A Curse Called Zetsu

My rewrite on the way Kaguya, Zetsu, and their part in the war could have gone -- First, my writing sucks, sorry. Especially dialogue.

Second, I am actually fine with Kaguya and Black Zetsu 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, it is the execution that has problems. I can say that with a lot of things across anime.

Third, this is my very basic concept, if you have problems with it, makes sense, this is just my idea as an amateur. If you like it, awesome, I did something right here.

Finally, if you like (or dislike) this enough to use it (or make fun of it) yourself, feel free, credit or no, this is just my somewhat rambling thoughts put to text.


The Curse of Hatred (aka What is a Zetsu?)

First, there was the Tree, a neutral entity that grew from the blood of countless fallen soldiers from humanities endless warring, and produced a single powerful Fruit. Then came the princess of another reality, who took the fruit of the Tree for herself, became a goddess of chakra, and ended the wars.

It came at a cost.

With the fruit's power, the cursed blood was awakened, and with it the Curse was born. The curse wasn't immediately effective, instead growing over time, building up darkness, jealousy, hatred and greed. When her children proved their mastery over the chakra they inherited from her, the Curse finally took over. Going insane over not having full control over chakra, the princess absorbed the Tree and become a demon, who attacked her own children and forced them to work together to stop her from ending humanity.

In the last moments before she was sealed away, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 escaped from her. Its own power gone, it hid itself away for centuries, until a climactic battle between two of the princess's descendants awoke it. A final fight between best friends turned enemies, with the loser barely escaping death's hand, the entity recognizes an echo of itself in the defeated one's cursed blood. Having sensed the location of its original body as soon as it awoke, it silently, subtly guided the dying man to the statue that once wasn't a statue, where he attached himself to it to survive. Experimenting with the statue and the genetic material of his former friend to enhance his own body, he fully awoke his own Curse of Hatred, having long ago been lost to its pull.

Upon awakening the lost Sage's power, the statue and the amalgamate beings tied to it revealed their power to him, though the dark being kept itself hidden. Further talks with these amalgams revealed the history of chakra, and the descendant began to form plans and shape events to set the world on the course to fulfill his new goal.

As his final act before the plan commences, the man leaves behind 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, which guides the mans successor in carrying out his plans.

Years later, the man's plans, silently influenced by one dark being, carried out by another, culminates in a war where the two dark beings finally meet, as a third being is slowly growing in the midst of the war.


"𝙒𝙝𝙤'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚?" the dark being called out, having sensed something appear at the edge of his awareness.

"𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖..." claimed an ancient-sounding voice from the shadows around the figure.

Before the first figure could respond, he was swallowed up by the shadows, his chakra and very being consumed, and assimilated.

"𝑭𝒊𝒏𝙖𝒍𝒍𝒚... 𝑴𝒐𝙩𝙝𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝙖𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝙞𝙩𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝙤𝙣𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝙤𝙪𝒈𝒉."


The Sharingan. One of the three great dojutsu of the ninja world. The kekkai Genkai that made the Uchiha clan so famous, and long lasting.

It is cursed. Always has been, probably always will be.

The Sharingan is awakened and matures by intense emotions. It evolves to the Mangekyo by the death of a loved one. It becomes Eternal by swapping eyes with a close relative who also has the Mangekyo. If it exposed to Six Paths chakra of some sort, it becomes the Rinnegan. But although only the fruit of the God Tree can grant the Rinne-Sharingan, the Rinnegan can be enhanced with a Sharingan's visual prowess through the Sage's power.

As soon as the Sharingan evolves to Mangekyo, the Curse of Hatred begins. The curse grows with the eyes, increasing the power of the host with it. Alongside the curse, the Mangekyo creates 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 within the soul of the Uchiha, something that grows and whispers the host's darkest desires back to them, getting stronger and more seperate the stronger the eyes, and the stronger the curse. When Eternal, the being becomes a conscious, silent entity. When a Sharingan becomes a Rinnegan, that 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 becomes seperate from its host, though still contained within.

