If he knew that the person he was summoning was Uchiha Madara—and a Rinnegan-wielding Uchiha Madara at that—who knew if Orochimaru would still be so agreeable.
But he certainly wasn't going to tell Orochimaru that.
Orochimaru then made a proposal.
"Give me a few more vessels for the Impure World Reincarnation so I can summon more Kage-level experts."
"How about this: in one year, I will join your Akatsuki in attacking the Leaf Village."
Even if he successfully used the Impure World Reincarnation to summon Senju Hashirama with his original strength, he still needed to summon a few other deceased Kage-level figures for support.
Even the Second Hokage, whom he had reincarnated previously, needed a new vessel.
Because the previous vessel was too weak, his strength was estimated to be only that of an ordinary Kage-level ninja.
However, the Second Hokage's true power ranked among the very best of Kage-level figures.
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Black Zetsu didn't say a word and simply formed hand seals once more.
With a *poof*, a thick cloud of smoke appeared.
A pile of White Zetsu clones materialized in its wake.
He spoke slowly.
"These should be enough."
Orochimaru cooperating with him to attack the Leaf Village and capture the Tailed Beasts aligned perfectly with his interests.
Naturally, the stronger Orochimaru was, the better.
As for worrying, there was absolutely no need.
Once Uchiha Madara awakened his Rinnegan, he alone could crush everyone on the battlefield.
There was no fear of Orochimaru turning on them.
"It is enough."
Seeing so many White Zetsu clones, a smile filled Orochimaru's face.
"Then we shall rendezvous at the Leaf Village in one year."
"Very well."
Black Zetsu agreed straightforwardly.
He then sank directly into the ground and departed.
He was currently in a rather pleasant mood.
He quickly made his way toward the Rain Village.
He wanted to see exactly how many Tailed Beasts Nagato had captured.
Truthfully, he was a bit disappointed in Nagato, who had inherited Madara's Rinnegan.
If Madara wasn't so difficult to control, he might have just used Nagato's Rinnegan to resurrect Madara directly.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, who remained behind, couldn't stop himself from laughing aloud.
To think someone would actually deliver such a grand gift to him today.
Although he didn't know what those guys in the Akatsuki were collecting the Tailed Beasts for, as long as he obtained that body, along with the Mangekyō Sharingan, and made a few minor modifications...
He would be invincible in the shinobi world.
On the other side, Black Zetsu was traveling at full speed underground.
In just a few days, he arrived within the Rain Village.
He then leaped out of the ground and began walking toward the Akatsuki's base.
Nagato should have already noticed him by now.
After all, the other party possessed the sensory abilities of the Rinnegan.
Inside a small room, Nagato indeed saw Black Zetsu emerging from the soil through the surveillance monitors.
He no longer had the Rinnegan, so naturally, he could no longer cast the Rain Tiger at Will technique.
The screen only showed Black Zetsu; there was no sign of the other Orange-Masked Man.
In that case, he would just have to blow this guy to pieces.
Konan had long been preparing countermeasures against those two.
One could tunnel through the earth, while the other could slip into the void.
Konan had prepared 200 billion explosive tags for them.
All he needed to do was lure them into a specific location and detonate the tags.
That specific location was not inside the Rain Village. After all, to kill the man before him, it would require a minimum of 50 billion tags.
If 50 billion explosive tags went off, the Rain Village would likely be completely destroyed.
Having made up his mind, he stood up.
Under the God King's treatment, his body had mostly recovered, and his legs were even capable of walking again.
Stepping out of the room, he headed straight outside the tower.
He leaped down and waited quietly for Black Zetsu's arrival.
It wasn't long before Black Zetsu approached the area just outside the tower.
From a distance, he could see Nagato standing before him.
His mind went slightly blank in a daze.
*How did Nagato end up looking like this?*
His body actually had muscle now, he could walk, and even his white hair had reverted to its original red.
It was as if he was looking at the Nagato from before he had awakened the true power of the Rinnegan.
Black Zetsu wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He closed them, then opened them again.
He found that the sight remained exactly the same.
As the distance between them closed, he even noticed that Nagato's eyes were no longer the Rinnegan, but just ordinary eyes.
Nagato was not the true master of the Rinnegan; once activated, he shouldn't have been able to deactivate it.
It constantly drained his stamina every waking moment.
Black Zetsu was instantly shaken to his core.
He hurriedly ran over.
At this moment, he was genuinely panicking.
The Rinnegan was of utmost importance. Without it, his plan to resurrect his mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, wouldn't even be able to complete its most basic first step.
Once he got close enough, Black Zetsu stared at Nagato.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"Where is the Rinnegan?"
Looking at the panic-stricken Black Zetsu, Nagato felt a trace of satisfaction in his heart.
It was exactly as the God King had said—the Rinnegan were eyes that someone else had merely deposited with him.
He spoke with a hint of mockery.
"Where are they? I have no idea."
Hearing this, Black Zetsu flew into a rage, his eyes widening in fury.
"You bastard."
He thrust his palm forward.
"Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs Technique."
Thick wooden branches suddenly sprouted from his arm at breakneck speed, shooting straight toward Nagato.
Nagato narrowly moved his legs to dodge the attack, but the branches still pierced straight through the building behind him.
*It seems this guy is quite anxious,* he thought.
He then turned and fled into the distance.
Seeing Nagato make a run for it, Black Zetsu immediately dove underground to give chase.
His speed was much faster through the earth.
The most pressing matter right now was to capture Nagato and track down the whereabouts of the Rinnegan.
Without the Rinnegan, any plans were nothing but nonsense.
Fleeing at top speed, Nagato watched as Black Zetsu pursued him, and his heart relaxed.
*To think this Black Zetsu can actually use Wood Style. Without the Rinnegan, I really don't have any good ways to deal with him,* he mused.
*But as long as there are enough explosive tags, blowing this bastard to death shouldn't be a problem.*
All the way to the outskirts of the Rain Village, he was nearly hit by the guy's Wood Style several times.
It seemed his physical mobility was still far from what it used to be.
Fortunately, he had already arrived at the location where the 50 billion explosive tags were buried.
He stopped decisively.
Black Zetsu watched as Nagato came to a halt.
He stopped as well.
Only then did Nagato speak with a smug expression.
"Didn't you want to know where the Rinnegan is?"
"Then I will tell you."
"They have already been taken by the God King, and he will lead the Akatsuki to usher in an era of peace for the shinobi world."
If they followed the God King's vision of unifying the shinobi world and establishing order, there was no doubt that the shinobi world would welcome a new era.
Hearing this, Black Zetsu was consumed by rage.
*Sure enough, the Rinnegan is no longer with Nagato. This is a disaster.*
As for this so-called era of peace for the shinobi world, he couldn't care less.
Right now, he only wanted to know exactly who this God King was.
"Who exactly is this God King you speak of?"
Nagato replied with feigned regret.
"It's a pity I can't tell you, because I don't know either."
"However, there's no need for you to know."
"Because you are going to die here today."
With that, he formed hand seals.
"Detonate."
He then used the Summoning Jutsu to call forth an avian summoning beast, leaping directly onto its back and taking to the sky.
The ground here was buried with 50 billion explosive tags; even if this guy could tunnel through the earth, there was no escaping now.
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