"Cough!"
Nagato coughed up a mouthful of blood and slowly, painfully turned his head.
A black figure was reflected in his pupils.
"Yes, it's me."
Black Zetsu tilted his head, looking at Nagato like a piece of merchandise he wasn't quite satisfied with. "I never imagined you would be the one to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki in the end," he rasped.
"Madara spent most of his life on this, and Orochimaru was no slouch either. Yet one died, and the other was defeated."
"I waited over a thousand years, picking and choosing, only to end up with a defective vessel like you as the last option for Mother."
"You're far weaker than either of them," Black Zetsu said coldly. "But never mind. There's no one else to choose."
He no longer had the chance to keep searching and biding his time.
Squish!
Without another wasted word, Black Zetsu closed his fingers and crushed the heart without hesitation.
Instantly, black markings spread along Black Zetsu's arm onto Nagato's body, staining his skin black inch by inch.
"Aaaah!!!"
An agonized scream tore from Nagato's throat.
Why?
Amid the excruciating pain, Nagato's mind swirled with questions.
Why had Black Zetsu attacked me?
Why did Black Zetsu, supposedly "Madara's will," speak of Madara without a trace of respect?
And why—
I'd been on guard against Black Zetsu all along. I'd clearly sensed his arrival just now.
But the instant I tried to attack him—
"Why—why won't the Truth-Seeking Orbs, my power, obey me?!"
Beyond the pain in Nagato's eyes, there was even more confusion.
But he would never have the chance to learn the answers.
Thump!
Thump, thump!
Nagato's body suddenly swelled like a balloon, one lump after another bulging outward.
A terrifying aura and torrents of chakra spilled uncontrollably from within him.
It