Early winter, Year 52 of Konoha.
As the war between Iwagakure and Kumogakure dragged into a stalemate, both sides fell into a prolonged war of attrition.
Kushina also stayed quietly at the front lines, causing no trouble for commander Nara Shikaku.
(Actually, she often went back to Konoha!)
Most of the orders from the Hokage Office were also limited to sending squads out to scout. There was no further mention of deploying the ninja army.
Only the Uchiha Clan's ninjas were growing somewhat restless.
After all, they had barely received any missions during this period. Even squad reconnaissance missions were rarely assigned to them.
They still did not know that Shisui had been ambushed upon returning to the village. They were on the battlefield, after all, and their access to intelligence was limited.
Otherwise, there was no way they would still be sitting still instead of desperately hunting down Kumogakure Ninja.
As for the news that Shisui's Mangekyo had been ruined, it had already spread from Konoha.
After all, quite a few people had seen Shisui in that miserable state.
Then, some unknown source spread inside information claiming that Shisui's Sharingan had gone blind, and the rumor swiftly spread throughout Konoha. Naturally, spies from other ninja villages within Konoha also leaked the intelligence.
It also conveniently dampened Shisui's reputation.
A hero had been crippled. The pressure on those from the Hokage's faction was greatly reduced, and he no longer threatened their positions.
Although the Third Hokage later declared that discussion of Uchiha Shisui was forbidden, the news had already gotten out, and the other ninja villages had all received it.
The various sides reacted with relative silence. After all, Uchiha Shisui belonged to Konoha, and losing a powerful enemy was a good thing for them.
During this time, Anju also obtained a method for Chakra Extraction at the Uchiha Clan Residence.
Naruto had learned about it by chance while mingling with the Uchiha brats.
Quite a few of the Uchiha Clan's children were now over five years old. They occasionally exchanged tips with one another, and Naruto happened to overhear the Chakra Extraction Technique.
Anju, who was staying in Naruto's Sealing Space, immediately learned how to use the technique.
There was no point even thinking about the medicinal ingredients needed for assistance. Anju could not get them, nor could he use them.
So Anju could only directly use the extraction technique to extract Chakra.
But Anju had forgotten one thing: he had no body, so he could not combine mental energy with physical energy to extract Chakra.
Anju's entire fox face fell.
He had already made progress with mental energy, but he had no body!
Opening his eyes, Anju lay on the sofa in Minato and Kushina's Love Nest.
By chance, he spotted Minato.
An idea suddenly struck Anju.
Wasn't Minato a Chakra Body?
Wasn't he a ready-made subject to study?
Anju quickly moved to Minato's side.
"Minato, how do you extract Chakra now?"
"?"
"I said, how do you extract Chakra now?"
"I don't need to extract it. Aren't you the one supplying me with Chakra?"
"Then how does the Chakra I give you become your own Chakra?"
"Oh, I just use my own Chakra to assimilate it. The Chakra you give me doesn't have any attribute distinctions anyway."
After Minato finished speaking, Anju flashed away to the side.
He left right after asking. He had nothing else to say to Minato.
Minato was also somewhat bewildered, unable to understand why Anju had asked those questions.
Anju began combining his own mental energy with the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra Body.
Since Minato could assimilate Yin Nine-Tails Chakra, then as the actual controller of the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra, shouldn't Anju be able to assimilate it even more easily?
The results of the experiment greatly satisfied Anju.
It worked!
Looking at the tiny mass of Chakra that was visibly different from the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra Body, Anju grew excited as well.
This was a breakthrough from zero to one!
Ever since he gained that tiny mass of his own Chakra, more and more Yin Nine-Tails Chakra was assimilated.
Anju could also clearly feel his control over the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra growing stronger.
If, at first, Anju could only turn a faucet on and off, then now he could adjust the flow and even divert the water flowing from the faucet into other pools.
Although the change was beneficial, Anju also discovered a problem.
That pool was simply too large. The amount of Tailed Beast Chakra he could control at once was limited by his own mental strength.
Still, it was beneficial to Anju for now. For example... he could make precise adjustments to Chakra control and learn all sorts of new ninjutsu from the Nine-Tails.
Minato felt this most clearly.
He discovered that the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra being supplied to him had decreased.
"Hey, Anju!"
"Oh, don't worry. I'm just making adjustments. If you think I'm harming you, you can seal me away."
Minato fell silent. He found that although the amount of Chakra supplied to him had decreased, it was still barely enough to maintain his Chakra Body.
At most, it was like someone who had once been given a whole bucket of food despite only needing one bowl was now given only one bowl instead of the bucket.
He had gone from abundance back to simple sufficiency.
So although Minato had spoken up, he had not meant to accuse Anju.
He was simply afraid that Anju would stop giving him Chakra altogether.
As Anju slowly assimilated the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra, Kushina also noticed the change.
Originally, the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra in her Sealing Space needed the space's suppression to prevent it from leaking into the outside world.
Now, even without the Sealing Space suppressing it, the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra would not leak outside. In short, the Yin Nine-Tails Chakra Body had become more solid.
"Anju, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Oh, Kushina. It's nothing. I'm just controlling the Chakra a little. Did it affect you?"
"No. It's just that you suddenly started... um, controlling it, and I'm not used to it."
"It's fine. I was too lazy to control it before, but now I'm getting serious."
After Anju said that, Kushina sensed something strange. What did he mean by saying he was getting serious?
Could something major have happened recently?
"Anju, has anything urgent happened lately?"
"Not really. I just noticed that something is off."
"What is it?"
"I can't explain it, but from my perspective, it is very unexpected."
Anju understood very clearly just how many events had become related to him after he got involved with Konoha.
He also had no idea how many changes would follow. Would the events of the original story still happen?
When would they happen?
Take this war, for example. In the original story, almost nothing major happened in Konoha from Year 52 to Year 55.
But what about now?
The existence of Nine-Tailed Enchantress Kushina had made up for part of Konoha's military strength.
With two wars breaking out, could the Ninja World remain peaceful?
Konoha had attacked Kumogakure, and Iwagakure had attacked Kumogakure. What changes would Kumogakure undergo?
Shisui's Mangekyo had openly appeared, and the Uchiha held greater status than they did in the original story.
Without Uchiha Shisui as a source of stimulation, could Itachi Uchiha still awaken his eyes?
Would the Uchiha Clan once again propose a coup to overthrow the Third Hokage?
Would Obito Uchiha persuade Nagato to begin collecting Tailed Beasts ahead of time?
How much profit had Nagato gained from this war between Iwagakure and Kumogakure?
And what could he himself do amid these changes?
Could he really just sit by and watch Naruto and Sasuke grow up?
Or should he ignite the conflict between Nagato and the Five Great Ninja Villages ahead of time?
All of this required Anju's careful consideration.
"Anju, don't worry. It'll be fine. Konoha has me, Minato, and many ninja clans. Don't overthink things.
Sometimes, I really feel like you aren't a Tailed Beast at all. What Tailed Beast has so many twists and turns in its mind?"
After Kushina finished speaking, Anju relaxed somewhat.
That was true. There was still the Sage of Six Paths in the Ninja World. Why was he worrying so much?
Before you continue