"Want to know? That wasn't impossible.
Then do me a small favor, and I'll hand it over with both hands."
Although Feng wanted to fool Black Zetsu, if he brought it up himself, it would not seem very credible. Naturally, he had to wait for the other party to ask before he could bluff more convincingly.
"What favor?!"
Before a secret that could accelerate the Eye of the Moon Plan, Black Zetsu readily agreed.
"Simple. Help me steal a few parts from the corpses of the Second Tsuchikage, the Third Raikage, and the Konoha ninja Might Duy.
As for why, you just saw it—for researching the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu."
Feng's request would have been quite difficult for most people.
But for Zetsu, it was exceptionally easy. White Zetsu's "Wood Release: Tree Root Concealment" could merge into the earth; stealing buried corpses was no different from strolling through its own vegetable garden.
"Fine. I'll come again in a few days, and you must give me an explanation then."
Black Zetsu agreed readily again.
"Heh heh, no need for that trouble. I don't like dealing with you," Feng said.
"You want to go back on your word?!" Black Zetsu instantly grew furious.
"No. I can tell you where the Nine-Tails chakra on my body came from right now.
Afterward, just have any White Zetsu deliver what I want.
I simply don't want to deal with you."
Feng pointed at Zetsu with one hand, curling his lips into a mocking smile.
He truly did not want too much contact with this thousand-year-old schemer, lest he get plotted against without even realizing it.
"You..."
Black Zetsu grew even angrier, but when he thought of a method to obtain Tailed Beast chakra without needing the Tailed Beasts themselves, he endured it.
"During Konoha's Nine-Tails Rebellion, someone gathered the Tailed Beast chakra scattered throughout the battle and cultivated it through a special method, creating a Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
I happened to discover that secret and began researching it as well.
In the end, by adding vast amounts of negative human emotions to the residual Nine-Tails chakra left within previous Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, I also successfully obtained the Nine-Tails' power.
That was where the Nine-Tails chakra on my body came from."
Feng spoke slowly, recounting the lie he had long prepared.
"It was that simple?"
Black Zetsu found it hard to believe. This method...
Was too simple, and too easy.
"Simple? No, no, it wasn't simple at all.
First, the special chakra belonging to Tailed Beasts was extremely difficult to obtain."
As Feng said this, Black Zetsu could not help but sneer inwardly. Tailed Beast chakra might be difficult for others to obtain, but for him, who had lived for a thousand years and knew countless secrets, it could not have been easier.
"Then, after obtaining Tailed Beast chakra, you must find the right cultivation method to strengthen that tiny amount of chakra you collected.
Take the Nine-Tails chakra on my body, for example. I tried many methods, but in the end, I used war to breed negative emotions such as brutality, fear, despair, and death, thereby strengthening it.
As for sealing it into a Pseudo Jinchūriki afterward, I won't explain that. It's child's play to you.
You need to gather the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts. You can use my method for the Nine-Tails chakra, but you'll have to figure out how to strengthen the chakra of the other eight Tailed Beasts yourself."
Feng continued spinning nonsense.
But anyone who had watched the Naruto anime would know that it was not entirely nonsense.
There was precedent for both gathering Tailed Beast chakra and using negative emotions to cultivate and strengthen it.
After Feng finished speaking, Zetsu thought for a moment before saying:
"You said you only began researching it after discovering that someone else had created a Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Then who was that person? I need to verify whether you are telling the truth."
"Heh heh, Black Zetsu, you forgot again. I have no obligation to tell you anything."
"I can do you one more favor in exchange for that information.
I must determine whether it is true. You know how important this is to me."
Zetsu stared sharply at Feng, unwilling to yield even an inch on this matter.
"This... could work. Let me think."
Upon hearing that, Feng pretended to sink into thought.
After a while, he finally spoke slowly:
"How about this? Help me lure either Yashiro Uchiha or Tekka Uchiha out of Konoha alone.
I happen to need an Uchiha assistant.
You cannot draw anyone's attention beforehand, and afterward, you must clean everything up for me. How about it?"
"Fine. I'll have a White Zetsu notify you when the time comes?"
Zetsu agreed extremely readily.
