Back in the cave, the hooded men were patiently waiting for news about the member of the group who went for a short walk.
However, unlike before, they were now fully out in the open, revealing their true colors.
"He's taking too long, don't you think?" asked the hooded man with pointed rocks.
His appearance looked like that of a gargoyle, with wings and a tail, but reddish orange and he had pointy rocks sticking out of various parts of his body.
"Don't tell me you're worried about him? How sweet of you, Belmastos. Hihihi." said the hooded woman with pigtails.
Her appearance was that of a human teenager, with light blue-gray skin, dressing like a goth in a skirt and platform heels, but most notable was the large eye on her face.
"No way is that it, Harrqueens. He can be out for a week for all I care." said Belmastos with his arms crossed.
"You may look like you hate him, but I'm sure deep down, you have love for him." said the hooded man with buttons in his eyes.
He looked like a teddy bear, with buttons on his eyes and sharp claws on his paws and although his mouth was sewn shut, he could speak normally.
"You may not be wrong about that, Marbearous." said the short, hooded man.
His appearance was that of an egg with a small hole through which only yellow eyes could be seen and he could move about thanks to stout, monstrous legs that protruded from the egg.
Suddenly, Belmastos grabbed him by the top of the egg and lifted him to his height.
"You'd better not go that way, Standhells, or I'll make you come out of that shell." said Belmastos with a threatening tone.
"What do you think happened, Dunkino?" asked the fully cloaked hooded man.
His appearance was like that of a black-sheeted ghost with a pair of white eyes.
"There is only one possible explanation, Linfral." said the hooded man with the sword on his back who stood in front of the others.
He possessed pale skin pulling towards gray, with red colored eyes and whitish-blue hair, long on the back of his head and short spiky in the front. His clothing consisted of a blue robe with silver borders adorned with stars. On his back he carried a huge sword.
(For more information, check out Bellion from Nanatsu no Taizai).
"Our dear companion has passed away." said Dunkino with a smile.
"How are you so sure about that?" asked Standhells.
"I could feel his essence fading away. Which can only mean that he must have found someone strong enough to kill him." said Dunkino.
"Hmm. Serves him right for going around on his own." said Belmastos.
"Poor guy must have been pretty weak to have been killed by humans. Hihihi." said Harrqueens.
"Oh, what a terrible tragedy. Let our love take him to a better place." said Marbearous dramatically.
"What do we do now? With Arustis' death, our plans could become complicated. Not to mention that if indeed the humans of this world have been able to kill him, it must mean that they are stronger than us." said Belmastos.
"You're right." began Dunkino before crossing his arms and placing his hand on his chin. "Clearly we need a change of plans."
"Maybe I have a possible solution." said Linfral drawing the attention of the others.
"The suspense kills me. Please tell us what it is. Hihihi." said Harrqueens.
"You see. In my research on this world, I discovered something interesting." said Linfral.
"What is it about?" asked Standhells.
"A short time ago, this world suffered the so-called Fourth Great Ninja War." said Linfral.
"Hmm. It was to be expected from pathetic humans." said Belmastos.
"How much hate they have. It would be better to fill them with love until their death." said Marbearous.
"Do you know how it ended?" asked Dunkino.
"I only gathered rumors, as it was a very confidential matter, but from what I have gathered, it seems that, instead of fighting each other as in the previous wars, the ninjas fought against a common enemy." said Linfral.
"As I always say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend." said Dunkino.
"And what does that have to do with our situation?" asked Standhells.
"It turns out that gathering information wasn't the only thing I did. I was also experimenting a bit with my curse on this world, seeing how far I was capable of going." said Linfral.
"You mean we can travel between this world and ours? How fun! Hihihi." said Harrqueens.
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid traveling to our world is out of my reach. However, I was able to travel to other realities." said Linfral.
"What kind of realities?" asked Dunkino curiously.
"One was a volcanic zone, another was an ice zone, another was a huge desert, another was a place filled with acid, another was a zone with so much gravity that I was lucky to escape before it affected me too much, but that's when I found another reality that contained something that caught my attention." said Linfral.
"The what?" asked Marbearous.
"No. I found someone. Two people actually, and they were the only ones in that whole reality." said Linfral.
"And that's good for ...?" asked Standhells not seeing the point of his discovery.
"It would be better if you saw for yourselves." said Linfral.
