Chapter 545: Black Zetsu: I Tried My Best

The Wood Clone took one last deep look at the massive and complex Seal, as well as the silent Kaguya within it and Black Zetsu, who was slumped next to it like a puddle of mud.

He stretched out his hand and, from a safe distance, pressed it lightly against the invisible barrier of the Seal.

He wasn’t trying to break it or channel Chakra; he was merely using his own perception to carefully sense the structure of this highly sophisticated Seal, set up by the hands of the Six Paths Sage brothers.

Cold, sturdy, vast, and endless... like an independent Small World, completely isolating Kaguya from the outside world.

He could feel the exquisite Yin-Yang Release Chakra flowing within, forming a perfect and stable cycle that external forces could hardly penetrate, and internal forces could not break through.

Unless one possessed power transcending the casters or held the core "key," breaking it by force was virtually impossible.

"As expected, it won’t work..."

The Wood Clone sighed inwardly and shook his head.

This attempt could basically be declared a failure.

Neither Kaguya nor Black Zetsu could provide an immediately effective plan to escape.

Since staying here was meaningless and might increase the risk of exposure due to a prolonged stay, the Wood Clone made a prompt decision.

He formed a simple hand Seal with both hands.

Bang!

With a soft pop, the Wood Clone turned into a cloud of white smoke, quickly dispersing in the dark space of the moon’s sealing ground.

At the same time, the conversation with Kaguya and Black Zetsu, the perception of the Seal, and everything that had happened on the moon turned into a clear stream of information, crossing the spatial barrier to transmit back to Naruto’s Main Body consciousness in Hidden Leaf Village.

The Kikaichu that had previously flown out of Black Zetsu and had been lurking in the Wood Clone’s sleeve lost their host as the Wood Clone dispersed, revealing themselves one after another.

They seemed to hover in place somewhat blankly for a few circles, then, following instinctive commands, fluttered their wings and flew up. Instead of heading for the exit, they flew toward a hidden corner of this space, finally disappearing into a crevice in a rock.

They were left inside the Kamui Dimension.

"Foster father? Sixth Hokage? Uzumaki Naruto! Where did you go?! Don’t leave me behind!"

Seeing the Wood Clone suddenly disappear, Black Zetsu was instantly dumbfounded, his dot-like eyes filled with panic.

His own movement speed was slow, and he had relied entirely on others to carry him before.

Now that Naruto’s Wood Clone was gone, leaving him, a being with no combat power, alone in the moon’s sealing ground, what was he supposed to do?

With his "wriggling" speed, let alone leaving the moon to return to the Ninja World, even moving around in this area was a struggle!

Not to mention that the Six Paths Sage might still be monitoring outside!

"Mother..."

Black Zetsu cast his gaze despairingly toward Kaguya inside the Seal, his voice carrying a sob and a last shred of hope. "Mother, do you have any other way?"

His mission was to rescue his mother, but now he was trapped here as well. What was he to do?

Within the Seal, Kaguya fell silent for a moment.

She could feel Black Zetsu’s pure dependence and fear, which originated from her.

After a long while, she spoke again, her voice still ethereal, yet seemingly carrying a bit more helplessness:

"I have no other way either."

These words, like a final verdict, completely crushed Black Zetsu.

His viscous body seemed to lose all support, completely "collapsing" like a puddle of real black mud, spreading across the cold ground right against the barrier of the Seal.

Black Zetsu’s existence was indeed unique.

He was the "third son" created by Kaguya using her own will and a portion of her flesh and Chakra before she was sealed. In essence, he was a creation of Yin-Yang Release, lacking a conventional life form and difficult to detect through ordinary sensory means.

It was precisely this uniqueness, along with his own mastery of certain Yin-Yang Release concealment techniques, that allowed him to slip away right under the noses of the Six Paths Sage brothers. Over the long years that followed, he had successfully instigated the fateful conflict between Indra and Asura, leading to a subsequent series of conspiracies.

However, being unique did not mean being invincible.

He could not break the Seal, could not directly contend with Dao-Grade power, and certainly could not move quickly or act effectively without a host or assistant.

At this moment, he was like a fish out of water, trapped in this land of despair.

"Perhaps... being able to accompany Mother by her side, or... dying in front of Mother, is also a kind of happiness..."

Slumped by the Seal, Black Zetsu stared blankly at the dark rocky ceiling above, a wave of desolation and resignation rising in his heart.

A thousand years of planning, a thousand years of waiting, a thousand years of hiding and scheming, only to end up like this.

He had tried his best, truly tried his best.

Yet at the final moment, he had run into Shino Aburame, that bug-using freak who played completely outside the rules. With his body made of Chakra, he was utterly countered by the Kikaichu, falling short at the last step.

He gave up all resistance and abandoned any thought of running away.

Come, Hagoromo, Hamura!

You two unfilial sons!

If you can sense this place and want to completely eliminate me, then come! Give me a quick death!

Dying in the place closest to Mother might be the best end for his twisted and long life.

Black Zetsu completely gave up, emptying his mind as he waited for the purification or destruction that might descend from the Six Paths Sage brothers.

However...

One minute passed, two minutes passed... ten minutes passed.

The sealing ground remained dead silent. There were only Kaguya’s slow and weak Chakra fluctuations, and Black Zetsu’s own "muddy" form occasionally twitching slightly out of despair.

The expected Six Paths Sage brothers did not appear.

This was because, before acting, Naruto’s Wood Clone had indeed used special means to temporarily shield the aura and Chakra fluctuations of this place.

As for Black Zetsu himself, as long as he didn’t actively seek death by making a big scene, his special Yin-Yang Release concealment characteristics indeed allowed him to avoid the Six Paths Sage’s routine "scanning" observation of the Ninja World.

Therefore, whether Black Zetsu was hysterical or just lying down waiting for death,

the Six Paths Sage brothers didn’t discover him here at all.

His tragic declaration of "martyrdom" and his posture of waiting for death were entirely a self-indulgent, one-man show.

The moon’s sealing ground once again returned to the dead silence it had maintained for a thousand years.

Leaving only Black Zetsu slumped on the ground, full of inner drama but with no audience, and Kaguya, who remained unable to move inside the Seal, only able to sigh helplessly.

Meanwhile, far away in the Ninja World, after receiving the memories sent back by the Wood Clone, Naruto only shook his head slightly and turned his attention back to his own Cultivation and the layout of the Ninja World.

Black Zetsu was prone to backstabbing, so he didn’t dare keep him around. Bringing him to the moon was also to pressure him and see if Black Zetsu really had a way to release Kaguya.

Another reason was to let the Six Paths Sage brothers kill Black Zetsu.

Whichever of the two succeeded, he wouldn’t lose out.

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