Thousands of years ago, after Ōtsutsuki Kaguya consumed the fruit borne once every millennium by the God Tree, she became the only being in the world possessing chakra.
From that moment onward, Kaguya, wielding absolute power, unified the world and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, causing countless ordinary people to remain trapped forever within an illusory dream world.
As time passed, those caught within the Infinite Tsukuyomi were completely enveloped by the God Tree. Their bodies gradually transformed, eventually giving birth to the White Zetsu.
These White Zetsu were greatly enhanced in both speed and strength. They felt no pain, possessed no emotions, and obeyed only Kaguya's commands.
In essence, White Zetsu were living weapons created solely to fight Kaguya's enemies.
However, after Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was sealed away, the White Zetsu remained dormant for ages.
That continued until after the earth-shaking battle between Uchiha Madara and the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. After awakening the Rinnegan, Madara used the vitality of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path together with Hashirama's cells to extract the White Zetsu.
And because of that, Madara—who stood above the entire shinobi world—mistakenly believed that every White Zetsu he created was under his absolute control.
Yet among those White Zetsu, one anomaly appeared.
A singular existence unlike the others.
He called himself Tobi.
He possessed an independent personality and consciousness, greater strength than ordinary White Zetsu, far more massive chakra reserves, and a much higher compatibility with the God Tree's cells.
Which also meant he was exceptionally skilled in Wood Release.
But there was one thing he lacked.
He had no memories from before being trapped within the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
He did not know whether his original self had been old or young, male or female.
He was not even certain whether he had truly once been human.
And so, obsessed with uncovering his past, he fell into deep confusion.
Then one day, Black Zetsu appeared.
It told Tobi that it could help him recover his past and discover his true self.
But in exchange, Tobi had to help revive their shared mother—Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Of course, reviving a monster like Kaguya would plunge the entire world into catastrophe.
But what did that have to do with a White Zetsu like Tobi? A weapon born solely for battle had no reason to care about the fate of the world.
Compared to finding his true self, everything else was meaningless.
So Tobi gladly agreed.
And during the First Great Ninja War, he received his first mission that absolutely had to be completed—
Kill the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
"Why kill the white-haired guy?"
"He deserves to die."
That was the conversation between Tobi and Black Zetsu at the time.
Tobi nodded knowingly, pretending to understand.
In truth, he had absolutely no idea what was going on, but that did not affect his decisiveness when it came to killing.
Then, after the Second Hokage fought against more than twenty elite Kumogakure shinobi led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, Tobi made his move.
The Second Hokage—who had still possessed a sliver of hope for survival—was completely robbed of that final chance.
As time passed, Tobi received his second mission that absolutely had to be completed—
Kill Namikaze Minato.
"This time it's the blond guy?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He deserves to die too."
"Mhm~"
Tobi immediately put on an expression that said I totally understand everything and happily went off to carry out the mission.
But this time, he hit a wall.
That blond-haired man named Namikaze Minato possessed an incredibly powerful protagonist aura, causing Tobi's mission to fail.
Apparently, that kind of aura was called being a "Child of Destiny," part of the prophecy foretold by the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku.
Not long afterward, his third mission that absolutely had to be completed appeared—
Kill Shimizu Uzuki.
But this guy—who clearly didn't even know the Flying Thunder God Technique—why did he have to die too?
What? You're asking how Tobi figured all this out?
Wasn't it obvious?
Looking across decades of shinobi history, among hundreds of thousands of ninja, Black Zetsu had specifically singled out only those two.
And the greatest thing they had in common was the Flying Thunder God Technique.
If anyone dared claim it had nothing to do with Flying Thunder God, Tobi would be the first to fling his own excrement straight into their face.
No objections allowed.
Then, under Tobi's wise and relentless questioning, he finally uncovered the reason behind the mission to "absolutely kill Shimizu Uzuki":
Shimizu Uzuki could actually devour Kaguya's chakra?!
Eating it was one thing.
But after eating it, there wasn't even any waste left behind.
That...
...was simply unforgivable!
What a despicable bastard!
Exactly the kind of shameless person who specialized in sneak attacks.
In that case, it could hardly be blamed if the most handsome White Zetsu stepped forward to uphold justice on behalf of the heavens.
However...
Tobi tragically discovered that this guy also had plot armor.
