Chapter 103: Black Zetsu: I Knew It!
"The player outside the board?" Sasuke repeated Uchiha Douhuan's words, thought carefully for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Their stance should also be to win this game, right."
"Correct. From the moment players in a normal match sit across the board from each other, their stance is also to defeat the opponent. So, Sasuke, what difference do you think there is between these two?"
"The pieces are controlled by the player. The pieces themselves cannot decide where they should go on the board..." Sasuke finished speaking, then suddenly fell silent. He seemed to understand why his brother had met such an end.
"Of course, that's the normal situation. But what if one of the players never intended to win the game from the start? In that situation, is the stance of the pieces still the same as before?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
After hearing Uchiha Douhuan's words, Sasuke was momentarily stunned, then became lost in thought.
"So, Teacher, you want me to step outside of stance itself, become the player, the one who decides the stance of the pieces, is that right?" Sasuke said.
Uchiha Douhuan nodded with satisfaction, then said, "This child is teachable. However, Sasuke, you are still far from becoming a player. To put it simply, Sasuke, do you have any pieces?"
"Please teach me, Teacher," Sasuke requested.
"Regarding that, haven't I already taught you?" Uchiha Douhuan said, staring into Sasuke's eyes.
Hearing this, Sasuke froze on the spot.
After a while, only then did Uchiha Douhuan pat Sasuke's head and say to him, "That's enough for today's lesson. When you are qualified to sit at the chessboard, I will teach you the techniques of the game."
When Sasuke left, his mind was still buzzing. The things Uchiha Douhuan had told him today were simply too shocking for him; the boy probably needed a considerable amount of time to digest them.
After Sasuke left, Uchiha Douhuan also began his daily Sage Mode practice.
Through practice during this period, Uchiha Douhuan's sensory abilities in Sage Mode could already completely envelop the entire Uchiha clan compound.
After a rough sweep through the clan grounds, Uchiha Douhuan suddenly sensed something interesting in the family graveyard area.
Uchiha Douhuan revealed a meaningful smile, changed his clothes, and headed out towards the clan graveyard.
Uchiha Itachi was buried in the furthest corner of the graveyard. At this moment, bundles of fresh flowers lay before his grave.
Although Uchiha Itachi hadn't caused any substantial losses to the clan, not standing with the clan on a major issue was itself a betrayal. Considering the majority of clan members who worked diligently for the family, the Uchiha clan did not hold a proper funeral for him. Even the location of his grave was chosen at the very edge of the family cemetery.
However, some of Fugaku's peers would still sneak over to leave a bouquet of flowers, as they had, after all, watched Itachi grow up.
As for the younger generation within the clan, very few came here. Even within the genius-filled Uchiha clan, he, a genius among geniuses since childhood, wasn't particularly popular among his peers. Apart from Shisui guarding here for two days, it seemed no one else had come.
No, there was someone else.
Uchiha Douhuan bent down and picked up a bouquet of cornflowers, noticing distinct tearstains on the petals. An image of a girl with a beauty mark near the corner of her eye couldn't help but surface in his mind.
"Itachi, you really let down a lot of people," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"However, perhaps from the moment you were taken onto the battlefield at the age of four, this ending was already destined," Uchiha Douhuan sighed softly. "What is wrong with this world? Why does this kind of tragedy repeat itself over and over again? When will this world ever know true peace?"
At this moment, just a few meters beneath Uchiha Douhuan's feet, an entirely pitch-black figure suddenly froze its movements.
Three days ago, when Uchiha Obito turned into a stone statue and shattered, Black Zetsu was utterly desperate.
To save his mother, who had been sealed by his two 'filial' elder brothers, Black Zetsu had strived for millennia. Over ten years ago, the moment Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan awakened in his eyes marked the closest he had come to success in these thousands of years.
However, after Uchiha Madara had planned everything and fallen into eternal slumber, numerous variables arose.
First, Nagato, the vessel for the Rinnegan, gradually deviated from the path. He seemed unwilling to execute the Eye of the Moon Plan, instead intending to use the power of the collected nine Tailed Beasts to make the world feel pain, thereby understanding the value of peace, while he himself would act as a god deterring the major ninja villages. This completely contradicted his Eye of the Moon Plan.
Fortunately, Uchiha Obito, the backup measure left by Uchiha Madara to restrain Nagato, had remained under his control.
But just three days ago, Uchiha Obito died due to a moment of impulsiveness!
Although Black Zetsu still didn't know how Uchiha Obito—possessing what was arguably the strongest life-saving ocular jutsu of the Uchiha clan to date, Kamui, and also having Izanagi as a backup—could die so easily at Uchiha Douhuan's hands.
When he saw Uchiha Obito turn to stone and crumble into dust, Black Zetsu's heart shattered along with him.
