Seeing the human who had suddenly appeared on its body, the Nine-Tails twisted its head, cold fury burning in its vertical pupils.
It did not attack immediately, because it saw a pair of eerie crimson eyes.
Eyes that closely resembled those of the man who had once brought it endless humiliation!
"I'm just someone whose goals currently align with yours."
After responding flatly, the Spiral Mask man raised his hand and pointed toward Konoha Village.
"Use what little Chakra remains in your body to bombard Konoha Village with a Tailed Beast Bomb."
"The shinobi will dodge, but those buildings won't."
The Nine-Tails looked at the Spiral Mask man on its shoulder and asked curiously, "A human actually choosing to help a Tailed Beast—do you hate them that much?"
"Hate?"
The Spiral Mask man shook his head. "Rather than hate, I'd say they're simply not to my liking."
Hearing this, the Nine-Tails suddenly burst into laughter: "Ha ha ha ha ha...
Interesting. Then this old one shall grant your wish."
A Tailed Beast's Chakra was not infinite—it was merely the illusion created by massive reserves and extremely fast recovery.
After continuous high-intensity combat, even a Tailed Beast needed time to recover Chakra, stamina, and energy...
Combined with the suppression of sealing jutsu, the time it could hold out was truly limited.
"Everyone look—who's that standing on the Nine-Tails' shoulder?"
"Don't know. A spiral mask...
Strange outfit. Never seen it before."
"The Nine-Tails seems to have stopped. What's going on?"
"Could it be..."
Everyone's eyes turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen in unison, but his face showed only confusion.
He couldn't figure out what was happening either.
This suddenly appearing person—what method had he used to make even the Nine-Tails quiet down...
Was he enemy or friend?
Soon, the Nine-Tails' actions gave everyone their answer.
It suddenly changed direction, turning its body to face Konoha Village directly.
Raising its head, a massive Tailed Beast Bomb rapidly condensed in the air, its aura of destruction spreading continuously.
Everyone, including Sarutobi Hiruzen, paled.
A Tailed Beast Bomb!
And in that direction...
"Not good—stop it!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen roared, and the surrounding Konoha shinobi snapped into action.
If that enormous Tailed Beast Bomb exploded inside the village, everything would be finished!
In an instant, everyone frantically circulated the Chakra in their bodies, attempting to draw the Nine-Tails away from the village as they had before.
But this time, the Nine-Tails completely ignored the Konoha shinobi's attacks.
Finally...
Under everyone's despairing gaze, the massive Tailed Beast Bomb whipped up violent gusts of wind and hurtled toward Konoha Village.
An enormous sphere of light rose from nothing, and the earth shook violently.
People could see that even the space around the light sphere seemed to distort.
Only after dozens of seconds did the tremendous roar reach them from the distance.
"Such expressions truly bring me pleasure..."
Watching the Konoha shinobi below display anger, unwillingness, fear, despair, and grief, the Nine-Tails revealed a trace of smugness.
The next second, its massive form vanished, leaving only the unconscious Namikaze Minato lying where he was.
"Catch that masked bastard!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen snarled through gritted teeth.
It must have been that bastard's suggestion that made the Nine-Tails retarget the village.
Whoever he was, he absolutely could not be allowed to escape.
Seeing the Konoha shinobi closing in, the Spiral Mask man suddenly clapped his hands together, and a low voice rang in everyone's ears:
"Secret Technique!!!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the ANBU immediately halted, watching the mysterious man warily.
Anyone who could make the Nine-Tails obediently listen was absolutely not to be underestimated.
The next second, the masked man's voice suddenly turned mocking: "Shadow Clone Jutsu—Release!"
Poof!
As white smoke dispersed in midair, the faces of Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others looked as if they'd eaten shit.
They'd been played!
Atop the Hokage Rock, standing on Senju Tobirama's head, Uchiha Yuzuru looked down at the Konoha villagers crying below.
After deliberately letting those Konoha shinobi escape last time, he had used Kamui to infiltrate.
Originally, he'd planned to use the Mangekyo Sharingan's power to make Uzumaki Mito go berserk, but after sensing her dwindling life force, he changed his plan.
Rather than waste ocular power, he'd quietly wait a few days.
Without Uzumaki Kushina, Konoha had no one who could perfectly suppress the complete Nine-Tails.
Events unfolded as he'd predicted—the moment Uzumaki Mito died, the Nine-Tails broke through the seal.
Nearly a thousand shinobi dead, close to a third of the area reduced to rubble, countless civilians left homeless, property losses too staggering to calculate...
He wondered if they now recognized some of their mistakes.
Living in a village built by the Uchiha clan, yet never truly accepting the Uchiha people.
