"Hehe, Mr. Arisu, you still have time to run away now. We'll close our eyes and count for ten seconds."
The leading Mist Jonin let out a strange laugh, his tone carrying deliberate mockery.
"Yeah, yeah. You're Konoha's number one genius. We don't want to bully you either," another Mist ninja chimed in.
Looking at these people who were too deep into their act, Arisu's face immediately darkened. His tone was calm but carried unquestionable pressure.
"You little brats, don't force this old man to log into his main account."
As soon as the words fell, the Mist shinobi who had been grinning moments ago instantly changed expressions and bowed in unison.
"It's nice to meet you Great Immortal!"
"It's nice to meet you Great Immortal!"
"It's nice to meet you Great Immortal!"
The neat shouts echoed through the forest.
These so-called Mist shinobi were naturally all transformed White Zetsu clones.
Arisu nodded lightly.
At this time, the Mist Village was deeply trapped in internal conflict. The shadow of the Bloody Mist rule covered the whole village, and they simply could not spare many troops to send toward the Land of Whirlpools. At most, they could only send scattered squads.
And these "Mist shinobi" appearing here had all been arranged by Arisu in advance.
"Did you finish what I told you to do?", Arisu got straight to the point.
The leading White Zetsu immediately lowered his head respectfully.
"Reporting to Great Immortal, it has already been completed."
"All Uzumaki clan infants have been gathered. As for Kushina, whose identity is special, we followed your orders and did not touch her."
Arisu slightly nodded, revealing a trace of satisfaction.
He had originally planned to select a group of babies with Uzumaki bloodlines and bring them back to Mount Myoboku for training, letting them grow up together with the Hyuga clan children.
As for those who were not selected, let them rest in the Pure Land.
Arisu suddenly lifted his chin without turning around, his gaze lightly sweeping toward the grass behind him.
"Come out."
The White Zetsus turned around in confusion.
Before the words even finished, a Mount Myoboku toad hopped out from the grass, trembling in fright.
"Great Immortal, wait! Please hear my explanation!" the toad quickly shouted.
Arisu slightly raised a brow, "Why are you here?"
"Lord Jiraiya asked me to secretly follow you!", The toad hurriedly explained.
"He said you've been acting a little strange lately. I originally wanted to report this matter to you first, but you discovered me as soon as I arrived."
"Please punish me, Great Immortal!"
Arisu did not care after hearing this and merely waved his hand.
"It's fine. Go back and tell him everything is normal."
Jiraiya and the toads of Mount Myoboku were all on his side.
"Understood!", The Mount Myoboku toad immediately answered respectfully.
Arisu clasped his hands behind his back and looked at everyone.
"Alright, everyone worked hard. Now return to your positions and follow my arrangements."
Arisu looked at them, then added with interest, "Once the Fourth Great Ninja War is over, everyone can wrap up filming."
As soon as the words fell...
"Not hard at all! Serving the ninja world! Serving Great Immortal!"
The Mist shinobi and Mount Myoboku toad all spoke in unison.
Seeing this, Arisu smiled.
"A round of applause for you underground workers."
———
[Inside Six Paths Temple]
Tsunade stood at the entrance, repeatedly looking outside, her brows filled with anxiety.
"Why isn't Arisu back yet? We've been here so long already. Could something have happened to him?"
Tsunade could not help turning back to the others.
Sakumo Hatake spoke in a deep voice to reassure her.
"Relax. With Arisu's strength, nothing will happen to him."
Orochimaru narrowed his long eyes and nodded as well.
Jiraiya leaned against a corridor pillar, spinning his forehead protector on his fingertip while quietly waiting for the toad's message.
Not long later, a summoned toad suddenly jumped onto his shoulder and whispered a few words into his ear.
Jiraiya froze after hearing it, then showed a trace of guilt and silently thought to himself,
"Looks like I judged a gentleman with a petty person's heart..."
After waiting a while longer, Tsunade, who already had an impatient personality, could no longer hold back. She suddenly stood up.
"No, I have to go check myself! What if something really happened to him?"
Just as she lifted her foot to rush out, a figure stepped through the dusk and appeared at the temple entrance.
"I'm back.", Arisu's calm voice sounded out.
The heart hanging in Tsunade's chest instantly settled, and her eyes immediately turned red.
Before he could say anything else, she quickly walked forward and tightly hugged him.
"You finally came back!"
She buried her face into his shoulder and spoke in a muffled voice carrying a faint tremble.
Arisu was stunned by the sudden hug. He lowered his head and looked at the blonde hair buried against his shoulder, his expression a little strange.
"I'm fine, Tsunade.", Arisu replied calmly.
Only then did Tsunade realize how improper her actions were. She quickly let go, turned around, clenched her fists, and proudly said, "It's good that you're fine."
Sakumo Hatake merely smiled slightly.
Arisu suddenly put away his expression and said heavily, "I just received a secret letter from the Fifth Hokage."
Everyone's expressions tightened and they straightened their posture.
Arisu opened the scroll in his hand and read word by word.
"The Fifth Hokage orders all outside missions to stop immediately. Hidden Rain and Hidden Sand have already jointly declared war on Konoha. The Ninja World War has broken out. We must return immediately."
"What?! The war really started?!"
Sakumo Hatake's pupils suddenly shrank. Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya all changed expressions as well.
They had long smelled the scent of war approaching the ninja world.
They had already felt it earlier through Konoha's newspapers.
But when war truly arrived so suddenly, their hearts still sank heavily.
Only Arisu's expression remained unchanged, without the slightest ripple inside.
He held the core intelligence of the ninja world in his hands and possessed absolute control capable of affecting the war situation.
Whether this war continued or stopped depended entirely on a single thought from him.
Even though the ninja world had already entered the era of villages dividing territory among themselves, Mount Myoboku's infiltration and influence over the entire ninja world had never truly faded.
Not to mention stopping the war, even completely rewriting the direction of this conflict was no more than a simple task for him.
Beside them, Kushina tightly grabbed the corner of her clothes and uneasily looked over the tense faces around her.
No one said anything more.
The group quickly packed their things and turned to begin the journey back to Konoha.
Before leaving, Arisu once again offered incense to his own portrait, this whole side account worshipping main account thing.
———
After returning to Konoha, the group came to the Hokage's office.
They informed Hiruzen Sarutobi about Uzumaki Kushina.
After that, the others left, only Arisu remained in the Hokage's office.
"This girl is too young. She hasn't reached the age to enter the ninja academy yet."
Hiruzen Sarutobi slightly shook his head.
Arisu also nodded.
Because of the changed timeline, Uzumaki Kushina had been brought to Konoha ahead of time.
In the original story, Kushina already had a certain age when she was brought here. But now she was still too young.
"How about temporarily placing her under the care of someone reliable?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi held his pipe in his mouth and thought quietly.