Chapter 303 Black Zetsu and Kabuto's Alliance
So prophecies are completely untrustworthy, especially when they come from half-baked seers like the White Snake Sage and the Great Toad Sage.
If Black Zetsu knew that the White Snake Sage believed he had spent centuries plotting just to resurrect Uchiha Madara, he would probably laugh out loud.
Was he trying to resurrect Uchiha Madara?
He simply felt that Uchiha Madara was the best resurrection vessel for his biological mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. Resurrecting Uchiha Madara was not important; resurrecting Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was Black Zetsu's lifelong dream!
"Let's cooperate, Yakushi Kabuto!"
"You possess the highest talent in the entire ninja world. No matter what you need to do, you always need some companions, don't you?"
Black Zetsu naturally felt the White Snake Sage's gaze, but so what? If the White Snake Sage had the ability, she could try to kill him. As a creation of Yin-Yang Release, even Uchiha Chisen's Flames of Judgment had failed to kill him, so Black Zetsu was exceptionally confident right now!
He was confident that no single person or ninja beast in the entire ninja world could truly kill him, unless it was a fellow who had also mastered Yin-Yang Release!
"Black Zetsu, White Zetsu—"
"Members of the Akatsuki organization!"
Yakushi Kabuto was not unfamiliar with Black Zetsu and White Zetsu. He had followed Orochimaru and Sasori, so if nothing else, he could at least be considered well-informed. He had even managed to mingle his way into Akatsuki's meetings before.
"So, is your Akatsuki organization preparing to recruit me after Lord Orochimaru?"
Yakushi Kabuto's eyes flickered slightly. He was not unfamiliar with the Akatsuki organization, but he just could not figure out for the moment why it was necessary for him to cooperate with Akatsuki.
"No, no, no, it's not cooperating with the Akatsuki organization, it's cooperating with me!"
"Or rather, cooperating with Lord Uchiha Madara!"
Black Zetsu laughed sinisterly. He could already tell that this fellow named Yakushi Kabuto was ambitious. Although he did not know what Kabuto's ambition was, as long as he had ambition, there was a basis for cooperation!
"Uchiha Madara?"
"Isn't he already dead?"
Yakushi Kabuto frowned. Was this strangely shaped fellow playing tricks on him?
Who in the entire ninja world did not know that Uchiha Madara had been killed long ago by Senju Hashirama in the battle at the Valley of the End?
"Lord Madara is indeed dead, but who rules that a dead person cannot be resurrected?"
Black Zetsu continued to laugh sinisterly. He did not say anything else; he was gambling. He was gambling that this fellow named Yakushi Kabuto might have some feelings for Orochimaru, and might be swayed upon hearing news of resurrection.
In fact, after listening to Black Zetsu's words, Yakushi Kabuto's heart did thump violently.
But completely different from what Black Zetsu thought, the first person Yakushi Kabuto thought of at this moment was Yakushi Nonoū, the director of the orphanage—the woman whom Kabuto regarded as his mother, and whose surname he had even inherited!
"You can resurrect dead people?"
Yakushi Kabuto felt a bit parched, so much so that his voice began to sound somewhat dry.
"The Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!"
"You also joined the Akatsuki organization. Although you were only a peripheral member, you should also know that the leader of the Akatsuki organization possesses the Rinnegan, right?"
"The Rinnegan is the legendary eye of the Sage of Six Paths. By possessing those eyes, one can perform a technique called the Samsara of Heavenly Life!"
"As long as you use the Impure World Reincarnation to bring out the person you want to resurrect, and then have him perform the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, anyone can be resurrected!"
Black Zetsu smiled more and more happily. He was not afraid of Kabuto's request being difficult; he was only afraid that Kabuto would have no request at all. With Kabuto's performance, it was almost explicitly telling him that Kabuto had someone he desperately wanted to resurrect!
"Resurrecting dead people cannot be completely without a price, right?"
"Even if the leader of the Akatsuki organization possesses the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, I do not believe his resurrection of people requires no price!"
Kabuto was not as easy to fool as Obito. Having followed Orochimaru for many years to toy with forbidden techniques, he knew very well that all forbidden techniques in this world definitely carried a price—it just depended on how large that price was!
For a technique that could resurrect the dead, or rather, toy with life and death, Kabuto did not believe the price could be small.
"It does indeed require a very large price; it can even be said that it requires the leader of the Akatsuki organization to sacrifice himself to resurrect someone else."
Black Zetsu did not think of using things like creating a new world to deceive Kabuto. Although this fellow was not very old, he was clearly not brainless like Obito.
"Then how do you propose to convince the leader of the Akatsuki organization to sacrifice himself?"
"And on what grounds would he sacrifice himself to resurrect a person he does not even know?"
Yakushi Kabuto looked at Black Zetsu in front of him, feeling that the other party was fundamentally painting a pie for him that was impossible to realize.
Furthermore, the person this fellow probably wanted to resurrect more was that Uchiha Madara. Resurrecting Yakushi Nonoū was likely nothing more than a blank check issued by the other party!
"Things that the leader of the Akatsuki organization cannot do do not mean that Lord Madara cannot do them!"
"After all, that pair of Rinnegan eyes belonging to the Akatsuki leader does not actually belong to him!"
To win Yakushi Kabuto's trust, Black Zetsu directly leaked information that Nagato himself did not even know.
What did Nagato know?
He nothing more than knew that he could summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and knew that his summoned Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could absorb the power of the Tailed Beasts, thereby growing into a terrifying entity capable of destroying a country in a single strike.
He was still naively clinging to the innocent idea of using the Ten-Tails to deter the ninja world, thereby forcing everyone into peace!
But how could Nagato know that even the script for his life had been written by someone else? His whole life looked like he was walking on thin ice, but there was absolutely no possibility for him to reach the opposite shore!
"The Akatsuki leader's Rinnegan does not belong to himself?"
Hearing Black Zetsu's words, even a fellow like Yakushi Kabuto, who was accustomed to conspiracies, could not help but be somewhat shocked at this moment.
When Orochimaru was still alive, Kabuto had heard from Orochimaru's own mouth that the three founders of the Akatsuki organization were Jiraiya's disciples, and that the one named Nagato already had the Rinnegan when Orochimaru and Jiraiya met him in their childhood.
It was precisely because he coveted the Rinnegan, and was curious about why the Rinnegan appeared in Nagato's eyes, that Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki organization.
It was just a pity that Orochimaru died before succeeding—
"Those are Lord Madara's eyes, so they naturally cannot belong to him!"
"Just to help Lord Madara nurture that pair of eyes, the Akatsuki leader's body is already on the verge of exhaustion!"
"Rather than watching him die just like that, it is infinitely better to have him activate the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect Lord Madara, and then have Lord Madara resurrect the person you want to resurrect!"
Black Zetsu continued to speak and tempt Yakushi Kabuto. In his second plan, Yakushi Kabuto could be said to be the most important lynchpin.
Or rather, in today's ninja world, perhaps only Yakushi Kabuto had the ability to help him refine, or even carry out, the second plan. After all, who else but Yakushi Kabuto was the only person left in today's ninja world who mastered the Impure World Reincarnation technique after Orochimaru's death?
"Then, what exactly do I need to do?"
Kabuto's snake-like pupils flickered. The other party had painted the pie very well, and he was a little swayed!