Next Bonus, 100PS!!
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"Huh? A sign of the Six Paths?"
Black Zetsu paused at the mention of the Sage of the Six Paths. The title rolled around in his mind. After centuries spent lurking in the shadows of Mount Myōboku, quietly soaking up the land's energy, calling himself a Sage didn't feel like much of a stretch.
And once he passed the test, the title would be more than just talk.
In this world, a title was just something you could convince others to believe.
"Forget it. Call me whatever you want." Black Zetsu's face spread into a faint smile across Senju Tsuru's palm, his tone casual.
Tsuru clenched his ink-covered left hand and leaned back on instinct, the wariness in his eyes still sharp. "Why are you attached to me? What do you want from me?"
Black Zetsu chuckled, his dark outline shifting with the sound. "Because you're the one I chose. I appeared this time to help you."
As soon as he heard that, Tsuru felt a surge of alarm. He took another step back, frowning. "There are plenty of Senju clansmen, and lots of talented ones. Why pick me?"
Black Zetsu rolled his eyes, his voice blunt and mocking. "Because no one in the whole Senju Clan is more useless than you. Who else could I pick?"
"..." Tsuru's face went stiff. He pressed his lips together, angry but unable to argue back.
He'd never managed to form chakra. Ten years of training, all for nothing. Most days, he just drifted between sleep and meals, stuck in a loop he couldn't break. The clan saw him as dead weight, and Black Zetsu's words landed right where it hurt most.
"You're not some spy sent by another clan, are you? Trying to use a failure like me to dig up Senju intelligence?"
Even after that harsh comment, Tsuru stayed on guard. He stared at the black face in his palm.
He wasn't just a failure.
He was also the clan head's only son.
Black Zetsu was silent for a moment, his dark chakra flickering as he spoke with frustration. "You should know if I want to hurt you. If I hadn't saved you just now, you'd already be gone."
"Anyway, try forming chakra. Once you feel it, you'll know if I'm telling the truth."
"Forming chakra?" Tsuru paused, a bitter smile tugging at his lips as he shook his head. "Impossible. Ten years down the drain. Why would anything change now?"
Still, hope clung to him, stubborn as ever. He closed his eyes and reached for the old method the clan had drilled into him as a kid, trying to coax the energy inside his body to move.
[Note: The original canon does say chakra has to be extracted. I don't like making up settings, so the basic rules follow canon.]
Then, warmth flooded his body—powerful, alive, surging through every cell. The energy threaded through his pathways, gathering until it coalesced into something unmistakable: pure chakra.
Tsuru's eyes flew open, shock surging through them. His lips trembled. "This... this is chakra?"
He felt it, clear as day. Power coursed through his chakra network—the same power he'd spent a decade chasing in his dreams.
"I finally did it! I can use chakra!!"
All his caution vanished in a rush of joy. Tsuru sprang to his feet and flipped backward, moving with a freedom he'd never known before.
Black Zetsu watched the display, the corner of his mouth twitching in helpless amusement.
After calming down a little, Tsuru suddenly remembered one of the chakra-control methods taught by the clan. He immediately tried gathering chakra from his core into both feet.
The next second, he stepped forward.
He dashed straight at the wall of the Senju hall. The instant his feet hit the vertical surface, they stuck—solid, steady. He stood there as if the wall were just another patch of ground, not even a hint of slipping.
"IT WORKED!" Tsuru stared down at his feet, eyes wide. "The clan always said it took months of practice to stick chakra to your feet and climb walls. I just got chakra and I'm already doing it. Maybe I was a genius this whole time."
"Hey, hey, don't start patting yourself on the back."
Black Zetsu interrupted his bragging, a smug look on his black face. "That's all thanks to me. When I attach to you, your whole body gets better. Chakra control, nature transformation in the future—you'll be way ahead of most people."
Tsuru quickly lowered his head and stared at Black Zetsu in his palm, openly curious.
Black Zetsu gave a small smile. Then he activated his dark chakra and pulled away from Tsuru's arm in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the chakra vanished. Just like that, he was ordinary again—no power, nothing special.
With nothing holding him up, Tsuru slipped off the wall and landed hard on his backside. Pain shot up his spine, and he winced.
Before he could get up, Black Zetsu's dark form wrapped around his left hand again. The familiar chakra rushed back, filling his pathways.
Tsuru rubbed his backside and stood up. Now he looked at Black Zetsu with shock and awe. "You really are a Sage?"
"I've never heard of anything like this in the Shinobi world. Even the Uzumaki Clan, with all their secret techniques, can't control someone else's chakra this easily!"
Black Zetsu chuckled, his dark brows arching. "I'm not a real Sage yet. But sooner or later, I will be."
Tsuru scratched his head, not quite following the deeper meaning. Still, he knew real power when he saw it. He straightened up, cupped his hands, and offered a quick apology. "Sage Black Zetsu, I was rude just now. Please forgive me."
"It's fine..." Black Zetsu waved it off, not especially concerned.
Tsuru frowned and looked down at the big area of his body that was black. He said helplessly, "But Sage Black Zetsu, you're covering half my body right now. If the clan elders see this, they'll think I'm possessed by some evil spirit. I'll never hear the end of it."
Black Zetsu looked over Tsuru's body. Half of him really was black, which was way too obvious. If any Senju clansman saw it, there would be trouble.
"Mmm... You have a point." Black Zetsu got the message and quickly pulled his chakra back. The blackness shrank until it only covered Tsuru's left hand. The dark face still lingered in his palm, but it was a lot less obvious now.
"This is much better."
Tsuru shook his left hand. Seeing that only one hand was black, he finally relaxed and smiled with relief.
"By the way, what are you going to do next?" Black Zetsu's voice came from his palm, asking about his plans.
Tsuru's eyes lit up, a grin spreading across his face. "First thing, I'm telling my father I can use chakra!"
"Then I'll ask him to teach me some ninjutsu to protect myself. Once I've trained enough, I'll go to the battlefield to serve the Senju Clan!"
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