Chapter 90

"If I'm not wrong, their base should be near..." I mumbled as I was currently in the Moutain's Graveyard, a place with dense forestry and a bunch of giant extinct creatures' bones jutting out everywhere

I was glad that they hid in a country bordering the Land of Fire, a country called the Land of Cones, east of the Land of Jungles where I retrieved Fū, and west of the Land of Rice Field where I recovered Shuzo and the Fūma Clan.

It was a neutral country where no hidden village was settled, instead, it was a territory of hunters as they mostly lived by selling or trading different kinds of meats, leather, and other animal parts such as tusks.

The Daimyō was also someone extremely respected since he was the 'Wonderful Hunter', someone who hunted beasts that could easily make a couple of Jōnin struggle all alone.

Actually, Konoha had a friendly relationship with this country since they were providing the Ancor Vantian with some needed resources that I couldn't create myself.

Closing my eyes to completely map the underground with my senses, I tracked down Black Zetsu and saw that he was currently talking with an extremely weak old man I recognized as Madara, lying on a wooden bed.

Above this bed was a tree with something protruding out of it, a non-living wooden clone of Hashirama which was surely the explanation of how Madara stayed alive until now, living off Hashirama's great vitality.

Nevertheless, above the tree was the thing I needed to revive Kaguya, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

'Chikako's away to recruit the couple of shinobi he wanted to take control off, perfect' I thought which was a great thing since she wouldn't be used as a hostage by Black Zetsu

The only threat below was Black Zetsu, Madara being extremely weak right now, and I sensed that there wasn't a lot of White Zetsu being produced even deeper, I hoped that it was caused by my wariness to prevent Black Zetsu to get a single cell from Hashirama's body since he died.

And I'm sure that these clones' production will truly begin when Madara dies since he was currently leeching off the Hashirama tree.

'Alright, let's bait him' I thought as I still concealed my chakra and took out a giant ball of metal from a scroll, letting it fall so that it would make an insane turmoil, big enough to make them curious

*CRASH*

'Now come out you little shit' I thought as I stayed hidden in the sky and waited for Black Zetsu to appear somewhere on the surface

And as I expected him to do, he left the underground to investigate what happened, only revealing his upper half body as he came out of a mountain's rocky side.

Smirking as he took the bait, I instantly teleported to him, grabbed him by the neck, and used Kunitokotachi as I forced him to look into my eyes for a split second, making the area around us freeze as something came out of my eyes to do so.

Before he could try anything or talk, even though I was 99% sure that he couldn't do shit in my technique, I ordered "Start jumping on one leg while holding your head with your arms." just to be sure that he was affected just like anyone else

"Mh, at least I'm sure that you aren't faking it." I let out a chuckle when I saw him ridicule himself at my order, his face expressing a mix of shame, fear, and animosity

"Now." I first declared as I made a wooden chair but I sat while facing the backrest "Let's talk."

"H-How?" I heard him mumble while I made chains to keep him immobilized, just to let him know that I was the one in command right now

"How? Pft, you would expect me to explain how I knew about you? Even though I can make you forget everything later, I don't want to risk anything by telling you some information, you're too much of an enigma for now." I explained as I didn't want to make any more mistakes when it concern something or someone I don't know much about

"I will be the one asking you questions, and you will be the one answering with the truth and ONLY the truth, understood?" I ordered which made Black Zetsu mumble a simple "Yes."

God how much I love this 'Genjutsu' where my victim basically becomes my toy... No sexual innuendo, of course.

"Perfect, now, care to tell me why do you seek the Tailed Beasts' chakra? Don't tell me that you just want to revive the Ten-Tails, I want to know what you get from doing it." I first asked as I did not shift my gaze from him and had my fingers intertwined in front of my face

"Because I have to finish what Kaguya should have accomplished ages ago." he first replied without going into much detail for now

"Go on." I pressed so he explained "The God Tree that landed on this planet was supposed to kill everything and everyone on the planet to produce a Chakra Fruit, however, it didn't."

"To create a Chakra Fruit, a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan must sacrifice their life, and it was supposed to be Kaguya's, however, she turned on her superior and used half of his body as the sacrifice, making the process incomplete by creating a low-quality Chakra Fruit." he continued to explain as I quietly listened

"My mission is to revive Kaguya and use her as a sacrifice to make a high-quality Chakra Fruit." Black Zetsu eventually revealed which was not that surprising since I expected an end-of-life kind of goal

"And how do you intend to use her? She's far more powerful than you isn't she?" I then asked since Black Zetsu was, in itself, a weak yet annoying being

"Because I was born with the ability to do so." he first revealed before adding "I was implanted in Kaguya when she was still young, created to make sure that she would be used as the sacrifice for the God Tree, but something happened before I could even be activated."

"What happened?" I asked as he quickly replied "I can only be activated by a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, usually a higher-ranked member, but he... Disappeared before he could do it."

"Disappeared? He didn't die then?" I asked to which Black Zetsu replied "Yes, if he died by Kaguya's hands then I should have been immediately activated by the failsafe measure, but since he didn't and more importantly disappeared, I could only be activated by my host, Kaguya, who's unaware of my true purpose."

"Which is?" I wondered as he quickly replied "If the higher-ranked member is dead or in this case disappeared then I have to consume the Chakra Fruit made by sacrificing Kaguya, becoming an Ōtsutsuki myself before going back home."