"Sounds like a good idea to me." said Dunkino.
"Surely it will be someone to whom I can convey my love." said Marbearous.
"This had better not be a waste of your time." said Belmastos.
The demons approached the black phantom, who spread his black cloak until it covered them and then, shrunk until it disappeared.
Soon after, a huge black ball appeared in the middle of nowhere and then, the ball opened up revealing that the sphere was Linfral who exposed the rest of his guild mates.
The demons looked around to see that they were on a rocky terrain with a yellowish green sky.
"What's so special about this world? I don't notice any magic or chakra around." said Belmastos.
"Yeah, this world is boring. I want to go back to the old one." said Harrqueens with a pout and her arms crossed.
"Calm down, friends. The journey hasn't been in vain. There is indeed someone here. And it's someone very powerful." said Dunkino.
"Really? Where are they?" asked Standhells.
"There." said Dunkino pointing upwards.
The others turned their gaze upward to see that their leader was pointing to a huge moon.
"You say that person is in there?" asked Marbearous pointing curiously at the moon.
"Yes. It looks like they must have sealed him or something." said Dunkino.
"I told you it was something interesting." said Linfral.
"What good will it do us if it's sealed?" asked Belmastos.
"Certainly, but luckily…" began Dunkino before grabbing his sword. "It won't be for long. Destroyer Slash!" shouted Dunkino making a sweep with the sword, launching a wave of black energy.
Despite being twice as small as the moon and being a very long distance away, the wave not only reached the moon, but was able to make a cut that affected it completely, even splitting it in half.
The remains of the moon fell endlessly on the ground, even causing small tremors.
"Awesome! Do it again! Do it again!" exclaimed Harrqueens jumping up and down like a schoolgirl.
"It's certainly something to expect from our leader." said Belmastos.
"Well, let's go see who we've freed." said Dunkino before placing the sword on his back and moving forward with the others following him.
They advanced a couple of meters through the rubble of the moon when they finally found what they were looking for.
Lying on the ground was a woman with delicate white skin, very long hair that reached down to her feet, a pair of horns sticking out of her head and a pair of markings over her eyes. Her eyebrows were very short and thin, she wore red lipstick on her lips and very long nails with dark polish. She wore a high collared princess kimono adorned with gold and purple lines around the edges, as well as a large amount of tomoes running down the center and sleeves of the kimono.
Next to her was a sleeve of her kimono and coming out of it was a strange black substance with closed eyes and a toothy mouth.
"Wow. Who knew it was a locked up princess." said Dunkino without ever losing his smile.
"It's like a fairy tale, a fairy tale full of love." said Marbearous.
"Ugh. What's that thing next to her? It creeps me out." said Harrqueens pointing to the black substance sticking out of the loose sleeve.
"Now that I have her in front of me, I can see you were right, Dunkino. She possesses an awful lot of chakra. I'd venture to say she's almost on your level. No offense." said Belmastos.
"Don't worry, I noticed that too." said Dunkino.
"What should we do with her now?" asked Standhells.
"First we will wait for her to wake up, then I will ask her a simple question and, depending on what she answers, I will then decide what to do." said Dunkino.
"What are you going to ask her?" asked Linfral.
"You'll know when I do." said Dunkino.
After a couple of seconds of waiting, the first one to show signs of waking up was the strange black substance that groaned a little before opening his eyes.
"Am I… free?" the substance asked before looking up, only to see the demons looking at them. "Who the hell are you?" asked the substance defensively.
"Uh, what manners. Is this how you treat those who set you free?" asked Standhells.
"What? You… released us?" asked the substance in surprise.
"That's right. May I know who I'm talking to?" asked Dunkino.
"You may call me Black Zetsu." said the substance introducing himself.
"Well, Black Zetsu. How did you and that woman end up sealed on that moon?" asked Dunkino.
"You must be very powerful if you managed to break the seal easily." said Black Zetsu.
"Thank you for the compliment. Now, regarding the question…" began Dunkino.
"My mother and I were about to complete our goal when those meddling ninjas stopped us and sealed us again." said Black Zetsu frustrated at the defeat.
"Wait, is that woman your mother? Well I don't see the resemblance." said Harrqueens scratching her head in confusion.
"She isn't. I was born as a manifestation of her will when she was first sealed and for many years I was pulling the strings to create the events that would lead to her release." said Black Zetsu.
