[Inside Ichiraku Ramen]
Arisu frowned slightly and slowly turned to look out the window.
"What is this brat doing in Konoha?"
Arisu furrowed his brows faintly, then vanished instantly.
———
[Inside Konoha Village]
A mysterious man wearing a tiger-striped mask slowly appeared in the center of Konoha.
The mysterious masked man, Tobi.
"Infiltration successful. Uchiha Madara really was careless, never even considering the possibility of Konoha itself being attacked..."
Tobi smiled faintly.
He had just received the Nine-Tails arriving at Mount Myoboku.
So he suddenly had an idea... To pull off something huge right in Konoha itself.
He was going to let the Great Sage see what he was capable of.
At the moment, only Senju Hashirama remained in Konoha.
Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama, Izuna, and the others had all gone out.
In other words, the village's internal defenses were empty.
Tobi's strategy was simple.
He would hold Senju Hashirama back himself, while Kurama created chaos.
He wanted Konoha's residents to truly experience the terror of war.
Then the villagers themselves would turn around and pressure Uchiha Madara.
"Look at this, even the homeland is under attack. Why did you insist on starting a war?"
"The enemy has already reached Konoha itself. Where did you, Uchiha Madara, run off to?"
After going through something like this, Konoha's people would understand fear firsthand.
"Hey, Tobi, don't tell me you're planning to have me parachute into Konoha and recreate the Nine-Tails Disaster?"
Inside the summoning space, the Nine-Tails instantly saw through Tobi's intentions.
Kurama spoke with a helpless expression.
"Senju Hashirama is hard to deal with. After all, he's the reincarnation of that brat Asura."
"And besides, I don't want to slaughter innocent people."
Kurama shook his head.
He had been guided and taught by Arisu, so he disliked indiscriminate killing.
Compared to the original Nine-Tails, his murderous aura was far weaker now.
If the original Kurama was compared to the current one, then the current Nine-Tails was basically a soft and fragrant little cake.
"You, the Nine-Tails, are afraid of Senju Hashirama? You're the leader of all the tailed beasts."
Tobi deliberately provoked him.
"Relax, I can hold Hashirama off. All you need to do is destroy everything."
"And you don't need to feel guilty about it either. Just think of all this as a play. After these people die, they'll live perfectly fine in the Pure Land anyway.", Tobi shrugged as he spoke.
Honestly speaking, the Pure Land was basically heaven now, while the human world felt more like hell.
Kurama frowned slightly and thought it over.
"Afraid of Senju Hashirama!? Even Asura would have to call me Martial Granduncle!"
Kurama lifted his chin proudly.
He wasn't joking. In terms of seniority, that really was true.
"Even so, I still won't slaughter innocent people. I'll only destroy buildings. Teacher doesn't want me killing people.", Kurama said calmly.
"Haha, fine, suit yourself. Anyway, my strategic goal is just to throw Konoha into complete chaos.", Tobi chuckled and shrugged.
Then he proudly added, "Konoha really isn't much after all. Their barrier system is trash, and Senju Hashirama hasn't even noticed my presence."
"Konoha... is only this much..."
The moment the words left his mouth, a figure instantly appeared behind Tobi.
"Tobi, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
A faint voice drifted from behind him.
Tobi's smile froze instantly. He turned around as though he had seen a ghost.
Arisu was quietly standing there behind him.
Tobi froze. Something felt off.
He rubbed his eyes.
Then looked again.
The moment he clearly saw who it was, Tobi cried out in shock.
"Ah!? Great Sage?! Why are you here?!"
"Oh my, no wonder Konoha feels full of immortal energy! So there really is an immortal here!"
"Just like the poem you wrote, Sage, 'A mountain need not be tall if immortals dwell within it!'"
Tobi immediately switched to a grinning expression and hurried over while shamelessly flattering him.
The mysterious masked mastermind aura from before instantly vanished without a trace.
Arisu clasped his hands behind his back and slowly said, "I heard Kurama plans to cause a little trouble in Konoha?"
"You... don't allow it?" Tobi asked respectfully.
Before Tobi could continue speaking, Kurama hurriedly shouted from the summoning space, "Teacher! Tobi's involved too!"
Kurama sold Tobi out without the slightest hesitation.
Arisu rubbed his forehead.
"Kurama, it's fine."
"But the two of you should know your limits."
"I'm old now. I can't stand seeing rivers of blood. Most of Konoha's people are ordinary civilians. Blowing up a few buildings is enough. Don't slaughter innocents."
"And also, switch locations. Don't do it right in the center.", Arisu spoke calmly.
Hearing this, Tobi almost couldn't hold back his expression.
If anyone was talking about rivers of blood...
The total number of people everyone in Mount Myoboku had ever killed combined probably wasn't even as many as Arisu slaughtered in a single year during the Six Paths Demon Purge.
Tobi couldn't help feeling confused.
He genuinely had no idea why.
"And another thing. My shop is here. Don't blow up my restaurant.", Arisu slowly pointed toward the ramen shop behind him.
Tobi's eyes widened, while Kurama's jaw nearly hit the floor.
The dignified Great Sage was actually hiding himself in the middle of ordinary village life.
"Probably nobody in the ninja world knows that the true ruler of the world is right here..." Kurama couldn't help muttering.
"Konoha's residents are really blessed to be able to eat ramen made by the Great Sage."
Tobi laughed.
Arisu waved his hand, "Alright, stop kissing immortal ass and go do your thing."
After saying that, Arisu returned to the ramen shop and went back to sleep.
Once Arisu left, Tobi immediately changed locations.
"Kurama, pay attention. Don't blow up the Great Sage's shop. The two of us together don't even have ten heads to spare..."
After speaking, Tobi quickly formed hand seals and activated the Summoning Technique.
"Summoning Technique: Nine-Tails!"
"Summoning Technique: Nine-Tails!!"
"Move move move move move!!!"
Along with an earth-shaking roar, enormous clouds of smoke surged into the sky.
A gigantic figure suddenly appeared.
Kurama had descended directly into Konoha.
"That is!? What in the world is that?!"
"My god! What kind of monster is this?!"
"I remember now! It's the legendary Nine-Tails!! B-But... wasn't it supposed to be an auspicious beast?"
"That's not right! According to historical records, after the Sage of Six Paths wiped out the evil demons, he took the tailed beasts, these auspicious creatures, away from the ninja world. How could one suddenly appear again?!"
The Konoha villagers awakened by the deafening noise stared in terror at the gigantic being that had suddenly appeared inside the village.
Everyone was overwhelmed with shock.
The impact was like an actual dragon suddenly descending into a bustling modern city.
After all, the tailed beasts had disappeared for a full eight hundred years.
Ever since the Sage of Six Paths completed the Demon Purge, the tailed beasts had vanished completely from the ninja world.
Over such a long span of time, countless people had long since begun treating them as nothing more than myths and legends.
Now that one had suddenly appeared again, many people couldn't even confirm whether the creature before them truly was one of the legendary tailed beasts.
At the same time, Tobi infiltrated the Senju residence.
And successfully snatched away Tsunade, who was still only a baby.
"Tsunade!"
Uzumaki Mito stared furiously at Tobi, "Who exactly are you?!"
Senju Hashirama glared darkly at the mysterious masked man ahead of him.
Holding baby Tsunade in one arm and a kunai in the other, Tobi coldly threatened, "Senju Hashirama, don't move! Otherwise, your granddaughter dies!"
Threatening Senju Hashirama.
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