Deep within the dense forests of the ninja world, sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, breaking into scattered patches of light.
Uchiha Izumichi stood in the clearing wearing the dark Uchiha clan uniform, his fingers lightly rubbing the Flame Fan in his hand.
Suddenly...
"Fire Style: Multiple Great Fireball Technique!"
An elite Uchiha ninja rapidly formed hand seals with both hands.
Three blazing fireballs the size of basins roared forward with fierce wind, rushing straight toward Uchiha Izumichi with killing force. The scorching heat made the surrounding grass and trees curl and dry out.
"Come."
Uchiha Izumichi's expression did not change. His scarlet Sharingan did not move at all. His wrist suddenly flipped, placing the Flame Fan horizontally in front of him.
"Uchiha Rebound!"
As the low shout fell, the Flame Fan suddenly burst with dazzling white light, and an unmatched rebounding force exploded outward.
BOOM!!
The violent explosion shook the forest. The three Great Fireballs were reflected back exactly as they were, smashing straight toward that elite ninja. Flames and smoke instantly swallowed him.
When the smoke dispersed, the Uchiha elite was panting awkwardly, his hair scorched and his clothes torn.
"Clan leader! That thing the old gentleman gave you… it can actually reflect ninjutsu directly! That's completely against the heavens!"
The Uchiha elite stared wide-eyed, his face full of shock as he looked at the Flame Fan.
Uchiha Izumichi lowered his eyes and looked at the Flame Fan in his hand.
"Good thing. That old fellow really is a peerless master…"
Uchiha Izumichi's Sharingan glowed faintly, and a trace of wild joy curled at the corner of his mouth.
"I didn't expect that old man to have such a treasure. This thing can completely become a family heirloom of our Uchiha clan!"
The Uchiha elite stepped forward and said excitedly.
Uchiha Izumichi took a deep breath, his expression gloomy.
Izumichi slowly raised his head and looked toward the endless sky, waves of disbelief surging in his eyes.
At this moment, he was even more shocked about the old man's identity.
Not just because of the Flame Fan.
But also because of the matter regarding the tailed beasts.
It made Izumichi realize that in this world there might truly exist an invisible hand, a deep government secretly controlling the world…
In less than a month, the upheaval of the ninja world had completely overturned his understanding.
Those tailed beasts that were once regarded as ferocious monsters, hated and attacked by everyone, had overnight been worshiped as auspicious beasts and divine creatures.
They became protected animals that no one dared provoke. Every single capture operation was forced to stop.
All of this unbelievable change made him instantly lock onto that elderly man with an immortal-like bearing.
No need to guess. This was absolutely that old man's doing.
"Could it be… in the eyes of true powerhouses, we are nothing more than ants? The storms of the ninja world are only a corner of the Heavenly Palace being revealed?"
Uchiha Izumichi stared blankly at the sky. A layer of melancholy covered his scarlet Sharingan.
Only now did Izumichi realize that there were still many things in the world he did not know.
There were also many things his Sharingan could not see.
The other party had merely moved casually, yet rewrote the fate of the tailed beasts and stirred the entire structure of the ninja world.
That old man was absolutely the existence of guns, blades, and cannons of the ninja world.
There was no way around it. In Izumichi's eyes, Arisu was truly terrifying.
He had defeated him twice in sixty seconds, and Izumichi could not even see how it happened.
Then the event of the tailed beasts turning into auspicious beasts appeared afterward.
In Izumichi's eyes, Arisu was simply like, 'It wasn't that I was going the wrong way, but that the road itself had been built backward…'
The first day, because his pet Nine-Tails was killed by hunters.
The next day, the higher authorities directly issued "Document No. 1: Notice on Rectifying the Chaotic Situation of Randomly Hunting Tailed Beasts"...
This was simply the guns, blades, and cannons of the ninja world.
[Press the space bar twice and fly up directly.]
[Stick the major clan leaders of the ninja world into the ground and call them ginseng.]
[His methods are darker than the sky of the ninja world at four in the morning.]
[The moment he returns to Mount Myoboku he enters creation mode.]
[After leaving the ninja world, Arisu finally learns that killing people is illegal.]
[Going back to Mount Myoboku feels like returning to his own fief.]
———
[Consciousness Space]
In the next second, nine enormous phantom figures of different shapes slowly formed, floating in the center of the space.
The consciousness phantoms of the nine tailed beasts all stood together in this space.
"Sage Art: Nine Link Connection: Conference Technique."
A clear voice suddenly echoed through the void. The moment the words fell...
Arisu appeared.
Arisu smiled slightly. This was a technique he had created.
There was no need for the physical body to travel, no geographical limitation. As long as the technique was activated, the nine tailed beasts could all be pulled into this consciousness space, opening an exclusive "video conference" for them.
They could meet and gather anytime, anywhere.
Similar to the phantom meetings of the Akatsuki organization.
"Teacher!!"
The nine tailed beasts almost instantly connected to the consciousness link. Their spirit bodies trembled together as they all raised their eyes toward Arisu, their gazes full of undisguised admiration and joy.
"Hehehe, I suppose all of you have already felt the recent changes in the ninja world, right?"
Arisu looked at the excited nine tailed beasts in front of him, a gentle smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
"Teacher! Teacher is still the most awesome!"
"Now I'm directly being worshiped by humans in desert temples. I'm no longer the ferocious beast everyone disliked back then!", The One-Tail Shukaku said proudly.
"Teacher's methods are unmatched in this world."
"We nine tailed beasts have now transformed overnight into auspicious beings respected by everyone in the ninja world. It's all thanks to Teacher.", The Eight-Tails Gyuki spoke with a deep voice carrying laughter, its massive phantom nodding lightly.
"Hahaha! Teacher saw that I, Kurama, was being bullied, so he stepped in to change everything. You guys just happened to benefit from this great lord's glory!", The Nine-Tails Kurama raised its nine fox tails high and laughed arrogantly.
As soon as the words fell, the other eight tailed beasts rolled their eyes at the Nine-Tails together, their faces full of disdain and complaints.
The phantom of the demon cat Matatabi, the Two-Tails, curled her body slightly. Her soft and gentle voice carried full bashfulness as her shining eyes looked at Arisu.
"Teacher, you're so cool… For the sake of us few, you actually overturned the entire structure of the world… Teacher is really amazing…"
The other tailed beasts nodded in agreement. Their spirit bodies trembled as they shouted together, praising Arisu's heaven-reaching methods with deep admiration.
"Just small tricks…", Arisu smiled slightly while looking at Matatabi's face.
If he could not even protect his own disciples, then all his heaven-reaching cultivation would truly have been for nothing.
This could also be considered a huge change to the original story, allowing the nine tailed beasts to completely shed their terrifying image from the original plot.
With his guidance and the current situation, at least in the future the tailed beasts would not become ferocious monsters feared by everyone like in the original story.
———
Inside a Six Paths temple, two figures appeared.
"You've come…"
Uchiha Izumichi, wearing a cloak, looked calmly at the visitor.
"Izumichi, why did you call me here… it's not simply to reminisce about old times, is it?"
The visitor slowly removed his cloak, revealing the face of Senju Shuichi.
These two were the clan leaders of the Uchiha and Senju.
Senju Shuichi and Uchiha Izumichi.
They were also the reincarnations of Indra and Asura of this generation.
"I want to ask you to help me with something. Help me deal with an old man…"
"Or rather… the two of us will deal with him together."