In a hidden place, inside a dark and damp underground cave, Uchiha Madara narrowed his eyes as he looked at Tobi, who was in poor shape and recuperating with the help of other White Zetsu.
Then, his gaze shifted to Black Zetsu, who had just returned and was also in rough condition.
"So, your mission was a complete failure? You didn't bring back the game or the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Hearing this, Tobi twisted around awkwardly on the floor. "Ahhh, this isn't Afei's fault, you know! How could Afei have known that Minato Namikaze would find him? So dangerous, so dangerous—he was all golden and sparkly! So dangerous! Whoosh—he hit Afei just like that! So amazing! If Afei hadn't run away fast enough, he would've died, died, died!"
"The game he was carrying just went *poof!* So exaggerated, so exaggerated—Minato Namikaze is super strong!"
Though he had been thoroughly beaten by Minato Namikaze, and even lost the game he was carrying, Tobi still honestly shared his impressions without much concern, portraying himself as straightforward and candid.
Black Zetsu, however, gave him a look full of contempt. His urge to slice Tobi to pieces was barely suppressed.
To him, the failure at Uchiha Kei's hands was entirely due to Tobi's reckless behavior. If Tobi hadn't made such a commotion, forcing Black Zetsu to act immediately, they wouldn't have been discovered by Uchiha Kei—and he wouldn't have had to endure that ultimate humiliation.
Just remembering the sensory trauma from the Jutsu of Intestinal Tastebuds made Black Zetsu shudder. He still felt phantom sensations and deep emotional scars—disgust, fear, and above all, shame.
Especially the fear. It was overwhelming, etched into his bones.
Black Zetsu felt filthy, violated from the inside out.
This was catastrophic for him—someone whose sole purpose was to revive his mother. He was a devoted son, the ultimate mama's boy, who dreamed of one day returning to his mother's body and being with her forever.
But now? After being defiled like that, did he still have the right to return? Would his mother even accept him? Would she be repulsed when she learned of what happened?
Just imagining her looking at him with contempt and refusing to let him near was enough to make the world go dark.
No!
No one can ever know about this!
At the very least… at the very least… *Mother* must never know…
A deep wave of guilt rose within him. He felt unclean and was now even thinking of lying to his mother.
But compared to being cast aside by her, telling a small, well-intentioned lie felt almost acceptable.
This was all Uchiha Kei's fault!
Black Zetsu wanted nothing more than to obliterate him—his hatred had reached an oceanic depth, beyond cleansing.
Yet that hatred was all he could manage. He absolutely couldn't confront Uchiha Kei directly. He was far too afraid of being subjected to that jutsu again.
If it happened one more time, he'd be beyond redemption—no longer qualified to return to his mother.
Of course, he couldn't reveal any of this. On the surface, he was still the embodiment of Uchiha Madara's will.
When Madara turned his gaze toward him, Black Zetsu bowed slightly. "My apologies, Lord Madara. The plan to seize a Mangekyō Sharingan failed due to Tobi's unauthorized actions. Also, there are currently no Mangekyō Sharingan within the Uchiha clan."
Madara frowned. "Even with those genjutsu games out there, the Uchiha clan still hasn't awakened any new Mangekyō Sharingan?"
As the clan's forefather, Madara knew exactly how potent those illusion-based games could be for the Uchiha. And as the most powerful Uchiha in history, his standards were sky-high. With such tools available, he had expected at least a few new awakenings.
To be told that not even one had appeared—what was he supposed to make of that?
"Hmph. These juniors are all disappointments. Not a single one shows any promise. Only that brat Kei, the creator of those games, is worthy of my attention."
"The Uchiha clan truly grows weaker with each generation."
Every word reeked of disappointment.
Black Zetsu was speechless. It sounded like a grumpy elder scolding useless descendants, but considering that Madara was trying to steal someone else's eyes, it all felt incredibly twisted.
When Madara mentioned Uchiha Kei again, Black Zetsu became hyper-alert.
He now had full-blown PTSD from Kei. If Madara actually decided to make Kei his successor in executing the Eye of the Moon Plan, Black Zetsu would be doomed.
To this day, he still didn't understand how Kei's eye technique had worked on him.
It was only a three-tomoe Sharingan, yet it affected his Yin-Yang Release body directly—shattering everything Black Zetsu thought he knew about dōjutsu.
He had no idea how the jutsu was triggered, so there was no way to defend against it. If Kei really inherited everything from Madara, he could squash Black Zetsu like a bug—and Black Zetsu would be helpless.
Thank heavens he had no sweat glands, or he'd be drenched.
No matter what—it must never be Kei!
He quickly spoke, feigning concern: "Lord Madara, are you planning to make Uchiha Kei your representative to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan? It's true—he has the talent—but the problem is, he never leaves the Hidden Leaf."
"If he doesn't leave the village or face any life-threatening crisis, how are we supposed to bring him here?"
Tobi chimed in: "Yeah, yeah! Super hard! I met Uchiha Obito in the Hidden Leaf and wanted to bring him to you, but I was chased down by Minato Namikaze."
"And Kei's bodyguards are way stronger than Obito's. Plus, he's super close to Minato Namikaze! We totally can't catch him. We'd just get beat up again!"
"So scary, so scary! All golden and shiny—so scary! By the way, why *was* Minato Namikaze all golden and shiny? I don't get it. I don't get it at all!"
Tobi ended with a tilted head and a confused, silly expression.
Hearing the words "golden and shiny" again, Madara narrowed his aged eyes and looked to Black Zetsu. "That golden shimmer Tobi described—was that his Flying Thunder God Technique form?"
Black Zetsu shook his head. He had already possessed Tobi and read his memories.
"No, it's literal. Minato Namikaze entered a state where his whole body glowed gold. It resembled Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, but without the savagery and rage."
"It's a new form—probably linked to the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Not sure if it's a new transformation of the host, or if Minato borrowed the power to create it."
Madara nodded. "Minato Namikaze, huh? Compared to those other fools, he's not bad. Even in my time, he would've been capable of standing behind Hashirama and me."
Black Zetsu raised an eyebrow. That was high praise.
Coming from the ultimate prideful ghost that was Madara, being allowed to "stand behind" him and Hashirama meant you'd already reached the summit of the shinobi world.
Right now, no current Kage even came close.
Only two others had ever earned that rank:
Uchiha Izuna and Tobirama Senju.