Failure after failure finally forced even the stubborn Tobi to consider a possibility:
Another Child of Destiny?!
But why had nobody ever mentioned that before?
What about Jiraiya? What the hell had he been doing? How had he failed to notice something this important?
After hitting another wall, Tobi could only shift his attention toward the natural energy mixed within the Lightning Release chakra that had once clashed with Kaguya's power.
Just who was it that had so generously handed out both equipment and abilities to the white-haired guy?
After persistent investigation, Tobi finally discovered the source of that natural power:
"Even after Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's death, his chakra still drifts through the world, silently protecting the shinobi world."
And Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was better known by another name—
The Sage of Six Paths.
After all, the Sage of Six Paths and his younger brother had once sealed away their mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Excuse me?!
Tobi suddenly understood.
So Shimizu Uzuki was basically the Sage of Six Paths' personally appointed guardian of the shinobi world.
At that point, only one question remained.
Madara had once said that Lightning Release chakra mixed with natural energy could completely erase Shimizu Uzuki—down to every last cell.
So was that power meant to save him or kill him?!
If the Sage of Six Paths truly wanted to help, then that power should have been fully capable of opposing Kaguya directly, shouldn't it?
So why go through the extra trouble of mixing natural energy into it?
Tobi couldn't shake the feeling that the Sage of Six Paths might not have been entirely benevolent either...
And yet, judging from the outcome, Shimizu Uzuki really had survived through a bizarre twist of fate.
Forget it.
No point wasting more brainpower on it.
Why should a White Zetsu enforcer concern himself with the schemes and power struggles of legendary figures?
Far more important was continuing the search for his own past.
But during that search, Tobi developed a naïve idea.
He wanted a friend.
And he felt that Shimizu Uzuki was actually a pretty good choice.
To show his sincerity, he had been the first to offer genuine trust.
And then...
...that despicable outsider ambushed him.
That lethal flash of lightning had forever left a scar across his heart.
Why?
Why were humans so complicated?
Why did humans deceive one another and scheme against each other?
There had to be a reason for it all.
So after suffering repeated setbacks, Tobi once again began searching for the answer.
That Konoha ANBU wearing the fox mask—
Her name was Asakusa Natsue.
That was the reason.
Tobi had killed countless people.
So why had he specifically chosen to attack that girl?
And why had he personally been the one to do it?
By then, Tobi already understood.
One day, there would inevitably come a moment when he and Shimizu Uzuki would decide each other's life or death.
That was fate.
What he had not expected was that the day would be today.
The instant he saw Shimizu appear, he completely understood the fate awaiting him.
He had indeed lied to Rin.
But hadn't Black Zetsu also manipulated him from beginning to end?
That so-called plan to lure Uchiha Obito onto the wrong path had been nothing more than Tobi's own wishful thinking.
After all, for Shimizu to travel all the way from Kirigakure to this place, across such an enormous distance and over such a long period of time, there was no way Black Zetsu—with its level of vigilance—could have failed to notice.
Yet not only had it refused to warn Tobi, it had deliberately allowed him to continue extracting the Three-Tails alone.
As a result, Tobi had consumed an enormous amount of chakra, and his combat ability had been severely weakened.
Black Zetsu intended to use Shimizu Uzuki's hand to eliminate him.
Most likely, the moment Black Zetsu realized Madara had a chance to regain his youth, it had already changed its original plans.
Based on Tobi's own deductions, there were two likely possibilities.
The first possibility was that Black Zetsu intended to simply go with the flow—allow Madara to recover his youth and power, gather the Tailed Beasts one by one, collect all chakra, and ultimately revive its mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, in her strongest form.
But a Madara like that would only lower his guard toward his own "will."
And Madara would neither create nor have any reason to create another "Black Zetsu."
So Black Zetsu had set its sights on Tobi.
As long as it devoured Tobi and impersonated him, Black Zetsu would have a chance to betray Madara in the future.
Because Tobi was created by Madara himself.
And more importantly, he was Madara's most trusted subordinate.
Which meant that today was the perfect opportunity for Black Zetsu to kill, consume, and replace Tobi completely.
But there was also a second possibility.
Black Zetsu may already have found another method to revive Kaguya.
One that did not require gathering all the Tailed Beasts or collecting the chakra of the entire world.
