Chapter 315

"You won't escape this time."

As Black Zetsu slowly merged into the ground, Madara 's cold voice rang out.

Hearing this, Black Zetsu's heart trembled.

His mind raced as he considered a frightening possibility.

If he wasn't caught in Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's genjutsu, then there was only one other explanation for what he was witnessing—Madara must have awakened the Rinnegan on his own!

Moreover, his Rinnegan abilities must be related to life or time.

Either he had restored his youth using immense life force...

Or he had reversed time to return to his prime.

Both possibilities were terrifying.

However, if it was just one of these two abilities, there was still hope.

After all, relying solely on these two abilities wouldn't be enough for Madara to completely restrain him.

"Catching me won't be that easy."

Though cautious, Black Zetsu didn't let it show in his voice.

Madara sneered in response.

That sneer made Black Zetsu shudder, and he accelerated his attempt to merge underground.

But it was too late.

Four Limbo: Border Jail shadows appeared around Black Zetsu and yanked him out from the earth.

"What?!"

Black Zetsu was horrified. He felt something restrain his limbs, suspending him mid-air, unable to move.

No matter how hard he tried to sense it, he couldn't detect what had grabbed him.

"It's over. You won't escape now," Madara stated as he stepped closer to Black Zetsu.

He grabbed Black Zetsu's outer covering and tore it off, exposing his true form.

A completely black, ink-like humanoid figure.

"So this is your real form... Quite a unique existence."

Black Zetsu spoke despite the terror in his heart, trying to feign confidence, as though he still had some hidden trump card.

"You recognize the Rinnegan, after all."

Madara's words made Black Zetsu's heart sink further.

From this single sentence, Black Zetsu deduced something important. Madara knew that he knew of the Rinnegan.

The question was—who had told Madara this?

"It seems someone knows me quite well. I'm quite curious. Who could it be?"

Black Zetsu tried to fish for information while contemplating how he could possibly survive this ordeal.

"What do you think?" Madara replied instead of giving a direct answer, forcing Black Zetsu to speculate.

Madara hoped to glean more information from Black Zetsu's guesses.

At that moment, Black Zetsu couldn't help but wonder, who could have revealed his secrets?

This shouldn't be possible! Even Ōtsutsuki Isshiki shouldn't know about his existence.

Even if someone knew about his existence, they shouldn't have such precise information.

Other than Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, there shouldn't be anyone in the entire shinobi world who was aware of him!

Then... who could it be?

Mochizuki Hui!

The name instantly flashed in Black Zetsu's mind.

Madara Uchiha's life had followed Black Zetsu's script perfectly. At least until the day he encountered Hui.

After that meeting, everything changed.

Madara became fixated on him, constantly seeking him out.

After that encounter, Madara broke free from the original script.

So if anyone could have shared such information with Madara, it had to be Hui.

"It was Mochizuki Hui, wasn't it?" Black Zetsu asked cautiously. When he saw Madara's expression, he knew he had guessed correctly.

Sure enough, his intel had come from Hui.

But that raised another question, how did Mochizuki Hui know such things?

It didn't make sense!

"Indeed, Hui told me many things. And now, I'm here to verify them," Madara admitted without hesitation, even though he hadn't managed to trick Black Zetsu into revealing anything else.

Madara's straightforward acknowledgment only deepened Black Zetsu's unease.

"Verify?"

Black Zetsu felt a foreboding sense of doom creeping into his heart.

What exactly had Hui told Madara?

"For example, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."

Madara's words struck Black Zetsu like a thunderclap, causing his emotions to waver for a brief moment.

That slight change did not escape Madara's sharp perception.

This made him even more certain that what Hui had told him was true.

But he decided to confirm it further.

With that thought, Madara prepared to take action.

Over the past two months, Madara had fully familiarized himself with his Rinnegan, mastering its abilities.

Among them were two powers that Madara believed would be useful:

The first was a technique called Mind Reading Dive, which could read a person's memories.

The second was Soul Extraction, a technique that could directly target the soul.

[A/N: These are the abilities of the Human Path from Pain's Six Paths. Although the manga and anime never showed Madara using any of the Six Paths abilities other than gravitational push and pull, this is part of my personal setup. Since Nagato's Rinnegan belonged to Madara, the abilities Nagato demonstrated logically belong to Madara as well. Therefore, Madara is capable of using all the powers of the Six Paths and the Outer Path. This also includes the Rinne Rebirth technique. Although Madara never used it, his plan was for Nagato to resurrect him using it. This supports the idea that Nagato's and Obito's Rinnegan abilities originated from Madara. Hence, dual-Rinnegan Madara is immensely overpowered.]

Black Zetsu's heart sank completely.

"It seems Hui knows far too much. I'm really, realy curious—how does he know all of this?"

If Madara even knew about Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, it was proof that Hui had access to information far beyond what should have been possible.

But how had Hui learned all this?

All records regarding Ōtsutsuki Kaguya should have been destroyed by Black Zetsu himself, no one should know of her existence anymore.

"I'll answer that question in a moment," Madara said as he placed a hand on Black Zetsu's head.

Mind Reading Dive!

Madara was attempting to read Black Zetsu's memories.

Instantly, Black Zetsu felt a powerful mental force trying to invade his consciousness.

Fortunately, this spiritual power wasn't at the level of the Sage of Six Paths, it wasn't strong enough to break through his defenses.

"You think this is enough to defeat me? How naive."

Black Zetsu mocked Madara, though deep down, he felt relieved.

It was only because he was an embodiment of Kaguya's will that he could resist such an attack.

Otherwise, things could have gone very badly.

Seeing that his technique had failed, Madara remained unfazed.

Since he had already captured Black Zetsu, even if one technique failed, he had plenty of others to try.

As long as Black Zetsu couldn't escape, he would find a way.

However, Madara didn't immediately use the Soul Extraction ability.

Instead, he furrowed his brow, pretending to be caught off guard by the failure, as if he had no other way to subdue Black Zetsu.

He did this to test whether Black Zetsu had any hidden trump cards left to escape Limbo: Border Jail.

"You are indeed unique. But just because I can't defeat you doesn't mean Hui can't. I'll simply take you back to Konoha and hand you over to him."

Madara's statement sent a chill through Black Zetsu.

Hui was someone Black Zetsu had never been able to understand, and today's events made him even more wary of the man.

He wanted to escape, but he couldn't.

Anxiety surged within Black Zetsu.

Madara sensed this rising tension and confirmed that Black Zetsu had no trump cards left.

Now he could finally test his other ability.

Madara stopped walking, placed his hand back on Black Zetsu, and activated Soul Extraction.

"Ahhh!!!"

A blood-curdling scream escaped Black Zetsu's mouth as he stared at Madara with eyes full of terror.

"You... You have a technique that targets the soul?!"

His voice trembled with fear.

A soul-targeting technique was indeed something that could harm him.

"It seems this works after all. Let's try it again."

Madara spoke calmly and used Soul Extraction once more.

Amid Black Zetsu's agonized screams, Madara paused for a moment before reactivating Mind Reading Dive.

This time, Madara smiled.

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