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After leaving the Hokage Building, Shuichi sensed the mark he had left behind and then ran towards the nearest location.

The Ninja Academy and the Hokage's office are very close to each other, both built along the edge of the hill. Inside the back wall are several very large shelters, and there are also such places in the Hokage Rock not far away.

After a few leaps, he quickly arrived at one of the shelters, which was filled with Konoha, with several ninjas on guard at the entrance.

"Shuichi! You're here. How's the situation outside?" Ishikawa Tatsuki turned around immediately upon hearing footsteps, and relaxed when he saw it was his childhood friend. "I was helping out at Mom's shop when that huge monster with multiple tails suddenly appeared. It scared me half to death..."

Asuma, standing to the side, had a slightly crooked mouth and a look of frustration on his face. He happened to be home alone tonight, and when he heard the commotion outside, he quickly ran out.

He had intended to help, but was stopped Jonin the Sarutobi Clan and could only do tasks like evacuating civilians. After hearing Ishikawa Tatsuki's words, he explained to him, "That's not an ordinary monster, it's the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, Tailed Beast with an enormous amount of chakra..."

Seeing that the two were unharmed, Shuichi said expressionlessly, "Now that the Nine-Tails has been dealt with, the villagers can return to their homes. If any family member goes missing, please report it to the village immediately."

Seeing his serious expression, the other ninjas around him immediately obeyed his orders.

Just as Asuma's expression turned serious, Shuichi suddenly called out to him, "Asuma..."

Asuma turned around in surprise, only to see an expression Shuichi had never shown before. "Lady Biwako... has tragically perished!"

Seeing the somewhat slow-witted, hot-blooded, and rebellious boy's eyes widen and his whole body tremble, Shuichi dared not show any extra expression. The task the Third Hokage had given him was truly troublesome; it was more painful than fighting the Nine-Tails again.

Ishikawa Tatsuki, standing nearby, was also a bit bewildered. The usually lively boy didn't know how to comfort his teammate, and a moment of silence fell over the scene.

"Ahhh... this can't be real!" Asuma cried out, tears streaming down his face, "What is that old man doing? What's the point of him being Hokage...?"

"Tap tap tap..." Seeing him rush out frantically, Shuichi was helpless and could only say to Ishikawa Tatsuki, "You guys are teammates, comfort him when you have time, I have to go to other places."

"This Kunai has a space-time teleportation spell set up by me. If I inject chakra into it, I can sense it and send reinforcements."

Seeing the words "Flying Thunder God Technique," Ishikawa Tatsuki would normally be curious and ask about it, but he wasn't in the mood right now.

After handing him the Kunai, Shuichi disappeared with a whoosh. When he reappeared, he had been teleported to the edge of the Forest of Death. This area had multiple Barriers set up by the village, and most of the village's promising young ninjas were concentrated here.

The Jonin were Jonin on guard. When they saw the figure suddenly appear, they were tense at first, but then they breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's Shuichi!" The leader, Yūhi Shinkō, softened her expression. "I've heard what happened from the other Jonin. Many ninjas were preparing to rush to their aid when you successfully moved the Nine-Tails away. We're all safe thanks to you this time."

Seeing that none of the familiar faces had died from the unknown area-of-effect attack, Shuichi felt relieved. "It's nothing, the village is safe now, we can remove the Barrier."

As the Barrier dissipated, Kurenai ran to his side with delight. "Shuichi-kun, are you alright? We were so worried when we heard you were fighting Nine-Tails alone!"

"It's all my fault for being too weak; I can't help at all."

"Don't say that," Shuichi comforted her. "Everyone shares the same desire to do their best for the village; it's just that I'm a little more capable..."

Seeing her daughter's actions, Yūhi Shinkō didn't stop her; instead, a mysterious smile appeared on her face.

His best friend's son is now a pillar of Konoha, the most outstanding young man in the entire Shinobi World. Of course, he'd be happy to strengthen ties between the two families through marriage. Who wouldn't want a son-in-law like that? "We could find an opportunity to test the waters. We could get engaged first, and then..."

Shuichi felt a jolt. "What's going on? It seems like someone's plotting against me? Could it be Obito and the Black and White Zetsu?"

His sixth sense gleaned a sense of Jonin but found nothing. Shuichi and the other Jonin could only send the young Konoha ninjas away and then go to the other Barrier points to notify them, hoping to restore the village to normal operation as soon as possible.

In the Land of Fire, inside a cave, a short-haired, Masked Man emerged from a distorted space.

He looked somewhat disheveled, with one sleeve hanging empty, but his actions suggested he didn't seem to care much.

At the same time, a green pitcher plant appeared on the wall next to them, and when it opened, a strange figure with white on the left and black on the right appeared. "Obito, you've gotten a little too aggressive!"

"Konoha truly lives up to its reputation as the largest village in the Shinobi World. When you attacked the Fourth Hokage, the Purple Aurora teleported the Nine-Tails outside the village, preventing them from suffering significant losses."

"However, the Fourth Hokage died after sealing the Nine-Tails. Overall, the only results of this battle were Namikaze Minato and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; the rest were just a bunch of insignificant minions."

The Masked Man grabbed a White Zetsu's arm, ripped it off, and slammed it onto his shoulder. "The Yellow Flash is dead? Good. Although it's still far from achieving our goal, it's still a weakening of Konoha's strength."

"Don't be careless!" White Zetsu's strange voice echoed in the cave, "That Takeda Shuichi can almost single-handedly restrain the Nine-Tails; his strength is already terrifying."

"I remember you two used to be in the same class, but you seem quite different now! Hmm? Did I say something I shouldn't have...?"

Obito's face beneath the mask darkened considerably. Takeda Shuichi's shadow completely overshadowed the brilliance of everyone in their generation. Even a genius like Kakashi could only compete for second place, not to mention someone who had been a bottom-of-the-class student.

"Damn it, this is a bit troublesome. It's that Flying Thunder God Technique again. Not only has he mastered it, but he can also use it to such an extent in such a short time..."

The well-informed Black Zetsu analyzed from the side. "His super-powerful multi-attribute elemental ninjutsu, terrifying Body Flicker Technique and Flying Thunder God Technique, and enormous chakra reserves mean that his strength has virtually no weaknesses."

Obito tightened his grip on his other hand. This time, he had suffered a loss at the hands of Namikaze Minato, which taught him that the Mangekyō Sharingan could not be used recklessly.

"The future is long. For now, I'm operating in the shadows, but I need to be careful. There will be plenty of opportunities to compete in the future!"

They're all around the same age, and he still has various secret techniques and Yin-Yang Release left by Uchiha Madara. His own strength still has enough room for improvement, and the one who laughs last is the victor.

How's Nagato doing?

Although they internally declared that they were not afraid of Purple Aurora, Obito and Black Zetsu tacitly abandoned the idea of confronting it Nagato -on and decided to send Nagato, the tool, to do the job.

"Their organization was almost completely wiped out by Hanzo and Konoha, and Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, his control over the Rinnegan is still very weak. It seems he'll have to keep a low profile for a long time to come..."