"It seems Byakugan truly works, Kimimaro's condition has stabilized."
Inside the Akatsuki, Orochimaru watched as the turbulent Chakra within Kimimaro slowly returned to calm, and he nodded slightly.
Strictly speaking, he didn't even know why he cared so much about Kimimaro. But thinking about it carefully, it probably had something to do with his failures.
The first time Jiraiya came knocking was when Kimimaro accidentally became a guide.
Subsequent disastrous defeats were basically all because he wanted to help Kimimaro.
Whether it was the time in the Land of Wind or the time in the Land of Cedar, such repeated failures instead stirred his competitive spirit.
It gave him a 'never give up until the goal is reached' mentality, and now he had finally achieved his wish.
He had also finally glimpsed some secrets from the Hyuga and Kaguya, which made him feel quite rewarded.
"It seems Kaguya and Hyuga are very similar to Uchiha and Senju."
Orochimaru looked at the stable Chakra within Kimimaro and couldn't help but lick his lips.
"Is it that between them, just like Madara, there are more incredible secrets?"
"I don't know, maybe there are, maybe there aren't."
Black Zetsu cursed in his heart. He couldn't just say anything about such matters, after all, Hamura's clan had long gone to the moon. And Takemi didn't seem to have shown too many similar abilities, so he could only try to prevaricate.
"But now the answer is right in front of you. With proper research, there will surely be an answer."
"Indeed."
Orochimaru smiled, his gaze fixed on Black Zetsu, which made Black Zetsu feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"Don't look at me like that, and I've done what you wanted, what about you?"
"Don't worry, I've basically prepared what you want."
Orochimaru retracted his gaze and spoke calmly, "Just a few simple adjustments, and I think we can relive the specter of the Ninja World's Asura."
"That's good."
Black Zetsu nodded, he had finally resolved Madara's problem.
"But I have a question."
However, Orochimaru now showed a curious gaze.
"Given the current situation, do you think bringing Madara back is truly useful?"
"..."
"Damn it, what should I do?"
Black Zetsu was undergoing a soul interrogation, and Obito was also extremely lost at this moment.
Unlike Nagato, who excitedly found his 'reason for failure' and slowly regained his fighting spirit, he was a little disheartened.
'Takemi, Ōtsutsuki Takeshiki.'
Thinking of these people, thinking of their exaggerated combat abilities, and then comparing them to himself...
'Even Kakashi, I actually feel he is incredibly troublesome.'
Obito smiled bitterly. Kakashi's eye was given by him, and in the end, he wasn't even Kakashi's match.
Not to mention those exaggerated and astonishing battles, he now had no ability to participate at all.
'Why did it turn out like this...'
Obito's heart was in pain. This was not the outcome he desired. He was plotting to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. But with his current strength, it would probably be extremely difficult to do anything.
'How can I, like this, bring peace back to this world, how can I create a world where Rin's tragedy will not be repeated?'
Obito clenched his fists. That kind of pain was indescribable, he felt as if he had returned to his childhood. At that time, he still had Rin to encourage him.
'Now, I have nothing...'
Buzz!
However, just as he was sighing, a surge of power suddenly erupted from his body.
In an instant, this power completely enveloped him, and then a Susanoo quietly appeared on him.
"This is..."
Obito looked at the massive Susanoo in disbelief, feeling the incredible power. He had no idea what was going on. But dimly, he understood one thing.
"My power?"
He murmured softly, unaware that a black diamond-shaped mark was slowly emerging from the back of his neck.
...
"Hey, Sasuke, how was last night?"
On the streets of Konoha, Takemi was strolling with a group of Konoha Genin.
Although the village had experienced a lot of chaotic things, they were handled very quickly. And they didn't need to worry about the follow-up matters, so they were on a holiday.
A group of people agreed to hang out, but Naruto was not honest at all. He looked at Sasuke with a grin, and asked in a low voice, "Did they say anything to you, did they tell you to work harder as Takemi said?"
"You're such an idiot."
Sasuke glanced at Naruto disdainfully, feeling that he was unusually annoying. But despite the look of disgust on Sasuke's face, he showed a slight smile.
Since childhood, he had always longed for his family's approval.
When he was a child, his father once said to him, 'As expected of my son,' which made him happy for many days.
Although things were different now and many things had happened, he didn't want to think too much about it. Just savoring these past few days was enough.
"Eh, what's going on, what's with working harder?"
Sakura looked a bit confused when she heard Naruto's words, and she looked over curiously.
Everyone else also looked puzzled, even Shino, who was always low-key, craned his neck.
"Hehe, he..."
Naruto was about to say something when Sasuke hooked his arm around his neck.
"You, shut up!"
"What, is it some kind of secret?" Kiba was full of curiosity.
Choji chewed on potato chips and said, "Probably, did something happen last night? Neji, do you know?"
Choji's words made everyone look curiously at Neji, and even at Hinata, who was holding Hanabi's hand.
Last night, a big battle broke out in the Hyuga clan. They had wanted to reinforce them, but they didn't expect another big battle to break out outside Konoha.
This left them with no opportunity, especially since the battle outside Konoha was too intense, so they could only focus on the other side.
Therefore, they weren't really clear about what happened inside the Hyuga clan.
"Actually, it's nothing."
Neji glanced at Takemi, then smiled and brushed it off, but his smile made Tenten's eyes widen.
"Eh, Neji, when did you become so fond of smiling?"
"Oh, right!"
Lee was also a bit surprised. Neji would smile on normal days, but very rarely. Most of the time he was extremely serious, so this kind of behavior today was rare.
"I encountered some happy things."
Neji thought for a moment before explaining, "Sasuke is probably similar to me, maybe he also encountered happy things."
"Something like that..."
Sasuke glanced at Neji, then simply nodded without denying it, while Shikamaru rubbed his pineapple-shaped hair.
"Alright, stop asking, it's just someone else's family matter, as long as they're happy, it's fine."
"You're such a buzzkill."
Ino glanced at Shikamaru and complained, then she looked at Takemi.
"Takemi, do you know what happened?"
"I know a little, but it depends on whether he's willing to talk about it."
Takemi glanced at Sasuke, then shook his head and said with a smile, "After all, this is his private matter. Actually, speaking of it, I'm also very curious about the final outcome."
As he spoke, Takemi winked at Sasuke, which immediately made Sasuke lower his head.
Everything was very happy last night, if only some unnecessary discussions could be excluded.
He still remembered his mother patting him on the shoulder and saying to him.
"Sasuke, you've grown up. I wonder if I'll be able to see you get married and have children in the future..."
And his father was even more direct, telling him in a heartfelt tone.
"We are all dead, Sasuke. As the last of the Uchiha, I'm sorry to make you bear some unnecessary burdens."
"The Fifth Hokage is right, restoring the Uchiha clan cannot rely on one person alone, and you've grown up..."
"Only more descendants can truly restore the Uchiha clan, Sasuke!"
What did that mean? Sasuke understood perfectly, but it gave him a headache. He hadn't thought that far at all.
"Hehe..."
Naruto still had a mischievous grin, a typical case of healing the wound and forgetting the pain.
"Idiot!"
Sasuke couldn't hold back anymore. He glared at Naruto and said unhappily, "Stop grinning like that, at least I have a goal, what about you?"
"Eh?"
Naruto was stumped by Sasuke's words and couldn't laugh anymore.
He thought for a moment before saying, "My goal hasn't changed. My goal is still to be Hokage!"