Outside the Five Kage Summit fortress.
A hidden cave served as the hideout for the main Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.
With Black Zetsu's cautious nature, he certainly wouldn't infiltrate the Five Kage Summit and risk being killed by the Kage.
So, he remained hidden on the outskirts with White Zetsu, gathering information while controlling other Zetsu clones to support Sasuke.
"Danzo and the others have entered the fortress. Sasuke and his group must have found Danzo already."
"I wonder, will they start fighting right away?"
"Hehehe—!"
The main White Zetsu laughed gleefully, as if enjoying the chaotic situation that was about to unfold.
"I want to try possessing Sasuke, see how it feels compared to Obito? Sadly, that kid definitely wouldn't agree."
A rolling White Zetsu emerged from the side, speaking in a mischievous tone.
There were three special White Zetsu: the main White Zetsu, the pitcher plant White Zetsu, and the rolling White Zetsu.
Currently, the main White Zetsu and the rolling White Zetsu were near Black Zetsu, while the pitcher plant White Zetsu, who usually partnered with Black Zetsu, was with Sasuke.
Since Obito was absent, Black Zetsu had summoned all the special Zetsu as a precaution.
"By the way, Sasuke alone, even with his subordinates, can't possibly defeat the Five Kage, right?"
"Obito isn't here, what if he gets killed by the Five Kage?"
The main White Zetsu asked with a smile.
"He won't die that easily. Even if he does, it's not a big deal."
Black Zetsu replied in a sinister voice.
As the true mastermind, Black Zetsu's goals differed from White Zetsu's.
All the White Zetsu believed they were created by Madara, working to revive him and realize the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
But Black Zetsu's plan went deeper.
While trying to revive his mother, Kaguya, he also planned to eliminate the successors of Indra and Asura in this generation!
Currently, Madara already possessed the Rinnegan, the basic requirement for Kaguya's revival was met.
Sasuke and Naruto as the next successors were still useful, but in reality, their threat outweighed their value.
If Obito didn't return and Sasuke was killed by the Five Kage, that would actually be good.
The death of Indra's successor would prevent his mother from being sealed again after her revival; for Black Zetsu, that was the best outcome!
That's why he never opposed Obito and White Zetsu instigating Sasuke to attack the Five Kage Summit.
"Obito and Kisame? Any news?" Black Zetsu asked.
"No... You know, my clones can't infiltrate Amegakure..."
"Isn't Nagato dead already?"
"Don't know. But that technique still envelops the village, maybe someone obtained the Rinnegan and activated Ame no Jindou again..."
"Hmph! Damn Nagato, he really ruined Madara-sama's plan!"
Black Zetsu cursed irritably.
Compared to Sasuke, he was more worried about Obito and Kisame, hoping they hadn't run into trouble and would quickly retrieve the Rinnegan!
That was the key to his thousand-year plan.
When he learned that Nagato had betrayed them and used the Rinnegan to revive Konoha, Black Zetsu almost died of anger!
No wonder he miscalculated.
Who would have thought that Nagato, who always seemed so formidable, would not only be defeated by Naruto but also be successfully convinced by him?
Now, the only hope was that Obito could take the Rinnegan and fix the Eye of the Moon Plan.
"Wait..."
The main White Zetsu suddenly received a message, his face changing drastically.
"Big trouble!"
"What?"
"Obito is dead!"
"What?!?"
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
A few minutes later, two Zetsu clones brought a shaken Kisame up from underground, back to Black Zetsu and the others' side.
As Nagato had anticipated, as soon as Kisame left Amegakure, he was immediately discovered by the observing Zetsu clones. Then he was brought to Black Zetsu, saving search time.
Seeing Kisame, the agitated Black Zetsu immediately attacked with questions:
"Kisame, is 'Madara' dead? Was the Rinnegan obtained?"
Kisame took a deep breath, looking at Black Zetsu and the others, realizing he couldn't kill them all at once.
So he went into acting mode, immediately replying:
"You don't need to lie anymore. He's not Madara, he's Uchiha Obito!"
"You already knew?"
White Zetsu chuckled, not expecting Kisame to know Obito's identity.
"Don't waste time, who was the enemy? Where's the Rinnegan? What exactly happened in Amegakure?!?"
Black Zetsu was extremely panicked, even losing his usual composure.
Kisame didn't delay, delivering the prepared story.
Of course, this story about the events in Amegakure was mostly true.
Including how Obito infiltrated, how he was surrounded and defeated by the new Akatsuki organization, everything was told according to the facts.
Only the ending was changed.
Changed to: Obito fought desperately, Kisame managed to escape the encirclement, and finally survived.
This mixed information was far more convincing than a complete lie.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Hearing about Obito's death, Black Zetsu almost fainted, dying of anger.
Nagato was dead, severely damaging his plan.
Now Obito was also dead, and the Rinnegan was taken, how could the Eye of the Moon Plan continue?
"Obito is really dead?"
"Yes. Before I escaped, I saw him killed by the Edo Tensei'd Nagato!"
"Including Nagato, all the former core members of Akatsuki were revived?"
"That's right!"
"Then how did you escape?"
"Their main target was Obito, the attacks on me weren't too fierce. Besides, I can fuse with Samehada and no one can catch me in the water!"
Kisame's answer left Black Zetsu unable to find any flaws.
Logically, with Kamui and Izanagi, Obito should have been impossible to kill.
But his enemies were too strong!
The entire Edo Tensei team from the afterlife, plus Konan's home field advantage, with insufficient information and caught in an ambush, it was natural for Obito to lose.
But that didn't mean Black Zetsu could accept it!
"Damn it! How could this happen?"
"Who? Who is the mastermind behind all this?!?"
Black Zetsu shouted hysterically, losing all his patience.
"I don't know. That person never appeared, only controlled the Edo Tensei to attack. And they knew us very well, maybe there's a connection to Akatsuki..."
Kisame didn't answer directly, only giving a vague assessment.
"Sounds interesting! Reviving all the Akatsuki members, knowing Obito's identity and abilities. It must be someone we know! Who?"
The main White Zetsu guessed mischievously, not feeling any danger.
The rolling White Zetsu added: "The Edo Tensei users seem to be only two people, the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama and Orochimaru..."
"Both are dead! Is it possible that Orochimaru is alive again?"
Black Zetsu immediately denied: "No! Orochimaru has a boastful nature. If it were him, he would have appeared and mocked Obito!"
Black Zetsu deeply understood the characters of important ninjas, the result of his thousands of years of experience.
"Then who else? Could it be a Konoha ninja?"
"Maybe Orochimaru's disciple?" Kisame gave a timely clue.
"Orochimaru's disciple? Sasuke? No... There seems to be someone named Kabuto? Maybe it's him?"
"It could be! He could learn Edo Tensei from Orochimaru, inherit information about Akatsuki, and likes to hide behind the scenes... Very likely!"
Black Zetsu muttered, becoming more and more convinced of his guess.
Out of all possibilities, Kabuto, who was close to Orochimaru, was the most likely suspect!
Meanwhile, Kabuto, who was busy stealing corpses, had no idea that he had been made a scapegoat.