["I am the one who can rule the world. I have all the means I need…"]
Obito clenched his teeth.
"It's the masked man!!!"
Seeing the person who had appeared during the Nine-Tails incident, Obito burned with hatred, wishing he could immediately complete the SSS-rank mission in his hands and tear that man apart on the spot.
Adult Might Guy stared at Obito.
"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before, but that's not the point. The masked man you're talking about… is he the one who just disappeared into that vortex?!"
"So you finally noticed?" Young Kakashi said flatly. "I don't even know how to respond. Yes, that masked man was the one just now. He's the one who released the Nine-Tails, attacked Konoha, and caused Minato-sensei's entire family to die."
"What?!!"
The Konoha ninja froze.
None of them had known that such a conspiracy lay behind the Nine-Tails incident.
"Wasn't it caused by the Jinchūriki losing control?!"
"Wasn't the Nine-Tails a natural disaster? Are you saying someone brought that disaster to Konoha?!"
Hiashi Hyūga noticed that although chakra couldn't be used, his Byakugan still functioned. He spoke in a low voice.
"That masked man's right arm has no chakra network. It doesn't look like part of a human body."
"Look at the ground!" someone shouted. "That guy must've been injured by the Fourth Hokage-sama!"
A white substance mixed with blood lay where the masked man had stood before vanishing.
Young Kakashi's expression grew heavy.
The moment the masked man appeared, when Obito's killing intent flared uncontrollably—
Kakashi, Minato Namikaze, and Itachi Uchiha all glanced at Obito almost simultaneously.
The exchange of looks lasted less than half a second, yet each of them sensed what the others were thinking.
Shisui Uchiha… or perhaps—
Obito Uchiha?
In truth, after the previous conversation between Minato Namikaze, Kakashi, and Itachi, Obito's suspicion had already surpassed that of Shisui Uchiha.
No one else noticed the subtle tension between the three.
Their attention was completely consumed by the Konoha of another parallel world.
Watching their loved ones being injured and killed in the battle against the Nine-Tails, they struggled desperately, trying to move their bodies. They wanted to cross over like Gaara and the others had, to save the people they cared about.
"Damn it! If we can't move, then why show us this?!"
"Chakra won't work at all! Bastards… damn it!"
Unlike the Konoha ninja, the Sunagakure ninja remained far calmer.
"We understand how you feel, but even if you crossed over, could you really defeat the Nine-Tails?"
"Yeah. You might not save anyone and end up dying yourself."
"It's a completely different world. Even if you managed to save them, in our world they'd already be—"
Dead.
There was no need to finish the sentence.
Having temporarily overcome her fear of blood, Tsunade stared at the other world, where the Nine-Tails rampaged freely. Countless ninja rushed forward without hesitation, sacrificing themselves to protect their village.
For her, this was exactly what had happened after she left the village following the Second Shinobi World War.
"Tsunade-sama!!"
Shizune suddenly cried out in shock.
The people nearby followed her gaze and gasped.
"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama's body still has color! She can move!!"
She can move—one of the legendary Sannin!
"Tsunade-sama can move!!"
"One of Konoha's legendary Sannin!"
"The strongest medical ninja!!"
Almost instinctively, all eyes turned to her. Hope was placed upon her shoulders, expectations piling up, as though she alone could change fate.
They all conveniently forgot that just moments ago, in the previous parallel world, this so-called strongest medical ninja had been shaking uncontrollably at the sight of blood.
Tsunade herself didn't move.
But soon someone noticed that the medical ninja present were gradually regaining their color as well.
Including newcomers like Sakura Haruno, who had only just begun learning medical ninjutsu.
As if she had seen something unbearable, a female medical ninja suddenly widened her eyes, ignored all attempts to stop her, and rushed straight into another parallel world.
"Hey! That's dangerous!!"
"Idiot! Don't throw your life away for another world!"
The moment she crossed over, the female medical ninja immediately began treating a man around her age.
"Kyō?!"
The injured man clearly didn't realize she came from another parallel world. He snapped angrily,
"Medical ninja shouldn't be on the front lines! Get back to the evacuation zone, now!"
"No! I won't go back!"
Tears streamed down the woman's face, her grief so raw it was as if she hadn't seen him in over ten years.
The male ninja froze, completely at a loss when he saw her like that.
They hid together in the corner of a civilian house, and for a brief moment, the Nine-Tails' deafening roars seemed to fade into the distance.
"What's the big deal? It's just a light injury to my leg. It affects my movement a bit, but I'm not going to die from it."
