Blown its cover?
Actually...
Black Zetsu should not feel emotions.
Because Black Zetsu was the will given birth to by Otsutsuki Kaguya so that she could resurrect herself, and its very existence served solely to bring Otsutsuki Kaguya back to this world.
However...
Right at this very moment...
Black Zetsu's feelings were somewhat exceptionally complicated.
Black Zetsu felt a mixture of sorrow and joy.
If one were to use terms like profound grief and extreme joy to describe Black Zetsu's emotional fluctuation at this time, it would even seem a bit too understated.
Although Black Zetsu knew it had always been deceiving Emiya Shihara, it was still deeply moved by Emiya Shihara, who even while failing still apologized to it as a companion.
Perhaps...
Was this what it felt like to be regarded as a companion?
Although Black Zetsu had always treated Emiya Shihara as its pawn and continuously deceived him, it knew that Emiya Shihara undoubtedly and sincerely regarded it as his companion.
The path to resurrecting Otsutsuki Kaguya was so lonely and long that Black Zetsu could not find a single person to walk it alongside; its deceptions had only ever been met with the sincerity of Emiya Shihara.
Emiya Shihara, an ancient person from antiquity who had already believed in the God Tree and the Goddess of the Rabbit Kaguya, appeared all the more precious in an era that had forgotten the God Tree and Kaguya!
Precious to the point...
Of being like a spark.
In this long, cold night lasting a millennium, this was the only spark that had ever made Black Zetsu feel warmth, and even the momentary flickering of the flame could stir its heart.
What a tremendous genius Emiya Shihara was, too!
Yet at this moment, he had become so dejected due to losing all hope of resurrecting Kaguya!
This kind of dejection...
Really should not appear on him.
The Emiya Shihara of ancient times was as almighty and powerful as could be, capable of rivaling gods with a mortal body. This genius had once nearly changed the world, single-handedly destroying everything left behind by the Sage of Six Paths!
As a result...
This genius who ought to have been proud...
Was now displaying a soul-crushed appearance.
Even while feeling utterly lost, he still had to apologize to his companion, Black Zetsu.
Because he believed that he could not resurrect Kaguya, that he could not change the world, and that he had failed Black Zetsu's expectations.
If his mother Kaguya knew of Emiya Shihara's experiences, the sentimental mother might perhaps shed tears for this innocent and pure person.
Of course.
Black Zetsu's heart was also filled with joy.
Because the thing that brought Emiya Shihara the most despair happened to be a trivial matter for it, and it could easily solve the difficult problems Emiya Shihara was facing!
"There is no need to despair over such minor issues..."
A strange smile could not help but appear on Black Zetsu's face, and it spoke in a hoarse voice to comfort Emiya Shihara, telling him that it could solve these problems itself.
"Actually, the answer you wish to find..."
"Has always been right by your side..."
Just as it finished saying these words...
Black Zetsu's heart skipped a violent beat.
No...
What nonsense was it spouting?
What on earth was it doing here!
It was supposed to be making the resurrected Emiya Shihara keep secrets in this era, so why did it come here and instead leak even more secrets to Emiya Shihara?
Although Emiya Shihara was indeed trustworthy, its own identity should forever remain the most critical secret; how could it have blurted it out under emotional agitation?
"..."
Emiya Shihara did not give Black Zetsu any chance to react. Hearing those words, he had already abruptly raised his head, looking at Black Zetsu with a face full of shock, staring in disbelief at this companion from over a thousand years ago!
"Black Zetsu, could it be that you..."
"..."
Black Zetsu had no time to think too much.
It couldn't even figure out who it should impersonate.
While mentally cursing itself for the leak, Black Zetsu tried to comfort itself with the thought that Emiya Shihara was trustworthy, and amidst this inner conflict, it blurted out its true identity.
"That's right..."
"I am the will of the Goddess of the Rabbit Kaguya."
After Black Zetsu uttered its true identity, its mood also completely turned to utter despair, just like Emiya Shihara's a moment ago.
It had no choice but to trust Emiya Shihara.
Just as Emiya Shihara, in the midst of despair, had no choice but to trust Asura.
Even if it regretted it...
It was already too late.
Black Zetsu could only continuously comfort itself in its heart, reflecting that it had already leaked too many secrets to Emiya Shihara, and had even exposed its desire to resurrect Kaguya.
Its true identity...
Perhaps Emiya Shihara might have guessed it one day...
Or perhaps Emiya Shihara, limited by human thinking, might not have guessed it.
However, the idea of wanting to resurrect Kaguya that it had previously exposed to Emiya Shihara was not much different from revealing its true identity.
It didn't matter if it said it out loud...
