Chapter Seventy-Two: The Conspiracy of the Shinobi World

Orochimaru knew of Kaguya Otsutsuki, but he did not share his thoughts with Madara Uchiha. He was not especially clear about Kaguya’s life story either, and hoped to learn more. If he could uncover the origin and nature of the Divine Tree, that would be even better.

Orochimaru hid in the shadows, silently observing.

“Who is that?” Madara Uchiha, upon seeing Kaguya Otsutsuki, was puzzled. The white eyes she possessed reminded him of the Hyuga clan.

“And this tree, what is it?”

Madara took in both sights, and gradually, understanding dawned. This was the progenitor of chakra, Kaguya Otsutsuki. His subsequent investigations confirmed this.

Madara knew of Kaguya but was unfamiliar with the details of her life, and had no knowledge of Black Zetsu’s origin. Orochimaru watched with interest, sensing that Madara was on the verge of discovering how Black Zetsu came to be.

“This is getting interesting,” Orochimaru mused.

Black Zetsu was born of Kaguya Otsutsuki, yet Madara had always believed Black Zetsu was a manifestation of his own will, loyal only to him. How would he react upon learning the truth?

As events unfolded as expected, Kaguya Otsutsuki consumed the fruit of the Divine Tree, becoming the progenitor of chakra. The immense power within her led to the birth of two sons: Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki.

The former would become known as the Sage of Six Paths.

“The Sage of Six Paths…” Madara felt a deep resonance. The Sage would beget the lines of Indra and Asura, future ancestors of the Uchiha and Senju clans, whose destinies would be perpetually entwined.

It was around this time that the Rinnegan should have first appeared.

“Orochimaru,” Madara sought him out specifically, warning him not to interfere with history.

“I want to see these matters clearly.” Madara wished to understand both the Sage of Six Paths and the Rinnegan.

“Of course, I won’t meddle in history,” Orochimaru replied with a smile. He was waiting to see Madara’s reaction to the emergence of White Zetsu and Black Zetsu.

History advanced again, reaching the era of Kaguya Otsutsuki’s conflict with her two sons.

Then Madara witnessed the birth of White Zetsu.

“So White Zetsu is a product of the Infinite Tsukuyomi!”

Madara’s eyes widened; the three tomoe of his Sharingan spun wildly, his heart stirring with a tempest of anger.

He had always believed White Zetsu was a lifeform he had created by fusing the Ten-Tails’ husk with Wood Release, but it was actually the result of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

How could he have misunderstood so deeply?

Madara reflected on his own life, and the more he considered it, the more something felt wrong. He sensed a vast conspiracy enveloping him.

The Sage of Six Paths killed his brother, then used a talisman from the juvenile Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku to revive him, thereby awakening the Rinnegan.

“That part is true—at the moment of killing a loved one, the overwhelming emotion can open the Uchiha’s eyes, granting great ocular power,” Madara thought to himself.

Afterwards, the Sage and his brother sealed their mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki. At the moment of her sealing, Kaguya gave form to a third son—Black Zetsu.

Three people witnessed Black Zetsu’s birth, yet none intervened: Orochimaru, Madara Uchiha, and the Sage of Six Paths.

Orochimaru, concealed in the shadows, glanced at Madara and the Sage. The former’s face was calm, but the calmer he appeared, the angrier he was within—clearly, Madara had realized he had been manipulated by Black Zetsu.

The latter pretended not to notice. Orochimaru suddenly felt the Sage was exceedingly dangerous.

The process by which the Sage awakened his eyes was suspect: he killed his brother, revived him, and thus gained the Rinnegan. But since he knew his brother would survive, he had already calculated the outcome; any emotional upheaval would not be so great as to meet the conditions necessary for awakening.

Looking at the Uchiha clan as a whole, to awaken the eyes, true killing is required—or at least, the person must genuinely believe they have killed a loved one. The Sage did not fit this criterion.

“So what allowed the Sage of Six Paths to awaken his eyes?”

Considering that the Sage saw Black Zetsu and chose to ignore him, Orochimaru speculated that the Sage must have betrayed his own ninja path.

From that moment on, the Sage was no longer the bright and benevolent figure of legend.

The world’s story pressed on. Before his death, the Sage of Six Paths did four things: first, he lured his brother’s descendants away from Earth, sending them to the moon.

On Earth, only his brother could have posed a threat to him.

Second, the Sage split the Ten-Tails into nine tailed beasts, dispersing them across the world at random.

Third, he found the severed realm of the dead, and using the Rinnegan, remodeled it, restoring and reshaping some of its functions.

Fourth, he manipulated the chakra of his two sons, using the realm of the dead to bestow upon them the power of reincarnation, and secretly sowed discord between them.

Once these four acts were complete, the Sage seemingly died of old age, but in reality, he did not pass on; rather, his soul took residence within the realm of the dead.

Orochimaru witnessed all of this.

“It seems everything the Sage of Six Paths did was to deliberately incite war,” Orochimaru remarked.

At times, the world’s progression would accelerate abruptly, and Orochimaru could not see all the Sage’s actions—he could only surmise that the Sage wished for the world to remain in a constant state of war.

While Orochimaru observed the Sage, Madara was secretly watching Black Zetsu as well. He saw Black Zetsu instigate Indra against Asura, and observed the Sage’s machinations.

Even Black Zetsu himself was unknowingly being used by the Sage.

The world advanced again, and after several cycles, entered the era of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.

Hidden in the shadows, Madara saw, during his and Hashirama’s childhood, Black Zetsu possess adults and indoctrinate them both.

To young Madara, Black Zetsu preached that power and one’s brother were paramount; to young Hashirama, he preached that peace and one’s brother mattered most.

Then, from the shadows, he orchestrated events so that it was Hashirama’s brother who killed Madara’s brother.

“My Mangekyo Sharingan and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan—were they part of Black Zetsu’s design from the very beginning?”

Madara now understood that he and Hashirama were the reincarnations of Indra and Asura, possessing the potential to awaken the Rinnegan.

This, no doubt, was why Black Zetsu began plotting against them from such a young age.

“So the purpose of Black Zetsu was always to resurrect Kaguya Otsutsuki,” Madara realized.

The world progressed again, reaching the founding of Konoha. Young Madara was ostracized by the villagers and withdrew into the Uchiha clan, where he "coincidentally" discovered the ancestral stone tablet.

The tablet was inscribed with the history of the Uchiha and the source of their power, but the writing had already been altered by Black Zetsu, leading Madara astray.

“So, in the end, everything has been nothing but a series of conspiracies.”

In the shadows, Madara saw the vast web of schemes enveloping the world, the Uchiha, and the Senju. His expression grew ever more serene—the calmer he appeared, the more turbulent his heart became.

His ultimate plan, too, shifted quietly. No longer did he pursue the Eye of the Moon Plan; he now sought something else.

And he resolved that, should he survive and escape this world of deep waters, he would make Black Zetsu pay dearly.