. Fine blood-red patterns even emerged across the blade—the embodiment of his hatred!

"Susanoo Armor! Sword Mingjue!"

His murderous roar resounded through heaven and earth. Genki could no longer suppress the fury in his heart. Controlling the ten-thousand-meter-tall Susanoo Armor, he gripped the Eight-Handled Sword with both hands and hacked madly at the land below!

The instant the blade fell, the earth was forcibly ripped open by ravines stretching thousands of miles. Within their depths churned magma and warped space. Every slash was accompanied by a thunderous crash that shattered mountains and split the earth, while countless rocks and blood mist were flung up by the sword aura, filling the sky like a violent rainstorm.

Within the smoke and dust, Black Zetsu dragged the utterly bedraggled Obito as they darted frantically like ghosts through the collapsing earth and ravines.

Obito had already lost both eyes and could only allow Black Zetsu to drag him along. His injuries worsened without cease; every jolt made him cough up blood, while his consciousness struggled repeatedly between wakefulness and unconsciousness.

Black Zetsu's breathing had also become disordered. Beneath his mask, his scarlet Sharingan stared fixedly at the Susanoo Armor overhead, filled with extreme fear and panic—he had never expected Genki's hatred to give rise to such terrifying power!

They fled like beaten dogs. The earth beneath them continually cracked apart, while sword aura behind them chased like life-reaping blades. Each strike skimmed past their clothes, utterly annihilating everything around them.

Black Zetsu desperately controlled what little Wood Release Chakra he had, condensing crude defensive barriers before them. Yet before Genki's sword aura, those barriers shattered instantly like paper, unable to provide even the slightest delay.

"Hide? Do you think you can escape?!" Genki's voice carried mockery and furious rage. He controlled the Susanoo Armor as it suddenly turned, sweeping the Eight-Handled Sword sideways. A black sword aura thousands of miles long instantly swept forth, completely leveling the land before Black Zetsu and Obito, forcing them to change direction and flee toward a range of ruined mountains.