Black Zetsu raced desperately through the depths of the earth.
Soil and thick tree roots flashed past him, his mind filled with panic.
The concealment technique that had always served him flawlessly had somehow become completely useless tonight.
Two heavy, savage presences remained relentlessly overhead.
Black Zetsu fled along an underground watercourse until he reached a flat stretch of cliff near the Valley of the End.
He burst out of the soil and landed beside a gray-black boulder.
Before he could catch his breath, two heavy thuds erupted in front of him.
The dust cleared, revealing Qian Ye standing casually five paces away, one hand resting on his sword hilt.
Bullet's hulking, eight-foot-two frame blocked his left flank, a cruel smile on his face.
"You certainly put your back into running."
"Out for your morning exercise in the middle of the night?"
Qian Ye drew half of his pitch-black blade and tossed out the quip.
The black sludge covering Black Zetsu churned violently, his two yellow eyes brimming with venom.
In over a thousand years of life, this was the first time two young upstarts had reduced him to such a sorry state.
"Arrogant, ignorant brats!"
"Do you really think I can't deal with you?"
Black Zetsu shrieked and slammed both palms onto the damp soil.
A peculiar pulse of chakra spread through the underground rock layers.
It reached the defensive force Madara Uchiha had stationed beneath the surrounding area years ago.
The soil across the entire clearing suddenly began to churn.
Crack!
The earth split open, and deathly pale arms reached out from below.
Then over a hundred pale humanoid monsters with bizarre faces climbed onto the surface.
They were an army of White Zetsu clones.
"Oh my, Lord Black Zetsu, why did you wake all of us up?"