Not only showing no gratitude for the Uchiha's contributions to Konoha, but viewing them as a destabilizing element.
Ostracism, surveillance, slander...
If that was how it was, then he'd use facts to prove it...
Who had earned them the right to enjoy this fertile land beneath their feet!
The sun blazed overhead.
The bitter wind blew ceaselessly. Konoha's people huddled in the underground shelter, their expressions somewhat numb.
The Nine-Tails rampage in the early morning hours had cost countless lives.
The homes of many had been directly reduced to rubble.
For the villagers of Konoha, whose economy had been in decline since the Uchiha clan's departure, this was no different from a bolt from the blue.
Perhaps they'd truly end up homeless on the streets.
Despair spread through the crowd; the entire underground shelter was oppressively lifeless.
Footsteps sounded. Dozens of extremely exhausted, dust-covered shinobi entered, exchanged words with those they were relieving, then collapsed directly onto the ground.
"I'm dead tired. The Nine-Tails' power is truly terrifying. Just looking at those chaotic ruins, you can imagine how horrifying the Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion must have been."
"Why do we make the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki live in the village? If we didn't have the Nine-Tails, we wouldn't have lost so many people!"
"No choice. Other villages all have Tailed Beasts. If we alone didn't have such a strategic weapon, we'd definitely be at a disadvantage."
"True...
Other villages' situations are probably no different from ours. Possessing a Tailed Beast's power means bearing the corresponding risks."
Hearing their discussion, a low voice spoke up: "No, at least Kumogakure isn't like that."
Everyone turned. One person asked curiously, "Toru, why do you say that?"
"Because I've seen it with my own eyes!"
Harada Toru said through gritted teeth, "Not long ago, I was on a mission outside and encountered Kumogakure's Jinchuriki."
"That guy could freely use the Tailed Beast's power!"
"What?!"
Harada Toru's words left everyone stunned, mouths agape. The previously quiet shelter grew chaotic.
Everyone pressed toward Harada Toru's direction, curiously eyeing the casualty with his head wrapped in bandages.
"My comrade died at the hands of Kumogakure's Jinchuriki, so I'm absolutely certain about this."
"That guy used the Tailed Beast's tails and blocked all our attacks."
As scenes of his comrade's gruesome death flashed through his mind, Harada Toru's expression turned grief-stricken and furious: "If not for Lord Jiraiya, I'd probably have died at his hands too."
"But Tailed Beasts are such savage things—they don't seem like they'd willingly lend humans their power, right?"
Seeing everyone's doubtful looks, Tachibana Hikoya and Yamada Koji sighed and stepped forward: "Whether you believe it or not, we saw this with our own eyes. Lord Jiraiya can testify as well."
"Actually, Hojo Shinroku also knows about this, but he died last night at the Nine-Tails' hands."
Hearing the three men invoke Jiraiya's name, the crowd's doubts evaporated.
With that great man's prestige and position, no one would lie using his name.
"I'm so jealous..."
Someone said with a bitter laugh, "If our Jinchuriki could do what Kumogakure's Jinchuriki does, we wouldn't have suffered this pain."
"Exactly..."
Harada Toru suddenly shouted, "That's what infuriates me!"
His sudden fury left many bewildered.
Even if Kumogakure had a perfect Jinchuriki, wasn't that just a special case? For most shinobi villages, being troubled by Jinchuriki rampages was the norm—what was there to be angry about?
Perhaps the death of his comrade had shocked him too deeply...
Only Tachibana Hikoya and Yamada Koji could somewhat understand Harada Toru's feelings.
"Toru, maybe you should get some sleep..."
"I'm perfectly lucid."
Harada Toru snorted coldly and addressed everyone's gaze: "You must all be wondering why I'm so angry, right?"
"Because our Konoha Village could have had a perfect Jinchuriki just like Kumogakure!"
"Huh?!"
After hearing Harada Toru's words, everyone present gaped in astonishment.
"Yeah, what do you mean 'we could have had a perfect Jinchuriki too'?"
"Everyone be quiet—those of us in back can't hear anything."
To let everyone hear clearly, Harada Toru stood up and shouted at maximum volume: "Because the reason Kumogakure has a perfect Jinchuriki is that the Uchiha clan's Sharingan helps suppress it!"
"Everyone should know this, right?"
"Back then, Uchiha Madara used the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails and attack Konoha!"
"The Sharingan's power naturally counters Tailed Beasts."
"The treatment that should have been ours was used by those Kumogakure bastards as bragging rights, using the Tailed Beast's overwhelming power to kill my comrade..."
"And now even the village has been destroyed beyond recognition by a Tailed Beast."
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