The two walked for about five minutes.
Araki suddenly stopped.
Seeing this, Kushina also stopped.
"Come out."
Araki spoke softly, his voice carrying an undeniable resolve. His voice wasn't particularly loud, but it echoed clearly in the woods outside the official road.
Chapter 20 Is your comprehension really that bad?
Konoha: Nobody knew I could use Wood Release! Chapter 20: Is your comprehension really that bad?
come out?
What's coming out?
What is Araki saying?
Was he talking to me?
Do you want me to release the Nine-Tails?
Or does it mean something else?
Should we ask?
Kushina stood there, staring blankly at Araki, her mind filled with more and more questions, which gradually gave her a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety.
Perhaps it's because she's focusing all her attention on Araki right now.
In an instant.
Araki and Kushina stood there.
The woods were completely silent.
Curious, Kushina used her senses to scan her surroundings, but found nothing unusual.
From her perspective, at least, there was no one else in the woods.
However, Araki's behavior was too abnormal.
This made Kushina feel like her nerves were becoming fragile.
Aren't you coming out yet?
Araki spoke again, but this time his voice was much colder. Ever since he left Konoha, he had felt a pair of eyes watching him.
The feeling of being watched was exactly the same as when I returned from Kumogakure.
If he hadn't absorbed any Hashirama Cells during this process, he would now choose to turn a blind eye and pretend nothing had happened.
From what I can see, the figure that was following me doesn't seem to have any intention of making a move; it's just observing my movements from a distance.
Araki knew very well that he had likely been placed on the other party's list of targets for observation.
But the situation is different now.
Although he only spent half a day back in Konoha, that half-day was enough for him to undergo an indescribable transformation. Both his perception and his strength had undergone a complete and earth-shattering change.
Araki now focused his senses on the trees some distance away.
There was a dark figure on that branch, blinking orange eyes and staring at him with a wicked smile on its face. It had obviously heard what he said, but didn't take it seriously.
"?"
Kushina's mind was filled with even more questions. Their overnight journey to Uzushiogakure was extremely urgent, leaving her with almost no time to think before she was already outside Konoha. This urgency made her reaction somewhat slow, and she was still a bit out of sorts, unable to adapt immediately.
That wouldn't have been bad enough, but right after they left Konoha, Araki started exhibiting these strange behaviors again without any explanation, making her even more uncertain.
"This is the last time. If you don't come out on your own, I'm going to drag you out."
Araki added a head-turning motion when he spoke this time. The previous two times he had stood still, as if talking to himself, but now he suddenly turned towards the dark figure and stared intently at it.
At this moment, Araki's dark eyes seemed to pierce through these spaces, focusing directly on the dark figure.
"!"
In the distance, on a tree branch, the smile on the dark figure's face suddenly froze.
His orange eyes had been fixed on Araki, but the moment the other turned his head, he had a vague, indescribable feeling, as if their eyes had collided.
The sensation of their eyes meeting made him immediately realize that the other person must have seen him, and that they must also know that he was watching them at the same time.
impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
How could someone so far away possibly see me?
Besides, how could he possibly sense me when I just appeared?
But...
Is this phenomenon really just a coincidence?
The dark figure was none other than Black Zetsu. At this moment, his mind was in utter turmoil, because what had happened was truly beyond his expectations.
If what Araki said earlier had been true, he wouldn't have been so shocked. But this turn of his head directly shook his inner defenses.
We can't keep watching like this!
Black Zetsu immediately made a decision: to leave this place as soon as possible. Even he himself couldn't explain it, but he felt a very familiar aura on this boy, so familiar that it made him feel fear and dread, an aura that he didn't want to face.
The reason he's following this boy now is simply because the process of carrying out the plan is incredibly boring. He's like a chess player who has already planned out his next moves and is just waiting to kill time while waiting for the future to unfold.
That's why he wandered all over the ninja world, collecting a lot of information and discovering many secrets. The Chunin Ninja Exams Kumogakure were naturally his target of observation, but he never expected to encounter such a familiar yet frightening boy here.
He didn't want to make things difficult for the boy, nor did he have any other plans. He was simply driven by curiosity to observe and learn more about him.
