Chapter Thirteen: Sorry, Black Zetsu, I’ve Disappointed You

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This is really frustrating...

Black Zetsu’s mood grew increasingly melancholic, unable to suppress a deep sorrow.

Because it was one thing for Saigami Hara to believe in Ashura during the ancient era, but how could he now place his faith in Senju Hashirama in this age?

Indeed!

Senju Hashirama did bring peace to the Warring States period!

But once Hashirama died, new wars would inevitably erupt!

"Lord Saigami,"

"You are the smartest person the ninja world has ever known..."

"Even after following the path you left behind for countless millennia, I still cannot glimpse a shadow resembling you..."

Black Zetsu’s voice was hoarse and dark as he sighed softly, "Surely you understand, Hashirama’s peace was only temporary..."

"As long as ninjas exist in this world..."

"As long as greed lives within their hearts..."

"As long as there is no power above them to suppress that greed—a power capable of restraining every ninja’s desires—"

"The conflict between ninjas will never cease!"

"No matter how many times Ashura’s chakra reincarnates, it is useless!"

"When Hashirama dies, the ninjas of this world will once again wage wars for their own interests, endlessly repeating the tragic fate of suffering from the day they are born..."

"Lord Saigami..."

"Have you forgotten your own beliefs?"

"Enduring pains that ordinary people cannot bear, striving to save those trapped in endless suffering—do you intend to watch as they continue to cycle through this agonizing existence?"

Black Zetsu, recalling the hardships of spreading Saigami’s story throughout the ninja world, questioned him almost like a fervent believer, "Did you forget the will you once sought to pass on to future medical ninjas?"

"But..."

Saigami Hara frowned, pondering how to defend himself against Black Zetsu’s reproach, instinctively scapegoating someone else.

"Ashura once told me..."

"Ashura is an arrogant fool!"

Black Zetsu quickly interrupted, urging him to stop recalling Ashura’s words, continuing to advise, "If you had never believed his words, if you had chosen to kill Ashura and utterly destroy the ninja sect, reclaiming all the chakra the Sage of Six Paths scattered..."

"This world would never have been plunged into endless war..."

"The ones responsible for bringing war to this world..."

"Are all descendants of the Sage of Six Paths and those vile members of the ninja sect!"

...

Saigami Hara fell into silence.

Black Zetsu had lived over a thousand years and had grown much wiser.

Just seeing Black Zetsu’s righteous demeanor made Saigami Hara feel dizzy, as if Black Zetsu were the true bearer of justice...

This was absurd...

How did things end up like this?

"Hehehehe..."

"Why won’t you answer me?"

Seeing Saigami Hara’s silence, Black Zetsu’s face twisted into a sinister smile once more, as if to provoke a reawakening, "Is it because you realize you have taken the wrong path, Lord Saigami?"

...

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Saigami Hara remained silent.

...

Black Zetsu suddenly felt uneasy.

Had he gone too far?

Was he pressing Saigami Hara too hard?

"Black Zetsu."

Saigami Hara slowly lowered his head, as if his faith in life had been utterly shattered, his voice heavy with loss and regret.

"We..."

"We will never succeed."

...

Black Zetsu immediately wanted to argue.

"Let me finish."

Saigami Hara interrupted, calmly and seriously recounting his past, "When I first obtained the power of the Sage of Six Paths, I immediately sought to reclaim all the chakra that the Sage had spread..."

"But..."

"I studied the Sage’s corpse..."

"But I could not find a way to fully retrieve the chakra."

His voice remained calm but carried a weary resignation, "Neither the Wood Release granted by the remnants of the Divine Tree nor the power of the Sage’s Rinnegan could completely reclaim the chakra within the disciples of the ninja sect, so when I destroyed the sect, I had no choice but to kill them without distinguishing between good and evil..."

...

Black Zetsu’s expression grew strange.

Because...

This was all his fault.

He had failed to teach Saigami Hara the proper method in advance!

After all, reclaiming all the chakra scattered by the Sage of Six Paths was part of resurrecting Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and Black Zetsu never imagined Saigami Hara would come this far...

"I..."

Black Zetsu quickly tried to explain.

"Quiet, listen to me."

Saigami Hara interrupted again, his voice still calm but utterly desolate, "Do you remember the goddess we worship, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"

...

Black Zetsu nodded quickly.

After all, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was his mother, and his very existence was meant to bring her back—the mother sealed away by the rebellious son of the Sage of Six Paths!

"I believed that the goddess could reclaim the chakra."

Saigami Hara’s voice remained steady as he fabricated his thoughts from the past, "I heard a forbidden rumor from the ninja sect’s disciples—though I cannot be sure it is true—that the goddess Ōtsutsuki was the mother of the Sage of Six Paths, and thus the grandmother of Ashura and Indra..."

"To be honest..."

"Though I was somewhat afraid..."

"I could only place my hope in the goddess."

"I prayed that the goddess we worship would fairly distribute and reclaim chakra, so that it would become a force to save humanity from pain, not a power for the sect’s disciples to bully the weak without restraint..."

"Therefore, before I obtained the Sage’s power and went to the ninja sect, I had another important goal: to learn from Ashura the secret of reviving the goddess..."

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"But when I fought Ashura, he convinced me to give up asking about reviving the goddess..."

"What happened afterward..."

"You should already know."

...

Black Zetsu was at a loss.

He did not expect Saigami Hara to have tried so much!

To be honest...

Saigami Hara was already exceptional!

Black Zetsu felt a faint stirring within.

He had never imagined Saigami Hara had exerted so much effort to revive Kaguya, even hoping she would rule over humanity, and that he wanted to learn the secret of her resurrection from Ashura’s mouth!

Saigami Hara...

This man was truly formidable!

Had Saigami Hara known the correct steps to revive Kaguya, perhaps they could have done so in the ancient era!

"Actually..."

Black Zetsu’s heart stirred slightly.

"Black Zetsu, listen to me."

Saigami Hara interrupted for the third time and resumed fabricating his thoughts after being revived in this era.

"Now..."

"I have awakened in this era."

"I know this world has endured a painful thousand-year Warring States period."

"I realize now that I acted rashly back then, trusting Ashura’s promises, sparing the ninja sect, and abandoning the greatest hope for changing the world."

"But..."

"What good does it do to dwell on that now?"

Saigami Hara’s voice fell into utter despair, as if he no longer held any hope for the future, "The Sage of Six Paths has long been dead, Ashura and Indra have been gone for over a thousand years. Only their family knows how to revive the goddess..."

"This era has no historical records..."

"The ninjas of this age worship the Sage of Six Paths as a god of creation and treat the stories of the ancient era as mere legends..."

"Black Zetsu."

"Our path is cut off."

"We cannot reclaim the chakra from the ninjas of this age, nor can we find any news of reviving the goddess. I cannot kill all the ninjas of this era..."

"Except to continue believing in Ashura’s promise..."

"I truly do not know what else I can do."

After finishing, Saigami Hara gave a bitter smile, somewhat dejected, "Black Zetsu, I was only once a lucky one favored by the Divine Tree, not an omnipotent being who can change the world..."

"Sorry..."

"For disappointing your expectations..."