There, he sensed a very strange will. The feeling was somewhat familiar, as he had already sensed it earlier on the battlefield, but it had vanished in a flash.
He had thought it was an illusion at the time, but it did not seem to be one now.
However, although that will was strong, it carried no malice; otherwise, he would have already tossed out some explosive tags.
Without making him wait long, the other party appeared, but its form left Tamura Hiroshi somewhat bewildered.
He saw a pool of something resembling liquid asphalt flowing out from that room, arriving before Tamura Hiroshi to form a pitch-black head.
Looking at that pitch-black thing, Tamura Hiroshi froze, failing to understand why this individual would seek him out.
Is it because of the Kaguya Phantom?
Quickly thinking of the Kaguya Phantom within his spiritual world, Tamura Hiroshi had a plan in mind.
Guiding the Kaguya Phantom to deeply fuse with his own chakra, Tamura Hiroshi even hypnotically mimicked that radiance of maternal love. He squatted down to touch Black Zetsu's cheek, his eye sockets even welling up with crystal tears as if he were looking at his very own cub.
"Mother!"
This feeling made Black Zetsu uncontrollably cry out, "Mother." This sensation was absolutely unmistakable, especially the chakra within that body.
That was Mother's chakra, incomparably pure.
Maintaining this state for quite a while, Tamura Hiroshi finally severed the connection with the Kaguya Phantom, and that maternal expression vanished along with it.
"Mother?"
"You are my older sister's child?"
Tamura Hiroshi expressed a hint of doubt.
"Why is Mother's chakra inside you?"
Black Zetsu also stared intently at the youth before him, not understanding why this person possessed Mother's chakra.
"Let's go inside the room and talk!"
Glancing left and right, Tamura Hiroshi released Samehada and walked toward that room, and Black Zetsu shifted his form to follow.
He had to figure out the problem with this youth, which was why he had chosen to appear.
Walking into the room and sitting down, Tamura Hiroshi sized up the Black Zetsu before him and bluffed, "When I first refined chakra, Sister was already in my mind. I'd always dream of her, and she would always talk about 'child, child.' She must have been talking about you!"
"A Karma?"
Black Zetsu muttered thoughtfully, recalling a secret technique among the inheritances left behind by Mother, a secret technique exclusive to the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
It was able to record body data and brand it onto a compatible person in order to resurrect through them.
However, wanting to leave a Karma was very difficult, and it also had extremely harsh requirements for the vessel.
Moreover, there was no Karma seal mark on this youth's body, so it should not be a Karma—at least not a complete one.
Thinking up to this point, Black Zetsu reached a judgment.
Regardless of the situation, since this person possessed Mother's chakra, he was one of their own; that feeling could not be wrong.
"Who are you? Just who is my sister? And why does she appear inside my body? And why can she absorb the Dojutsu Power of the Sharingan and the residual chakra in the Second Hokage's internal organs? What about the flesh and blood chakra of the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails? And why does she also like the chakra of Uzumaki Ninjas and Ninjutsu-using citizens?"
Tamura Hiroshi inquired, his expression very earnest, indicating that he, Tamura, had a lot of little question marks that needed answering.
"You can call me Black Zetsu!"
After thinking for a moment, Black Zetsu thought of a name.
He had no name of his own; after his mother used her final strength to create him, she was sealed away, leaving no time to give him one.
The name Black Zetsu corresponded to the White Zetsu army manufactured by his mother back then.
"Mother's name is Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. She is the true progenitor of chakra in the Ninja World, and all power in the Ninja World originates from Mother, so naturally it can be absorbed by Mother.
It's a pity that she was sealed by the Sage of Six Paths back then and had her power seized. As Mother's successor, although you aren't perfect, your identity is already set; you must rescue Mother, and that way you can also acquire more power."
Since he was Mother's successor, he was one of their own.
At the very least, with Mother's chakra present, this person could not possibly betray Mother. It was even possible that this was a backup plan left behind by Mother, right up until today when she finally found a compatible individual to carry her resurrection.
This gave him the feeling of having found a soulmate. For these past thousand years, he had been hiding in the shadows alone, silently plotting and striving; there was no need to even mention that sense of isolation.
Now that he could have a fellow traveler, and perhaps even a younger brother, that feeling was simply too wonderful.
"Also, you must have been created by a backup plan left behind by Mother. You should call her Mother just like I do, rather than Sister."
Correcting the other party's address for their mother, in Black Zetsu's view, this was his younger brother, also created by Mother, and the two of them had to strive together to rescue Mother.
"I am not calling her Mom! She is my older sister!"
Tamura Hiroshi resolutely objected, his expression instantly turning solemn.
"I need to know more about Sister!"
Although displeased, Black Zetsu did not haggle over it either. After organizing his words, he said, "Mother's affair must be spoken of from a very long time ago, back when Mother first descended upon this world..."
As he spoke, he observed the youth before him. Although the other party was Mother's choice, if this person chose not to help him unseal Mother, he would not mind devouring him.
Therefore, telling these top-secret matters was nothing; if the other party could become a true compatriot and prepare together to unseal Mother, that would be perfect.
Once Black Zetsu finished speaking, Tamura Hiroshi pondered seriously for quite a while, then took out a kunai and quickly carved on the ground, soon sketching out a figure.
"Is the Hagoromo you spoke of, namely the Sage of Six Paths, this person?"
Upon seeing that figure, Black Zetsu's eye sockets even enlarged by a circle.
"How do you know about him? Have you seen him?"
Black Zetsu was extremely nervous. Although the figure carved by the youth was blurry, the general image was there, especially those uniquely styled horns, which closely matched a figure in Mother's inherited memories.
Yet logically speaking, that person should have died long ago, and a full thousand years had already passed; how could this child possibly know of him?
Could it be that Mother's inheritance had given the other party some memory fragments?
"This person's figure exists within all chakra. The moment it appears, Sister swallows it up. Judging by your tone, this doesn't seem to be the Sage of Six Paths."
Tamura Hiroshi explained simply. To fool this thousand-year-old monster, one simply had to drop some real substance.
Hearing that this was the reason, Black Zetsu let out a breath of relief and began to explain, "He is Mother's enemy, named Ōtsutsuki Isshiki. He was already slain by Mother a thousand years ago, and his corpse was also integrated into the Ten-Tails, driving the Ten-Tails to evolve into the final form of the God Tree.
It is only natural that his chakra exists within the chakra of the Ninja World."
Nodding in understanding, Tamura Hiroshi then carved once more, drawing another figure.
"Then this must be the Sage of Six Paths, right?"
His drawing skills were not poor at all. Those Erotic Novels from before had all come with quite a few illustrations, every single one of them high-end pieces he had viewed online in his previous life—which was also a major primary reason why those masterpieces had sold so well and been such hot commodities.
"Mn, he is Hagoromo!"
After looking it over, Black Zetsu nodded. Although blurry, the general image was correct.
He would never forget what Hagoromo looked like; even if the man turned to ash, he would still recognize him.
"You know about Jinchuriki like the First Hokage's wife, right?"
While using his kunai to scrape away the floor where he had carved the figures, Tamura Hiroshi brought up the matter of Jinchuriki.
He had already entertained some thoughts regarding this for a while, only he had not expected Black Zetsu to suddenly seek him out. However, this happened to work out well, as Black Zetsu surely possessed the things he wanted in his hands.
Before you continue