Black Zetsu's combat abilities were not prominently displayed in the original story. This creature preferred scheming from the shadows, avoiding direct fights whenever possible. Even when it did act, it was usually to stall for time.
Aside from the moment it backstabbed Six Paths Madara in the end, Black Zetsu never fought with its full strength.
But Aoba knew that Black Zetsu was undoubtedly very powerful. However, it likely had some sort of fatal weakness.
Technically speaking, Black Zetsu and the Sage of Six Paths were brothers, theoretically on the same level of existence. Yet their actual combat strength was worlds apart.
Aoba had studied Black Zetsu extensively. He pieced together all the useful information from his memories of the original story.
Black Zetsu rarely appeared alone. Early on, it operated under the name "Zetsu" by merging with a White Zetsu, making most of its appearances in this hybrid form.
Aoba theorized that Kaguya had created Black Zetsu in haste before being sealed away, leaving it incomplete.
Judging by its amorphous, venom-like body, it didn't even have a proper physical form. Despite its high-level existence, it lacked a compatible body, which was why it had to attach itself to White Zetsu for mobility.
This characteristic, however, also gave Black Zetsu the ability to manipulate others. In the story, it controlled Obito at the critical moment to force him to use Rinne Rebirth to revive Madara. Now, it was fully controlling Obito's body, further proving this point.
Aoba speculated that Black Zetsu might be relatively safe in this parasitic state, potentially even unkillable. To truly destroy it, one would need to separate it from its host.
Black Zetsu was well aware of its advantages. Without Aoba, the other ninjas in Konoha weren't worth worrying about.
Exploiting the tampering Obito had done to the Nine-Tails years ago, Black Zetsu easily located Naruto.
A swirling vortex appeared in the air, and Black Zetsu materialized in front of Naruto. To its surprise, Naruto, along with the entire Team 7, seemed fully prepared, as if they had been expecting it.
A sliver of doubt crossed Black Zetsu's mind but was quickly dismissed. While Team 7 might be exceptional, it didn't consider them a threat.
As for the man standing beside them, clearly their teacher, he was no one of significance. Even if Tsunade herself were here, Black Zetsu wouldn't care, let alone some random Jonin.
"Is this the guy who came to capture me?" Naruto asked, his expression serious.
"That's right. If I'm not mistaken, this is also the one who orchestrated the Nine-Tails' attack years ago and caused your parents' deaths," Minato explained, his tone seemingly calm but laced with suppressed anger.
Strictly speaking, Obito's body was being controlled by Black Zetsu now. However, since the face was still Obito's, it hardly mattered, Obito's past crimes had been heavily influenced by Black Zetsu anyway.
"So, this is the one who killed my parents," Naruto said, his expression darkening.
"And the one pulling the strings behind the Uchiha's disgrace?" Sasuke added, his voice filled with anger. His grudge against Obito was personal, considering how Obito's actions during the Nine-Tails incident had worsened the Uchiha clan's predicament.
Karin opened her mouth but quickly realized she had no specific grudge against Black Zetsu. Still, she firmly stood behind her teammates. They were Team 7, and they would face this together.
However, Minato stepped forward, blocking Black Zetsu from reaching Naruto.
"Team 7, stand back. This opponent is beyond your abilities," Minato said firmly.
Minato was well aware of Black Zetsu's danger. The fact that Aoba had resurrected the four Hokage to deal with it was evidence enough of its threat.
A 'Sword of Love' kunai appeared in Minato's hand as he adopted an offensive stance.
Black Zetsu didn't sense anything unusual about Minato, only noting that his chakra was particularly strong. This man was likely a protector of the Jinchūriki. But no matter how skilled he was, Black Zetsu believed...
Before the thought could even fully form, the ninja in front of him vanished. A sharp pain pierced Black Zetsu's throat.
Although Black Zetsu had immediately activated its intangibility, Minato's speed was overwhelming. In an instant, his kunai had already struck.
The kunai sliced through Black Zetsu's throat, but the sensation in Minato's hand was unnervingly hollow. Though his strike had landed, the opponent showed no signs of dying.
Minato's expression darkened further. This was exactly what Aoba had warned him about—Black Zetsu's life force was far beyond that of ordinary beings.
"Flying Thunder God... when?" Black Zetsu was stunned. The attack had clearly been Flying Thunder God, but Minato hadn't thrown any kunai, he had simply appeared at Black Zetsu's side. Flying Thunder God wasn't supposed to work like that.
"No, wait... it's you!?" Black Zetsu's shock deepened as realization dawned. The mastery of Flying Thunder God, combined with the seal it sensed on Obito's body, meant the man before him could only be one person... Minato Namikaze.
Though alarmed, Black Zetsu didn't retreat. While Minato had defeated Obito years ago, Black Zetsu was not Obito.
It thought, He might have hurt me once, but it won't happen again...
Before the thought could finish, another sharp pain pierced Black Zetsu's back. A long sword had impaled his heart.
Black Zetsu quickly turned intangible again, shifting its position to avoid further damage. Looking down, it noticed a Flying Thunder God kunai embedded in the ground. Minato must have planted it during his earlier attack.
But this time, the attacker wasn't Minato.
Turning around, Black Zetsu saw another young ninja standing behind it, holding the sword that had just struck.
Just moments ago, Black Zetsu had been injured, and it was clear that the attack had been executed using Flying Thunder God.
"..."
Black Zetsu suddenly felt that there were far too many Flying Thunder God users in Konoha. Aoba Kamikawa was away, yet there were two others in the village, seemingly more proficient with the technique than Aoba himself.
For a brief moment, Black Zetsu even considered retreating.
Obito's right eye's Kamui had two primary functions. The first was intangibility, where the user's body entered the Kamui dimension while leaving a phantom in the real world. This allowed them to avoid any attack with near-instant activation. However, the drawback was that it didn't allow for long-distance movement.
In the story, Obito primarily used intangibility in combat. But when retreating or traveling, he utilized the second function, creating a spatial vortex to absorb his entire body along with any surrounding objects, into the Kamui dimension.
This method was the safest and most foolproof. Once successfully activated, no one in the shinobi world, except for Kakashi with his own Kamui, could harm him.
However, the second method had a significant weakness: it required a short amount of time to activate. While the time wasn't long, its success depended entirely on the opponent one was facing.
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Currently on Chapter 236 - The Divided Akatsuki