"Uchiha and Senju combined equals the Rinnegan? If that's true, then the legend that the Sage of Six Paths was the Uchiha's progenitor… is real?"
Fugaku murmured to himself.
Right now, he could feel just how thrilled Madara must have been back then.
If he'd had a Mangekyō of his own and learned this secret, he too would've sought out Senju Hashirama's cells to grasp an even greater power.
That would be the road to godhood.
"It isn't just the Uchiha. The Senju, and even the Uzumaki, could all be descendants of the Sage of Six Paths. The so-called Yin and Yang refer to Senju and Uchiha," Kyoichi said.
Fugaku's eyes lit up. "So the tablet was telling the truth? Mm… no—was that how Madara interpreted it?"
"A Sage Body and seal-less self-healing are the extreme of Yang; genjutsu and the Sharingan's traits are the extreme of Yin."
That, of course, was never the Sage's original intent. But…
Black Zetsu understood people far too well.
Everything it altered was "true"—not a single outright lie—then, at the very end, it slipped in a little add-on of its own—
The Eye of the Moon Plan.
That kind of deception is the hardest to unravel.
So even hearing Nagato recite it back, Kyoichi still couldn't help admiring Black Zetsu's craft. With skill like that, it was no wonder Madara danced in the palm of its hand.
Fugaku and Nagato clearly believed every word.
"There's another section after that, but I can't fully decode it… or rather, I can only read parts of it. Something about a 'moon,' I think," Nagato went on.
"If the tablet truly records the evolution beyond the Sharingan, then it may be because those eyes weren't originally yours. Your ocular power isn't yet strong enough to read that passage," Fugaku explained.
Nagato nodded, enlightened.
The Rinnegan's summoning techniques carried such a heavy price—his ocular power was still too weak.
Kyoichi glanced at the two of them, then, after a moment's thought, said, "The tablet is worth referencing, but it may not be entirely true. Treat it as material to consult, not gospel."
"Ah!!" Both of them snapped their heads toward him—
Nagato in particular, incredulous.
If it were fake, why did it read so convincingly?
And besides… the Rinnegan was real and worked!
They didn't voice those thoughts, but their faces said as much. Before they could press him, Kyoichi suddenly vanished. Neither of them even registered the movement, let alone what had happened.
He wasn't bluffing earlier. He truly had only meant to use Madara as a pretext so Fugaku wouldn't overthink things—when, right then, he sensed a murky, ominous ripple. For more chapters visıt 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
Ordinary White Zetsu he could detect now; only Black Zetsu remained beyond his senses. And this time, he had actually picked up its trail.
He pushed his speed to the limit.
After a Flying Thunder God hop, he flipped on Breath Activation, and in a blink cut ahead of Black Zetsu's path. Unfortunately…
He dove with Earth Release and tried to seal it. Black Zetsu's form scattered and slipped deeper into the ground. Against a bodiless creature, Kyoichi's subterranean speed couldn't compare.
Ordinary sealing techniques—
As expected, useless…
Kyoichi sighed inwardly and returned to Nagato.
"How did it go?" Nagato asked.
He hadn't sensed anything, but he trusted Kyoichi wouldn't disappear for no reason—something had to be peeping at them from the dark.
"I don't know exactly what it was, but it's definitely a living thing—some strange entity without a fixed form," Kyoichi said.
Nagato and Fugaku traded looks.
Something like that could exist?
Nagato thought of White Zetsu. If that could exist, then a formless lifeform wasn't impossible either—
Their baseline for the bizarre had already been shattered once.
"Nothing for the moment. The sealing arts I know don't seem to work on it, so we'll just be cautious from here on out… If it serves Madara, that's dangerous," Kyoichi said gravely.
Fugaku and Nagato nodded, faces heavy.
For one brief instant, he'd felt the Uchiha might yet turn the tables—but Black Zetsu's appearance smothered that thought.
Could Kyoichi have tossed out a smokescreen on purpose?
From a purely power-level perspective, he could accept that something existed beyond his perception—but suspicion still gnawed at him. After a pause, he circled back to his earlier doubt.
"Why did you say the tablet's contents might be false?"
"What we're reading now is the tablet after Madara read it. If I were Uchiha Madara—once I'd gained the Rinnegan—I'd come back and do a little… editing."
Kyoichi neatly dumped the blame on Madara.
That… wasn't impossible.
If Madara truly had obtained the Rinnegan, he would be a second Sage of Six Paths in all but name. Even if not as almighty, his abilities were beyond the grasp of shinobi like them.
Those words chilled Fugaku to the core.
If the tablet was a trap, following it might bring no benefits—only pits to fall into. In the end, they'd just be making wedding robes for Madara.
"That's all…" Nagato shook his head.
Kyoichi sighed, a touch regretful. "Let's go. This is your clan's ancestral ground; lingering too long isn't wise."
"Then… if you're using Flying Thunder God, could you give me a lift?" Fugaku asked, uneasy.
The more he learned about Madara, the more it felt like the Uchiha stood in a storm—internal and external threats everywhere, one misstep and the whole clan would tumble into a sinkhole.
To Fugaku, Kyoichi was still the clan's savior.
Kyoichi shot him a glance, grabbed them both, and in an instant they were back inside the village.
"Thank you," Fugaku said with a slight bow.
"No need to worry too much, elder."
"I understand…" Fugaku exhaled, helpless.
Worrying didn't help. If Black Zetsu wanted to take him, being at home among the Uchiha wouldn't change a thing.
What Kyoichi meant was that Black Zetsu's abilities had limits. It couldn't directly puppeteer them into doing anything.
The real key was not falling for Madara's bait.
Still… after a moment's thought, Kyoichi didn't elaborate.
A little misunderstanding might even be good—keep the clan from jumping around.
Back home, Nagato and Kyoichi swept the area with their senses. Only then did Nagato say quietly, "Kyoichi—there was also information about controlling tailed beasts. Once a Mangekyō Sharingan reaches a certain level, it can control them."
He'd realized as soon as he read it that this absolutely couldn't be said in front of Uchiha Fugaku.
They were every village's ultimate trump card.
"Tell me everything in detail."
Of course Kyoichi already knew how it worked—but once Nagato was done, he could go find Kushina and seal off the backdoor contract inside the Nine-Tails.