Chapter 153: Do as You Say—This Is My Way of the Tailed Beasts
When the moon hung high in the night sky, darkness finally descended upon Konoha.
It was October, and the nights in Konoha had already begun to carry a faint chill.
Danzo stood atop a hillside, overlooking the peaceful village below, which looked no different from the night before.
"So, how are the trainees doing?"
Whoosh!
A middle-aged man wearing an ANBU vest appeared beside Danzo and dropped to one knee.
"All the Uchiha members currently undergoing training are staying in the temporary barracks. Their chakra is completely stable. There have been no abnormal fluctuations, no signs of ninjutsu use, and no indications that anyone has been impersonated."
"Mm."
Danzo gave a soft grunt and continued staring at the bustling village.
He was stationed here.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was stationed inside the village.
And Minato...
Danzo glanced toward the area where Minato was located, then lowered his head and checked the time on his wrist.
"Has he been born yet?"
At that very moment—
Root Headquarters.
Asuka pushed open the dormitory door and glanced at the Root shinobi standing guard on the roof. He then walked out into the square and sat down beside Kurama Unkai.
Seeing the utterly bewildered expression on Unkai's face, Asuka planted both hands behind him and looked up at the starry sky.
"Unkai, is your communication device broken?"
"It shouldn't be."
Kurama Unkai thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"Lord Fourth must have encountered some kind of interference and failed to receive my message."
Asuka glanced at him and maliciously speculated,
"Could it be because you didn't join the Hokage's Guard? Maybe Lord Fourth simply doesn't answer your calls anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
Unkai narrowed his eyes at him before looking up at the meteor streaking across the sky.
He spoke with absolute certainty.
"Lord Fourth must be protected by some kind of barrier that prevented him from receiving my message. It was the same when I went out to talk to him in person."
Whoosh!
A shooting star streaked across the night sky.
Kurama Unkai rubbed his arms and frowned slightly.
"Don't you think it's a little cold today? It's only the beginning of October..."
Feeling the cold air, Asuka looked up at the sky. His expression became serious, and his right hand unconsciously moved toward his ninja tool pouch.
"This damn weather is cold and damp."
"Where are you going this late?"
"Don't worry about it. It's a matter between men. There's nothing wrong with going out to have some fun once in a while, right?"
"Then why are you taking a coupon for a bathhouse?"
"Ah~"
Hearing the argument between a couple in the neighboring house, Kakashi walked lazily down the streets of Konoha with his eyes half closed.
He looked at the man in green walking ahead of him.
"Guy, how about we decide the winner with rock-paper-scissors again today?"
"Again?! Is there really no more exciting competition?!"
Might Guy raised both arms, flames of youthful passion burning in his eyes.
"Last month, when I competed with Asuka, I was almost beaten to death! And then we competed in taijutsu. Do you know how terrifyingly fast he improved?"
"One day of his training is equivalent to seven days of mine!"
"Even after he finished training, Asuka actually spent money to have the whole thing published in the Konoha newspaper just to motivate me to train my taijutsu harder!"
"..."
Kakashi's expression went blank.
The headline from that newspaper immediately resurfaced in his mind.
SHOCKING! TAIJUTSU GENIUS MIGHT GUY DISCOVERS THAT HIS TAIJUTSU IS INFERIOR TO THAT OF NINJUTSU GENIUS UCHIHA ASUKA! FURIOUS, HE RUNS ONE THOUSAND LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE!
Kakashi deeply sighed.
Then he secretly glanced toward the Root headquarters and shook his head.
"Might Guy, I strongly suspect that when you're old, that guy will take that newspaper to your house and show it to your descendants."
The moment he finished speaking, a chill suddenly swept through the air.
Kakashi raised his head and looked around, frowning.
"The temperature just dropped."
"Your attitude has grown colder."
Might Guy clenched his fists tightly, excitement filling his voice.
"Youth!"
Boom!
Before he could finish, a huge cloud of white smoke suddenly appeared in the distant sky.
Roar!
Hearing the beastly roar coming from within the smoke and sensing the enormous, sinister chakra spreading through the air, Kakashi stared at the massive tails thrashing wildly inside the cloud.
His face instantly went pale.
"The Nine-Tails!"
"The Nine-Tails!"
The sinister chakra permeating the air reached Uchiha Madara.
He lay quietly in his chair, his body rising and falling with the motion of the rocking chair.
After learning of Obito's plan from White Zetsu, Madara had neither intended to stop him nor planned to inform anyone else.
If the plan succeeded, Konoha's strength would naturally be weakened. That would certainly benefit his own plans.
And if it failed...
Then that brat would simply have to learn how to keep a low profile, make his fortune quietly, and plot everything from the shadows.
ROAR!
When the beast's roar reached Madara's ears, his eyes suddenly snapped open.
He looked into the distance.
An enormous orange fox—the Nine-Tails—was roaring toward the heavens.
Its fangs gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight.
A trace of nostalgia flashed through Madara's eyes.
Back then, he had ridden this very beast into his final battle with Hashirama.
"Cousin, stop lying there! Something huge has happened!"
Ryoichi's anxious voice drowned out the Nine-Tails' roar.
Madara raised his eyelids and looked at Ryoichi running toward him.
He remained completely calm.
"Why are you in such a hurry? The Nine-Tails is on the other side of the village. It won't come here right now."
"No!"
Ryoichi swallowed hard, his expression extremely grave.
"Cousin, look at the Nine-Tails' eyes. Don't those look like the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan?"
Madara expressionlessly glanced at the Nine-Tails.
