"Useless."
Black Zetsu cursed inwardly, but his expression remained unruffled.
Yet those cold, lifeless eyes still shrank ever so slightly, beyond his control.
Even he—Black Zetsu—had felt a chill pierce his soul in that instant.
Uchiha Yoru's gaze was icy and sinister, like a blade piercing the soul. It seemed capable of seeing straight through to his true form and laying bare his millennia-spanning schemes.
Black Zetsu's heart sank.
This boy was even more dangerous than he'd imagined.
He'd thought that even if Uchiha Obito was useless, he could at least hold Uchiha Yoru off for a little while, right?
But the result... had once again lowered the bar for what he considered "useless."
Several dozen minutes.
He'd lasted only several dozen minutes before losing.
"Hmph."
Black Zetsu gave a quiet snort, a flash of killing intent flickering in his eyes.
But soon, he was back to his usual, ice-cold composure.
He never relied on just one pawn.
The death of a single pawn was merely the price of setting a much larger game in motion.
Uchiha Yoru... in the end, you're just another piece on the board.
A sly smile crept across Black Zetsu's lips.
The next second—
"Hehehehe..."
A low, chilling laugh echoed across the shattered battlefield, like a poisonous snake hissing right beside one's ear. It sent a shiver down the spine.
"Well, now—this is quite a lively gathering."
Before the words had even faded, a gray blur shot out from the shadows!
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!!!"
Several pale, grotesque serpents shot from his wide sleeves, writhing and hissing like living creatures as they lunged straight for Uchiha Yoru!
But faced with the sudden attack, Uchiha Yoru didn't so much as flinch. He simply gave a casual wave of his right hand.
"—Shinra Tensei."
An invisible force erupted with a thunderous boom. The air seemed to warp as the serpents shattered, turning into a spray of blood mist and chunks of flesh that rained to the ground.
Orochimaru stood at the edge of the battlefield. His pupils contracted, then he licked his lips, the smile in his eyes growing more and more deranged.
"Perfect... what a perfect specimen."
On paper, this battle had nothing to do with Akatsuki's assigned mission.
The organization's orders were simple: recruit new members and seek out combatants.
The other members were scattered across the Ninja World, busy traveling in groups and diligently recruiting new people.
But to Orochimaru, such a task was utterly pointless.
Uchiha Itachi had died during the Night of Clan Extermination long ago, before he could join Akatsuki.
The test subject he'd been eagerly anticipating had turned to dust (Uchiha Yoru had burned the corpse so thoroughly that not even ashes remained).
On top of that, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had mysteriously disappeared earlier. Pain was in over his head, with no time to keep tabs on his most unruly "colleague."
So Orochimaru was happy to keep to himself, holed up at a secret hideout somewhere near Amegakure and absorbed in his endless research and experiments.
Until a few days ago—
Zetsu came.
That night, rain and wind had lashed the area. The half-white, half-black creature had silently appeared from the shadows, slipping past layers of barriers as if it had materialized out of thin air.
It handed Orochimaru a container.
Inside lay a clump of tissue, pulsing quietly and radiating an ancient, overwhelmingly powerful chakra.
Black Zetsu's voice was low and enticing:
"The cells of Uchiha Madara, along with—the true secret of the Rinnegan."
There were also cells from the corpses of several rare shinobi, along with a large number of White Zetsu samples as "gifts."
Orochimaru quickly discovered through his experiments that White Zetsu's body could be summed up in two words: damn impressive!
Its survival rate was extremely high, and its compatibility with chakra was exceptional. It was practically made for Impure World Reincarnation, like a vessel designed specifically for the technique.
If he hadn't already known that Zetsu wasn't human, he might have suspected it was a gift from some god.
With White Zetsu's help, he'd even managed to improve the Impure World Reincarnation technique.
If his own body hadn't still had some time left before it needed replacing, he might already have considered using a White Zetsu as a spare body.
And yet—
He'd remained wary of Zetsu's offer.
Why would an "informant" have access to something this forbidden?
Black Zetsu's origins, motives, and even his very existence were all deeply suspicious.
But more than any of those mysteries, one name filled him with excitement—
Uchiha Yoru.
As he pored over the records of Uchiha Yoru's battles, his fingers trembled.
The Night of Clan Extermination, the Sharingan.
And now it had reappeared as the Rinnegan!
Did this mean the Sharingan could evolve even further?
Those eyes, that power, the possibilities contained within that mysterious bloodline... For Orochimaru, with his pathological obsession with Kekkei Genkai—
It was an irresistible temptation.
As a researcher, Orochimaru had already deduced from the clues that Pain was merely a puppet corpse controlled by Nagato.
He hadn't revealed this discovery. First, there was no need. Second, he could use it as leverage in future negotiations with Nagato.
Now, there were two things he truly couldn't understand:
First, Pain's pair of Rinnegan clearly belonged to Nagato—but Nagato was undeniably a member of the Uzumaki Clan. If the Rinnegan were an advanced form of the Sharingan, then there was no way Nagato could have awakened that Kekkei Genkai himself.
Second, why did Black Zetsu know so much about the secrets of the Rinnegan? Wasn't he Nagato's confidant? Where had he gotten that information?
Orochimaru pondered for a long while, and several possibilities gradually took shape in his mind:
—Perhaps Nagato's Rinnegan hadn't been innate, but transplanted later.
—And Black Zetsu had been involved in this years-long scheme from the very beginning.
"This mysterious Black Zetsu... might be even more worth 'dissecting' than I thought."
At the thought, a feverish gleam flashed in Orochimaru's narrow, serpentine eyes.
He hadn't come to help anyone.
He'd come to hunt.
To hunt Yoru, to hunt Zetsu—to hunt every unknown he wanted to study.
At that moment, Uchiha Yoru turned his gaze toward him, too.
It was a calm, icy gaze with a hint of curiosity, like a scientist examining an unopened specimen.
This man—
Like the disciple he'd taken in, he was an undeniable genius.
The most dangerous scientist in the Ninja World.
"...Orochimaru."
His voice was low and oppressive, like thunder rolling beneath the earth.
Hearing it, Orochimaru wore a blissful smile, as if he'd heard the most beautiful melody in the world.
"Hehehe... you're even stronger than I expected, and even more—tempting."
"The Sharingan... the Rinnegan... how exactly did you do it?"
Uchiha Yoru dipped his head slightly, his gaze flickering. "You want to know?"
"Of course I do." Orochimaru licked his lips, his voice low and excited. "I've even... prepared my 'tools for the experiment.'"
As soon as he finished speaking, his hands flashed through a series of seals.
"—Impure World Reincarnation!"
The incantation fell, and the ground suddenly trembled as a gust of cold wind swept up the dust.
The earth cracked, and four ancient coffins slowly rose from beneath the ground, their surfaces covered in runes and sealing marks.
"Bang, bang, bang—!"
The coffin lids burst off in unison, and three figures emerged, accompanied by an ancient aura.
They were—
First Senju Hashirama.
Second Hokage Senju Tobirama.
Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The world turned grim and murderous, and the air itself seemed to freeze.
The smile on Orochimaru's face grew ever more brazen. His voice hissed like a snake's, murmuring with madness and excitement:
"Come on, let me see for myself... the legendary 'Uchiha Yoru.'"
Before you continue