The Akatsuki is filled with nothing but strange, quirky, and powerful shinobi. Most of them are extremely dangerous criminals who possess unique Jutsu that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. One of the most mysterious members of the Akatsuki is a man named Zetsu. We rarely see him fight in the series, but based on his interaction with the other members, we can surmise that he is a highly important member. It’s not even an exaggeration to say that he is one of the higher ups in the organization.
What most people may not realize, however, is the fact that Zetsu is actually not a single person. He’s not even a human being at all. The Akatsuki’s member named Zetsu is actually two entities consisting of the White Zetsu, and the Black Zetsu. Furthermore, both of them have their own unique life stories to tell. So with that in mind, here’s everything that you need to know about the White and Black Zetsu.
The Story of Zetsu of Akatsuki
Before we talk about the two Zetsus, let’s briefly touch upon the original Zetsu, the Akatsuki member, that we have known and seen for a long time. Unlike the other members that usually move as a pair, Zetsu often works alone. And as mentioned above, he rarely engages in an open battle. On the other hand, he is a master in both reconnaissance, and information gathering.
Zetsu has the ability to phase through the ground, the trees, or any kind of solid objects. This unique ability allows Zetsu to sneak into all kinds of places unnoticed, even by the best sensor shinobi in the world. The best example for his superb infiltration ability is when Zetsu manages to sneak into the meeting room during the Five Kage Summit, undetected by every expert shinobis in the room.
Just like any other Akatsuki’s members, Zetsu also moves according to Pain’s direction. Other than his main recon and information gathering mission, Pain often sends Zetsu on an errand to send and receive messages and information to and from the other Akatsuki members. His unique ability makes him the perfect person for the job. As a matter of fact, the other members of the Akatsuki rely heavily on Zetsu to securely transport important documents or items to each other.
The Story of The Black Zetsu
Black Zetsu is actually one of the oldest entities in Naruto. After all, he is actually the manifestation of Kaguya Otsutsuki’s dying will. When Kaguya’s son, Hagoromo and Hamura’s Otsutsuki, managed to seal her, she unconsciously created Black Zetsu with the sole purpose of resurrecting her back to life. And that is what Black Zetsu has been doing for the past thousands of years. However, despite being created by a pure blood Otsutsuki, Black Zetsu doesn’t really have any notable physical strength to speak of. What he excels in, however, is in crafting a complex and intricate strategy that takes an incredibly long time to bear fruit.
Black Zetsu knows that he won’t be able to affect Kaguya’s son, so he decided to latch onto her grandson instead. When Hagoromo, the legendary sage of the sixth path, appointed his youngest son, Ashura, as his heir, Black Zetsu noticed a dark cloud within the heart of Hagoromo’s oldest son, Indra. So he decided to latch onto Indra and his descendants, the Uchiha. Throughout the years, he continuously influences the clan and nudges them into the path that will enable him to resurrect Kaguya.
His biggest and most sinister achievement is manipulating the information regarding the Infinite Tsukuyomi that is written on the Uchiha’s sacred stone tablet. Believing the content of the tablet, Madara Uchiha, the strongest Uchiha in history, begins to craft a plan to execute the Infinite Tsukuyomi in order to create his dream world, not knowing that it is actually the key to resurrect Kaguya.
Noticing this exciting development, Black Zetsu decided to help Madara and pretend to be the manifestation of his will instead. After that, Madara orders Zetsu to help Tobi in his attempt to influence Nagato to create an organization consisting of powerful shinobi in order to hunt the Tailed Beast, which is a crucial part of resurrecting Kaguya. And that is how Black Zetsu becomes a member of the Akatsuki, while actually pulling the strings behind the shadow.
The Story of The White Zetsu
Right before Kaguya Otsutsuki was sealed by his sons, she managed to cast the infinite tsukuyomi, and captured lots of people into the God’s tree. When Kaguya was finally sealed, those humans were stored within the Gedo statue, slowly turning into inhuman creatures over the course of the centuries. Thanks to Black Zetsu’s influence and direction, Madara Uchiha eventually managed to summon the Gedo statue, and infused Hashirama Senju’s DNA into it, mixing the two ancient bloodlines together.
As a reaction to that mix, those human’s corpse suddenly appear out of the Gedo Statue as the White Zetsus. These creatures are somewhat sentient and also have a personality of their own, but it’s unclear whether they have any ambition or free will. One thing for sure, they are under the control of Madara, who gives the reign to Tobi. Furthermore, since White Zetsu has Hashirama’s DNA inside him, he gains the ability to manipulate the wood element, which is one of the things that allow him to phase through solid objects like woods, dirt, rocks, and more.
Before he loses his life, Madara merges Black Zetsu into the right side of a White Zetsu, and thus becoming the individual known as Zetsu of the Akatsuki. Thanks to that, the cunning Black Zetsu finally gained a rather powerful physical body. He no longer needs to latch himself onto other human beings. At last, he can truly move wherever he wants and execute his nefarious plans however he sees fit, while staying absolutely undetectable.