Uneasy Tsunade

Within the sealed prison, the Nine-Tails gazed through the barrier toward where Konoha once stood, as if he could see a void, a monstrous being cold and grim toward this world—whether it could even be called malice—gnawing at the whole of existence.

A powerhouse, an absolute powerhouse!

From Uchiha Yue, the Nine-Tails seemed to see another Uchiha Madara, no, another Indra. But in this world now, there was no other Hashirama Senju, no other Asura.

"Hahaha, destroy it, Uchiha Yue! Destroy this damned world, destroy Konoha! Hahaha!!!"

The Nine-Tails laughed. Every time he recalled what had happened back then, he felt an overwhelming excitement. Yes, that was it—to trample, to destroy, to crush Konoha underfoot!

That fool Shimura Danzō did well. If not for that idiot, how could Uchiha Yue have awakened such immense power?

And how could that beast Hiruzen Sarutobi have died? How could Konoha have nearly been destroyed?

As a tailed beast, the Nine-Tails held no goodwill toward Konoha or toward humans today. He still remembered that beast Hashirama Senju babbling about how dangerous he was.

Hah, dangerous? Anyone had the right to call him dangerous, but what right did you, Hashirama Senju, have to say that?

Besides, did I eat your rice? I was peacefully idling in the Ninja World when you two dragged me into your conflict. From start to finish, I was used like a tool by you both. In the end, you didn't even apologize, and instead called me dangerous?

And then you turned us tailed beasts into batteries for you damned ninja—this was an outrage beyond measure!

Ever since this so-called Ninja Village system was established, the Nine-Tails had never tasted freedom. For so many years, he had been locked inside some Jinchuriki like a dog. As time passed, the resentment in his heart grew day by day. If not for the seal, he would have long since manipulated Naruto to raze Konoha to the ground.

Now that Konoha had become what it was, his heart was filled with nothing but joy. The only regret the Nine-Tails had was that Uchiha Yue hadn't completely destroyed Konoha, instead letting those mongrel dogs of Konoha escape.

If that day Uchiha Yue had annihilated Konoha entirely, even killing the Jinchuriki, the Nine-Tails would have laughed himself to death—because then he would have been completely free.

"A pity."

The Nine-Tails lowered his head in regret. If he had known that Uchiha Yue would continue to exist and one day destroy the entire Ninja World, in an environment where all energy vanished, he wondered if this so-called immortal, undying tailed beast could even revive again.

At that point, who knew if the Nine-Tails would still think it a pity.

Somewhere in the Ninja World, inside a gambling den.

Lately, Tsunade had felt uneasy. Ever since that day she had won big, something felt off all over, as if something was about to happen.

That day, Katsuyu came to her side.

"Tsunade-sama, something terrible has happened!"

In the room, Tsunade looked at Katsuyu before her, her heart sinking.

"Katsuyu, what happened?"

"Tsunade-sama, a powerful man named Uchiha Yue appeared in Konoha. He killed your teacher and nearly destroyed the village!"

Katsuyu lay before Tsunade, speaking slowly.

"Wh... what?"

Tsunade was shocked. Though many forces in the Ninja World already knew what had happened in Konoha, Tsunade had long since stopped concerning herself with ninja affairs. Day in and day out, she was either gambling or on her way to gamble, surrounded only by gamblers—so naturally, she knew nothing of Konoha's fate.

Soon, Katsuyu told Tsunade everything she knew.

After hearing it, Tsunade felt dazed. Not even that much time had passed, and Konoha had just withered on its own?

And not because of external reasons, but purely internal ones.

"Shimura Danzō!!!"

Tsunade clenched her fist and slammed it onto the table, as if the table were Danzō himself, shattering it with one blow.

If Danzō were still alive right now, Tsunade would have grabbed that old bastard's head and punched it to pieces.

"Danzō, Danzō, look at what you've done! And Teacher too—why, why did you let that old fool Danzō lay hands on the village's comrades, even go after the Uchiha Clan, trying to wipe them out? Were you really that senile?"

Tsunade's face turned grim. Though she had long distanced herself from Konoha's turmoil, that didn't mean the village was absent from her heart. How could she not care about the village her First and Second Grandfathers had built with their life's work?

In truth, if the Uchiha Clan had simply been wiped out without Uchiha Yue appearing, Tsunade would have at most uttered a few words of condemnation and let it go. Even if in the future she became the acting Hokage and learned that the Night of the Massacre was connected to that old fool Danzō, she wouldn't have done anything to him. At most, she would have taken the power into her own hands. Killing Danzō? Never. After all, Konoha needed a dark side—though if you thought about it, this so-called dark side was pretty useless. Danzō was good for nothing except harming the village's own people and causing trouble outside.

Without Danzō, the Akatsuki might not have gone to extremes; they could have become a true peace organization.

Even Orochimaru might not have defected. But there was no helping it—Konoha needed a dark side, even if no one knew what use it served.

No, perhaps it was useless to the village, but useful to Hiruzen Sarutobi. He could let Danzō do the dirty work he wanted done but couldn't do himself, then pin the blame on Danzō when things went wrong. And Danzō would take it all, even believing those ideas were his own. Where else could you find such a perfect scapegoat?

Of course, that kind of easy dismissal would only have happened if Danzō had simply wiped out the Uchiha Clan. But look at the situation now?

Because he laid hands on the village's comrades, on the Uchiha Clan, Danzō lost his own life. Not only that, he dragged Hiruzen Sarutobi and the lives of other village comrades down with him.

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