Then he stood up and patted Ryoichi on the shoulder.
He spoke with absolute certainty.
"That is indeed the Sharingan."
Ryoichi's face instantly turned pale.
He stared at the Nine-Tails roaring at the heavens, especially the Sharingan embedded within its eyes.
His heart began to curse wildly.
Whether in Konoha or throughout the shinobi world, the Sharingan was an unmistakable existence.
This time, the trouble was enormous.
"Cousin, the Nine-Tails is still far from the clan compound. I'll take you to the shelter first."
He grabbed Madara's arm with his right hand and immediately flew toward the shelter.
"This is going to be a huge mess. After tonight, I'll send you out of the village, Cousin."
"Heh~"
Madara chuckled.
"After the Nine-Tails incident, your conflict with Konoha will never be resolved. Ryoichi, don't you want to leave Konoha and travel with this old man to fulfill our dream?"
Ryoichi's cheek twitched.
He hurriedly said,
"Oh, my cousin, what time is it? Put the dream aside for now. I need to get you somewhere safe, then go support my son."
Boom!
The next second, just after the two left the house, they heard something crash down from the direction of Asuka's residence.
A teapot flew off the roof.
"???"
Looking at the tanuki with an evil smile curling around its mouth and strange light flashing in its eyes, Ryoichi froze.
Then he shouted,
"You found a safe place to hide too?"
Hide?
Even if I died today, I would never hide.
Shukaku didn't even spare the two men standing across the street a glance.
Instead, it stared excitedly at the filthy fox in the distance.
"The stinky fox has finally appeared!"
"Hm?"
A few seconds later, Shukaku realized that the other beast was merely howling at the sky and wasn't paying any attention to him.
Shukaku frowned slightly.
Then it seemed to discover a priceless treasure, and the strange light in its eyes returned.
"Hehe."
It had never expected the stinky fox to remain instead of escaping.
It seemed to have been controlled by the Sharingan.
When they met again in the future, they'd have plenty more to talk about.
Thinking of this, Shukaku excitedly rubbed its paws together, a smug grin spreading across its face.
"Stinky fox, long time no see. Here's a present for you."
Shukaku slowly opened its mouth.
A black sphere the size of a basketball rapidly condensed before it.
A Tailed Beast Ball!
Whoosh!
The basketball-sized black sphere tore through the air at supersonic speed, leaving a fiery red trail behind it.
It vanished into the Uchiha clan compound in an instant.
Ryoichi hadn't even had time to react when a sharp whistle came from the sky.
He saw a streak of crimson light shooting toward the Nine-Tails at terrifying speed.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion followed.
The instant the attack struck the Nine-Tails' head, a red mushroom cloud enveloped its skull.
Ryoichi stared at the Nine-Tails, which had nearly been knocked off its feet by the attack.
Then he looked at the smug tanuki.
He swallowed.
"This little thing... is it really that powerful?"
The next moment, the mushroom cloud gradually dissipated.
The Nine-Tails shook its head.
Then it lowered its gaze and looked toward the direction from which the Tailed Beast Ball had come.
Its bloodshot pupils narrowed slightly when it saw the jumping tanuki.
"Ya-ha!"
Seeing that the Nine-Tails had finally noticed him, Shukaku immediately jumped excitedly.
"Stinky fox! I never thought you'd actually get controlled by the Sharingan! Isn't that a weakness?"
"Oh, perhaps you're just not strong enough."
"Admit it. I'm the strongest!"
Watching the tanuki jumping around inside the Uchiha compound, the Nine-Tails turned toward the Konoha shinobi approaching it.
Its whiskers twitched slightly.
"The cat has woken up, and the dog has fallen asleep, so you've finally regained your freedom."
"Stinky fox, don't come over here and breathe this free air."
"Look at me! Look at me! This is what freedom looks like!"
Uchiha Ryoichi glanced at the tanuki frantically taunting the Nine-Tails before turning his attention back toward the beast.
The Nine-Tails on the other side of the village was visibly stunned.
Seeing the dark, thunderous expression on the Nine-Tails' face, Ryoichi stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Cousin, why do I feel like the Nine-Tails looks a little unhappy?"
Before he could finish speaking, Shukaku's mocking voice came from the rooftop next door.
"Being controlled isn't your fault."
"Some things really can't be blamed on you. It's not your fault."
"Sigh."
"I think your current performance completely disproves what you said before about the strength of a Tailed Beast being determined by the number of its tails."
"You have nine tails, yet when you go out, you still have to listen to someone else."
"Meanwhile, I can do whatever I want whenever I go outside!"
After saying this, Shukaku deliberately exposed its tails and waved them back and forth at the Nine-Tails.
Every word and movement was filled with mockery.
ROAR!
This time, the Nine-Tails directly roared toward the Uchiha clan compound.
Then it crouched low, revealing its enormous fangs as its bloodshot eyes burned with fury.
For some reason, the controlled Nine-Tails suddenly had a thought.
Go play. Go play.
You keep telling this old man to go out and play.
Once this old man leaves...
The first thing I'll do is kill you.
Looking at the jumping tanuki, the Nine-Tails could no longer conceal its anger, even under the control of the Sharingan.
It slammed all four paws into the ground.
Its enormous body shot into the air and charged directly toward the Uchiha clan compound.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Feeling the ground tremble beneath his feet, Ryoichi looked at the Nine-Tails charging toward them.
His face turned deathly pale.
He immediately looked toward Uchiha Madara beside him and asked anxiously,
"Cousin, what do we do?"
"Idiot!"
Madara cursed under his breath.
"Run!"