The Konoha Forbidden Jutsu Library.
A burst of blue light illuminated the entire room, and Black Zetsu's body slowly crawled out of the stone door covered in jutsu formulas.
After landing, Black Zetsu straightened up. Seeing dust floating through the room, he waved it away.
"Why is this place so dusty? How long has it been since anyone came in?"
According to Madara Uchiha's instructions, the forbidden jutsu he needed were on these wooden shelves.
Black Zetsu looked at the rows of wooden shelves and sighed. "How long will it take to search through all this?"
He stood before the shelves, rummaging through them as his mind kept working.
He had just left Konoha's conference room.
Recalling the Five Kage arguing in the conference room, it seemed these shinobi villages would have some difficulty forming an alliance.
After the villages shared their intelligence, Kumogakure seemed to intend to recall all its main forces to protect its jinchūriki and the village.
He needed to find a way to lure out one of the jinchūriki and draw Kumogakure fully into the game.
Suddenly, he turned toward a wooden shelf, curiosity in his eyes.
A blue light had flashed across it.
"What is this?" Black Zetsu frowned. Sensing something was wrong, he reached out to touch the spot that had just emitted the blue light.
Instantly, a piercing alarm buzzed throughout the library.
"Damn!" Black Zetsu spun around and quickened his search.
The library had a barrier established by the Second Hokage. Only the successive Hokage and senior officials knew how to enter it, and the Third Hokage considered the place very secure.
With the war underway, many personnel had also been transferred to fight on the front lines. As a result, the library was currently unguarded and relied entirely on the barrier for protection.
That was how Black Zetsu had managed to slip in.
His curiosity had just led him to trigger the alarm by mistake.
The library was not far from the Hokage's office. At a ninja's pace, reinforcements could reach it in no more than three minutes.
In his frantic scramble, Black Zetsu seemed to have already heard ninja landing outside.
"Found it!" Having found the scroll, Black Zetsu tucked it against his chest, walked to the door, and circulated his chakra.
"Damn it, the jutsu formulas carved into this door are slowing my chakra flow."
Black Zetsu could only pass slowly through the stone door. He poked his head out and looked around, growing anxious as he listened to the alarm ringing throughout the village.
Just as his lower legs were about to emerge from the door, a powerful voice rang out from one end of the corridor.
"Intruder! Put down what you're holding!"
Black Zetsu looked back. Leading the group was an Anbu ninja wearing a gorilla mask.
Two shuriken gleaming with cold light flew from the Anbu ninja's hand toward Black Zetsu.
At last, Black Zetsu's entire body emerged from the stone door. Unable to dodge in time, he was pierced by the shuriken, sending white tissue fluid splashing everywhere.
"Bye-bye~" Unperturbed by the shuriken piercing him, Black Zetsu slowly sank into the ground where he stood, casually waving at the Anbu.
Suddenly, as he sank, Black Zetsu felt a prickling at his back and alarm bells rang in his mind. He bent down on instinct, dodging a kunai that cut through the air from behind him.
Looking at the kunai embedded in the ground, he inwardly cursed.
Damn, it's Minato.
A figure flashed, and Minato appeared beside the kunai with a Rasengan, spinning around to slam it down at Black Zetsu, whose head was all that remained aboveground.
Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three
The Rasengan slammed into Black Zetsu's face, grinding everything around it into powder and throwing up a cloud of dust.
After the dust cleared, everyone looked at the bare ground left by the Rasengan's impact. The four exchanged looks.
"Did he escape?"
Curiosity showed in Minato's eyes,
because he saw what seemed to be a white object wriggling on the bare ground.
"What is this?" Minato bent down and pinched up a piece of the white substance. It kept squirming in his hand, and its soft texture made him frown.
He turned around and handed the object to an Anbu beside him.
"Send it to the Science Department and have them check what it is."
With that, Minato fell into thought. Just after the Rasengan struck, a surge of chakra had flashed rapidly underground.
A ninjutsu he had never seen before.
Mountain's Grave.
Madara Uchiha slumped on a rock, holding a war scythe as a walking stick. Every breath sounded like a broken, leaking bellows.
"Hah... hah..."
Suddenly, he tilted his head, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.
Where he was looking, Black Zetsu was slowly rising out of the ground.
"You're back. Hah..." Madara Uchiha's eyebrows trembled, and his voice carried a hint of excitement.
Lately, Madara had felt a little uneasy. It seemed to be some kind of signal.
He had recently received news that the Five Kage were forming an alliance and discussing how to deal with the Akatsuki.
He had instructed Black Zetsu to go to the Konoha Forbidden Jutsu Library in Konoha, steal the Second Hokage Tobirama's Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, and gather information while he was there.
He had also told Black Zetsu how to enter Konoha's barrier and the library's barrier.
While Black Zetsu was away in Konoha, Madara's eyes had gradually clouded over.
He felt he was about to die.
Now that Black Zetsu had returned, the cloudiness in his eyes abruptly cleared, revealing his Rinnegan as he looked at Black Zetsu with bright eyes.
"Did you get it?"
At his question, Black Zetsu pulled a huge scroll from his chest and handed it to Madara Uchiha.
Madara Uchiha took the scroll. Looking at its slightly rusted chakra clasp, he circulated his chakra with difficulty and pressed his hand against the scroll. A burst of blue light followed.
Click.
"The sealing method still hasn't changed," he remarked.
Freed from the clasp, the scroll unfurled.
After opening the scroll, Madara Uchiha set it down and touched his empty eye socket.
"Black Zetsu, find a way to get my eye back from Pero."
"Me?!" Black Zetsu pointed at himself in surprise.
His eyes filled with confusion as he looked at Madara Uchiha, thinking he was joking.
"I'm about to die. Unfortunately, we've lost our pawn, so there are things we have to do ourselves." Madara smacked his lips. His mouth, which had lost its sense of taste, seemed to taste rust again.
Madara Uchiha looked at Black Zetsu as though giving his final instructions. "Konoha's jinchūriki is pregnant. On the day she gives birth, the Nine-Tails' seal will weaken."
He took a breath and continued.
"Use Impure World Reincarnation on me that day. I'll control the Nine-Tails and lure Pero over, then let him take the Nine-Tails away."
"Shift Konoha's hatred of the Nine-Tails onto the Akatsuki."
"Once he gathers all nine tailed beasts, I can control Nagato, reap the rewards of their struggle, and activate Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"Those are my eyes, after all."
Madara Uchiha grew excited, his Rinnegan slowly rotating.
"When the time comes, they'll all be utterly worthless, reduced to fertilizer for my new world."
At the same time, a stab of pain shot through Nagato's Rinnegan, and a trace of unease flashed through his mind.
Madara Uchiha's breathing grew increasingly rapid. One last obsession sustained his utterly exhausted body.
"Make sure you find the next Uzumaki descendant. On the day the tailed beasts are gathered, use Rinne Rebirth to revive me."
He gave Black Zetsu that final instruction.
The brightness faded from Madara Uchiha's eyes, and cloudiness once again filled them. His hand released the war scythe, and he fell heavily onto the rock.
Lying on the rock, he opened his mouth, but could only make rasping sounds. His heaving body gradually grew still.
Black Zetsu stepped forward. Looking at Madara's half-open eyes and lifeless body, he bent down, gouged out the Rinnegan, and placed it in a glass bottle.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to carry out your wishes."
Black Zetsu looked back at the enormous Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, raised the glass bottle in his hand, and shook it.
"For Mother's revival."
Before you continue