Only Black Zetsu knew how wronged it felt right now.
Its hatred for Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura had long since reached the extre. If not for the two of them, his mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, never would have been sealed away.
And now, under pressure from a descendant of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, Black Zetsu had actually been forced to call Hamura "Ancestor."
"Since you know Ancestor Hamura, then you should also know that the Tenseigan belongs to our branch."
Ōtsutsuki Toneri controlled the Hyūga clan's Great Tenseigan and turned its gaze toward Black Zetsu and Obito.
Under that Great Tenseigan's stare, especially with the sapphire glow surrounding Toneri himself, neither Obito nor Black Zetsu said anything.
"So you intend to take this Tenseigan away?"
Black Zetsu's expression looked unpleasant. It had already started calculating what the odds would be if it had Obito hold off this descendant of Hamura from the moon while it went to inform Nagato.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Our Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon already possesses one Tenseigan. With this one as well, all I need is one more pair of Byakugan, and I'll be able to awaken my own Tenseigan."
"In accordance with Ancestor Hamura's wish, I will destroy this war-torn shinobi world and create a new, peaceful one."
Perhaps it had been too long since anyone on the moon had spoken with Toneri, or perhaps Black Zetsu and Obito's attitude had satisfied him. Either way, Toneri directly told them his intentions.
"Wait, destroy the shinobi world? Then create a new peaceful shinobi world?"
Obito hadn't been planning to speak, but when he heard Toneri say he wanted to destroy the shinobi world, he couldn't help cutting in.
At first, Obito hadn't had any goodwill toward Toneri. After all, he had gone through so much trouble to steal the Hyūga clan's Great Tenseigan, only for this guy nad Ōtsutsuki Toneri to co along and try to take it. How could Obito possibly feel kindly toward him?
But when he heard that Toneri's goal was to destroy the shinobi world and recreate it, Obito suddenly felt that this guy might actually be a kindred spirit.
Black Zetsu, anwhile, was equally confused.
It clearly rembered that the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon were supposed to be jailers guarding the moon. So how had it beco, in Toneri's version, that he was preparing to destroy the shinobi world?
Destroying the shinobi world was one thing, but what was this nonsense about recreating a peaceful one?
Black Zetsu stared deeply at Toneri. Unlike Obito, the thought that had just appeared in its mind was bold to the extre.
Could it possibly recruit this Ōtsutsuki Toneri?
"Why do you want to destroy the shinobi world?"
Black Zetsu asked, pretending to be curious.
It didn't know what exactly had gone wrong with the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon, but that didn't stop it from trying to get more information out of Toneri's mouth before deciding whether there was a chance to pull him to its side.
"According to ancient tradition, Ancestor Hamura left our branch of descendants on the moon to watch over the shinobi world."
"If one day the shinobi world falls into chaos, then that will be the mont for the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon to appear."
"We will cleanse this chaotic shinobi world, and then create a new world without war or hatred."
Ōtsutsuki Toneri turned his empty eye sockets toward Black Zetsu and Obito.
He truly believed that.
After all, even Toneri himself didn't know that he was not from the main family of the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon at all. He was from the branch family.
The real reason the Hyūga clan had left the moon was that the Ōtsutsuki branch family on the moon had rebelled. The ancestors of the Hyūga clan had been forced to flee to the shinobi world.
The claim that the Caged Bird Seal was created to protect the Hyūga clan was even more absurd.
At first, the Caged Bird Seal had been created simply because the Hyūga ancestors had already experienced the rebellion of a branch family. That was why they developed a seal that would make it impossible for the branch family to betray them again.
As for the Ōtsutsuki branch that remained on the moon, they didn't know that the true mission of the Ōtsutsuki clan was to watch over Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, who lay sealed at the core of the moon.
Instead, they fabricated a grand lie for their descendants.
And that lie was what Toneri now believed without question: when the shinobi world beca filled with war and chaos, the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon would appear and reshape the entire shinobi world into a new world.
"This…"
Black Zetsu really hadn't expected Toneri to answer every question so readily.
Naturally suspicious by nature, it felt that Toneri might be deceiving it. But the expression on Toneri's face didn't look false either.
"Then what about the Uchiha clan?"
"Ancestor Hamura and Ancestor Hagoromo were brothers. If you destroy the shinobi world, what will beco of the Uchiha clan, the descendants of Ancestor Hagoromo?"
After a mont of silence, Black Zetsu tested him again.
"I don't know…"
After hearing Black Zetsu's question, Toneri fell silent.
Only after quite so ti did he let out a soft sigh.
"Even if you intend to beco a new sage and create a new world, it's impossible for you to have no one by your side assisting you, isn't it?"
"The Uchiha clan are descendants of Ancestor Hagoromo, and you are a descendant of Ancestor Hamura. Is there anyone more suitable than the Uchiha clan to help you destroy and recreate the shinobi world?"
Black Zetsu had already determined that this man was genuinely easy to deceive.
In order to trick this Ōtsutsuki Toneri, Black Zetsu was now calling Hagoromo "Ancestor" and Hamura "Ancestor" with every other sentence, even presenting itself as part of the Uchiha clan.
But Black Zetsu felt no dissatisfaction over that.
Because it had truly seen an opportunity.
An opportunity to save its mother—and to kill Uchiha Chizumi completely.
Especially now that Black Zetsu had vaguely sensed that the Ōtsutsuki bloodline in this man nad Toneri seed to have regressed strongly toward the source. That made Black Zetsu even more tempted.
Compared to using soone from the Uchiha clan, if it could deceive this man called Ōtsutsuki Toneri into becoming its mother's vessel, then after Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was reborn, wouldn't she recover even more of her strength?
"Have the descendants of Ancestor Hagoromo assist in destroying and recreating the shinobi world?"
To most people in the shinobi world, Black Zetsu's lie wouldn't count as especially clever.
But Toneri hadn't interacted with people for many years.
And right now, he really was tempted by Black Zetsu's words.
After all, Ōtsutsuki Toneri was about the sa age as Naruto and Sasuke. On top of that, he had spent years as an isolated shut-in with almost no human contact.
He was practically made to be deceived.
~~~
You're Welco!
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