"Black Zetsu! Black Zetsu! Good news! Huge good news!"
Uzumaki Ken clutched the scroll, his face flushed red with excitement as he shouted loudly.
The moment Black Zetsu saw it was him, his expression darkened a few shades.
This Uzumaki Ken was the clingiest one, pestering him all day asking what the urge to relieve oneself felt like. It was truly a headache.
Black Zetsu scolded in a deep voice, "This is the Archive Hall. Keep it quiet! Say what you need to say directly. If you bring up those trivial matters about bodily urges again, leave immediately."
Uzumaki Ken quickly lowered his voice, scratched his curly head, and chuckled. He hurried forward and handed over the scroll.
"How would I dare? I came this time specially to congratulate Black Zetsu!"
The scroll was unfurled, and patterns of an immortal decree shimmering with golden light came into view.
Uzumaki Ken raised his voice and said, "The Great Immortal has issued an order, approving Black Zetsu to train immortal arts!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Black Zetsu froze, his pupils shrinking slightly. His face filled with disbelief as he stood there for a long moment, unable to recover.
"Haha, this is a good thing! Looks like my promotion luck rubbed off on you!"
Shima slapped the table and laughed loudly. "Once you learn immortal arts, with your qualifications, becoming an immortal is practically guaranteed. Congratulations, congratulations!"
Black Zetsu slowly came back to his senses, his heart shaken.
'The Great Immortal… actually agreed?!'
Back then, the Great Immortal's trust in him had never been empty words.
Deep emotions surged in Black Zetsu's eyes, filled with gratitude and feeling.
Black Zetsu stood up and quickly walked out of the archive hall. Facing the direction of the Immortal Hall, he knelt down on both knees, his expression solemn and respectful as he bowed deeply.
"Great Immortal, you see clearly! Thank you!"
His sincere words of thanks echoed through the immortal mountain. Black Zetsu respectfully kowtowed three times in succession, and after completing the grand salute, slowly stood up.
Inside the hall, the light and shadows suddenly twisted.
It was as if a stone had been dropped into water, sending out ripples layer upon layer.
Without any warning, a white figure condensed out of thin air. His robes were spotless, his posture straight. It was Mount Myoboku's only Great Immortal... Arisu.
The atmosphere inside the Archive Hall instantly froze.
Shima, who had just been smiling, suddenly straightened his body.
Black Zetsu's movement of just standing up paused.
Even Uzumaki Ken, who was holding the scroll, instantly put away his playful grin, leaving only reverence in his eyes.
The three of them bowed almost at the same time, their voices neat and unified, especially loud in the quiet hall, "Welcome, Great Immortal!"
"Congratulations, Great Immortal!"
"Mm."
Arisu's gaze swept lightly over the three of them. He slightly raised his fingertips and waved gently. "No need for formalities."
Arisu's gaze finally settled on Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu's throat tightened slightly. Looking at the Great Immortal before him, the gratitude in his heart was almost overflowing.
His lips moved, but he only managed to squeeze out a few words. "Great Immortal… you…"
A thousand words, in the end, turned into this unfinished, emotional hesitation.
Seeing this, a faint smile curved at the corner of Arisu's lips.
He had long understood what was in Black Zetsu's heart.
"The application for immortal arts was personally approved by me."
Arisu spoke slowly, explaining the reasons for approval one by one, "First, after hundreds of years together, I have already seen through your character. The current you poses no threat to Mount Myoboku or the ninja world."
"Second, I remember the promise from back then."
"You have worked diligently and respectfully managing the Archive Hall for Mount Myoboku, recording the history of the ninja world for hundreds of years. This contribution is enough to offset all your past actions."
"Third, the mortal world is now in constant war, and the situation in the ninja world is unpredictable. Mount Myoboku also needs to add some strength."
After finishing, Arisu's gaze rested on Black Zetsu, carrying a hint of expectation. "No need to thank me. Just focus on your Training."
"I have personally examined your physique. It is quite compatible with Mount Myoboku's immortal arts."
"Not only can you practice them, but after mastering them, you might even combine them with your own traits and develop more diverse immortal techniques."
"I understand, Great Immortal!"
Black Zetsu nodded firmly, his eyes filled with determination and gratitude.
Seeing this, Arisu gave a slight nod. The light and shadows around him rippled again, clearly preparing to leave.
"Great Immortal! Please wait!", An urgent yet excited voice suddenly rang out.
Uzumaki Ken hurried forward in a few quick steps, not daring to get too close. He bowed while tilting his head up, his face full of anticipation.
Arisu paused slightly, raising an eyebrow as he looked at this particularly lively curly-haired White Zetsu. "What is it?"
"I... I want to ask, when can I practice immortal arts?"
Uzumaki Ken clenched his fists, his face sincere. "I also want to train properly and serve Mount Myoboku! And… I've already thought of my title!"
When it came to the title, his tone was full of pride, as if he had thought of something absolutely brilliant.
A trace of curiosity flashed in Arisu's eyes as he asked lightly, "What do you mean?"
"It'll be called Mount Myoboku Urge Immortal!"
Uzumaki Ken clapped his hands and said with a grin, as if the name were incredibly impressive. "What do you think?"
As soon as those words came out, the Archive Hall fell even quieter.
Shima's mouth twitched. Black Zetsu looked helpless, faint black lines appearing on his forehead.
Arisu's expression stiffened slightly. "When you go out, don't say you're from Mount Myoboku."
As his words fell, the light and shadows around him completely twisted. His figure seemed to merge into the air and vanished from the Archive Hall in an instant.
———
Arisu sat at the desk, lightly flipping through the yellowed historical scroll with his fingertips. His gaze swept over the densely packed chronological text, and suddenly his movement stopped.
"What year was Uchiha Hikari born again?"
He focused slightly, his brows knitting together. Under the erosion of long years, many fragmented timelines had already become blurred.
Fragments of memory from the original work flashed through his mind. Uchiha Hikari never had a clearly defined birth setting to begin with.
Her life trajectory was roughly within the turbulent era of the ninja world, specifically the period after Uchiha Fox's death and before Uchiha Tajima's birth.
"Uchiha Hikari still needs attention. This person's storyline is rather special. I can't take it lightly."
Arisu slowly stood up, hands behind his back as he paced within the hall.
He raised his hand and calculated the passage of time. The deadline of the thousand-year agreement became clear in his mind. Calculating now, there were less than eight hundred years left until Boruto.
'In other words, I still have eight hundred years to prepare for the invasion of the Otsutsuki clan.'
Arisu narrowed his eyes, a trace of gravity flashing in them. The aura around him grew solemn.
This was the reason behind all his careful planning over the years.
Properly preserving the bodies and souls of the successive reincarnations of Indra and Asura, and just now approving Black Zetsu's request to practice immortal arts, were all to accumulate strength in preparation for the Otsutsuki attack that could come at any time.
In Arisu's eyes, the strength of Otsutsuki Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Urashiki was nothing remarkable. He could handle them with his own power alone.
Moreover, since developing immortal techniques that could not be absorbed by the Otsutsuki last time, he already had full confidence in dealing with this trio.
But Arisu's true hypothetical enemy had never been such minor figures.
It was the supreme Otsutsuki God hidden deep in the starry sky.
That was the ultimate threat, and the reason he had to spend eight hundred years preparing with all his strength.