"One, two..."
"Only two people have such strong hostility toward me? Looks like Danzo's running out of men."
Ensei Uchiha watched the approaching enemies with some amusement. They must have just reached the edge of the Uchiha Clan's territory when they were spotted by a night patrol.
The Uchiha Clan now had more than twenty members with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Ensei had arranged for at least five of them to patrol every night.
Under normal circumstances, even against someone as powerful as Hiruzen Sarutobi, a Hokage-level shinobi, these Uchiha patrols could hold out for quite a while.
But... the green dots blocking the enemies on the map quickly began to fade.
"At that speed, it could only be the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Is it Obito Uchiha... or Shisui?"
He quickly assessed his forces, then alerted the Ninja Cat Clan members standing guard at the entrance to notify Fugaku Uchiha and the other powerful Three-Tomoe Sharingan users currently in the clan compound.
As for Ensei himself, he created a Shadow Clone and sent Zero-One and Zero Three, the Artificial Humans, out to meet the enemy.
Zero-Two had been specifically designed to counter Obito, but Ensei needed him to monitor the entire battlefield right now. He couldn't afford to send him too far away.
By the time Ensei's Shadow Clone reached the scene, seven or eight people were sprawled across the ground... Oh, they weren't dead, just trapped by genjutsu and unable to break free.
"Ugh, what stinks? Danzo, have you been crawling around in a latrine lately?"
Ensei once again marveled inwardly at how realistic the Shadow Clone felt. It was just like being there in person. Shimura Danzō's stench was practically a biological weapon.
He casually unleashed a large-scale Wind Release, blowing the stink farther away. But as long as he stayed near Danzo, he could still smell it.
So Ensei kept well away and sent an Artificial Human to deal with Danzo. At Danzo's current strength, an Artificial Human would be enough.
"Hey, Black Zetsu. You're controlling Shisui, so why didn't Obito come?"
Ensei looked at Shisui Uchiha, whose body was already half covered in black, and couldn't help feeling a pang of regret.
Poor kid. He still hadn't managed to escape his tragic fate.
"Ensei Uchiha... This is only your Shadow Clone too, isn't it?"
"Can't you see the past and future? Why ask me?"
Black Zetsu's distinctive voice rang out. Paired with Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō, it gave Ensei an unsettling sense that something was off.
Going by the original story, Black Zetsu's combat strength shouldn't have been very high.
But if Black Zetsu caught you off guard, breaking free would be extremely difficult.
After all, Black Zetsu had been created by Kaguya Otsutsuki. It was on a level far beyond an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even Madara Uchiha, who possessed the Rinnegan, had been deceived. And at the last moment, Black Zetsu had even managed to ambush him.
During the battle against Kaguya, Sasuke, with his Rinnegan, and Naruto, in Sage Mode, had both been briefly controlled by Black Zetsu. It was possible Kaguya had helped Black Zetsu do it.
But... he absolutely couldn't let his guard down!
"If I really knew everything, the first thing I'd do is kill you!"
"Honestly, you're much harder to deal with than Obito Uchiha. You're the very will of Madara Uchiha."
Ensei's Shadow Clone secretly sent a message to the original, warning him to watch out for a possible ambush by Obito Uchiha.
In truth, Ensei had no idea what had happened between Shimura Danzō and Obito Uchiha. He didn't know that Black Zetsu had acted alone this time, without bringing more than a few White Zetsu.
Just after Ensei's Shadow Clone finished sending the message, he sensed a powerful ocular force trying to control his mind. Its quality was far higher than that of any other Mangekyō Sharingan.
Black Zetsu's possession, along with a boost to his ocular power?
Ensei was secretly startled. Fortunately, he had infused this Shadow Clone with a considerable amount of ocular power before sending it out. Otherwise, his only option would have been to dispel the clone.
At the same time, Black Zetsu, controlling Shisui Uchiha, recognized the true nature of that unfamiliar ocular power from Ensei's resistance.
Byakugan... No, Tenseigan—and an immature one at that!
The Uchiha Clan had awakened the Byakugan? Was it some kind of bloodline regression? That was certainly rare.
After learning that Ensei wasn't a member of the Otsutsuki Clan, Black Zetsu finally relaxed.
The Otsutsuki Clan hadn't appeared, so his plan could still go ahead.
As for Ensei, he could be ignored for now. There was even a chance he might prove useful as a pawn later.
But just how far could this power to foresee the past and future really go?
As Black Zetsu pondered, countless golden chains burst from the ground and bound him tightly in the blink of an eye.
If they'd been ordinary chains, Black Zetsu wouldn't have cared.
But these golden chains were the Uzumaki Clan's unique Kekkei Genkai. They were infused with powerful sealing energy, making them practically Black Zetsu's natural enemy.
The one who had launched the attack was, of course, Kushina Uzumaki.
The moment he learned that enemies were approaching, Ensei had alerted Kushina and told her to keep an eye out for a strange creature that was pitch-black all over, like a lump of black mud.
"Great! The plan worked!"
A look of excitement appeared on Kushina's face.
But when Ensei saw what had happened, he immediately called out, "Use a Sealing Jutsu! Forget Shisui for now. Seal that black lump of a thing along with him!"
Though Ensei had warned her in time, Kushina was still a little too slow. All it took was one brief glance for the Mangekyō Sharingan to take control of her body.
The Adamantine Sealing Chains silently vanished. Kushina's ambush hadn't even managed to separate Black Zetsu from Shisui—and she'd gotten herself caught in the trap too.
"Damn it, I should've warned Kushina not to make eye contact with anyone from the Uchiha Clan."
Ensei was at a loss. He knew Kushina lacked combat experience, but he hadn't expected her to get caught so quickly.
With no other choice, Ensei released the ocular power within his Shadow Clone. Cloaked in what looked like a Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak, he charged straight at Kushina.
Kushina was still under Kotoamatsukami's control and instinctively attacked Ensei.
But before her blow could land, she regained her senses and hurriedly pulled it back.
The reason was simple: the influence of Nine-Tails Chakra, combined with the immense ocular power in Ensei's body.
Jinchuriki weren't immune to genjutsu. But if their Tailed Beast realized they'd fallen under one, it could use its own Chakra to dispel it.
Shisui's Kotoamatsukami couldn't be broken so easily, of course. Ensei's immense ocular power was also needed to help.
"Ensei, I'm sorry."
Kushina spoke with a guilty look.
"It's fine. Black Zetsu was created by Madara Uchiha through Yin-Yang Release and is practically equivalent to Madara's will. It was never going to be easy to deal with."
After several tests, Ensei was beginning to understand a few things.
To completely destroy Black Zetsu, he'd probably need someone with Six Paths-level strength, or a Six Paths-level Sealing Jutsu.
He wondered whether there was a way to lock Black Zetsu inside the Kamui Dimension. Could that work?
Before you continue