They were all small matters. He would agree first; as for whether to actually do them, Black Zetsu would return and think it over before deciding.
"At the Fire Temple in the Land of Fire, there is a child named Sora. He is the Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and his father was the one behind it."
Feng gave his answer just as readily.
As for whether those words might bring bad consequences to the Fire Temple, he felt no burden whatsoever.
After all, Sora's ending in the original story had not been good. He felt entirely justified in finding some amusement for those who had persecuted Sora.
"Fine. I'll verify it. If everything you said is true,
then I'll have White Zetsu fulfill your request as soon as possible."
Having gotten his agreement, Zetsu did not waste words. After saying that simply, he sank into the ground and disappeared.
Before vanishing, a thought surfaced in his mind:
Uchiha Feng has decent strength and abilities, but what a pity he is somewhat foolish—too naive. He can so easily trust an enemy's words. Perhaps he could become a useful pawn.
Inside Feng's mental space, after sensing that Black-and-White Zetsu had completely left, the Nine-Tails spoke:
"Kid, you really are a despicable human.
I'm right here, and you still managed to deceive Black Zetsu.
But when he later finds out that everything you told him was a lie, what will we do?"
"Heh heh, Kurama, I didn't completely deceive him.
Other than lying to him about your existence, everything else was true.
The Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Sora, even cultivating Tailed Beast chakra with negative human emotions.
All of that is real. Someone truly is doing it.
I have many things to do. If I don't handle Black Zetsu properly now, I won't be able to do anything in the future."
Feng shook his head and spoke quietly.
"What? It's all true? Are you an idiot?
With the method you described, won't that guy quickly gather all the Tailed Beast chakra and revive the Ten-Tails?!
Damn it! Uchiha Feng, how could you be so stupid?
Why tell him that? With me here, what can he possibly do to you...?"
The Nine-Tails instantly bristled, roaring continuously within Feng's mental space and spewing all sorts of profanities at him, mixed with some catchphrases Feng occasionally used during their idle chats.
"Heh heh, Kurama, we've been together for nearly half a year.
Do you think I'm the kind of person who gives others benefits for nothing?"
Feng smiled as he explained.
Who would have thought that upon hearing this, the Nine-Tails cursed even more viciously.
"It's precisely because you always like being a good person that I think you're such an idiot.
You casually told Black Zetsu such important information!
You moron..."
"Uh... when did I ever like being a good person?"
The Nine-Tails did not know the full story. Feng could accept being cursed over the Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchūriki matter.
But he refused to accept being called an idiot who always liked being a good person.
He had sworn to become the Qin Shi Huang of the Ninja World.
Then, he would unify writing, standardize cart tracks, and any order he gave could become the Nine-Clan Severance Technique.
How could he be a good person? He would only be a tyrant remembered for ages.
Uh, but Qin Shi Huang had to review hundreds of pounds of memorials every day. That sounded exhausting.
Feng did not want to drown in memorials every day.
So he would also be a fatuous ruler who neglected state affairs.
But being a fatuous ruler seemed likely to leave ordinary people starving and displaced.
That would not do. His mother had taught him since childhood:
One must come from the masses and return to the masses.
Prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony...
It was fine if he messed around himself, but he could not harm countless ordinary people.
Therefore, being a fatuous ruler who neglected state affairs would not work, but Feng truly did not want to drown in memorials every day.
Then a constitutional monarchy seemed pretty good. He could be Qin Shi Huang while not having to manage anything. Perfect!
"Uchiha Feng! Stop pretending to be stupid and dodging the question!"
While Feng was still agonizing inwardly over how he should be Qin Shi Huang, the Nine-Tails directly pulled his absent-minded consciousness into the mental space.
Facing him face-to-face, it kept roaring furiously until it snapped him out of his daze.
"Huh? Ah! Oh... I'm listening. Go on, go on."
Seeing the Nine-Tails so close before him, Feng awkwardly laughed it off.
"Hmph, and you still say you don't like being a good person.
Where did all those fields belonging to the commoners outside the capital come from?"
The Nine-Tails spoke again, listing evidence that Feng was a good person.