"Oh, how tender is the love a son feels for his mother." said Marbearous.
"Yes, but you ended up sealed in the end." said Linfral.
"You…" began Black Zetsu annoyed by the ghost demon's comment.
"Honestly, I feel sorry for you." said Dunkino, to the surprise of the others.
"Sorry?" asked Black Zetsu very confused.
"Yes. You were created as a mere puppet of that woman so that you would free her and fulfill her wishes. That's a very sad way to live." said Dunkino.
"He's right. We too were created to fulfill a person's wishes as if we were tools, but in the end, we rejected that duty to forge our own path, a path where we could do what we most desired." said Belmastos clenching his fist with a devilish grin.
"Exactly. All that time you could have fulfilled your own desires, but instead, you decided to follow your mother's advice like a baby who can't even walk. Frankly, you deserve more than that." said Dunkino.
Black Zetsu pondered what the demons said.
Because he was born of his mother's will, he thought of nothing but fulfilling his mission to free her, going so far as to manipulate people in the process to do his dirty work.
It would never have occurred to him to think of doing anything else, about doing what he wanted most.
However, he didn't know what he wanted.
Just then, they heard a female moan and they all turned their gaze to the woman who was beginning to wake up.
After a couple of groans, she sat up and rubbed her head.
"Mother, you woke up." said Black Zetsu.
As soon as she heard her 'son's' voice, the woman opened her eyes, only to be met with demons.
Soon after, she stood up quickly as she scowled at them.
"Who are you?" the woman asked.
"Mother, these are the ones who got us out of the seal." said Black Zetsu hoping his mother wouldn't attack them.
"Besides, it's rude to ask for our name without introducing yourself first, don't you think?" asked Dunkino.
Kaguya thought for a moment about attacking him for such a comment, but thought about what Black Zetsu said about them being the ones who freed her.
In fact, now that she was a little calmer, she could see that they weren't normal humans like the ones who resealed her in addition to the strange energy that was at a very high level, especially the one with the sword, which had a power level almost to her own.
Being cautious, she decided to fulfill his request.
"I am Kaguya Otsutsuki, goddess of the moon, original chakra carrier and mother of all ninjas." said Kaguya.
"Show-off." muttered Standhells.
"You greet, Kaguya Otsutsuki. I am Dunkino, master of the dark guild, Death Hand, and these are my companions. As you can see, we aren't humans, but demons, and we don't actually come from this world or the world you are originally from." said Dunkino.
"What does that mean?" asked Kaguya.
"You aren't the only one who possesses the ability to travel between dimensions or worlds. We come from a world where humans use magic instead of chakra. Although we use curses." said Dunkino continuing the explanation.
"If you are from another world, what did you come here to do? Why did you release me?" asked Kaguya.
"Well, the reason we released you was that we were curious as to who was inside that moon. And as for what we came here to do, the answer is simple. Domination." said Dunkino.
"Domination?" asked Kaguya.
"Given the situation in our world, things were going to be complicated for us. So we decided to look for another world to make our own, a world where we could do whatever we wanted, a utopia. That's when we found information about a portal to other worlds created by humans in ancient times. We went to investigate and, due to a couple of difficulties, we accidentally activated the portal, but, in the process, we ended up on the world you came from before." said Dunkino.
"Get to the damn point!" said Kaguya.
"You see, recently, one of our own fell in combat and for a moment I thought our plan to create a paradise for ourselves would be impossible to fulfill. At least until we found you. So, Kaguya Otsutsuki, goddess of the moon, original chakra carrier and mother of all ninjas, would you be interested in joining us and helping us create that world where you are totally free?" asked Dunkino extending his hand towards her.
Most of the demons expected Kaguya to accept the lead demon's deal, as it was a tempting offer.
It was even very tempting to Black Zetsu, who wanted his mother to accept the deal.
However, Kaguya pulled his hand away.
"I won't join you and your ridiculous utopia! That world is mine! All the chakra in that world belongs to me! And I won't consent to monsters like you standing in my way!" said Kaguya releasing some of her power, preparing to fight them, which the demons also did when they detected her intentions.
Suddenly…
Kaguya stopped releasing power and let out a gasp of pain.