He tried to reassure his girlfriend.
"Haven't I had injuries like this plenty of times before? You were always the one who healed me with medical ninjutsu."
The female medical-nin named Kyō was already sobbing uncontrollably as she continued channeling chakra into him.
One of her companions stared in shock.
"Th-that's Yōra, isn't it?! Twelve years ago, he died during the Nine-Tails incident because a leg injury slowed him down…"
Back then, his body had been pierced by the Nine-Tails' claw, then flung hard against the wall of a civilian house. By the time his body was recovered, his internal organs had been shattered and spilled out through the wounds.
"ROAR—!!"
The Nine-Tails' howl thundered right beside them!
A massive claw came crashing down toward the two of them!
Yōra's leg injury had nearly finished healing. His gaze sharpened instantly. He scooped up the female medical-nin treating him and leapt away, barely dodging the Nine-Tails' attack!!
It was truly a split second from death.
Those who could only watch helplessly felt cold sweat soak their backs.
Seeing this, another male medical-nin rushed in. He had lost his older brother in that battle, and his sister had lost half her leg.
Right after him, a young female medical-nin also charged forward. She had been too young to fight back then. Like Iruka Umino, she had lost her family in that battle and was left alone.
"Hey!!"
"Someone stop them!"
Medical-nin were vital assets to the village.
Anyone with even a shred of rationality knew better than to throw away their lives for the sake of another world.
Fortunately, in that parallel world, the Third Hokage, not yet as aged as he would later become, quickly arrived at the battlefield. Using the staff transformed from Enma, he forced the Nine-Tails out of the village…
At last, the village became relatively safe.
Minato Namikaze and Kakashi Hatake did not stop them. Sakura and Rin also rushed in to help.
Other ninja wanted to follow, but they lacked the authority to do so.
At this point, Naruto didn't yet know about Tsunade's hemophobia, but he had seen her reaction earlier when she faced Gaara's mother.
He asked Shizune why this woman, known as the strongest medical-nin, wasn't helping.
Shizune didn't want to reopen Tsunade-sama's painful memories. She said nothing, only shook her head apologetically at Naruto, hoping he would understand that Tsunade-sama had her reasons.
"If it's just summoning Katsuyu…"
Tsunade looked at Konoha, which had turned into a scene straight out of hell. This was her grandfather's life's work, the place Dan Katō and Nawaki had protected with their lives.
…
"Shizune!"
With her eyes tightly shut, Tsunade strode straight into the parallel world before her.
"Prepare the summoning technique!"
Hemophobia. As long as she couldn't see blood or smell it, she would be fine.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama!!"
Shizune followed closely behind. Upon arriving in the parallel Konoha, she lifted the slit of her long skirt and drew a scalpel strapped to her thigh.
"My apologies."
She spoke respectfully to Tsunade.
The scalpel cut across Tsunade's palm as she stood there with her eyes closed and breath steady. Instantly, the deep red blood unique to the Senju clan flowed out.
"Yin Seal, release!"
In a flash, strange markings spread across Tsunade's face.
Sakura stared in stunned silence.
Rin explained softly,
"That's Tsunade-sama's Yin Seal."
"The Yin Seal?"
"It stores all unused chakra in a seal on the forehead, then releases it all at once when it's needed."
As a medical-nin, Rin Nohara deeply admired Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.
She had learned about this through books and recorded interviews.
Her eyes practically shone as she gazed at that beautiful, powerful figure in the distance.
If Rin and Sakura working together could summon a slug the size of a water buffalo, then divide its power into dozens of small slugs to keep critically injured ninja alive…
Then the Katsuyu Tsunade summoned after releasing the Yin Seal was nearly as massive as the tailed beast Shukaku that Gaara had once transformed into.
Sakura gaped in disbelief.
"This is… the legendary Sannin…?"
"Yes," Rin replied. "The strongest medical-nin. And the goal every medical-nin strives toward."
"It's been a long time," Katsuyu said gently. "You haven't summoned me for many years, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade kept her eyes closed.
"Sorry, Katsuyu. We'll talk later. Konoha is under attack by the Nine-Tails. Start treating the wounded immediately."
Konoha, nearly crushed and left in ruins by the Nine-Tails…
In their despair, the people of Konohagakure saw that enormous slug.
Hope burst into their eyes, and in that instant, many broke down in tears of relief.
…
Publicly Available Information:
A+ rank mission reward: Group viewing event + rapidly eliminate regrets tied to a specific point in time.