This also indirectly revealed something: what Otsutsuki Toneri really meant was, remember me now.
That way, if you failed to recognize him later and clashed with him, you could not blame him for being merciless!
But Mei Terumi did not mind such a minor matter. Compared with Otsutsuki Toneri, those senior officials of Kirigakure...
Were essentially dispensable!
Still, there were actually a few things she wanted to discuss with Otsutsuki Toneri now.
"Let's look at the accommodations first... But could you wait for me a little while, Lady Mizukage?" Otsutsuki Toneri asked gently, looking exceedingly refined and courteous.
Yet the next instant, Otsutsuki Toneri seemed to sense something. The smile on his lips deepened, and he abruptly addressed Mei Terumi.
"Huh? That's fine. Do you have something to take care of, Toneri?" Mei Terumi paused briefly, then nodded and asked curiously.
It was hardly a big deal. She was simply curious why Otsutsuki Toneri had suddenly made this request.
"No, it's just an unfamiliar yet familiar friend. Please wait a moment, Lady Mizukage." A meaningful glint rose in Otsutsuki Toneri's pure, flawless Tenseigan. He bowed slightly to Mei Terumi, then vanished from the spot.
"Unfamiliar yet familiar?" Mei Terumi blinked, not quite understanding what Otsutsuki Toneri meant.
Then she glanced at the silent, utterly composed Otsutsuki Quxian and Yugito, and suddenly felt a bit of a headache coming on.
These three were far too mysterious.
Meanwhile, Otsutsuki Toneri appeared in a dense forest, then slowly turned his gaze toward a large tree to his upper left.
"Won't you come out and meet me?" Otsutsuki Toneri asked with a casual smile. He had suddenly sensed this unusual presence earlier.
That was why he had temporarily left Mei Terumi and hurried here: the other party had deliberately drawn him over.
Still, Otsutsuki Toneri really had not expected this fellow to seek him out!
"As expected of that old bastard Hamura's descendant. What keen perception." A mass of viscous black matter slowly flowed down from the tree, landed before Otsutsuki Toneri, and finally coalesced into a humanoid figure that spoke with a strange laugh.
His mouth was lined with sharp, somewhat frightening fangs, and his eyes were golden. Apart from those two features, his entire body was pitch-black, making him look extremely eerie!
It was none other than Black Zetsu, who had come looking for Otsutsuki Toneri!
"Thank you for the compliment, but your voice and appearance really are creepy." Otsutsuki Toneri raised an eyebrow, tilting his head as he looked Black Zetsu over a few times. ...
That excessively deep, hoarse voice, coupled with his appearance, really was enough to frighten a crying child into silence.
"Besides, since you know I'm Hamura's descendant, aren't you afraid I'll kill you for insulting him to my face?" Then Otsutsuki Toneri stared into Black Zetsu's eyes with interest, his lips spreading into a somewhat savage smile as he spoke slowly.
"Hehehe... You jest, young Mr. Toneri. I don't see the slightest respect for your ancestor in you." Black Zetsu likewise spread his mouth into an exaggeratedly wide grin and laughed pointedly.
His earlier words had been a test, and clearly, he had already confirmed the result.
He had insulted Hamura Otsutsuki so brazenly, yet Otsutsuki Toneri, Hamura's descendant, had not cared at all.
That already said a great deal!
"All right, spare me the pleasantries. Just tell me what you want." Otsutsuki Toneri put away his savage grin, returning to his usual gentleness as he spoke mildly.
This Black Zetsu really was a shrewd one. But that made sense. After all, he was an old monster who had lived for nearly a thousand years.
Although he was not particularly strong, few could outplay him when it came to schemes and reading people.
The way he had toyed with the unparalleled schemer Madara Uchiha from beginning to end, even playing him to his death, offered a glimpse of that.
Granted, Black Zetsu had used his advantage of knowing the whole truth to arrange the trap in advance and wait for Madara Uchiha to walk into it.
And he had exploited the weaknesses in Madara Uchiha's character. But his ability to lay out such an enormous game also showed how terrifying his patience and disposition were.
Not just anyone could tamper with things right under Madara Uchiha's nose without him noticing!
But that had nothing to do with Otsutsuki Toneri. Right now, he was curious how Black Zetsu would try to persuade him.
After a moment's thought, Otsutsuki Toneri understood why Black Zetsu had sought him out.
And indeed, he was far too significant a variable for Black Zetsu to ignore.
Black Zetsu had to come find Otsutsuki Toneri and resolve this lingering concern!
(Please subscribe automatically and support the story!)
Chapter 70: Black Zetsu: I finally have an accomplice! Third update
"Hehehe... You certainly get straight to the point, young Mr. Toneri. Then I won't waste any more words. Let's work together!" Black Zetsu chuckled deeply, then grew serious and spoke to Otsutsuki Toneri in a low voice.
Yes, cooperation was his only option. He could think of no other way.
He could only work with this Otsutsuki Toneri.
"Oh? Don't you think that's a joke? I don't even know your goal, and you don't understand my needs, yet you want to work with me?" Otsutsuki Toneri scoffed at that, mocking him without hesitation.
Did Black Zetsu take him for a three-year-old?
Black Zetsu remained entirely unruffled and was about to deliver the words he had already prepared, but Otsutsuki Toneri's next remark left him stunned.
