While Izanami and her sisters captured fleeting, beautiful moments, far away in Amegakure—a village eternally shrouded in rainfall—a silent storm brewed within a fortress of steel.
Inside a dim chamber, lit only by flickering monitors and humming chakra threads, a figure stood before a swirling projection of thoughts—each color representing a mind linked across great distances.
"Sasori," came the calm, detached voice of Tendo Pain, "What is it?"
"Leader," the puppeteer responded, "Have you ever been to the Land of Rivers? Or… aside from your other five Paths, do you have any other clones?"
Tendo Pain's expression didn't shift. "Why do you ask?"
"Just answer me."
"No."
Sasori nodded slowly. "Then I believe you. But something strange happened."
His voice lowered. "Deidara and I encountered someone in the Land of Rivers. This man summoned a meteorite. He used Amenotejikara and Banshō Ten'in—the same techniques as you."
Tendo Pain's gaze sharpened, the smallest flicker of concern betraying his stoicism. "Who was he?"
"I don't know," Sasori admitted. "He wore a black robe, had long white hair, and a smooth, pure white mask—no eye holes. His Sensing abilities were absurd, like he could see without eyes."
"He approached us directly. First, he summoned a meteorite—probably just to show off. Then, he demanded I hand over my Puppet Technique and the method for creating Human Puppets. But he had no intention of killing us."
"So," Pain replied evenly, "you suspect I'm behind it?"
"I haven't ruled it out," Sasori said, his tone dry. He stared into Pain's Rinnegan and chuckled darkly. "Up until now, only you had such rule-breaking abilities. If it wasn't you… then someone else out there possesses eyes like yours."
He smirked. "Maybe this ninja world isn't as boring as I thought."
With that, Sasori's thought projection flickered and vanished.
Tendo Pain stood still for several long moments. Then, from beneath his cloak, his hand emerged—the one bearing the ring etched with the kanji for 'Zero.'
A faint glow shimmered from the ring.
Minutes later, a plant-like figure emerged from the floor, cloaked in black, his face split cleanly between black and white.
"Leader, what are your orders?" rasped Black Zetsu.
"Have your clones investigate a man," Pain said, recounting Sasori's encounter in full.
"Nani?!" White Zetsu exclaimed. "Someone else can use Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in?"
"It's unlikely to be a secret technique," Pain said calmly. "He wears a mask with no eye holes—not to show off his Sensing, but to hide his eyes. He was looking for Sasori specifically—for the Puppet Technique and the Human Puppet method."
"If the eyes behind that mask are like mine, then his true intent may be to recreate the Six Paths of Pain."
Tendo Pain's voice grew cold. "Find him. If he does possess the Rinnegan, he must be eliminated before he threatens my control over the Outer Path Demonic Statue."
Black and White Zetsu nodded, then melted back into the earth.
Half an hour later — Kamui Space
A warping ripple of space bent and folded as Black Zetsu met with Uchiha Obito in the void-like dimension of Kamui.
"A mysterious man using Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in?" Obito said, his one visible eye narrowing behind the mask. "Do you think it's possible those abilities can come from something other than the Rinnegan?"
"I think Nagato's analysis is solid," Black Zetsu replied darkly.
"So… someone stumbled across a lost Rinnegan," Obito mused. "Inherited it from a past age?"
Black Zetsu said nothing. But his silence was heavy.
He knew there shouldn't be another Rinnegan. He had spent centuries orchestrating events—manipulating the descendants of Ōtsutsuki Indra, guiding generations to produce the conditions necessary for Uchiha Madara to awaken the Rinnegan.
He was certain that Hagoromo had never passed down his eyes.
Had he done so, their power would have resurfaced long ago. Someone—anyone—would have used the Rinnegan over the course of millennia.
Yet now—with Amenotejikara and Attraction both manifesting—something had changed.
"This isn't just any secret technique," Black Zetsu thought grimly. "The moon in the sky was forged by Attraction."
The image burned in his mind—white hair, a mask without eyes, Sensing so powerful it replaced sight.
A theory began to crystallize.
The Moon…
Could this person be connected to Ōtsutsuki Hamura?
Had Hamura's eyes, long hidden, also awakened such power?
If so, then something far older—and far more dangerous—was beginning to stir.
He was born too late. By the time he descended into the world, his mother had already been sealed.
In a Ninja World basking in the illusion of peace, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo chose a path of repentance, traveling the land to guide humanity. Meanwhile, his brother Ōtsutsuki Hamura withdrew from worldly affairs—marrying, taking concubines, and nurturing the foundation of his own clan.
Black Zetsu, wary of both brothers, never dared to approach them too closely.
What he did learn was this: after Hagoromo relinquished the Ten-Tails and was no longer its jinchūriki, Hamura led a portion of their bloodline to the Moon. At first, the Earth and Moon clans maintained occasional contact. Thanks to this, Black Zetsu became aware of a critical truth—somewhere in the Ninja World, a space-time corridor exists, connecting the two realms.
But this pathway wasn't Hagoromo's creation—it was forged by Hamura.
Hamura's Byakugan could evolve, though not into the Rinnegan. What powers his unique dōjutsu possessed beyond the creation of space-time channels remained a mystery even to Black Zetsu.
Now, sensing that the Moon's descendants may once again be reaching out to Earth—and with a terrifying figure emerging who could use Amenotejikara, Banshō Ten'in, and even summon meteorites—Black Zetsu seethed.
Damn you, Hagoromo. Damn you, Hamura. After all these millennia, you still leave behind cursed legacies and hidden contingencies. Weren't Asura and Indra's reincarnations enough? What other backhands did you prepare?
He scowled inwardly, the implications weighing heavily on his mind.
"If that mysterious man truly possesses the Rinnegan," Black Zetsu muttered, "and is planning to recreate the Six Paths of Pain… then he'll need suitable bodies—ones with powerful bloodlines and Kekkei Genkai. Sasori's Human Puppet technique allows the preservation of both bloodline limits and jutsu from the subject's lifetime."
The pieces began falling into place.
After cursing the two ancient brothers yet again in silence, Black Zetsu turned to Obito.
"I'll have White Zetsu clones monitor the most powerful shinobi across the world. If that man resurfaces, you and Nagato will be the first to know."
"Good," Obito said with a nod.
Beyond that, they had few options.
The enemy was too cautious, too elusive. And that made him dangerous.
Flight, space-time displacement, gravity manipulation, meteorite summoning—even without confirmation of the Rinnegan, this man posed a dire threat. If such a being couldn't be brought under control, then he had to be eliminated.
Before he disrupted everything.
Before he became the storm that shattered their carefully laid plans.