A mouthwatering aroma filled the depths of the dark cavern.
The smell roused Naruto from his sleep. Rubbing his bleary eyes, the very first thing he saw was the deliciously fragrant fish roasting over the fire!
Gulp!
Naruto swallowed. "Time to dig in...!"
Chomp! Chomp!
Naruto wolfed down the fish.
Beside him, the black-faced man in a straw raincoat and bamboo hat grinned. "Slow down. Nobody here's going to steal your food!"
Naruto said warmly, "Black Uncle, you're so good to me, believe it!"
Black Zetsu smiled. "Of course. When someone entrusts me with something, I see it through. Jiraiya's student is like my own child!"
Well...
Let us rewind a little.
Over a month ago, after Sasuke and Jiraiya's Fifth Battle ended, Sasuke had accompanied him back to Blue Moon Island to explain the situation.
Kabuto had proposed returning to the Land of Whirlpools to retrieve the Uzumaki Clan's documents.
That had given Black Zetsu an opening.
Black Zetsu had ambushed Kabuto. After learning everything that had happened in the previous life from him, he had devised a new plan, with Naruto as its crucial "pawn"!
With ruthless speed, he had killed Yamato, who had remained in the Land of Whirlpools to oversee Naruto's training. Then he had defeated Naruto after his four-tailed transformation and abducted him.
When Naruto woke up, the severe shock had wiped out his memories of what happened before he lost consciousness. Thus, he did not remember that the "Black Uncle" before him was the man who had killed Yamato!
For Black Zetsu, this was an unexpected windfall!
To deceive Naruto, he had even carefully crafted a story that would pin everything perfectly on Sasuke and Orochimaru!
Faced with Naruto's confusion, he had immediately claimed to be a friend of the Pervy Sage, Jiraiya. Since