Time slipped by, and before long, night had fallen.
A full moon hung high in the sky. Its pale light washed over Konoha, bringing an unconscious chill to the village.
Suddenly—
A spatial ripple formed.
The masked man—Uchiha Obito—appeared atop a tall tree on Konoha's outskirts.
"Tonight, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki will give birth."
Not long after, White Zetsu surfaced from the ground. He glanced up at Obito and said in a low voice, "Right now, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki, are inside a hidden barrier."
"Understood."
Obito's voice held no emotion. "We'll collect a little interest from Konoha first. The plan can begin…"
Before he even finished—
Whoosh.
Space twisted again, and Obito vanished.
"Heh. Konoha…"
After Obito left, White Zetsu let out a rare sneer—then sank back underground and disappeared as well.
At the same time—
"Is it starting?"
Inside the Uchiha district, Ren seemed to sense something and opened his eyes.
"The masked man—Obito—has made his move. The Nine-Tails is about to rampage through Konoha."
"The moment the Nine-Tails shows itself… I can move."
Ren's lips curled slightly.
He pulled out a mask he'd prepared in secret long ago—a Whitebeard mask—and slowly fitted it over his face.
That was the plan.
The instant the Nine-Tails appeared—
he would suppress it with overwhelming force, sign in on its head, and complete the System's objective.
And once the sign-in was done?
He would release it.
Let it keep tearing through Konoha—while he returned to the Uchiha district and kept himself clean.
As for helping Konoha deal with Obito and the Nine-Tails?
Not happening.
He wasn't a savior.
If anything, Ren was more than happy to watch Konoha suffer a calamity.
"This time, aside from taijutsu… I can go all-out with everything else."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Let's see if the Nine-Tails can take it."
After putting on the mask, Ren changed into black combat clothes. With a thought, a miniaturized Murakumogiri appeared in his hand.
Ten minutes… twenty… forty…
Time bled away second by second.
Ren pushed his Observation Haki to its limit, silently reading every shift in the village.
Then—
without warning—
Ren's eyes snapped open.
"It's time… the show is about to begin."
BOOM—!!!
A terrifying explosion shook the air.
Konoha trembled as if struck by a massive quake.
"Enemy attack—enemy attack!!"
"Damn it, what happened?! Someone's attacking Konoha?!"
"Move! Get to the blast site and confirm what's going on!"
"…"
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
In an instant, Konoha's ANBU, Root, and the Konoha Military Police Force mobilized.
The tremor was so violent that even the major clans—Hyūga, Nara, Yamanaka, and more—sent out shinobi.
Even ordinary civilians stumbled out in confusion, faces blank with shock.
Konoha was the strongest village in the world right now—
who would dare set off a blast like that inside the village?
Then—
ROAR—!!!
The shinobi who rushed out witnessed a scene they would never forget.
Under the moonlight, in Konoha's southern district—
an enormous orange fox with nine tails threw back its head and howled.
Its colossal tails whipped wildly, releasing chakra pressure so heavy it made the air feel like it was collapsing.
Silence.
Dead silence.
Root. ANBU. The Police Force—
everyone froze, faces draining as pure terror swallowed them.
No—
not just them.
In that single moment, countless people across Konoha went rigid.
Because that was the Nine-Tails.
The legendary Nine-Tails.
How could it possibly have broken free from the jinchūriki?
And judging by the way it moved—
it looked like it wanted to wipe the village off the map.
Boom… boom…
Freshly released—and now under the masked man's control—the Nine-Tails surged with violent excitement.
Its huge tails swung once, twice—
and buildings around it were instantly reduced to rubble.
Civilians who had been frozen in fear were caught in the destruction before they could even move.
The scene spiraled out of control in seconds.
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