CH - 289 Black Zetsu's real motive.
For young Gaara, everything that had happened recently felt surreal. Ever since his father, who had despised him, passed away, the village had seemed eerily different. The ninjas who once shadowed him in secrecy had vanished, as if they no longer cared about his actions. In the days following, they had stopped trying to kill him altogether. Although no one still wanted to play with him, Gaara found a strange sense of relief.
Rumors circulated about the village's impending collapse, and fear seemed to grip everyone. But none of this truly concerned Gaara. The villagers had always ignored him, and he felt unsure of how to respond or what to make of the situation.
One day, as Gaara was about to head outside to play with his sand, he encountered a large crowd. A man he had never seen before was distributing papers and speaking in cryptic terms that no one seemed to understand. Despite the confusion, the crowd's enthusiasm grew, and their faces lit up with excitement as if ready to follow him anywhere.
Suddenly, a group of ninjas appeared, dispersing the crowd. However, The strange man, spotting Gaara, approached him and invited him to study elsewhere. Accompanying him was a peculiar woman who, upon hearing Gaara's name, regarded him with an odd expression. She even attempted to pat his head, but Gaara's sand instinctively blocked her hand.
After that, Gaara lost track of what happened next, but it seemed the Sand Village was no more. He was taken in by the strange, seemingly lazy woman and brought to a new place. There, he met an elderly man with kind eyes and red hair, who brought a surprising calmness to the noisy voice inside him. The following day, he was sent to attend school.
Gaara still remembered the red-haired elder's words: "What a crude sealing technique... It seems the Sand Village didn't gain much from the Uzumaki Clan's sealing knowledge. But for the Fourth Kazekage to use his own child as a test subject... it's a miracle this boy didn't die on the spot."
When the elder had tried to touch Gaara's hand, his sand instinctively rose to block it. The elder didn't seem bothered, though. After a brief pause, he laughed heartily and said to Gaara, "Cherish the chakra that protects you, and don't fear the voice inside you. If you're ever truly scared, go find that Uchiha kid and have him knock some sense into that voice."
With that, the elder departed, and the woman took Gaara to a large house, informing him that they would be living together from now on. And his two siblings, who had never been fond of him, did not join them.
Everything felt so strange to Gaara... The village was gone, he had been adopted, and the loud voice that had tormented him daily was finally silent. And last night... he had slept soundly, more comfortably than he ever remembered.
Yet, the words of the kind, red-haired elder puzzled him. What did he mean by "the chakra that protects you"? Was it related to the sand that moved on its own? Wasn't that supposed to be the monster's power?
As the school bell rang, young Gaara remained seated, his cold expression now tinged with a hint of curiosity as he stared at his hands. Despite the time that had passed, he remained deeply confused by it all.
As Gaara was curiously staring at his small hands, he was interrupted by a shadow falling over him, accompanied by an obnoxious voice.
"Hey, new kid! Gaara, right?" The voice sneered. "I'm Black Zetsu, the boss around here. From now on, when you see me, make sure to call me 'Boss' or 'Big Bro.'"
Startled by the interruption, young Gaara looked up in confusion, but his expression quickly returned to its usual cold indifference. He frowned slightly at the figure before him. Black Zetsu? Who is this guy? What does he want?
With his face already set in a cold and distant expression, Gaara responded icily, "Get lost."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Black Zetsu let out a derisive laugh. A few others appeared behind him, trying to emphasize his self-proclaimed status as the leader.
However, Despite his outward bravado, Black Zetsu felt a small shiver run through him. Another Jinchūriki, huh? He already knew this kid was the Sand Village's Jinchūriki, the host of Shukaku, the One-Tail.
With the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and the Three-Tails Jinchūriki already present, the Grass Village now had three Tailed Beasts among its ranks—one of whom had already graduated. He couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. Perhaps one day, he could indeed gather all nine Tailed Beasts here and finally rescue his mother.
The thought filled Black Zetsu with renewed determination. All those years of deliberately failing his exams had not been in vain. He was getting closer to achieving his goal of freeing his mother.
Hmph. Did they really think that the mastermind who had been manipulating the ninja world from behind the scenes for over a thousand years—Black Zetsu—was some kind of fool? Repeating a grade for seven years? Ridiculous.
Everything he had done here was merely to conceal his true identity while secretly accumulating power for his ultimate objective.
Moreover, Black Zetsu had figured out the true identities of both Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.
But those two brats were proving to be exceptionally stubborn. All he wanted was for them to call him 'Boss,' and he hadn't even done anything to them yet, yet they refused and even tried to confront him.
Was calling him 'Boss' or 'Big Bro' really so damaging to their pride? They didn't even know his true identity—he was their ancestor, for crying out loud. Did they really believe they could defy him, just a couple of kids? Especially that Uchiha brat... he would deal with him eventually.
