Hearing Black Zetsu's words, everyone exclaimed in shock.
"What? The three Otsutsuki are actually looking for the Sage of Six Paths' mother?"
"From what it says, did the Sage of Six Paths suppress his own mother?"
"This monster is actually the Sage of Six Paths' brother? Does that mean the Sage of Six Paths' true form is also 'sludge'?"
The essence of human nature is gossip, especially gossip about mythical figures like the Sage of Six Paths. It even made everyone temporarily forget the immediate threat.
The soul phantom of the Sage of Six Paths frowned slightly, his voice cold. "My only younger brother is Otsutsuki Hamura. Who are you?"
Black Zetsu's high-pitched voice laughed. "I am the final will condensed from Mother's endless resentment, hatred, and love when she was sealed by you traitors, Hamura and you!"
"I am Mother's true son! The executor who has endured humiliation and schemed for a thousand years to resurrect Mother!"
"I see." The Sage of Six Paths' tone remained calm. "You are merely a wisp of negative obsession stripped from Mother in her despair and madness, a deformed product mixed with Chakra."
He paused, then said something that instantly made Black Zetsu lose his composure: "In short, just a dog left behind by Mother."
"Dog?" Black Zetsu's tar-like figure twisted. "How dare you say that to me?"
"I am Mother's son! You traitor who betrayed Mother and imprisoned her eternally on the cold moon! What right do you have to deny my existence?"
The Sage of Six Paths simply asked calmly, "Look at your ugly appearance. Is there any resemblance to Mother? Does your body flow with a single drop of Otsutsuki blood?"
"Your so-called love and obsession are merely a twisted projection of Mother's insane will."
"Your very existence is a testament to Mother's mistake back then, a part of the curse she placed upon this world."
"No! That's not true!" Black Zetsu completely went mad, thrashing and rolling on the table. "Mother loves me! She recognizes me! I am her true son! You traitor! Unfilial son! I will kill you all! When Mother is resurrected, I will make you..."
Watching this scene, which could be called a 'mythological family melodrama', the faces of the assembled Ninja elites present became extremely strange.
The legendary Sage of Six Paths and a black mud monster claiming to be his brother were actually, in an emergency meeting concerning the survival of the world, arguing fiercely over the issue of 'who does mother really recognize'.
Madara's mouth twitched slightly, 'I had actually been manipulated by this idiot? How utterly shameful.'
Jiraiya whispered to Orochimaru beside him, "Isn't this getting a bit off-track?"
Even Naruto and Sasuke, the two concerned parties, had temporarily forgotten the heavy responsibility on their shoulders, watching this farce with stunned expressions.
Naruto's mouth twitched. He said quietly to Sasuke, "Hey, Sasuke, the Sage of Six Paths' family affairs seem even more complicated than the soap operas on TV..."
Sasuke snorted coldly but said nothing, though his eyes also expressed speechlessness.
After venting for a while, Black Zetsu seemed to realize its indiscretion and the strange looks from those around it.
It forcibly suppressed its boiling venom, trying to steer the conversation back on track. "Now is not the time to argue about this! Those three Otsutsuki are the real threat!"
"Otsutsuki Hagoromo, think it over carefully. Those three Otsutsuki are also Mother's enemies."
"If we release Mother, perhaps the outcome will be them destroying each other? Isn't that better than pinning your hopes on those two brats?"
The Sage of Six Paths said calmly, "Just now you said that if we release Mother, those three Otsutsuki would be nothing to fear. Now you say they would destroy each other. How much of what you say is believable?"
"That was an exaggeration! It was to emphasize Mother's power!" Black Zetsu argued frantically.
"You should know better than I that Mother has always been afraid of the Otsutsuki. If they can make Mother feel fear, then those three Otsutsuki are certainly stronger than you imagine!"
The Sage of Six Paths could not help but fall silent. In truth, what truly frightened him was the Otsutsuki's home planet.
The death information of Isshiki had been sent back, causing the Otsutsuki's home planet to send three individuals.
If these three Otsutsuki also failed, would the Otsutsuki's home planet send even more terrifying enemies?
An endless stream of Otsutsuki... just thinking about such a thing was despairing.
Just then, a gentle voice sounded in the hall.
"Sage of Six Paths, regarding Otsutsuki Kaguya, I actually quite agree with Black Zetsu's idea. Why not release Otsutsuki Kaguya?"
Black Zetsu instinctively felt pleased. "See, there's someone who understands reason, even someone from this planet..."
However, its voice soon came to an abrupt halt.
Because it sensed something familiar in this voice, but the familiarity was not pleasant... rather, it was as terrifying as a nightmare.
It stiffly turned its head and screamed as if seeing a ghost, "Chiaki Setsuna, how can it be you? Aren't you dead?"
Setsuna was quite emotional and smiled, "Missing and presumed dead is not dead."
Meanwhile, the others in the hall, after the initial shock and disbelief, finally completely reacted.
"S-Setsuna-nii?" The first to shout out was Guy.
He was so excited he almost jumped out of his wheelchair. His pale face instantly flushed with color, and his eyes burst forth with a light more brilliant than the stars.
"Hokage-sama!"
"Chairman-sama!"
"It's Setsuna-sama! He really has returned!"
"Am I seeing things?"
"Oh my god! It's actually true!"
A wave of cheers, like a mountain-shaking roar, nearly lifting the dome off the hall, erupted.
"Setsuna-nii! Where have you been all these years? We all thought..." Guy asked excitedly.
Setsuna said with a smile, "Ever since I learned that there were terrifying enemies like the Otsutsuki Clan in space, I felt that staying in the Ninja World and waiting for the crisis to come knocking was too passive."
"So, I went to train in the universe."
The brains of everyone present went briefly blank.
'Training in the universe? Was such a thing really possible?'
They instinctively felt it was too absurd, but thinking of the Otsutsuki, who also came from the universe, they felt it might not be impossible.
Looking at Setsuna, whose appearance hadn't changed at all from fifteen years ago, the Fourth Raikage was quite emotional.
'I've trained desperately all these years, thinking I could close the gap with him. But it seems now that I was just a frog at the bottom of a well, indulging in delusions.'
'He had already jumped out of this well long ago to see the wider world.'
But soon, this sense of powerlessness was replaced by strong relief.
At this critical moment when the world was facing a catastrophic threat, the stronger Setsuna's strength, the better.
The stronger he was, the greater the hope of survival for the Ninja World.