Arisu quietly watched Black Zetsu lying on the grass, talking to himself with a contented look on his face. A trace of coldness gradually appeared in his eyes.
A moment later, Arisu let out a clear snort, "Hmph! These damned transmigrators... why do they keep coming to my world?"
"If you're here, then just honestly follow the plot... Yet every single one of you wants to slack off, lie flat, and change your fate? Why?"
Looking at Black Zetsu, who had completely abandoned his original mission and only cared about enjoying himself, Arisu frowned slightly.
As for those "tragedies caused by Black Zetsu stirring things up" that Black Zetsu had mentioned, Arisu didn't care about them in the slightest.
'Tragedies?'
'So what?'
If killing a thousand characters from the Naruto world could put the plot back on track, Arisu wouldn't even blink before doing it.
After living in this world for so many years, and after experiencing the reset, Arisu had long since become indifferent to everything.
To him, these original characters were no longer "people."
They were all just NPCs.
Kill them if they needed killing.
Sacrifice them if they needed sacrificing.
The Monkey King... Hagoromo, Kaguya, and Tsunade.
To Arisu, they were all nothing more than chess pieces and tools within the plot.
That was also why he had never taken the initiative to drastically alter the story. Keeping things stable was far more important than saving a few people.
"Isshiki was right..."
"If I'll have to go through reincarnation many more times in the future, am I supposed to save them every single time? Again and again, watching them repeat those foolish tragedies?"
Arisu muttered to himself, his gaze deep.
At that thought, a trace of weariness and indifference flashed through his eyes.
Arisu gently shook his head and ultimately chose to remain an observer.
"The stability of the plot outweighs everything."
As long as the overall framework didn't collapse, the life and death, joys and sorrows of these NPCs had nothing to do with him.
At this moment, he finally understood what it meant for the Heavenly Dao to be without emotion.
Arisu's gaze fell once more on the lazy figure of Black Zetsu atop the mountain.
He frowned slightly, shook his head, and a hint of helplessness flashed through his eyes.
"Black Zetsu... can't die yet."
"I can't deal with him as quickly as those previous transmigrators..."
Arisu muttered softly, his tone much heavier than before.
Black Zetsu wasn't just a simple villain used as a plot device.
He was one of the most important hidden threads running through the entire main storyline of Naruto.
The timeline was simply too long.
Characters like the Emperor of the Land of Ancestors or Hamura only carried part of the plot, so Arisu could kill them if they weren't needed.
If Hamura were supposed to appear in the later stages of Naruto, Arisu naturally wouldn't dare let him exit the story so early.
Black Zetsu, however, was a permanent character. Since Kaguya's era, he had existed as a manifestation of will, secretly manipulating a thousand years of history.
He personally drove the destined conflict between Indra and Asura, planned Madara Uchiha's resurrection, helped create the White Zetsu army, and directly completed Kaguya's resurrection ritual during the final battle.
If he were killed now by brute force, countless important plot points afterward would be broken.
No one would set the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan into motion. The chain leading to the Ten-Tails' revival would lose a crucial link. Madara Uchiha's Moon Plan would completely collapse.
Even worse, the entire worldline involving chakra recovery and the Divine Tree would undergo enormous deviations.
By the later stages, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kaguya's final battle would very likely fail to happen as intended, and the entire main storyline of Naruto would spiral completely out of control.
It wouldn't even have to wait until the later stages.
If Black Zetsu never drove a wedge between Asura and Indra, and those two brothers got along just fine, then everything that happened in the original Naruto story would never happen.
Arisu had no desire to personally step in and play the role of Black Zetsu.
Playing a character sounded simple, but in reality it was extremely troublesome. He would have to maintain Black Zetsu's identity, memories, and behavior over a long period of time, while secretly pushing countless hidden events forward.
The slightest mistake could trigger an even greater collapse of the plot than the current one.
Besides, he was an observer, not an actor. He had neither the interest nor the energy to spend ages replacing an NPC and carrying out a thousand-year-long plan.
"Killing you outright is too simple, and too foolish..."
Arisu's gaze darkened as he slowly withdrew his eyes.
"Keeping you alive will at least let the plot continue along its intended course."
Arisu rubbed his forehead.
Killing him directly wouldn't work. Forcibly changing his personality could easily create new uncontrollable variables... So how should he correct this transmigrator who had completely chosen to lie flat?
After thinking for a moment, a cold glint flashed across Arisu's eyes.
"The simplest method... is temptation through rewards."
Since this guy had been an office worker in his previous life and was most familiar with the "mission-reward" model, then that was exactly what he would use.
'You worked for someone else in your previous life.'
'You'll work for me in this one too.'
Arisu raised one hand slightly, and a dark purple light screen that only he could see unfolded before him.
Using his power, Arisu quickly constructed a simple yet convincing "system framework."
"I'll call it... the 'Kaguya Resurrection System.'"
Arisu spoke calmly, "I'll implant this system into Black Zetsu and make him think he's obtained a cheat. As long as he completes missions, he'll receive all kinds of rewards, increased strength, special abilities, eyes, and the like..."
"The main quest will be... resurrect Kaguya."
"That way, this slacker will have no choice but to get moving again."
"For the sake of the rewards, he'll naturally follow my script step by step instead of spending every day sightseeing and having fun."
Looking at the completed system he had built, Arisu nodded slightly, satisfaction flashing through his eyes.
He refused to believe that transmigrator could resist the temptation of power...
Arisu flicked a finger, and the dark purple point of light instantly crossed space and silently entered Black Zetsu's body in the distance.
"Go... work hard and complete your main quest."
After finishing all of this, Arisu let out a quiet breath.
Using the least possible interference to push the important chess piece known as Black Zetsu back onto its original track, that was the optimal solution.
———
[On Black Zetsu's Side]
He was lying comfortably on the grassy mountaintop with his eyes half-closed, enjoying himself, when suddenly, without any warning, a cold mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
[Ding! The Kaguya Resurrection System has been bound to the host!]
[Welcome to the system. Your objective is: resurrect Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.]
[Current Main Quest: Drive Asura and Indra into opposition (Progress: 0%)]
[Mission Reward: Increase chakra by ten units, one Special Bloodline Limit draw, and the ability to cultivate ninjutsu.]
Black Zetsu shot upright from the grass, his eyes wide.
"What the hell?! A system?!"
He instinctively shook his head, thinking he was hallucinating.
But the mechanical voice continued to ring out with perfect clarity.
[Host's current status: Extreme slacker. It is recommended that you begin taking action immediately.]
[Friendly Reminder: If the main quest is not advanced for a long period of time, the system will deduct part of the host's abilities and may trigger a punishment mechanism.]
Black Zetsu stood frozen for several seconds.
His expression shifted from shock, to confusion, then gradually to overwhelming joy.
"Holy shit! A cheat?! I actually have a system too?!"
Black Zetsu leaped to his feet and began pacing back and forth across the mountaintop. The laziness in his eyes quickly disappeared, replaced by excitement.
"Resurrecting Kaguya gives this many rewards... ten units of chakra, heh, this is a huge win!"
Black Zetsu rubbed his hands together, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from curling upward.
Ten units wasn't much, but for him right now, it was enough to finally start cultivating ninjutsu!
Seeing this, Arisu smiled.
Sure enough, transmigrators couldn't resist the temptation of power.