One good trick could take you far, and after living so long, Black Zetsu happened to have two.
One was concealing his presence. He had even fooled Tobirama Senju with his Rinnegan active, leading him to the wrong conclusion.
The other was closing in fast and reaching straight for the heart.
He had spent years perfecting that heart-piercing technique. This long-prepared strike punched through Tobirama Senju's beating heart with speed, precision, and deadly force.
Tobirama Senju's eyes widened as he stared at the black hand protruding from his chest. For a moment, time seemed to roll back many years.
During that battle before the village's founding, a blade had pierced his chest at the very same angle. It had been just as black, just as lethal.
So Black Zetsu had already been targeting me back then?
He had actually been plotting this for so long!!!
Tobirama Senju felt as though a kunai named "conspiracy" had been thrown in his youth, flying all those years only to pierce his chest from behind today.
He had been scheming against me all along?!
What exactly was he after?
Revenge, murder, unleashing Tailed Beasts...
These incidents seemed to have nothing in common. He just did whatever he wanted. Could Black Zetsu be doing all this purely for his own amusement?
No, no, no. Everyone had their own patterns. No one acted without an internally consistent logic. There had to be some clue I was missing.
But it was already too late...
My heart had been pierced, and Hashirama wasn't here to heal me this time. All I could do was stake my life on one last attempt!
Tobirama Senju pressed his hand against Black Zetsu's hand where it pierced his chest, seemingly about to do something.
But his movements abruptly stopped. A strange expression