"Besides, Great-uncle Black Zetsu, were you planning to fool me with the Infinite Tsukuyomi, or with supreme status, glory, and power?"
Otsutsuki Toneri watched Black Zetsu with a cheerful smile and asked with interest.
Otsutsuki Toneri had originally thought Black Zetsu would use some flowery rhetoric to win him over.
But his proposal to cooperate had robbed Otsutsuki Toneri of any interest in listening to him boast further.
So he had chosen to get straight to the point.
"You..." Black Zetsu's golden eyes fixed intently on Otsutsuki Toneri. Setting aside how Otsutsuki Toneri knew about the Infinite Tsukuyomi...
After all, the documents Hamura Otsutsuki had left his descendants might have recorded it.
The crucial point was Otsutsuki Toneri's use of "Great-uncle"!
How could he possibly know his identity? Even the brothers Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Hamura Otsutsuki should not have known of his existence!
"You seem very surprised, Great-uncle. Did I say something wrong?" Otsutsuki Toneri rubbed his chin as he studied the shock in Black Zetsu's eyes, his smile deepening.
Seeing the original story's greatest mastermind looking as though he had seen a ghost inexplicably gave him a sense of accomplishment.
"You... What do you want?" Black Zetsu finally came back to his senses at those words. Slowly calming his turbulent emotions, he discreetly took a step back.
The question of how Otsutsuki Toneri knew his identity was unimportant.
He was already prepared to retreat if anything went wrong. Otsutsuki Toneri had suddenly revealed his true identity.
That had truly shaken him. Since Otsutsuki Toneri knew who he was, what exactly did this descendant of Hamura Otsutsuki intend to do?
For the moment, however, Otsutsuki Toneri did not seem hostile toward him.
Otherwise, he would not have kept talking to him. Still, caution was necessary.
Most importantly, with his Rinnegan and Tenseigan, Otsutsuki Toneri possessed the ability to capture him!
He still had a long-held wish to fulfill. He could not afford to be trapped here.
Although Otsutsuki Toneri called him Great-uncle, Black Zetsu was not naive enough to think that relationship would make Otsutsuki Toneri spare him.
"Nothing in particular. Great-uncle, do you recognize this chakra?" Otsutsuki Toneri ignored Black Zetsu's movement and aimed the Rinnegan in his palm at him.
A trace of unusual Eye Power and chakra seeped out, then slipped back into the Rinnegan.
Although it had lasted only an instant, Black Zetsu's golden eyes immediately lit up.
"This is... Mother's Eye Power and chakra! How do you have Mother's Eye Power and chakra? Have you seen Mother?" Black Zetsu's voice instantly rose considerably, intense excitement showing through its deep rasp.
His mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, was his sole obsession!
An obsession that had endured for a thousand years!
Opinions might differ on the most moving family bond in Naruto, but Black Zetsu could genuinely count as one.
A thousand years. He had worked for a thousand years, plotted for a thousand years, and endured for a thousand years!
At the root of it all, Black Zetsu only wanted to rescue Kaguya Ōtsutsuki!
What did an obsession lasting a thousand years even mean?
Perhaps no one but Black Zetsu himself could understand what lay in his heart~
"Ah, yes. I have indeed met Grandmother Kaguya. She also bestowed this Eye Power and chakra upon me." Watching the excited Black Zetsu, Otsutsuki Toneri could not help feeling a little moved.
Whatever else could be said about Black Zetsu, his wholehearted devotion and filial piety toward Kaguya Ōtsutsuki alone were enough to move anyone.
Many people had said there were no truly evil people in Naruto. Otsutsuki Toneri had his reservations about that statement.
But undeniably, this was precisely where the true soul of Naruto's appeal lay.
Naruto: The tale of whose dad is better, Black Zetsu's quest to save his mother, How persuaders and Genin are made, Who stole my "wife"...
Yes, those were all alternate names for Naruto...
"I see... In that case, what is your goal, Toneri?" Black Zetsu had no idea that Otsutsuki's thoughts had wandered far off course. At those words, he fell silent briefly, then asked tentatively.
Since Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had been willing to give Otsutsuki Toneri her ocular power and chakra, did that mean Toneri was on his side?
Moreover, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki must have been the one who told Otsutsuki Toneri of his existence.
Thinking of it that way, could Otsutsuki Toneri be trusted?
"Ah, my goal is the same as yours: to rescue Grandmother Kaguya!" Otsutsuki Toneri smiled at the question and answered casually.
His goal was indeed to rescue Kaguya. As for what came afterward, naturally, he would not tell Black Zetsu.
Otherwise, Black Zetsu would probably fight him to the death.
Although Otsutsuki Toneri spoke lightly, Black Zetsu grew excited once more upon hearing it.
I finally have a real fucking accomplice! And one this powerful, too!
Heaven only knew how much he had suffered through a thousand years of cautious plotting and concealment. If he had possessed strength like Otsutsuki Toneri's...
Why would he have needed to calculate his way forward one step at a time?
"Wonderful, Toneri. With your help, I'm sure we'll be able to rescue your grandmother very soon!" But Black Zetsu was still Black Zetsu. He quickly suppressed his surging emotions and grinned at Otsutsuki Toneri.
His mood was exceptionally bright at that moment. With Otsutsuki Toneri, his confidence in rescuing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had grown immeasurably!
Before you continue