'Interesting, though he might only become a low-ranked member who will later be used as a sacrifice' I thought before continuing "I see... Hm, you said earlier that you were created and implanted, by whom? In fact, what are you exactly?" as I needed more information about him and the Ōtsutsuki Clan in general

"I am part of something larger, one of many who were implanted within the low-ranked members by... The Patriarch." Black Zetsu declared which surprised me so I asked "Can't you say more about him?" curious as to how my technique was not even powerful enough to let him say it

"If I begin to talk about this person, I will be terminated before I can utter a word." Black Zetsu revealed with a hint of fear in his voice

'Mmh... Hagoromo's theory about parasites seems to be true... Is Black Zetsu part of a Hive-Mind of some sort? Maybe that could explain why he can warn the Ōtsutsuki Clan if he dies... But then, the 'creator' he barely spoke of, I don't know if he's the Hive-Mind's Core or a higher being that simply created it... And the Ōtsutsuki are definitely parasites but yet different from Black Zetsu... Fuck, it truly is some alien shit' I endlessly began to think about multiple possibilities

"How can you send a signal to the Ōtsutsuki Clan? Can you do it anytime or are there some requirements?" I then asked since it was weird for a Hive-Mind-related individual to not be capable of contacting the others at any time

But then, they should have come earlier, shouldn't they?

"I need enough power to send or receive a signal by myself, though dying will work as well." Black Zetsu first replied which reassured me but I still asked "How much power? You need to eat the Chakra Fruit, isn't it?"

"Yes. While we were made to prevent a lower-ranked Ōtsutsuki from rebelling, the chance of it happening was so low that our creator didn't put much work into our abilities..." Black Zetsu then added with a hint of disappointment in his usually unconcerned voice

"I see... So he decided to make thrash to take care of other thrash... Eh, seems like they are quite a prideful bunch those higher-ranked members." I thought out loud before chuckling a bit when I realized how weak Black Zetsu actually was in this alien food chain

"Now, if I were to seal you or mind control you, would they know?" I then asked because I might have a use for him since I couldn't kill him yet

"Being sealed as in locking me somewhere will not warn them since the Ōtsutsuki Clan is used to traveling to different dimensions, and seals essentially create a pocket dimension if used to store something or someone. As for mind controlling... As long as I am on this planet, it will not be a problem unless I eat a Chakra Fruit which will give me enough power to receive and send a signal." Black Zetsu replied which put a large smile on my face

'Perfect, I should use Black Zetsu for now' I thought before looking up as I already knew what I should prepare for next

I should focus on the other Ōtsutsuki Clan member who came with Kaguya, he's the closest danger to me since the rest of the Clan won't come unless Black Zetsu died.

If I can absorb him, maybe I will learn more about the Ōtsutsuki and find a way to invade their home myself, this will ensure the safety of the Earth and they won't expect anyone to do something like this.

I mean, invading the invaders? That's quite a plan.

'Urgh, I shouldn't think about something so far away, for now, I should seal Black Zetsu, talk with Madara, and revive Kaguya' I thought as I intended to brainwash Black Zetsu and seal him in a certain way so he can be useful to me without being dangerous

I don't know about this other Ōtsutsuki's whereabouts, I will need to find him...

"Now that I think about it, what's the name of that high-ranked member who came with Kaguya?" I finally asked before ending the technique

"Isshiki. His name is Isshiki Ōtsutsuki." Black Zetsu finally declared before both of us disappeared from the Genjutsu, not without forgetting to change his mind 'a little bit'

...

Back to the 'real world', where not even a split second passed, I quickly used the seal I prepared for Black Zetsu which absorbed him inside of a ring, a white ring that completely shifted to black the moment Black Zetsu was locked inside.

{Do you hear me?} I then asked without uttering a single word as I looked at the ring, trying to see if the link I made worked

{Yes Master} I heard Black Zetsu reply which gave me shivers, the 'I feel disgusted' kind of shivers

'I will have to think of another term' I thought as he spoke with an even more apathetic voice, my mind-breaking Genjutsu being too effective since I made him loyal to me

Well, at least it works and now I have another slav- *cough* I mean, my first slave.

Keeping Black Zetsu like this will hopefully make it easier for me to argue with Madara by making him explain his goal himself.

After all, wouldn't it be a perfect father day's gift to make him learn the truth about the world while, maybe, allowing him to be back to his most healthy state?

While I do hold some grudge against Madara, he's someone that could be useful and help me protect the Earth since he awakened the Rinnegan which is something that put him quite high in our planet power tier list.

It was time for our first father-son meeting, and it only took thirty-seven years.

====================

[A/N: Maybe to make stuff a bit clearer, and also because I said it before this is an AU setting, I will summarize what MC knows for now:

-When the Ōtsutsuki Clan seeks to produce a Chakra Fruit, they always go in a pair composed of a high-ranked and a low-ranked member.

-The low-ranked member will be used as the sacrifice, but a low-ranked Ōtsutsuki does not have access to the Kāma and cannot 'revive', thus, they are discarded which is why Kaguya 'betrayed' Isshiki.

-All low-ranked members are implemented with a 'Black Zetsu' which is inactive until the paired high-ranked member actives it, dies, or if the host does it himself since they are not aware of their true purpose.

-Usually, low-ranked members never try to backstab the higher-ranked member, mostly because of their strength difference but also the fear of getting caught later by an even stronger member.

-As such, it is rare for a 'Black Zetsu' to be activated, but if they are activated then the low-ranked member will simply become a puppet for the higher-ranked member, making sure that they are used as a sacrifice.

-The 'Black Zetsu' will still aim to make their host become a sacrifice if activated by their host or if their host killed the paired high-ranked member.

-Black Zetsu comes from something that was created by the Ōtsutsuki Clan's Patriarch, and they can relate information to it if they are destroyed or once they achieved their goal by consuming the Chakra Fruit themselves to become a low-ranked Ōtsutsuki.

-Sealing and brainwashing Black Zetsu does not warn the Ōtsutsuki unless Black Zetsu eats a Chakra Fruit.

That should be all for now.]