Emiya Shihara was trustworthy!
Emiya Shihara was definitely worthy of trust!
While regretting its impulsiveness, Black Zetsu continued to comfort itself; Emiya Shihara was simply too sincere, and there was truly no need for it to hide its identity any longer...
"No, wait, this..."
Emiya Shihara looked in disbelief at Black Zetsu, who had directly exposed its own identity, the expression on his face looking as though he had witnessed something utterly impossible in this world!
Wait...
What on earth are you doing?
I just wanted to casually string you along to gain your trust...
Why did you go and spill all your hidden cards?!
Had the time this fellow Black Zetsu spent living in this world for over a thousand years gone to waste? Why did it still seem just as naive and lacking in progress as it was a thousand years ago?
Was it really this easy to trick?
Emiya Shihara recalled his time in antiquity, when he went around shouting that he wanted to destroy the Ninjutsu Sect—which was fine in itself—only for this fellow Black Zetsu to later loudly insist that they had to destroy the Ninjutsu Sect, which actually resulted in the Ninjutsu Sect getting destroyed by him once in the end...
He had merely wanted to exploit Black Zetsu's desire to exact revenge on the Sage of Six Paths, casually shouting slogans to gain Black Zetsu's trust, and as a result, Black Zetsu was genuinely led astray and believed it...
He had falsely claimed devotion to the God Tree and used the matter of the Goddess of the Rabbit to lure Black Zetsu, and as a result, this fellow Black Zetsu even blurted out its intention to resurrect Kaguya, claiming that Chakra rightfully belonged to Kaguya...
And now...
He had just made up a few heartfelt words...
And Black Zetsu had gone and revealed its true identity once again.
Over a thousand years had passed!
How could this fellow Black Zetsu still be so easily deceived?
While inwardly mocking Black Zetsu, Emiya Shihara also harbored a slight suspicion: did he perhaps trick too many secrets out of Black Zetsu back in the day, to the extent that he was now tricking out Black Zetsu's very last bottom line...
Black Zetsu was simply too sincere...
To the point that he felt a little embarrassed himself.
Emiya Shihara could hardly even imagine what Black Zetsu's reaction would be like once it learned his true colors in the future...
In the future...
Its mood probably wouldn't be very good.
Right now...
Black Zetsu was still actively apologizing.
"I'm truly sorry..."
Black Zetsu was completely oblivious to the thoughts running through Emiya Shihara's head, and was still explaining the matter of hiding its identity: "For all this time, I've concealed my true identity..."
Yes.
Black Zetsu still needed to make a clear explanation.
Black Zetsu even needed to fabricate a story.
After all, it couldn't directly tell the complete truth about Otsutsuki Kaguya and the Sage of Six Paths having a falling out as mother and son; it could only find a way to cobble together a story that favored Otsutsuki Kaguya, because Emiya Shihara was an utterly kind and good person...
"No, wait..."
Emiya Shihara found it a bit difficult to bear Black Zetsu's apology.
He worried that if he accepted Black Zetsu's apology at this moment, it might seem a tiny bit excessive, and could potentially cause some overly strange shifts in Black Zetsu's mindset in the future.
However...
Emiya Shihara also realized another rather unfavorable problem.
Having always been sincere toward others in ancient times, he certainly wouldn't be able to immediately forgive Black Zetsu for hiding its true identity from him, even if Black Zetsu's identity was the will of the Goddess of the Rabbit in whom he believed...
To forgive Black Zetsu right away...
To accept Black Zetsu's identity directly...
That seemed far too likely to arouse Black Zetsu's suspicion.
He ought to appear bewildered and struggle for a while.
At the very least, he needed to put on a show of being unable to bear the shock brought by Black Zetsu's true identity, waiting for Black Zetsu to diligently plead with him by his side for forgiveness...
Only by doing this...
Would Black Zetsu trust him even more.
Because people always tend to believe what they fought hard to attain, rather than choosing to believe what someone handed to them directly.
Human-to-human communication was truly difficult.
Sometimes managing interpersonal relationships wasn't easy at all.
"Hold on a moment..."
Emiya Shihara waved his hand weakly toward Black Zetsu, as if his soul had suffered a tremendous shock.
"Black Zetsu..."
A look of wounded dejection surfaced on Emiya Shihara's face, as though he found it impossible to accept that a former companion had deceived him and kept such a startling identity hidden from him.
"I'm a bit... taken aback..."
"In short... let me think in peace for a moment..."
Act it out...
Just act it out a little...
Back in antiquity, Black Zetsu had already exposed pretty much everything in front of Weiyuan, having leaked its desire to resurrect Kaguya!