As the embodiment of his mother's will, Black Zetsu knew he had to address these issues soon. If he didn't, he might find it even more difficult to handle them later.
Reflecting on the past few years, Black Zetsu couldn't help but feel a tinge of melancholy. According to his original plan, he should have been the mastermind behind Madara, manipulating his every move to orchestrate his mother's release.
Yet, things had taken an unexpected turn. Instead of being the shadowy puppeteer, he now found himself attending school with a bunch of kids. Meanwhile, the real White Zetsu lounged in a factory, Zetsu scavenged for trash, and the once-mighty White Zetsu army had either become factory workers or reporters.
The rapid changes in the ninja world had been so drastic that even he, a mastermind who had lurked in the shadows for a thousand years, struggled to keep pace.
Particularly troubling was the leader of the Grass Village. It seemed he was aware of something significant. After taking over from Uchiha Madara, this leader had completely sidelined Black Zetsu, leaving him with little to do.
As for Uchiha Obito, that fool had failed to defeat the Grass leader and was now reduced to a mere chauffeur, scraping by on leftovers. The thought of it was almost unbearable.
But Black Zetsu remained resolute. He was confident that he would ultimately succeed. Once his mother was freed, those who had doubted him would finally understand who the real fool was. As for the Grass leader, Black Zetsu was certain that his mother would crush him effortlessly.
The leader of the Grass Village was no match for the true power of his mother. He would make sure that fool understood just how formidable she truly was.
Black Zetsu's eyes narrowed as he coolly remarked, "Very well, kid, you've caught my attention. But don't even think about leaving after school."
But before Gaara could respond, a voice called out from behind. "Hey, you blacky, are you bullying the new kid again?" The voice belonged to a blonde boy who stepped forward with determination. "Let me tell you, as long as I, Naruto, am here, you won't be bullying anyone."
One was an orange-haired boy with a resigned expression, another was a boy with his hands in his pockets and an emotionless face, much like Gaara's, and the third was a blonde kid with clenched fists, glaring fiercely at the dark-skinned figure.
Gaara frowned, puzzled. Who are these three? But before he could ask, the blonde kid, who introduced himself as Naruto, spoke again. "Your name's Gaara, right? Uncle Akihiko brought you here, didn't he? I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He thumped his chest proudly. "Don't worry, as long as I'm around, this guy won't be able to bully you."
As Naruto spoke, he reached out to pat Gaara on the shoulder, but his hand was blocked by Gaara's sand. Despite Naruto's persistent attempts, he couldn't get through. Naruto stared at the sand, bewildered. What's going on?
Gaara shot Naruto a cold, indifferent glance and replied emotionlessly, "Get lost."
"You… I'm trying to help you! You're even more arrogant than Sasuke!" Naruto, still puzzled by the sudden appearance of sand, was taken aback by Gaara's dismissive response and grew irritated.
"Idiot!" Sasuke couldn't resist chiming in when Naruto compared Gaara to him.
"Damn it, Sasuke, what did you just say?" Naruto snapped, triggered by Sasuke's comment.
As Gaara watched the strange pair bicker, their argument intensified. Everyone else seemed indifferent to the commotion, accustomed to the constant quarreling between the two.
Meanwhile, Black Zetsu's face darkened as he observed their disregard for him. "Naruto, I'm warning you—don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, you bunch of losers!"
It wasn't like he had actually done anything wrong. Why did they have to pick on him? And who said he was bullying the new kid? He was merely saying hello, that's all.
As soon as Black Zetsu finished speaking, Naruto and Sasuke snapped out of their argument and turned their full attention to him, especially after hearing the insult, 'bunch of losers,' which only fueled their irritation.
"Who are you calling a loser?!" Naruto fumed, shaking his tiny fists in anger. "You only told the teacher because you couldn't beat us. Otherwise, we would've sent you flying!"
"Hmph! Is it so wrong for a student to tell the teacher? I even won an award for being a helpful student! Losers!" Black Zetsu, completely shameless in his manipulation, responded with a smirk.
"If you've got the guts, don't run away after school!" Naruto, seething from Black Zetsu's audacity, challenged him again.
Tension built up as both sides locked eyes, the atmosphere in the classroom growing noticeably heavier. The ancient mastermind who had schemed from the shadows for over a thousand years—Black Zetsu—was once again squaring off against the children of fate, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Of course, except for Black Zetsu, no one else in the room was aware of the true significance of this clash.
As they stared each other down, the tension was abruptly broken by the ringing of the school bell.
"See you in the woods after school!" Naruto declared.
"Fine!" Black Zetsu shot back.
Once again, both sides had set the stage for their showdown.
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