The Second Tailed Beast of Konoha.

"Holy..."

At a field base in Kirigakure, the surrounding hills were packed with Konoha ninja today.

The place was surrounded so tightly tonight that not even a mosquito could escape.

Even if they wanted to fight to the death to send a message, it was impossible.

Inside, the White Zetsu who had just stuffed the Three-Tails into Rin Nohara closed his eyes desolately; was it his turn to sacrifice himself today?

But...

Obito was still on his way.

The White Zetsu were pathetic, and the Kirigakure ninja who had been hoodwinked by them were even more pathetic.

In order to stall until Obito arrived.

"Brothers! For Kirigakure!"

"For Kirigakure!!"

The Kirigakure captain, who was actually a White Zetsu in disguise, rallied the low morale of the troops.

"White Zetsu shall never be slaves!!"

The White Zetsu who said this was the last one with a captain's rank that Madara had planted in Kirigakure; all his other White Zetsu brothers had already sacrificed themselves for the Eye of the Moon Plan, and not a single other White Zetsu could be found in the entire village.

For the sake of the Eye of the Moon Plan, they, the White Zetsu, were willing to shed their last drop of blood!

"Huh? What is 'White Zetsu shall never be slaves'?" a Kirigakure ninja asked, confused.

"The captain's name is White Zetsu."

"I see!"

"I, XXXX, shall also never be a slave!!"

This was a one-sided massacre.

Daring to imprison the disciple of Konoha's rising star Minato, the crush of the Fourth Hokage's student—did you get your nine generations of kin wholesale?

What a fine base they had built, yet within an hour, it was dismantled until not even a single roof tile remained.

Even the earthworms inside were being sliced in half vertically.

Rin had just had the Three-Tails stuffed into her body, and she had heard with her own ears the Kirigakure ninja discussing how they would let her be "rescued" later, so that when she returned to the Konoha camp, they could trigger the Three-Tails to go berserk and cause her to harm Konoha.

What was she to do?

Zhengyi scooped Rin Nohara up from the sealing platform and leaped away in a few bounds.

The moon was very large tonight.

Zhengyi had excellent jumping power; he leaped very high.

Minato, who was currently cleaning up the battlefield, heard the sound and looked up; this scene felt somewhat familiar.

"Rin, the moon is so big tonight."

"But I might not be able to see it anymore, Zhengyi."

In the wilderness, Obito was still on his way.

He was burning with anxiety.

Almost there! Just wait for me a little longer.

"What is Sensei Minato doing? And what about Zhengyi?! Didn't I tell him to take good care of Rin? Damn it!!"

The White Zetsu attached to half of Obito's body naturally didn't know that the Kirigakure base had been devastated, so he echoed Obito, "There's nothing to be done, Obito. This ninja world is just like this, filled with cold words and indifference. Not everyone is like you, willing to risk their life for a comrade."

"Of course!"

Obito accepted the praise proudly and continued on his way.

He had to make it in time!

And what was Madara doing underground?

He was wondering if he had offended Zhengyi in his past life.

Up until now, the only plan he had succeeded in was capturing Obito to perform the initial brainwashing, and that was something he had to do personally.

Madara laughed helplessly at this moment; in truth, he was out of options.

"Lord Madara, how should we proceed with the next step of the plan?"

Actually, Black Zetsu still had many ideas, but each one required time.

Madara's lifespan was already running low, so after thinking it over, he entered standby mode, temporarily ceasing his bodily functions to save his final breath for entrusting everything to Obito. Everything is left to you, my will.

Black Zetsu felt a headache coming on; in the end, did this mean he had to take the stage himself?!

Wait.

Madara had always assumed his plan was a success and that Obito would definitely return, so he had never warned Obito not to expose their tracks.

If Obito had mentioned to Orochimaru and the others that Madara was still alive...

Black Zetsu spent the night leading the White Zetsu to carry the AFK Madara and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path away.