That seperate 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 has a name. Zetsu. Some call it Black Zetsu.

In the history of the ninja world, only three Zetsu were ever formed. First, the Zetsu of Uchiha Madara, which guided Uchiha Obito in bringing about the Fourth Shinobi World War, and Madara's revival. The second was Otsusuki Kaguya's, which consumed Madara's Zetsu and succeeded in reviving his "Mother".


"It's all o-" suddenly, Madara screams in pain, clutching his head as he falls to his knees. His chest clenches, his heart starts beating faster and faster, and he hears whispers in his soul.

"𝒀𝙤𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝙙𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝙖𝙡𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝙞𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝙪𝒍𝒅 𝒖𝙨𝒆 𝒉𝙚𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝙬𝒆𝒓, 𝒅𝙞𝒅 𝒚𝙤𝒖?" From behind Madara walks the Zetsu-possessed Obito, chuckling as he approaches. He sets his hand on Madara's shaking shoulder, grin growing to an unsettling width.

"What... did you do?" asked Madara, gasping for breath. 'How could my will betray me?'

"𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝙙𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝙤 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝙩𝙝𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝒀𝙤𝒖 𝒏𝒂𝒊𝙫𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝙪𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝙝𝙖𝒕 𝒋𝙪𝙨𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝙖𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒘𝙚𝙧𝒆 '𝒔𝒕𝙧𝙤𝒏𝒈', 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒘𝙚𝙧𝒆 𝒂𝙗𝙡𝒆 𝒕𝙤 𝒉𝒂𝙣𝙙𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝙤𝙢𝒆 𝒐𝙛 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝙝𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝙬𝒆𝒓."

"Mother?" Madara can feel his own chakra begin consuming him, his eyelids starting to feel heavy.

"𝒀𝙤𝒖 𝒌𝙣𝙤𝒘 𝒘𝙝𝒐 𝑴𝒐𝙩𝙝𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝙨, 𝒉𝙚𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝙩𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝙤𝙡𝒅 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒍𝙤𝙣𝒈 𝒂𝙜𝒐, 𝒊𝙣 𝒕𝙝𝒆 𝒄𝙖𝙫𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝙚𝒅 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒕𝙤. 𝑵𝙤𝒕 𝒕𝙝𝙖𝒕 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝙡𝙞𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒘𝙚𝙧𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝙞𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝙚𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝙬𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."

Madara recalled the feeling of something calling out as he fled the battlefield where he lost to Hashirama, now connecting that it was not the Outer Paths Statue calling him. "Why.. did you call... me to that.. place? Why... pass yourself off... as my will?"

"𝒀𝙤𝒖 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒅𝙚𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑰 𝒘𝙖𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝙫𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝙤𝙪𝒓 𝒘𝙞𝙡𝒍. 𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝙧𝙚𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝙞𝒎 𝒇𝙧𝙤𝒎 𝒕𝙝𝒆 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝙖𝙨𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝙣𝙘𝒆 𝒉𝙚 𝒃𝒆𝙘𝙖𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝙚𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝙪𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝙫𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝙖𝙨𝒔 𝒎𝒚𝙨𝙚𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝙛𝒇 𝒂𝙨 𝒕𝙝𝒆 𝒘𝙞𝙡𝒍 𝒐𝙛 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝙚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝙞𝙠𝒆 𝒚𝙤𝒖. 𝑩𝙪𝒕 𝒚𝙤𝒖 𝒅𝙞𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝙡𝙡𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝙮 𝒑𝒍𝙖𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝙤 𝒗𝙚𝙧𝒚 𝒘𝙚𝙡𝒍!" At this, Zetsu starts laughing maniacally.

Madara's body started swelling up, his mind blacking out, Zetsu's laughter ringing in his ears. His last thought, 'I... should have been... the savior... not... like... this...'

Though moving into action once it began, neither Naruto or Sasuke were fast enough to stop Kaguya's rebirth. Though at first being unaware of what was happening, she instinctually stopped the brothers before they could harm her. Zetsu then abandoned Obito, rejoining with Kaguya's chakra, giving her all his memories of what he knew transpired since she was sealed away. This awakened her, though not completely, and drove her to aggression against those who would deny her the chakra she claimed as her own.