When she looked down, her eyes widened as she saw that the cause was a black thorn that had stuck in her chest, what was worse, was that when she looked at the origin of the thorn, she discovered that it was attached to Black Zetsu, who had taken a humanoid form.
"You know, mother? These whom you call monsters have made me think twice about my actions in life." began Black Zetsu with a toothy grin. "I have always been fulfilling your will like a good son. Normally, when a son fulfills his mother's wish, he gets a reward, but as soon as I freed you, what did you give me? Nothing! To you I was nothing but a mere tool for your hunger for power."
At that moment, Kaguya began to feel immense pain and as she looked at the thorn, she discovered that a strange bluish energy was coming out of it, passing through the thorn and heading towards Black Zetsu.
"You may not accept Dunkino's offer, but I will. Because I've realized what I want and that utopia will give it to me."
"W-what do you want?" asked Kaguya groaning from the pain as she grew weaker and weaker.
"The same thing you've always wanted, mother. I want all the chakra in the world, just for myself! In order for me to fulfill that wish, I'll have to start with yours. How ironic, isn't it? You've always wanted to have your children's chakra and now it's your own child who wants to have yours. I guess that's what humans call karma." said Black Zetsu.
Kaguya's eyes widened in horror as she saw that her own 'child', the manifestation of her will, was betraying her.
Little by little, she was feeling her chakra being absorbed and it would only be a matter of time before she would be left with nothing, which would lead to her death.
That couldn't be her end, not after everything she had to go through, the betrayals she had to suffer and the years she was sealed, both the first and the second time.
As soon as she felt she didn't have much chakra left, she collapsed to the ground as she tried to stay awake despite the lack of strength.
She couldn't die there.
She had to escape somehow.
"Yomotsu Hirasaka!" shouted Kaguya using what little chakra she had left to open a hole beneath her through which she sank, managing to free herself from Black Zetsu's thorn before the hole closed.
"Damn. A little more and it would have sucked up all her chakra." said Black Zetsu.
"What was it that he did?" asked Linfral.
"It was a space-time jutsu that allows her to travel to any of her six dimensions and more. She could be anywhere." said Black Zetsu.
"It doesn't matter. With the amount you've left her, it's only a matter of time before she perishes." said Dunkino.
"I guess you're right." said Black Zetsu.
"I have to admit, you surprised me with that act." said Belmastos.
"Did you see her face? It was so funny. I would have loved to take a picture of her to remember her forever. Hihihi." said Harrqueens.
"The love a son felt for his mother ended up turning into hatred. How cruel." said Marbearous dramatically.
"I simply did what I should have done long ago. She was nothing but a relic of the past. People forgot about her as I went about writing history for her. Well now it is time for me to write my own history." said Black Zetsu.
"I am happy to hear you say that. Does that mean you will join us?" asked Dunkino.
"Of course. If we build that utopia, I can have all the chakra for myself, do what my mother never thought of doing." said Black Zetsu.
"What about the humans?" asked Standhells.
"You can do whatever you want with them. I only care about their chakra." said Black Zetsu.
"All right. So, Black Zetsu, welcome to Death Hand." said Dunkino.
"I will never forget what you have done for me. You helped me take the big step." said Black Zetsu.
"Thank you. And before we continue, there is one thing that must be done first." began Dunkino before turning his gaze to the gargoyle demon. "Belmastos, you know what to do."
"With pleasure." said Belmastos before approaching Black Zetsu and before he could ask, the demon placed his hand on his chest, causing a reddish aura to surround him.
"W-what is this?" asked Black Zetsu in confusion.
"My curse allows me to turn every being I touch or that touches me into a demon and given your hatred for your mother and your desire for power, you will make an excellent demon." said Belmastos.
Black Zetsu began to feel a transformation in his body. His fingers became sharp as claws, a tail ending in a triangle emerged from behind him, as did a pair of bat-like wings. Finally, a pair of horns emerged from his forehead.
Once the demonization was over, Belmastos separated from the demonized Black Zetsu.
"How are you feeling, Black Zetsu?" asked Dunkino.
"I feel better than ever, but please call me from now on… Dokuzetsu." said Dokuzetsu, Death Hand's new demon.
AN: What do you think about the addition of Kaguya and Black Zetsu... sorry, Dokuzetsu, to this story? Don't think you've seen the last of Kaguya. We'll see her again. Just wait until then.