Three years.
Year 51 of Konoha.
On the vast plains of the Land of Rivers, Rinjin sat cross-legged in front of a small thatched hut, eyes closed, the electric aura around his body nearly vanished.
At his feet, a small cat burning with blue-black flames lay obediently, purring rhythmically.
As the strange phenomena around his body disappeared, Rinjin slowly opened his eyes. A flash of blue lightning flickered through his dark pupils.
Three years—he had been here for three years...
The complete Nine-Tails truly lived up to its reputation as the strongest tailed beast, with astonishingly vast chakra reserves.
Using this massive chakra, Rinjin's physique had been further strengthened and enhanced to a degree even he couldn't comprehend. If his past self had been concrete, his current self was solid steel plate.
The only regret was that the damn Eight Gates technique had become unusable again.
Now he couldn't open not just the first seven gates—he couldn't even open the first gate anymore.
However, he no longer cared about this point.
Where there's a will, there's a way. When the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally straighten.
With his current durability, facing Madara Uchiha head-on shouldn't be much of a problem.
With this thought, Rinjin slowly stood up, supporting himself on his knees, and walked into the thatched hut.
He dusted off the Glass Pure Bottle, then walked back outside.
Removing his shirt, he undid the Five Elements Seal on his belly. A thin stream of red chakra surged from Rinjin's body.
The next second, a skeletal, dull-furred Nine-Tails appeared before Rinjin, with sunken eye sockets and bloodshot whites.
Looking at the Nine-Tails he had completely drained, Rinjin scratched his head with an embarrassed smile, then patted the Glass Pure Bottle beside him.
"Let's go, little fox~"
The Nine-Tails nodded submissively, then transformed into a mass of chakra and dove into the Glass Pure Bottle with what seemed like eager anticipation.
Rinjin then simply tidied up the thatched hut he had lived in for three years, grabbed his cat by the scruff of the neck, and placed it on his shoulder.
"Let's go, kitty. Time to go home!"
As his words fell, spatial fluctuations rippled like water, and the man and cat vanished.
At the peaceful Konoha, in the Hokage building.
Rinjin stood at the main entrance with the Glass Pure Bottle on his back, waiting leisurely.
"Lord Rinjin, you're back!"
"Lord Rinjin, good afternoon~"
Passing ninja greeted him politely and humbly.
Facing these unfamiliar young faces, Rinjin showed no impatience, smiling and nodding at each of them, returning their greetings one by one.
Just then, a masked ANBU emerged from the entrance and bowed slightly to Rinjin.
"Lord Rinjin, the Third Hokage is waiting for you."
"Alright!"
Patting the ANBU's shoulder, Rinjin strode into the battle-tested Hokage building.
After knocking and entering, Rinjin saw Hiruzen Sarutobi again after three years.
Three years had made Hiruzen look even older.
After glancing around for a moment, Rinjin suddenly spoke:
"Where's the Fourth Hokage?"
Only then did Hiruzen look up from his mountain of documents, his face bearing an indescribable expression.
"Minato passed away three years ago."
"What?!" Rinjin was stunned.
He had taken the Nine-Tails away, yet Minato still died?
"How did he die?"
"Pierced through the heart by his own custom Flying Thunder God kunai."
"Suicide?"
"No!" Hiruzen shook his head. "Murder. It must be connected to the mysterious masked man who attacked the village three years ago."
Holy shit!
Rinjin was dumbfounded.
Obito had actually come back to finish the job?! Killing his beloved teacher's wife wasn't enough—he had to kill his teacher too?!
Taking a sharp breath, Rinjin pursed his lips speechlessly.
"What about the Fourth's little brat?"
Hiruzen paused slightly, his gaze somewhat evasive.
"I had ANBU take care of him."
Hiruzen's expression couldn't fool Rinjin.
However, since Jiraiya didn't care and Kakashi didn't care, he had even less reason to interfere.
Muttering silently to himself, Rinjin heavily set down the Glass Pure Bottle from his shoulder, patted the lid, and spoke.
"The Nine-Tails is right here! The Fourth Hokage agreed to let me borrow the Nine-Tails for a while, and I kept my word. Now I've brought the Nine-Tails back completely intact. It's time to fulfill the conditions I promised him."
Hearing this, Hiruzen frowned.
"What conditions?"
"Seal the Nine-Tails into his son."
Rinjin spoke expressionlessly.
Actually, he had never made any such agreement with Minato Namikaze, but he just wanted to stuff the fox into Naruto's body.
There was another point—he had recently been feeling like someone was watching him from unseen corners.
If he didn't stuff the Nine-Tails into little Naruto, he felt something bad would happen.
Looking at Rinjin's expressionless face, Hiruzen's frown deepened.
Honestly, he didn't want to seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto. That child was the Fourth's orphan, and Namikaze wasn't exactly a prominent clan name.
Though the Uzumaki clan was numerous in the Hidden Rain Village, they had no foundation in Konoha.
If they still had to seal the Nine-Tails into that child under these circumstances, it would truly be wasteful.
With this thought, Hiruzen had to grit his teeth and shake his head slightly at Rinjin.
"The Nine-Tails... I... I can't make that decision. Let's seal it in the village for now!"
He actually wanted to agree with Rinjin on the surface but secretly arrange for the Nine-Tails to go to someone else.
But Hiruzen knew this guy too well—if he did that, this hairless-faced bastard would probably turn hostile immediately.
However, he still underestimated Rinjin's unreasonable degree.
Faced with Hiruzen's thoughts, Rinjin shook her head without hesitation.
"Sealing it in Konoha is fine too—then give me back One-Tail Shukaku!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen was stunned.
Shukaku had disappeared when Kushina Uzumaki died three years ago.
It wasn't until a year ago that someone had occasionally spotted Shukaku's traces in the Wind Country's desert.
You're asking me to give you Shukaku now—are you looking for trouble?!
Obviously, Rinjin was looking for trouble, and he wasn't even trying to hide it.
"Either give me Shukaku, or listen to me and let me return the Nine-Tails to the Fourth's boy!"
Faced with Rinjin's aggressive pressure, Hiruzen pondered for a long time before sighing helplessly and nodding lightly.
Seeing this, Rinjin's cold expression instantly vanished, and he smiled as if changing faces.
"Much better. Besides the Uzumaki bloodline, does Konoha have anyone else suitable for sealing the Nine-Tails?!"
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