Even so...
The same thing that had left him somewhat shaken still happened.
Immediately, Black Zetsu made his decision, controlling his body to surge towards the interior of the tree trunk, deciding to temporarily set aside the matter of the boy, since it had absolutely nothing to do with his plan, and it would be better to observe Nagato more closely.
However, at that moment, something unexpected happened...
Black Zetsu's descending body suddenly stopped. He felt a pair of large hands grabbing his neck, followed by an extremely powerful force that pulled him directly out of the tree trunk.
"???"
Black Zetsu's completely black body, resembling a puddle of mud, was pulled out. At this moment, he was not attached to White Zetsu, but was in the state of Black Zetsu alone.
His orange eyes were filled with surprise, as if he found the situation unbelievable. He had never encountered anything like this since he was born, and a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.
"That..."
Suddenly, Araki's voice appeared behind Black Zetsu, as if whispering in his ear. His tone wasn't overly aggressive; he continued in a very calm voice, "I told you to come out, not to run away. Is your comprehension really that bad?"
"..."
Black Zetsu was speechless. From the moment he met Araki's gaze to the moment he was exposed, it had only been a fleeting moment. If Araki had been even a fraction of a second slower, Black Zetsu could have simply merged himself into the ground along with the tree.
But in that brief moment, he was caught.
That was so sudden.
Black Zetsu hadn't fully reacted yet, because he hadn't expected his tracking to be discovered, let alone that he would be caught after being discovered.
Swish!
A wooden figure jumped out from among the branches, and after landing on the ground, it began to change continuously, eventually transforming into the shape of Araki.
" Wood Clone?!"
Black Zetsu's orange eyes widened even more. Now that he had seen so much, he immediately realized that this was Wood Release Ninjutsu.
Chapter 21 A Great Filial Son
Konoha: Nobody knew I could use Wood Release! Chapter 21: A Filial Son
At that very moment, Black Zetsu was filled with an ominous premonition, for what was happening was beyond his expectations.
Since his birth, he has been trying to rescue his mother, who is sealed on the moon, but so far, he has not succeeded.
Even he himself doesn't know how many years he's gone through in this process.
From the first generation of Indra, he chose to stand on Indra's side and made arrangements in his own way. It wasn't until Madara Uchiha's generation that a breakthrough was achieved, successfully merging the powers of Indra and Asura into one.
This is an extremely difficult thing to do!
However, during this process, Black Zetsu also became acutely aware of Asura's power.
At first, he was unassuming and unremarkable; he was not only not outstanding, but he was even inferior to ordinary ninjas.
However, after years of arduous training, the reincarnations of Asura Chakra always unleash formidable power, repeatedly and accurately demonstrating the power of accumulated strength.
Just as the inheritors of Indra's Chakra possess the Sharingan, a spiritual power, the vast majority of Asura Chakra inheritors can also use a special Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.
Of course, not all Asura Chakra successors will.
This also demonstrates the unique way in Wood Release Kekkei Genkai; it is not a transfer between blood relatives, but rather a transfer between Chakra successors.
At this moment, Black Zetsu, sensing the Wood Clone emerging from the trees behind him and the immense power in its hands, suddenly realized something extremely terrifying.
A reincarnation of Asura Chakra?!
Black Zetsu has been reincarnated from countless Asura Chakra beings, so this was the first thought that came to mind when he met Araki.
but...
He did not find a reincarnation of Indra's Chakra in the ninja world.
It was precisely because of this that he became complacent and did not fully consider such matters. After all, at this moment, Madara Uchiha was still alive, which meant that the reincarnation of Indra's Chakra had not died.
However, it was precisely for this reason that Black Zetsu was able to have such a genuine thought when faced with such a situation, because he was certain that the First Hokage Hashirama Senju of Konoha, Hashirama Senju, was dead, so logically speaking, Asura's Chakra could be reincarnated.
"Who... who are you?"
Black Zetsu's voice was slightly hoarse. The events had happened too suddenly. After these thoughts instinctively popped into his mind, he immediately asked Araki's Wood Clone a question.
However, what awaited him was not an answer, but the embrace of that Wood Clone.
That's right!
It's a perfect embrace!