As long as Kaguya's will remained, together with the Rinnegan and a rejuvenated Uchiha Madara, that might already be enough to resurrect Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Maybe she would be somewhat weaker, but revival was still revival.
And if that were true, then Black Zetsu would need to act immediately.
So regardless of which possibility was correct, Black Zetsu would definitely devour him and permanently replace him.
As for escaping—that was impossible as well.
Black Zetsu's reconnaissance and mobility abilities had always been exceptional. And right now, it was probably lurking nearby, secretly observing everything while waiting for an opportunity to ambush and consume him.
So after understanding his situation, Tobi chose to fight to the death.
If possible, he wanted to struggle against his fate one final time.
First kill Shimizu Uzuki.
Then kill Black Zetsu.
Revive Nohara Rin.
Kidnap Obito.
Subdue Nagato.
Convince Madara to abandon the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Then conquer the shinobi world alongside Madara, marry a rich beautiful woman, and ascend to the peak of life.
Tsk tsk.
Truly a perfect plan.
As for why he had consumed such a massive amount of chakra to create that sea of forest, the answer was simple.
It was to prevent Black Zetsu from spying on him.
As long as they remained within that green ocean, Tobi would be able to sense Black Zetsu's movements and avoid being ambushed.
Unfortunately...
Shimizu's plot armor was simply too overwhelming.
Tobi really had not lost on purpose.
Because even the traps he had painstakingly prepared had all been bulldozed through by Shimizu head-on.
How could this damned guy possibly not be a Child of Destiny?!
At last, completely drained of chakra, Tobi leaned against a large tree and made one final attempt to recall the first half of his life.
But once again, he found nothing.
Then he looked up—
And saw the silver longsword.
The conflict between himself and Shimizu Uzuki had long since become irreconcilable. This outcome was inevitable, and Tobi had already accepted that fact.
But he could never forget the hole once torn through his chest.
That wound had permanently taken something away from him.
Because of that, Tobi would never voluntarily explain everything to Shimizu Uzuki.
Still, if he could disgust Black Zetsu one last time, Tobi was more than willing to do it.
So when Shimizu asked whether he had any final words, he immediately answered:
"Make sure to destroy my body completely."
That way, Black Zetsu would never again have any chance to replace him.
Let's see what it uses to ambush Madara then.
If it has the ability, it can just ask Madara to create another "Tobi."
But that was absolutely impossible.
His handsomeness was one of a kind.
Of that, Tobi was completely confident.
Still, speaking of final words, there actually was one wish Tobi had always carried in his heart.
He wanted to recover the identity and memories of his previous life.
He truly, truly wanted to know why an anomaly like himself had appeared among the White Zetsu.
Could being handsome really allow someone to do whatever they wanted?
Unfortunately, no matter how handsome he was, he would never obtain that answer now...
And besides, even if he said all that, Shimizu Uzuki would probably just mock him mercilessly.
For the first time, Tobi suddenly felt pitiful.
Even his grand dream had reached a point where it could never be fulfilled.
A deep unwillingness welled up inside him.
He really didn't want to die like this.
Was there truly no other way?
Then suddenly, inspiration struck.
What if he made use of the already-dead Asakusa Natsue?
As long as Shimizu Uzuki genuinely had feelings for Asakusa Natsue, then if Tobi showed sincere remorse, was there a chance he might forgive him?
And after that, once his chakra recovered, he could wait for an opportunity to reverse the situation and kill him instead.
The moment the idea appeared, Tobi acted on it immediately.
He had always been the type to act first.
So he spoke.
"And also..."
After all, in his entire life, he had never apologized to anyone before.
Tobi awkwardly scratched his head.
"About Natsue... I'm sorry."
It was embarrassing, but at least he finally said it...
After speaking, Tobi became nervous.
Because the moment that would decide his fate had arrived.
Then—
A flash of blue light swept past.
The entire world began spinning endlessly.
Tobi watched as "he" drifted farther and farther away from his body.
He could feel his consciousness fading.
This Shimizu Uzuki had attacked so suddenly again.
Couldn't he at least give a warning first?
Just before his thoughts completely stopped, Tobi suddenly realized something even more important.
Because of Shimizu's sneak attack, he never got the chance to say his final final words:
Konjac pudding really tastes awful.
"Too late."
It truly was too late.
Because he could no longer make a sound.
As expected, Shimizu Uzuki.
I knew you really understood me.
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