178: Black Zetsu's backstab, variables in the script

The sky was leaden.

The two world-destroying meteorites were disintegrated into primordial dust by a silent beam of light, now transforming into a gray snowfall that covered the entire battlefield, drifting down rustlingly.

The tens of thousands of Ninja Allied Forces seemed to have been collectively subjected to a Body Immobilization Jutsu, each maintaining a posture of looking up at the sky, frozen in place, becoming a silent group of sculptures in this gray world.

The wind blew, stirring up the sand on the ground and the dust from the sky, hitting their faces, bringing a cold, unreal touch.

“We…”

Third Tsuchikage Onoki, this old man who had flown his entire life and seen countless storms, now had a voice as hoarse as a worn-out gear. He looked down at his hands, which could unleash Dust Release and decompose all things into atoms, then looked up at the steel fortress Naihe Bridge, which floated in the sky and was slowly retracting its world-destroying giant cannon.

A sense of powerlessness, more thorough than Dust Release decomposing all things, engulfed him entirely.

“Did we come here... to challenge gods with stones and shurikens?”

No one could answer this question.

Fourth Raikage, Lord Raikage, his tightly clenched fists had long since loosened, and the Lightning Release Chakra he was so proud of was completely silent within his body. He even felt that if he were to activate his Lightning Release Armor and charge over now, he would most likely be treated as a power bank with abnormal voltage and casually recycled by the opponent.

Fifth Generation Mizukage, Mei Terumī, the charm and confidence on her lips had vanished, replaced only by confusion towards the unknown power. Her Lava Release and Boil Release might be able to melt a mountain, but facing that steel city spanning the sky, it probably wouldn't even count as polishing for them.

God?

This word seemed so pale at this moment.

What they faced seemed to be an existence even more unreasonable than gods.

At the center of the battlefield, the heart of the gray dust.

Uchiha Madara's body swayed precariously.

His final trump card, the “Heavenly Obstacle Tremor Star” that overturned the chessboard, was gently “formatted” by the opponent in a way he couldn't comprehend.

Physics, thermodynamics, celestial mechanics...

Everything he was proud of—Ninjutsu, ocular Ninjutsu, Sage Mode, life force—was condemned to death in these three cruel “make-up exams.”

He lost.

No, this couldn't even be called losing.

It was like a martial arts alliance leader who had studied blades, spears, swords, and halberds his entire life, charging into battle, only to find his opponent flying an interstellar battleship, discussing the power of warp drives.

From beginning to end, they were not on the same dimension.

“Ha…”

Madara let out an inexplicable gasp. The light in his Rinnegan dimmed, the Three Tomoe slowly dissipated, and finally, his eyes returned to ordinary black pupils.

He gave up resisting, and he gave up thinking.

All his pride, all his ambition, in the face of this absolute, insurmountable technological gap, turned into the dust falling from the sky, ridiculous and meaningless.

Just as Uchiha Madara's consciousness was about to completely sink into darkness, losing even the strength to stand.

A sudden change occurred!

Hiss!

A section of pure black substance, as if condensed from pure malice, suddenly shot out from his shadow beneath his feet without warning, piercing his heart with precise accuracy!

Uchiha Madara's body trembled violently. He lowered his head, looking at the black rod protruding from his chest, a final trace of bewilderment flashing in his eyes.

Immediately after, a muddy black substance rapidly spread along the black rod, like living oil, quickly enveloping his entire body.

“Hahahahaha! It succeeded! It finally succeeded!”

A sharp, distorted voice filled with ecstatic joy, echoed from within the black substance.

Black Zetsu.

This being, who had lurked for a thousand years, considered himself the weaver of history, and the ultimate schemer of the Ninja World, finally awaited what he believed to be the most perfect moment.

“My script is the most perfect script!”

Black Zetsu's voice was filled with the excitement and fanaticism suppressed for a thousand years, “Uchiha Madara, you are merely the most important chess piece for mother’s revival! Your body, your power, everything about you, will become the vessel to welcome mother’s return!”

The black substance writhed madly, attempting to completely devour Madara's body, transforming him into a breeding ground for the revival of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.

“Mother! Your era is finally returning!”

It shrieked ecstatically, declaring its victory to this world, to its only “God.”

However, its ecstasy lasted less than three seconds.

A lazy, slightly mocking voice, as if commenting on a poor stage play, drifted down from the floating fortress, Naihe Bridge.

“The script is well-acted, and the lines are passionate. But unfortunately, you are just an NPC chosen by me, responsible for activating a hidden program.”

Black Zetsu's movements stopped abruptly.

Its body, made of pure will, for the first time, felt an emotion called “stiffness.”

NPC?

What is that?

“Wh-who are you?” Black Zetsu shrieked, suddenly looking up, staring intently at the giant floating fortress.

“Don't be nervous.” Tang Yan's voice remained calm, as if he were talking to a temperamental artificial intelligence, “Let me introduce myself, Tang Yan, the new administrator of this server.”

“I've been waiting for you for a long time, the ‘Kaguya Will Proxy’ program. No, perhaps calling you ‘Black Zetsu’ is more intimate.”

“You… how do you know…” For the first time, Black Zetsu's voice carried horror.

Its existence was the deepest secret of the Ninja World, a shadow that even the Six Paths Sage had not fully grasped. How could this guy, who appeared out of nowhere, know its true name!

An unprecedented, bone-deep fear spread wildly through Black Zetsu's will like a virus.

“Oh, that.” Tang Yan's voice carried a hint of “oh, so that's what you're concerned about” realization, “When my All Things Creation Box scanned the underlying data of this world, it discovered a very interesting, redundant backdoor program that had been lurking for thousands of years. The activation code is ‘Infinite Tsukuyomi,’ and the ultimate goal is to tamper with all user data on the server and restart the physical hardware, ‘God Tree.’”

“I originally wanted to delete it directly, but the report showed that deleting this backdoor would activate a more troublesome external attack program called ‘Ōtsutsuki Main Family.’ So I thought about it and decided to let you run it first so I could fully collect the data model of the final BOSS.”

Tang Yan's voice paused, as if he was choosing his words, and finally spoke with a mischievous, concerned tone:

“So, thank you for your hard work, Black Zetsu. I was waiting for this very moment when you activate the final BOSS.”

“…”

Black Zetsu crashed completely.

Its thousand-year-long scheme it was so proud of, its self-proclaimed role as the historical manipulator, was casually dismantled by the other party into “backdoor program,” “user data,” “server,” “final BOSS”...

It wasn't a player.

It wasn't even a chess piece.

It was just a… BUG waiting to be observed, data collected, and then casually cleaned up by the administrator.

A fear deeper than death, named “nihilism,” seized its entire will.

Just then, among the ten god-like puppets below, the one completely black, as if cast from ominousness and malice, the Netherworld, slowly took a step.

“Click.”

The crisp sound of joints turning was like the footsteps of the Shinigami.

Tang Yan's voice sounded again, this time with an undeniable command.

“Netherworld, execute the ‘Final Backup Before Formatting’ program. Target: Ōtsutsuki Kaguya Will Remnant. I want all her data, every line of code from her birth to the present.”