Naruto: Paws and Whiskers-Chapter 339

"..."

Madara’s mouth twitched. He’d just finished warming up by fighting a bunch of grunts and was planning to properly beat these Kirigakure scum to vent his frustration, but in the blink of an eye, the biggest one had been slapped away.

Not just the Third Mizukage.

The Anbu ninjas who’d followed along, seeing their boss sent flying and facing a legendary figure who was one of the Two Fiends of the shinobi world, suspected to be Madara Uchiha, didn’t dare stay.

Stay for what? To die? The entire group had turned to flee, but two or three slower ones were quickly caught by Takeshi.

"T-Takeshi-sama."

The two captured Kirigakure Anbu ninjas swallowed hard, not daring to be disrespectful to Takeshi, and even less daring to look at the suspected Madara Uchiha not far away, the more you know, the faster you die.

"Meow~ Hold up. Go back and tell your Mizukage not to join every little commotion. Aren’t you afraid Madara will capture you and threaten to ransom you? If you’ve got money to burn, give it to me!"

Takeshi spoke earnestly. Ignoring the fact that he was a cat, it sounded somewhat reasonable, but considering his identity and position, these words really cut deep.

*Gulp.*

"Well..."

One of the two Anbu ninjas gulped, the other didn’t dare respond.

Pay ransom?

The root of Kirigakure’s current notoriety was none other than you, Black Cat, teaming up with Minato to publicly capture the Mizukage right in front of a crowd of Kirigakure shinobi, then broadcasting it to the world.

If Black Cat weren’t stronger than them, saying something like that would’ve gotten him beaten up long ago.

The Kirigakure Anbu ninjas quietly glanced at Madara in the distance.

Black Cat wouldn’t bring someone here to cause a scene just to put on a double act and deceive them. Besides, being able to kill their Kirigakure elite forces in mere seconds, the opponent’s strength far exceeded the Five Kage. To impersonate someone like Madara Uchiha would require tremendous power as well.

Not to mention...

No matter how you looked at his aura, coupled with that terrifying Demonic Statue that had appeared in the Land of Water before, the person before them didn’t seem like a fake.

"Meow? Didn’t hear me?"

"We heard, we heard! We’re leaving right away!"

’Can’t afford to provoke him, can’t afford to provoke him.’

When gods fight, mortals suffer. The ninja world didn’t have this saying, but everyone understood the sentiment. So the two who’d been forcibly kept behind quickly nodded in understanding, then ran off like the wind. They didn’t want to stay a moment longer, afraid that Madara or Takeshi might casually kill them on their way back.

Times were too dangerous in the ninja world.

Madara watched coldly from the side. After venting a bit, he had no desire to bother with these small fry. Since Takeshi seemed intent on stopping him, he simply let it be.

Once the Kirigakure shinobi left, Madara said calmly, "Let’s continue our earlier conversation."

"Meow~ Where were we? Oh right, we were talking about how Hashirama beat you up, and after one fight you even handed over the Nine-Tails?"

Deliberately provocative.

Madara’s expression remained blank. He wasn’t about to get angry at a cat.

But the people of Konoha were truly gossipy. This cat was only a year or two old at most, yet knew of such ancient events. Had that bastard Tobirama written these deeds into a diary?

When it came to Tobirama, he didn’t mind entertaining relatively malicious speculations.

He took a deep breath and said, "We were talking about the Otsutsuki Clan."

"Meow~ Right. The Otsutsuki. Their clan plants trees and causes trouble across the universe. The trees absorb a planet’s energy to bear fruit, and eating the fruit grants a kind of power."

Takeshi stopped playing coy.

"Chakra?"

Madara took a deep breath.

Except for the matter with Black Zetsu where his brain had short-circuited, Madara was quite intelligent otherwise. He quickly realized what Takeshi was getting at.

Chakra.

Of course.

Shinju energy was different from chakra, but Takeshi had no need to explain that clearly here. He was just trying to make Madara suspicious of Black Zetsu, he had no obligation to spell everything out.

"In my speculation, the Sage of Six Paths might be a member of the Otsutsuki Clan or one of their descendants."

"I see."

Madara nodded, his face showing some barely contained excitement.

The Otsutsuki Clan.

They sounded like worthy opponents to face. Who would have thought there were so many powerful enemies worth fighting beyond the shinobi world? It was truly exciting, but he quickly thought of another point,

If chakra required the Shinju tree to be born, then where was the Shinju tree in the shinobi world now?

Could it be? The image of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path instantly flashed through his mind. Although they were quite different, that thing did seem to have a wooden structure. According to the stone tablet, activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi would trap all shinobi in an illusion...

If the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was the Shinju tree, did that mean the essence of Infinite Tsukuyomi was to absorb chakra from other shinobi to recreate the Shinju tree?

Madara felt a chill run down his spine as he thought deeper. Then, considering why Takeshi mentioned this, he suddenly understood. According to the black cat’s meaning, Black Zetsu was a guide, a creation left behind by the Otsutsuki Clan, and had nothing to do with him.

’But where was the proof?’ He thought quickly, and finally arrived at a key point he had previously overlooked.

White Zetsu and Black Zetsu were actually two separate individuals, but his sensory abilities usually only detected the possessed White Zetsu. In other words, he lacked the ability to sense Black Zetsu.

When one trusts, details are overlooked, but once trust collapses, many details become suspicious points.

A thousand-mile dam collapses from an ant hole. Takeshi didn’t need to explain further.

"Black Zetsu is from the Otsutsuki Clan!"

"Meow! That’s just my personal speculation. If I’m wrong, it’s not my fault. So now, how about I send you to your death?"

Takeshi’s chakra had already recovered.

With a Sage Body Constitution, his recovery speed was much faster than Madara’s. He had already recovered to eighty or ninety percent. Combined with Six Paths Mode, sending Madara to his death wouldn’t be a problem.

If it had been a few seconds earlier, Madara wouldn’t have cared about life or death, but now...

"No, I can’t die yet!"

His face was expressionless.

Madara’s mood was filled with rage. Although many clues were still unclear, he faintly felt he had been deceived. So he had to investigate thoroughly. If he truly had been fooled, he would make Black Zetsu pay the price. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Driven by a strong will to survive, Madara quickly fled toward the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He knew he was no match for Takeshi, so he could only run.

But running alone wouldn’t work.

The black cat was very fast. Madara formed seals while retreating. However, the instant he escaped a certain range, enormous waves suddenly surged, and then a massive Water Prison silently emerged from the sea.

But Madara’s seals were fast. In that instant, a Shadow Clone took his place while he quietly escaped.

But it was useless.

In an instant, the black cat appeared beside him and kicked him back into the Water Prison with one foot.

"Troublesome, meow. I even had to use Flying Thunder God to come over and do it myself." Takeshi complained.

Afterward, he extended his claws, and one Torii gate after another fell from the sky onto Madara in the Water Prison. Madara had just broken free from the Water Prison when a Torii suppressed him. The spot where the Torii landed quickly turned into a thick layer of ice.

Within seconds, Madara was sealed.

"Meow~ That was much easier than I imagined. I’ll take you back to Konoha and let everyone have a look."

Madara was filled with fury, but by now he had been sealed, and even his consciousness was gradually fading. At most, it was just impotent rage.

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