"Black Zetsu?!"
Obito froze. Then disbelief flooded his voice.
"You're saying the Uchiha Stone Tablet… was all part of Black Zetsu's scheme?"
"But Black Zetsu is Madara's will, isn't he?"
Obito had never fully trusted Black Zetsu. He had always kept his guard up.
But that was because he believed Black Zetsu was merely the embodiment of Madara's will.
He had never imagined—
That Madara himself might have been nothing more than a pawn.
This wasn't just betrayal.
This was heaven and earth reversing order.
Jin nodded calmly.
"Black Zetsu is the will of someone."
"But that someone isn't Uchiha Madara."
"It is the legendary Rabbit Goddess—Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
Obito's breath caught.
"Ōtsutsuki… Kaguya?"
His mind reeled.
The Sage of Six Paths was already a mythic figure.
But Kaguya?
Her legend was older. Fainter. Almost forgotten.
All Obito knew was that she had once ruled the world.
Nothing more.
And now—
Jin had casually revealed her full name.
Suddenly, Obito stiffened.
"Wait."
"You said my arrogance resembles that of the Ōtsutsuki… that I carry their blood…"
His voice lowered.
"…Are you saying—"
Jin nodded.
"You guessed correctly."
"The Sage of Six Paths' true name is Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo."
"He is Kaguya's eldest son."
"And she had another son—Ōtsutsuki Hamura, ancestor of the Hyūga clan."
Obito felt like the ground beneath him had vanished.
The Uchiha descended from Indra, son of Hagoromo.
The Hyūga from Hamura.
Which meant—
The entire shinobi world's bloodlines traced back to Kaguya.
"How do you even know this?" Obito demanded.
Jin tapped his eye lightly.
"You really do have a seven-second memory."
"I told you—my eyes can trace origins."
"Anything that has ever existed leaves behind traces."
"Find enough traces, and I can see the past."
"Gather enough variables, and I can glimpse possible futures."
It was a clean lie.
Built atop truth.
The best kind.
Obito stared at Jin's eyes with naked envy.
"If I'd had eyes like that… maybe none of this would've happened."
But then he forced himself steady.
"So what if you can see possible futures?"
"That doesn't mean they're guaranteed."
Jin narrowed his eyes.
"The future is never fixed."
"It is like grains of sand in the Ganges—countless possibilities."
"All I can do is observe patterns and nudge outcomes."
"And even that isn't certain."
Then Jin tilted his head slightly.
"Do you remember one of your sparring matches with Kakashi?"
Obito blinked.
"I've sparred with him hundreds of times."
"Exactly."
Jin continued evenly.
"I once observed the possibility of you defeating him."
"I examined fourteen million six hundred and four possible futures."
Obito swallowed.
"…And?"
Jin raised a single finger.
"You won once."
Silence.
"In every other possibility, Kakashi had room for error."
"You had none."
"One misplaced finger—and you lost."
"That's how difficult altering fate truly is."
Obito's face twitched.
He understood the logic.
He just resented being used as the example.
Jin shifted the topic.
"Back to Kaguya."
"Even Hagoromo and Hamura never realized—"
"Kaguya had a third child."
Obito felt cold.
"…Don't tell me."
"You mean Black Zetsu."
Jin's voice did not waver.
"Yes."
"As absurd as it sounds, Black Zetsu is Kaguya's third son."
"The Sage of Six Paths' brother."
Obito's worldview cracked further.
"That black thing… is Kaguya's child?"
Jin gave a faint shrug.
"Kaguya created Hagoromo and Hamura as powerful warriors."
"She also created Black Zetsu."
"But she rushed that one."
"And he came out… crooked."
In truth, according to the original canon, Hagoromo and Hamura were born directly from Kaguya without a father.
No foolish romance.
No sentimental rewrite.
Kaguya viewed humans as tools.
Resources.
She created children as weapons.
She turned humans into White Zetsu soldiers.
Black Zetsu, who constantly called her "Mother," was no metaphor.
He was family.
And for thousands of years—
He had waited.
Patiently.
Manipulating Indra's reincarnations.
Guiding Madara.
Guiding Obito.
All for one purpose:
Resurrection.
Jin's eyes sharpened.
"You think you're carrying out Madara's will."
"In reality…"
"You're carrying out Kaguya's."
And somewhere beyond the illusion—
In the real world—
A certain pitch-black existence was undoubtedly listening.
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