Just a few hours after Ryoma left, Mount Meru welcomed a strange guest. A shadowy figure appeared beside the corpse of Hiruko.
"Gee… that Ryoma guy really didn't hold back."
Looking at Hiruko's shattered body, the visitor let out a mocking laugh.
He wore a black robe. His skin was pitch black, and a sinister smile hung at the corners of his mouth.
He was Black Zetsu—the embodiment of the will left behind by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki in the ancient era, created just before she was sealed.
For nearly a thousand years, Black Zetsu had been working toward one goal: resurrecting Kaguya. To achieve that, he had been secretly manipulating the world, attempting to recreate the two key conditions—the Divine Tree and the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Eventually, he discovered the Uchiha clan and believed they would become the perfect pawns for reviving Kaguya.
But just when Black Zetsu was about to push his plan forward, Ryoma appeared out of nowhere and completely destroyed everything.
Black Zetsu hated him for it.
The hope he had nurtured for nearly a millennium had been crushed so casually. How could he possibly accept that?
Unfortunately, Ryoma's overwhelming strength was an undeniable fact. Black Zetsu originally planned to lie low for another hundred years and simply wait for Ryoma to die of old age.
However, the appearance of Hiruko gave him a new opportunity.
"Good… very good."
Black Zetsu carefully inspected Hiruko's corpse, a trace of excitement creeping into his voice.
Although Hiruko's body had been torn apart, years of cultivating the Chimera Technique had fundamentally changed it. Even though the body was technically dead, its cells were still active.
In other words, the soul was gone—but the body itself was still barely alive thanks to forbidden techniques.
Furthermore, Hiruko had once absorbed the Uchiha bloodline. That meant his body had an extremely high compatibility with Uchiha chakra.
"This corpse… will be the key to resurrecting Uchiha Madara."
Madara was the only shinobi in the past century who had successfully activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Only by returning this pawn to the board could everything be set back on track.
"The remnants Madara left behind before his death… Hashirama's cells… and the remains of the Chimera Technique as sacrifices…"
"And with the power of the Uchiha guiding it…"
"The conditions for the Reanimation Jutsu are basically complete."
Black Zetsu's voice grew colder.
"Even someone like Ryoma won't be able to deal with a resurrected Madara."
Thinking this, Black Zetsu picked up Hiruko's corpse and disappeared from Mount Meru.
A month later, deep within a dark cave, Black Zetsu was preparing a ritual.
He was about to perform the Reanimation Jutsu (Impure World Reincarnation).
This forbidden technique had originally been developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It was a summoning jutsu that could call the soul of a deceased person back from the Pure Land and restore them to the living world in a physical form.
The process required a portion of the deceased's remains and a living sacrifice to serve as a vessel. Once the jutsu was activated, the soul of the deceased would be summoned from the Pure Land and bound to the vessel's body. Dust would then cover the host, reshaping it into the appearance the deceased had before death.
At this moment, Hiruko's body lay in the center of the cave, surrounded by ritual markings and layers of dust.
Hiruko's soul had long since vanished. However, the body he left behind remained active due to his many experiments.
A body without a soul.
There was no better material for the Reanimation Jutsu.
After further modifications using White Zetsu tissue and a sufficient quantity of Hashirama's cells, the body had become even stronger.
Hiruko's original physique had been short and frail.
Now, however, the body lying on the ground was tall and muscular.
Strictly speaking, this could no longer be considered Hiruko's original body at all.
"The strength of the living sacrifice directly affects the power of the resurrected person. A body that combines the Chimera Technique and Hashirama's cells is undoubtedly the perfect vessel. It will allow the resurrected Uchiha Madara to reach an even higher level."
Black Zetsu slowly opened the scroll in his hand. After undoing the seal, a small piece of dried flesh dropped out.
It was the only physical remnant left of Madara's body after his death at Ryoma's hands.
Black Zetsu picked up the fragment and pressed it onto the empty space in the ritual array drawn on the scroll.
"Everything is ready."
He clasped his hands together and formed a hand seal.
At that moment, chakra began to surge beneath the sacrificial body, releasing a faint blue glow.
Immediately afterward, countless fragments of dust and ash rose into the air, swirling violently. They gathered around Hiruko's body, gradually wrapping around it layer by layer.
"Return from the Pure Land… Uchiha Madara!"
Black Zetsu's malicious grin widened as the Reanimation Jutsu neared completion.
The corpse wrapped in dust suddenly began to change.
In the blink of an eye, the body transformed, reshaping itself into the form of Uchiha Madara. Fine cracks spread across his skin like fractures in porcelain—one of the clear signs of the Impure World Reincarnation.
Then—
Madara's eyes slowly opened.
For a brief moment, his gaze looked dull and unfocused.
But when he noticed Black Zetsu standing beside him, his mind quickly cleared, and the situation became obvious.
"So… you're the one who revived me."
Madara glanced down at his body, examining the cracks across his skin.
"Using the Impure World Reincarnation created by Tobirama Senju, I presume."
He stood up slowly and gave Black Zetsu a firm pat on the shoulder.
"Well done."
At this point, Madara still believed that Black Zetsu was a creation born from his own will—something he had left behind to ensure the continuation of his plans.
He had no idea that Black Zetsu was actually the embodiment of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will, manipulating everything from the shadows.
And so, he trusted Black Zetsu completely.
(End of Chapter)
🦊 Pa-treon-com/LordMerlin
😊 Thank you for your support!