Totsuka Blade Appears!

Inside the grotto, a deathly silence fell.

Black Zetsu and Obito were less than ten steps apart.

"Aren't you going to explain what's going on here, Black Zetsu?"

Obito scanned the ancient coffins, a meaningful smile playing on his lips:

"Judging from how familiar you are with this place, it doesn't seem like you 'discovered it by chance,' does it?"

"This guy has been spying on me!"

Black Zetsu's heart tightened suddenly.

Could it be... that Uchiha Obito already knows his true identity?

No, absolutely not!

For thousands of years, its disguise has remained flawless, and there is absolutely no record of it in the world.

There's no way that brat Uchiha Obito could guess my true identity!

"At most, he might suspect that this was a hidden move that Madara had prepared to guard against him back then!"

"Yes, that must be it!!"

Black Zetsu quickly considered his options, suppressing the chill that had just begun to rise in his heart, and forced himself to remain calm as he spoke to Obito:

"You seem to have misunderstood something. This place is just an accidental discovery I made in the Ninja World over the years."

In my opinion, it was most likely a secret site built by the Uchiha Clan back when they were still in the Land of Lightning to protect the remains of their ancestors from being disturbed by outsiders.

"As for why I didn't tell you before, firstly, these corpses here have no use to me, and secondly..."

Black Zetsu stared intently at Obito's face, observing every subtle change in his expression:

"I'm not sure if your previous plans for Lord Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan still hold the same sway as before—"

"Ban's... Eye of the Moon Plan?"

Obito sneered, interrupting Black Zetsu's unfinished sentence, his tone brimming with barely suppressed sarcasm:

"Heh, that's probably your Eye of the Moon Plan."

"Varied?!!"

Upon hearing Obito's words, Black Zetsu's single, eerie yellow eye instantly contracted.

Let me start by telling you something from a long, long time ago.

Obito ignored its erratic behavior, put his hands behind his back, and leisurely said:

Before the Warring States Period, there was no such thing as the "Uchiha" or "Senju" Senju Clan.

At that time, they should all still be using the same name.

As he spoke, Obito casually glanced at Black Zetsu, and under its gloomy, almost dripping, gaze, he calmly continued:

"Otsutsuki."

"In that era, those two bloodlines, which originated from the same source, had several opportunities to reconcile."

But whenever they are about to reach that point, something unexpected always happens, very suddenly and "just right," that no one could have predicted.

For example, in Ninjutsu School, a leader finally emerged who was willing to sit down and negotiate with the Ninja Sect, but he "accidentally" died in an assassination attempt on the way to the negotiations.

He paused here, his tone turning colder:

Similar events also occurred in the early Warring States Period.

After several major battles, the Uchiha and Senju Clan were exhausted and prepared to negotiate peace.

Just as the peace talks were about to conclude, an Uchiha unit suddenly received an order from "higher up" to take advantage of the situation and capture the Senju Clan's territory.

As a result, the peace talks broke down on the spot.

"But afterwards, the Uchiha Clan investigated every secret order, but they couldn't find out who issued it."

The cave was eerily quiet, save for Obito's hoarse yet steady voice, which continued to echo in the cramped space.

"Furthermore, in the mid- Warring States Period, the Uchiha Clan leader Uchiha Itachi, decided to lead the entire clan to migrate to the Land of Fire."

At that time, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Senju Clan had already largely reached an agreement on the conditions for accepting the Uchiha Clan into the Land of Fire.

But just as the Uchiha Clan was preparing to depart... the daimyo "unexpectedly" died in his bedchamber.

Obito slowly took a step forward, making almost no sound.

"If it happens once or twice, then it can be barely called a coincidence."

But this kind of thing happened almost countless times during the Warring States Period, and even earlier.

He narrowed his eyes, looking at the silent Black Zetsu before him, and said meaningfully:

"Black Zetsu, don't you think all of this is far too suspicious?"

It's as if someone has been secretly instigating the conflict between the Uchiha and Senju Clan.

Black Zetsu listened quietly, his eyes filled with undisguised shock.

"That good-for-nothing, he actually found out?!"

Moreover, it was analyzed from old histories that had already been erased, modified, and even destroyed countless times!

But... how is that possible?

To prevent anyone from gleaning anything from the history of the Ninja World, it went to great lengths to erase almost all of the history before the Warring States Period from the Ninja World!

Even if Obito had searched intentionally, he couldn't have looked that thoroughly!

He simply doesn't have the time!

Seemingly anticipating Black Zetsu's doubts, Obito's lips slowly curved into a highly amused smile:

"Tracing back to those long-erased, lost histories of the Ninja World."

How credible is the inscription on that stone tablet?

"Let's search for traces of the Uchiha ancestors who also read that stone tablet back then, and see if any of them, like Madara and I, attempted to implement the Eye of the Moon Plan."

"And what about the Sage of Six Paths, who is suspected of leaving behind a stone tablet? Did he really see the Eye of the Moon Plan as the only way to save the Ninja World?"

And, the reason why he ultimately failed...

"I simply don't have the time or energy to do those things."

As he spoke, Obito's smile vanished instantly, and a spatial Uzumaki appeared in his Mangekyō Sharingan:

"But there is one person who can."

Black Zetsu stared at the emerging spatial Uzumaki, his pupils suddenly contracting!

It instantly sensed the danger and, without having time to ponder Obito's words, instinctively tried to sink into the ground beneath its feet.

But just before it was about to sink, a deep blue beam of light pierced through the Kamui Uzumaki and went straight into its body!

Under the immense sealing power, Black Zetsu's movements abruptly ceased.

"This... this is... the Totsuka Blade?!"

It stared intently at the deep blue longsword that had pierced its body, and growled in disbelief.

No, that's not all!

"This Chakra, the color of this Susanoo..."

Black Zetsu seemed to have suddenly understood everything. He turned his gaze with difficulty to the cold, sinister silhouette emerging from the Uzumaki of Kamui, and growled through gritted teeth:

"Uchiha... Madara!!"

Sorry everyone, I have a fever today and I'm feeling a bit weak, so I can only post one chapter for now.

I'll extend the update by two days and update three times a week to make up for it.