The battle that followed decided the fate of the world, and in the end Otsusuki Kaguya, Uchiha Madara, and their amalgam Zetsu were sealed away without their chakra, forever.


Almost as legendary as the battle against Kaguya, though some would say just as if not more important, the battle between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto shook the earth and once more reshaped the Valley of the End.

For this story, though, only one small, short moment matters. During their epic clash, they used most of their chakra to counter each other's ultimate attacks, and ended up falling to the ground and starting what amounted to a brawl. A little less than halfway through that brawl something odd happened.

Uchiha Sasuke had awoken the Rinnegan. With the Rinnegan and the Curse of Hatred, inevitably comes Zetsu.

Though the previous two Zetsus looked similar, they had differences, like how Madara's was near solid, only exposing his host's pupils, while Kaguya's revealed the whole eye and had something resembling a mouth. Sasuke's Zetsu looked far more unique than his two predecessors, and resembled something from Sasuke's past, something he and Naruto would both rather forget.

Sasuke's Zetsu took the form of a Curse Seal of Heaven, except interwoven by, what looked like, barely visible black threads. It also caused the outermost ring of his Rinnegan to turn black.

It took the form of the thing that truly set him on the path to follow his Curse of Hatred, even before the Curse had taken root. The thing that drove him to try and sever his bonds and caused the first real fight between Sasuke and Naruto in that same valley on that fateful day so long ago.

And so, the fight continued...


'The hell?' Naruto thought in confusion. 'Itachi got rid of the curse mark, why is it back?'

"That is not the creation of that snake." replied Kurama.

'Well what is it than?', asked Naruto, clashing kicks with Sasuke once more.

"Think, Naruto." Kurama berates him, "His Curse of Hatred that Itachi warned you about has awakened, at the same level as Madara and Kaguya."

'Well, so what?' Another clash, of fists this time. "It means he is too far gone, even Father could not save his own mother from that curse. You should end him."

'Like I care about some stupid curse, I said I would save him and I will, I won't go back on my word.' Naruto grins even as he gets launched back by a kick to the chest.

"I thought as much, which is why I have an idea. Its going to take all the chakra I will be able to give you, but I should be able to destroy that thing."

'But it's made of his chakra isn't it, couldn't that kill him?' Naruto gives Sasuke a strong headbutt as he is asking this.

"Once that thing took its current form, it became a new entity, so no harm will come to the Uchiha. Probably." 'Kurama!' Naruto shouts in exasperation. "Just grab onto him, you won't have much time once I give you this chakra."

With that, Naruto jumped back, and was surrounded by an aura of orange chakra, like he was once so long ago in his battle against Gaara. "Even when I destroy it, the Curse of Hatred won't just go away."

'That's fine by me. I'll break him from his curse, one way or another!' Dashing forward, Naruto tackles Sasuke to the ground reaching out and letting Kurama's chakra corrode the Zetsu into nothing. In return, Sasuke knees Naruto in the side to seperate them.

"What was that Naruto? Some attempt to 'free' me from my darkness? I chose this path, it isn't that easy to turn me from it."

"If it was that easy, I would have already brought you home. I just wanted to get rid of any distractions, Sasuke."


And with that last bit of dialogue, both shinobi charged the last of their reserves into their fists, setting themselves up for a final clash of jutsu, one full of their history and previous battles.

But that is a simplification, for it is not a clash so simply described. To do so does not give it justice.


This has been the story of the Zetsu, not living things in they way you and I are, but extensions of the hate-filled wills of those who got strong, incredibly so, at a cost.


"Talking" "Kurama Talking" "𝑲𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒂-𝒁𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒖 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈" "𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙖-𝙕𝙚𝙩𝙨𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜" "𝑭𝒖𝙨𝒆𝒅-𝒁𝒆𝙩𝒔𝒖 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝙠𝒊𝒏𝒈"

Sorry if it was a little off reading the Zetsu lines, I wanted a font/mixture of fonts that felt somewhat unnatural, like how I imagine an amalgamation of Zetsu would sound.

Thanks for reading.

- Zero