Zhengyi!

I will never let you off!

It was the appearance of this bastard that caused one major deviation after another in their plans.

Originally, the plan hadn't been to capture Rin so rashly.

But because Obito would just sleep after drinking his protein powder, and the Hashirama Cells Madara had transplanted into his body made his recovery speed faster with each passing day, his body had fully recovered by yesterday.

They had no choice but to advance the plan, capturing Rin without having Kirigakure pin down Konoha first.

Two major events had recently occurred in Konoha!

First, Obito, who had once sacrificed himself on the battlefield, had run back on his own.

Second, Konoha now possessed an additional Tailed Beast.

Initially, Madara had arranged for many White Zetsu in Kirigakure to deceive the Third Mizukage, having him seal the Three-Tails inside a Konoha ninja. They would then quietly release the ninja, allowing him to return to Konoha and trigger the seal, causing the Three-Tails to destroy the village.

The plan was simple and brutal; if it hadn't run into the Uchiha, a sudden Tailed Beast Bomb would have been enough to give Konoha a real headache.

But precisely because it was simple and brutal, it was easily neutralized by Konoha.

"Teacher Orochimaru!!"

Zhengyi returned to Konoha with Rin on his back, escorted by dozens of Anbu.

This wasn't him neglecting his duty or abusing his power by abandoning his responsibilities as a commander to leave the front lines.

Rather...

Konoha had hit the jackpot this time.

Teacher Orochimaru had just become Hokage and needed a great achievement to prove himself and win the hearts of the people.

The enemy had just delivered a Tailed Beast right to their doorstep.

That Third Mizukage was actually a pretty decent guy.

Konoha had every sealing technique imaginable; they would have to be insane to agree to let a Tailed Beast destroy the village.

"The Three-Tails? The Third Mizukage is indeed a good person." Orochimaru also smiled. The better Konoha fared, the better he fared; he and Konoha were in a relationship of mutual utilization!

First do this, then do that.

And finally, finish it off with one last move.

The seal Teacher Orochimaru used was called the Five Elements Seal, whose primary function was to inhibit a person's ability to use chakra. Orochimaru's move, however, merely suppressed the Tailed Beast's chakra, ensuring it wouldn't interfere with Rin's own chakra flow.

After all, not every Tailed Beast was the Nine-Tails; the Three-Tails was resentful, but it wasn't rebellious, so it chose to lie flat without struggling.

The Tailed Beast seal on Rin was reinforced with such ease.

Kirigakure had suffered the tragic loss of a Tailed Beast!

"Rin."

"Zhengyi..."

Unlike those who dated often and were highly experienced, these two adolescent youths were both avoidant-attached; they felt embarrassed just trying to speak.

Orochimaru watched the two of them in the ambiguous atmosphere and clicked his tongue—the stench of romance.

He actually wanted to break up the pair.

Dating meant that Zhengyi would have to spend half his focus on this person named Rin Nohara.

Then how would he slack off, and how would he conduct his experimental research?

He was also afraid his student would fall from grace, sinking into the boredom of romantic love.

Zhengyi should be with him!!!

Following his arrangements!

"Zhengyi, Rin, I don't want your business to be made public," Orochimaru stated.

Zhengyi: "?"

Rin: "?"

What business could we possibly have?

Orochimaru had made his move; he intended to strangle the two's romance in its cradle.

This was the Hokage! He had the power to be willful.

As long as Zhengyi was in the east, Rin would be assigned to the west; as long as Rin was in the north, Zhengyi would be assigned to the south. In short, Orochimaru did not want the two to see each other often.

He, as a teacher, had truly gone to great pains.

Children blinded by ambiguity!

Rin Nohara's teacher was Minato, and if Rin Nohara heard even a shred of intelligence from you and passed it to Minato Namikaze, it would be a fatal blow to us!

The competition for Hokage had just ended, and the internal strife of Konoha had just begun!