Had Sasuke really reached the point where he could suppress his obsession at such a critical moment?
If even Indra's reincarnation was no longer so "easy to manipulate," then the game Black Zetsu had painstakingly set up over thousands of years could very well develop unpredictable complications.
A powerful wave of unease and irritation rose within Black Zetsu.
Controlling "Uchiha Itachi's" body, he stood where he was and watched Sasuke disappear completely in the direction of the Star Ninja Village, remaining motionless for a long time.
Beneath the hood, Uchiha Itachi's face looked somewhat stiff and vacant now that Black Zetsu had stopped controlling its expression. Only the three tomoe in his eyes began to turn slowly.
"Tch... troublesome brat."
"Looks like I'll have to adjust the plan."
"Naruto Uzumaki... just what are you...?"
Black Zetsu muttered to himself.
His original plan had been to use this carefully prepared body of "Uchiha Itachi" to trick Sasuke into joining them and becoming a new culture dish for the Rinnegan, using him and hashirama cells to cultivate a brand-new Rinnegan.
But now, the plan had hit an unexpected snag at the very first step.
Sasuke hadn't taken the bait.
This came as a great surprise to Black Zetsu. He knew the reincarnations of Asura and Indra extremely well.
After all, he had spent a thousand years studying these two "nephews."
He had thought this attempt was a sure thing, only to find that it hadn't worked at all.
What should I do next?
Keep following him and force the bait on him?
The risk was too great. It could easily alert the other Konoha ninja. Black Zetsu didn't care about the other Konoha genin and chunin; the one he cared about was that exceptionally sharp-minded Shikamaru Nara.
With no battle-hardened jonin leading