"Sasuke!? You're lying!!" Naruto lunged forward in agitation, grabbed Black Zetsu by the collar, and tackled him to the ground. "No matter what, Sasuke would never do something like that, believe it!"
"Naruto... calm down first!"
Black Zetsu's scheming went into overdrive. Exploiting the gaps in Naruto's current knowledge of Sasuke, he began patching up his outrageous, patently flimsy lie.
"Because of what happened to his older brother, Itachi... Sasuke hated Konoha, and then the entire ninja world! So he stole this technique the Sage of Six Paths created to save the world and used it to satisfy his selfish desire to rule it!"
Images of Sasuke's hate-filled eyes and his lonely, desolate back alternated in Naruto's mind as he filled in the details of Black Zetsu's story...
But his fondness for Sasuke, along with his reason, still held sway over his final conclusion.
"No, that doesn't add up, Black Uncle. After I woke up, you—you were with me the whole time, training in other dimensions. How would you know the outside world had fallen under Infinite Tsukuyomi? And how can you be so sure Sasuke was the one who cast it!!"
Damn it... Naruto usually acts like a clueless idiot. Why did his brain have to kick in at a time like this!
True to his reputation as a divine deceiver, Black Zetsu instantly seized on Naruto's weak spot and offered the most plausible explanation.
He bit his black lip and said sorrowfully, "Naruto... it looks like there's something I shouldn't keep hiding from you!"
"Do you know why Jiraiya entrusted you to me that day in the Land of Whirlpools?"
"Huh? The Pervy Sage..."
"It was precisely because Jiraiya discovered Sasuke's ambitions and intentions! He meant to go stop him!! That's why his fate is still unknown!!"
Naruto's