Black Zetsu's terms were not rejected immediately.
They were too convenient.
If they accepted, the Uchiha could portray Madara and Obito as victims of prolonged deception.
Konoha could explain the Night of the Nine-Tails Old Order as misdirection manufactured by Black Zetsu.
The Five Nations could also attribute the loopholes in their old wartime orders to exploitation by an outside enemy.
Obito could say the Heart Restriction and false coordinates had determined his entire path.
Nagato could push the Rinnegan, the Demonic Statue, and the Tailed Beast Plan back onto Madara's arrangements.
Everyone could preserve the part of themselves that had been a victim.
They only needed to make the black remnant core within the spatial scar the sole answer.
The Land of Rivers' Recorder asked first, "Which records do you want deleted?"
Black Zetsu did not evade the question.
The records of Madara continuing the plan even after discovering contradictions in the Stone Tablet's age.
The actions Obito carried out after he became capable of refusing of his own accord.
The restrictive orders Konoha issued and left unrevoked for years.
The open-ended authority that had already existed in the Five Nations' old wartime orders.
And the specific choices Nagato, Konan, and Akatsuki had each made.
Once those details were deleted, the remaining material would form an exceptionally complete chain of cause and effect.
Black Zetsu had manipulated everything.
Everyone had been deceived.
All subsequent harm had merely been the automatic consequence of that initial deception.
Black Zetsu was willing to include every contact he had made, every lie he had told, and every authorization he had held in his confession.
He was even willing to admit to portions that could not be verified.
"You can blame me for things without evidence, too."
Those words deepened the silence at the