Madara and Hashirama's Child

Rewind to half a month ago --

In the underground caves where sunlight cannot penetrate, one can vaguely see the silhouette of some colossal creature standing tall deep within, exuding an ancient and vast aura of life.

Ban sat on a wooden chair, his back connected to several long white strips that stretched backward, linking him to the colossal object in the darkness.

Although she still looks old and coughs frequently, her complexion looks much better.

He stared blankly upwards at the thick tree roots that had grown from the giant object behind him. They were so large that they could no longer be concealed on the ground.

Especially on some tree roots, there are long white strips that look like fruits. Some of these white strips have already taken on a basic human shape after being nurtured, while others still look like undeveloped embryos.

In a prominent position, even the upper half of a humanoid body, which Madara missed and was very familiar with, appeared.

Around this conspicuous half-human body, several pale arms stretched out from the tree roots, as if performing some kind of special ritual Ninjutsu.

"This piece of flesh, bitten off of your body, has been nurtured by the God Tree and is becoming more and more like what you looked like in life, Hashirama..."

A faint smile appeared on Ban's withered lips.

I don't know why, but the older I get, the more I tend to reminisce about the past.

He could recall all the things he had experienced with Hashirama with remarkable clarity.

The acquaintance and encounter in childhood, the contradictions and struggles in youth, the divergence of ideals in middle age...

"Lord Madara again."

"If you ask me, the closest companion of the God of Shinobi God of Shinobi this world is not his wife, but Lord Madara."

This is what bonds are all about.

Several White Zetsu whispered among themselves not far away, already quite used to Madara's frequent dementia-like symptoms.

As long as you don't deliberately go up and disturb them, and stay quietly to the side, you won't be in any danger.

What are you whispering about over there?

Madara turned his head and looked at the White Zetsu.

Although these White Zetsu were clones he created by combining Hashirama's flesh and blood with the God Tree, he didn't think much of their combat abilities because most of White Zetsu were too weak.

Of course, these replicas do have their merits in terms of search and reconnaissance capabilities.

"Ah, it's nothing, Lord Madara. We were just discussing what to eat tonight."

Several White Zetsu answered in unison.

Upon hearing Ban speak, they knew that the other party had snapped out of their reverie, so they walked over and stood beside Ban.

"How is the situation?"

Ban asked directly.

The question was a bit vague, but White Zetsu knew what Madara was concerned about.

"The people of the Land of Night are searching diligently for Nagato's whereabouts and are now very close to the town where Nagato is located. They will likely take formal action soon."

White Zetsu answered truthfully.

Despite the Land of Night's highly secretive operations, they still couldn't escape their notice.

Aside from the base, the Land of Rain can now be described as a densely populated area of their frequent activities, and their intelligence network is as unshakeable as an iron barrel.

"... Was it because Uzushiogakure didn't clean up the mess properly back then? Or does the Land of Night a special 'prophetic' ability and foresaw something?"

Ban murmured something.

The Ninja World is not lacking in methods of Prophet; although he had not witnessed it firsthand, he had heard of similar existences.

For example, the hermit Toad of Mount Myoboku, the priestess of the Land of Demons, etc...

The White Zetsu remained silent; in fact, they were unaware of how Nagato had been exposed, as they had concealed it very well.

Moreover, judging from the timeline, the Land of Night had already stationed troops in the Land of Rain long before Nagato.

"Lord Madara, what's the next step?"

A White Zetsu asked a question.

Ban pondered for a moment before replying:

"I want to give it a try..."

"Give it a try?"

The White Zetsu looked at each other, not understanding what Madara was referring to.

Ban looked up at a section of tree root above, where a White Zetsu was on the verge of taking shape.

He could Sensory that this White Zetsu possessed extremely powerful Chakra, no less than the special White Zetsu individual he had sent to protect Nagato — Tobi.

Clearly, this soon-to-be-born White Zetsu is a special individual among White Zetsu, possessing combat power far exceeding that of a regular White Zetsu.

Under his gaze, the unborn White Zetsu suddenly swayed, the white wooden strip connecting it to the trunk snapped, and it crashed to the ground.

The White Zetsu opened its eyes, revealing dull, lifeless pupils. It looked rather dazed and blank. After falling, it stood there motionless.

"Is he an idiot?"

"Maybe he's just a quiet, reserved person who doesn't like to talk?"

"Hey, can you speak? Introduce yourself!"

Some White Zetsu around them were making a fuss, very curious about this new 'little brother'.

It simply stood there silently, ignoring the White Zetsu 'White Zetsu commotion, as if it hadn't heard them at all.

"Come over."

At this moment, Madara gave orders to this newly born special White Zetsu.

The special White Zetsu trembled slightly, stiffened, and leaned towards Madara, stopping in front of him.

Madara frowned slightly, feeling that this special White Zetsu seemed to be a failed product with major flaws, a pity for such a good foundation.

This happens quite often, since they are just inferior copies of Hashirama, and many White Zetsu are born as lifeless corpses.

However, such an outstanding individual is almost like an inanimate object...

"Hmm, let's try this."

Madara murmured to himself as he thought about this. He stroked the special White Zetsu in front of him and poured his own Chakra into it. The Chakra he poured in was filled with both yin and yang properties.

The special White Zetsu, whose skin was originally pale, suddenly turned jet black from head to toe, revealing a pair of round, shiny, dark yellow eyes.

"Lord Madara."

The special White Zetsu, dyed jet black, suddenly spoke, its attitude respectful.

Ban then nodded slightly.

As expected, Yin-Yang Release is still the most useful.

Although this design is a bit dark and doesn't look very elegant... at least it conveys a sense of purpose, doesn't it?

Furthermore, the thought that this special White Zetsu was a clone created using Hashirama's power, and that he himself had infused it with his Yang Release Chakra...

Subconsciously, Madara looked at the dark, humanoid figure in front of him, a barely perceptible ripple appearing in his Sharingan.

From now on, you'll be called Black Zetsu.

The mark opened like this.

The flesh and blood of the Hashirama, combined with his will, gave birth to a creation that could be described as perfect.

Moreover, this time, it was her own will that was manipulating Hashirama's flesh and blood.

Thinking about it this way, Ban suddenly felt much happier for some reason.