Deep within the Forest of Death, at the heart of a massive tree completely shrouded in shadows and black matter, its hollowed-out interior had been converted into a temporary lair.
Viscous darkness slowly writhed, coalescing into a vague outline with only a roughly humanoid shape.
Two crimson lights flickered where Black Zetsu's "eyes" should have been, revealing the violent fluctuations of his consciousness.
"Pure Soul Court... Kuchiki Byakuya..." Hoarse, distorted mental waves echoed through the darkness, brimming with shock, fury, and apprehension. "They actually exist?! And they intervened?!
"Those silver 'petals'... that aura that purifies everything... damn it! Their power is completely different from that of Las Noches, but it's just as terrifyingly high-level!
"What the hell is happening to this world?! Why have so many monsters beyond all reason suddenly appeared?!"
He "looked" at the "screen" before him, formed from dark matter and displaying hazy images of the outside world.
It showed Naruto and Sakura racing through the forest, along with the defensive positions within Konoha beginning to shift rapidly.
"Namikaze Minato... quick to react. He actually ignored my harassment and pulled his forces back. Does he want a head-on showdown? Hmph, foolish! You think concentrating your forces will let you handle me? Your attention is exactly what I want!"
The dark outline warped slightly, his crimson gaze shifting to another part of the "screen."
It showed the area where the Sunagakure and Otogakure Genin had gathered, particularly Gaara's violently agitated figure, with Shukaku's chakra surging wildly inside him.
And the madness and lust for destruction flickering in several Otogakure ninja's eyes, which he had secretly planted there.
"The seeds have been sown, nourished with hatred and fear..."
"Konoha's collapse won't require me to lift a finger..."
"Let these pawns, consumed by despair and desire, tear into it themselves..."