"Oh, those? They belonged to noble families that died out before.
Leaving them untouched would only let them go to waste. That would be such a pity.
So I distributed them among the commoners. If they have fields to farm, they won't cause trouble, and the land won't be wasted. Next year, I can even collect taxes from them—thirty percent.
Heh heh, ruthless enough, right? It serves multiple purposes at once."
Feng explained this, especially the part about collecting thirty percent tax. Thinking that ancient times in his previous life seemed to have taxes like "one thirtieth" and "one tenth," he felt he was far more ruthless than capitalists and landlords.
He had only forgotten that after taking power, the Tea Country had abolished childbirth taxes, rain taxes, boat-head taxes, and all manner of miscellaneous levies.
At present, the Tea Country had only three taxes: land tax, commercial tax, and inheritance tax.
In the Tea Country, newly allocated land and rented land could only be taxed at thirty percent, while privately owned land was taxed at ten percent, with nothing else added.
In the ancient times of his previous life, after miscellaneous levies and corvée labor were included, the actual tax burden on commoners could reach 50% or even higher.
As for the Ninja World, which had stagnated for a thousand years and also had to support a group of ninjas who produced nothing yet consumed enormous resources, its tax burden would only be higher than in his previous life.
Feng did not know this, but before being sealed by Hashirama Senju, the Nine-Tails had wandered the Ninja World for a thousand years.
Therefore, when Feng claimed he was ruthless enough, it replied, "Heh heh."
After mocking Feng's definition of someone who was not a good person, the Nine-Tails continued presenting evidence.
"You chopped that samurai who forcibly took a woman home into eight pieces."
"Hey, no, I chopped someone into eight pieces! Eight pieces! That makes me a good person?"
"Heh heh, and then? After that, there was never another incident of anyone forcibly taking women in the entire capital.
Who wouldn't call you an upright lord when they saw you?"
"...That was only so more commoners could survive and pay me more taxes."
"A while ago, on the first day your Grand Counselor paid a thousand gold in taxes, you killed his second son and half his household the next day."
"Damn it, mentioning that guy makes me angry. The land I had only just distributed was immediately seized by his son using his power and influence.
Not killing his entire family was already a great act of... mer... cy..."
Feng's voice grew quieter and quieter. After saying "mercy," he simply fell silent.
Across from him, the Nine-Tails had already grinned from ear to ear, saying nothing as it watched Feng.
Yet Feng felt that the silence at that moment was deafening.
"...It's all because our mother educated us too well. Sigh."
After a long while, he finally muttered that sentence.
Upon hearing it, the Nine-Tails went, "Heh, heh, heh, ha, ha, ha!!!"
It first laughed quietly, then louder and louder, until it simply lay on the ground laughing.
After a long time, the Nine-Tails finally laughed enough.
Only then did Feng finally get a chance to speak:
"Let's talk business. I told Black Zetsu about the Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and cultivating Tailed Beast chakra with negative emotions because I wanted to hold him back.
As for the Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, the Fire Temple is already a complete mess over it themselves. They cannot give Black Zetsu much useful information.
As for cultivating Tailed Beast chakra with negative emotions, nobody even knows where those people are.
Forget whether Black Zetsu can find them; even if he does, he cannot produce results without at least ten years.
And if he wastes ten years on this, we should be happy instead.
That way, the Ten-Tails, which would originally be revived fifteen years from now, will be delayed.
And I am confident that within fifteen years, I will grow strong enough to crush Obito and Black Zetsu.
So giving Black Zetsu those two pieces of information will not affect anything at all."
The Nine-Tails frowned and lightly tapped the ground a few times with its claws. Then its brows relaxed, and it accepted Feng's answer.
After all, whether it believed Uchiha Feng or not, the worst outcome would only be the future fifteen years from now arriving a little early. It might as well try believing that Feng before it could truly keep his word.
Then it looked at Feng with a beaming smile and said:
"Oh, so that's how it is, good person.
You should've said so earlier, good person.
I understand now, good person."
Feng...
Motherland, if you still love me, please send me a Zaun Madman. He won't shut himself away—he'll make the Nine-Tails shut itself away.
Before you continue