The Thousand-Faced Demon Naraka

The laboratory in the dim depths of the southern Hideout reeked of preservatives and the sickly sweetness of flesh and blood.

Orochimaru was watching the Canopy Screen. When he learned Black Zetsu's true identity, his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Heh... hehehe..." A low laugh escaped his throat, filled with disbelieving elation and the thrill of discovering the ultimate prey.

"Black Zetsu? That monster who's clung to Obito Uchiha and the Akatsuki Organization like a shadow is the Sage of Six Paths' own younger brother?"

He licked his lips without thinking, as though he could already taste the sweetness of that supreme knowledge.

"A thousand years! A pure embodiment of will that's lived for over a thousand years! A form of existence beyond ordinary life and death!"

"This... this is the true prototype of immortality! Closer to its source than any Forbidden Technique or cell transplant!"

Greed surged through every nerve like venom, so vast it nearly consumed him.

His lifelong goals—to grasp every truth in the world and achieve eternal life—now seemed to have a perfectly clear "specimen"!

Countless mad, enticing thoughts flooded his mind. If he could capture Black Zetsu, analyze his composition, and understand how his will had endured for a thousand years...

If he could then extract the Chakra within Black Zetsu, perhaps the closest thing to the progenitor's own...

Then the gate to immortality, even the path to power on the Sage of Six Paths' level, would stand wide open before him!

He walked slowly to a massive container. Inside floated an experimental subject whose body was gradually merging with First Hokage's cells and a White Zetsu body.

He gazed at the twisted creation, a cold, greedy smile curling his lips.

"Black Zetsu. The perfect specimen. The ultimate answer. But he could also be the most dangerous trap."

He spoke under his breath, his voice hissing like a snake's. "I can't rush this. I have to be more careful."

"I need more intelligence. I need to wait for a better opportunity."

"Perhaps I can find an opening through others who know the truth and hate Black Zetsu? Konoha, for instance!"

The laboratory's dim light fell across his pale face, making his smile look all the more eerie and covetous.

As every faction devised its response to Black Zetsu's identity, the Canopy Screen began to flicker again.

[The scene showed a secret underground hall belonging to the Root Organization.]

[Shimura Danzō sat on a broad, roughly hewn stone seat.]

[He wore a dark cloak, his cane propped beside him. In the dim light, his exposed eye glinted with anxiety and anticipation.]

[He leaned slightly forward, as though waiting for something.]

[Suddenly, an invisible ripple passed through the shadows before him, and a small, ugly Cursed Spirit crawled out.]

["Failure! The mission failed! Minato Namikaze is unharmed!"]

[The little Cursed Spirit kept repeating those three statements in its grating voice.]

[Shimura Danzō's body went rigid. Then, slowly and stiffly, he leaned back against the stone seat.]

[His hand clamped down on the armrest, veins bulging across its gaunt back.]

[Disappointment so intense it was almost tangible radiated from him.]

[He had never expected Mahito, that monster from Nine Nether, to fail too.]

[It cast a shadow over his opinion of Nine Nether. It also meant his path to becoming Hokage was now hopeless.]

["Useless, every last one of them!" Shimura Danzō spat through clenched teeth, his voice low but bitter with fury.]

[A Wind Release-infused Shuriken flew from his hand and shattered the little Cursed Spirit's head, cutting its grating voice short.]

[At that instant, the news of the failure had left Shimura Danzō distracted for a split second.]

[Behind him, what had been nothing more than an ordinary shadow suddenly came alive.]

[It writhed, swelled, and deepened unnaturally, spreading like a drop of ink in clear water.]

[The darkness grew thick and heavy. A faint rustling rose from it, like countless insects hissing or vengeful souls whispering.]

[A sweet, putrid miasma silently spread, making the hall's already foul air even more nauseating.]

[Shimura Danzō snapped to attention. His eye swept sharply behind him, and his body shifted into a defensive stance.]

[A figure slowly seeped out of the dense darkness.]

[First came bloodless fingers that seemed pieced together from countless fragments. They settled lightly on the back of the stone seat.]

[Then the monster emerged in full.]

[His body seemed made of churning black miasma and shattered shadows. Ominous purple energy coiled visibly around him.]

[His features were indistinct. Only two crimson lights shone from his face, filled with inhuman malice and ancient hatred.]

[The Canopy Screen displayed a small line of text above him: Naraka, the Thousand-Faced Demon!]

["Hehehehe..." A low, raspy laugh rang out with layered echoes, as though boring straight into the depths of the mind.]

[There was no pleasure in it, only cold mockery and cruel amusement.]

["It seems the 'new allies' you placed so much hope in aren't infallible after all, Lord Danzō."]

[Naraka's voice was slow and warped, every syllable seeming to cling with the thickness of miasma.]

[Shimura Danzō fixed his eye on Naraka. His disappointment swiftly gave way to greater wariness and disgust.]

[He clearly knew Naraka existed, but he did not welcome his appearance like this.]

["Naraka." Shimura Danzō's voice was icy. "Your appearances always bring unpleasant 'surprises.'"]

["Surprises?" Naraka's form wavered like mist, his crimson gaze passing over Shimura Danzō.]

["I merely came to remind you that working with Nine Nether is like dancing on a cliff's edge. One misstep, and they'll devour you down to the bone!"]

[He leaned forward slightly, his dense miasma nearly touching Shimura Danzō.]

["Only a power like mine, with a hatred of the Uchiha etched into its bones, can be your most dependable 'partner.'"]

[His words were thick with insinuation. He disparaged Nine Nether while raising his own value.]

[Shimura Danzō remained silent, a shifting glint in his lone eye.]

[Angry over the failed assassination of Minato Namikaze and instinctively repelled by Naraka, he weighed his options.]