A plan millennia in the making, the closest he had ever been to success, was ruined just like that!
However, after recovering slightly, Black Zetsu busied himself again. So what if he failed? Hadn't he failed countless times over the years? As long as he could save Mother, what did the torment of this failure matter! He was already close to success this time; next time, he would definitely succeed.
With this thought, Black Zetsu formulated a new plan. The first step was to hide and wait for Nagato and Uchiha Douhuan, who had shattered his plans, to reach the end of their lifespans.
Then he would retrieve the Rinnegan and plan carefully for the long term.
The reason he came to the Uchiha graveyard today was specifically to collect some of Uchiha Itachi's DNA.
Decades ago, the ninja world produced an unparalleled genius, Senju Tobirama, who created a jutsu that could bridge the human world and the Pure Land: Edo Tensei.
Upon learning about this jutsu, Black Zetsu immediately set his sights on it. It could be said that during that period, Black Zetsu spent almost all his time underground in Senju Tobirama's laboratory. He thus learned that the jutsu required the DNA information of the summoned individual to succeed. Although the jutsu was sealed in the Scroll of Seals shortly after its creation, preventing Black Zetsu from seeing it for the time being, there would always be opportunities in the future. Time was the one thing he had in abundance.
Therefore, for the sake of a future Mangekyou Sharingan-level fighter, he came to the Uchiha graveyard. But just as he began his work, Uchiha Douhuan's appearance scared him half to death.
Over the many years, Black Zetsu had encountered quite a few individuals who had mastered Sage Mode and knew how terrifyingly strong their sensory perception could be in that state.
Although Uchiha Douhuan hadn't activated Sage Mode at this moment, what if Uchiha Douhuan suddenly felt like practicing Sage Mode here? Black Zetsu dared not take the risk.
So, the moment Uchiha Douhuan appeared, Black Zetsu wanted to flee.
However, the words Uchiha Douhuan spoke in front of Itachi's grave made Black Zetsu stop dead in his tracks.
"When will this world ever know true peace?"
[Wait, my plan might still be salvageable?]
Uchiha Douhuan's words were undoubtedly music to Black Zetsu's ears.
[I knew it! These neurotic descendants of Indra inevitably start pondering world peace once they reach a certain level of strength! Mother! I'll be able to save you soon!]
Black Zetsu forcibly suppressed the impulse to jump out right now and deceive Uchiha Douhuan, instead departing from underground.
He knew Uchiha Douhuan wasn't like those traditional Uchiha. The fact that Douhuan could deduce Uchiha Obito's identity from mere scraps of evidence made it clear that he probably couldn't just spin a couple of reasons and make Douhuan believe him unquestioningly, as he had with Uchiha Madara. Everything required careful, long-term planning.
...
Uchiha Douhuan waited a moment. Seeing that Black Zetsu didn't immediately jump out, he sighed inwardly, wondering.
[Did I perhaps overdo the acting just now?]
That's right, Uchiha Douhuan hadn't come to the graveyard in the middle of the night merely to pay respects at Itachi's grave; more so, it was to fish out this big fish, Black Zetsu.
However, Uchiha Douhuan had no intention of doing anything to Black Zetsu.
On the contrary, he was very interested in Black Zetsu's plan.
After all, Uchiha Douhuan knew about the future invasion of the ninja world by a large group of aliens, and the best way to fight aliens was to become an alien yourself.
Therefore, regarding the release of Kaguya, Uchiha Douhuan absolutely approved.
It was just that Black Zetsu didn't immediately take the bait, which made Uchiha Douhuan feel slightly regretful.
...
The next day, with Kakashi's nomination and Sarutobi Hiruzen's cooperation, the Jounin election process for the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire officially began.
Uchiha Douhuan lived up to expectations and secured all the Jounin votes within the village, becoming the sole candidate for the village's Fifth Hokage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't delay either, sending a messenger that very day to deliver the voting results to the Fire Capital. At this point, Uchiha Douhuan was only the Daimyo's approval—a formality—away from officially becoming the village's Fifth Hokage.
To celebrate this joyous news, Uchiha Douhuan held another small banquet.
After the banquet ended and Uchiha Douhuan returned home, a letter on his desk caught his attention.
[Do you wish to bring true peace to the shinobi world? Then come to the basement of the Naka Shrine.]
When Uchiha Douhuan saw this letter, he chuckled inwardly. It seemed the earlier 'cast' had been successful.
However, to prevent Black Zetsu from potentially spying, Uchiha Douhuan suppressed the urge to let the corners of his mouth lift upwards and called for Uchiha Keiko.
"Sister Keiko, did anyone come into this room today?"
"No. Did something happen?" Uchiha Keiko asked.
"No, I must have remembered wrong," Uchiha Douhuan said.
...
(End of Chapter)
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