Behind the Scenes

The return of the team that captured the Nine-Tails to the village stirred up a new wave of ripples.

According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses.

A towering Great Buddha clad in blue armor had seized the Nine-Tails in a single motion, followed by a Wood Golem delivering a "head-pat" that left the restrained Nine-Tails as helpless as a chick, unable to move a muscle as it was obediently bound by the Chakra Chains of the Uzumaki Clan and sealed away without the slightest effort.

"So that is how it was?"

A sigh of melancholy echoed through the Sarutobi clan compound as the current patriarch of the Sarutobi Clan set down his chopsticks with a look of bewilderment.

"Father, are you alright?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, sitting quietly in his chair, looked toward his father with a concerned expression as the latter revealed a look of dejection.

Adjusting his mindset, Sarutobi Sasuke could not help but recall how he had once mistakenly wandered into the territory of the Nine-Tails while seeking a shortcut; the memory of that heart-palpitating, evil chakra still left a deep impression on him to this day.

The name Sarutobi Sasuke held great prestige among the other shinobi clans, but in the face of such world-destroying power, what did his pride-and-joy Five Element Jutsu even amount to?

Facing the bright, expectant eyes of young Hiruzen, he quickly steadied his own resolute heart; no matter what, as long as he could protect his clansmen, everything was worth it.

"Eat quickly. Finish your meal and get some rest; you have classes tomorrow."

Sarutobi Sasuke used his wooden chopsticks to pick out the best portions of the steaming dishes and placed them into the boy's bowl, speaking in a soft voice.

He currently bore the responsibility of being the head of the Konoha Police Department, and having learned from the rotating guards that the Nine-Tails sealing unit had returned, he had slipped home during a moment of slacking off.

He had come specifically to check on his son, fearing that someone might have been shaken by such inhuman power, but upon returning home and finding everything in order, he realized he had been overthinking it.

Well.

That was the official excuse, at least; the truth was that the boy's mother hadn't finished her shift at the Medical Department yet, and he was worried young Hiruzen might go hungry.

Coming home to cook a private meal was a welcome change, as he had long grown tired of the mass-produced canteen food he'd been eating for days.

Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his small hand, standing up with a spirited look to bid farewell to his father, who turned and melted into the night air as he left the house.

Compared to the warm atmosphere of the Sarutobi residence, the Hyuga compound felt much more solemn.

The core elders of the Hyuga family held their breath and pricked up their ears, listening intently to the scene described by the clansmen who had witnessed the sealing of the Nine-Tails with their own eyes, refusing to miss a single detail.

The hunched Hyuga Gencho nodded in satisfaction, turning to the young Hyuga with a smooth forehead in front of him: "Ye, take them away to rest. The rest of you, don't forget you have classes tomorrow."

Hyuga Ryudo, sitting in the center, said nothing, merely watching it all in silence until only a few of them remained in the room. His mind began to stir, and he opened the conversation: "The Hokage spent two days successfully sealing the Nine-Tails."

Those kneeling quietly beside him merely nodded in affirmation; previous plans had already stated that all the Tailed Beasts in the Shinobi World were to be sealed collectively.

"This is the newborn Konoha demonstrating its deterrence to the other villages that are gradually being established." Ryudo continued with a calm expression, "And judging by the temperaments of Hashirama and Tobirama, their goal in gathering the Tailed Beasts is definitely not to incite war."

Seeing that they were all deep in thought, Ryudo paused, handed the intelligence report in his hand to the elders beside him, and closed his eyes to rest.

Hyuga Gencho took the report, his white eyes narrowing slightly as he scanned the text in surprise; this was intelligence passed on by other friendly families in other hidden villages.

The most detailed report came from the Kaguya Clan, stating that their newly established Kirigakure had also initiated a plan to capture the Three-Tails, though it was a pity that the Three-Tails had used its own abilities to escape into the vast ocean.

Kirigakure had acted in advance, utilizing elite troops composed of numerous clans with bloodline limits.

Below the report, it was clear that other hidden villages had, to varying degrees, already begun their own plans to capture Tailed Beasts.

After the intelligence had made its rounds, Hyuga Ryudo opened his eyes, tucked the report into his wide sleeve, and continued: "The plans of the other hidden villages are surely known to Tobirama in the Hokage Building by now."

"Then, what is the Patriarch's meaning?" an elder sitting to the side asked in confusion.

"The Hyuga family cannot influence the core decisions of Konoha at this moment." Ryudo analyzed with a calm expression, "Now that other hidden villages are prepared, our Hyuga family must demonstrate our own advantages and participate in the plan to seal the Tailed Beasts."

Hyuga Gencho, also an old fox, felt his gaze flicker under the candlelight as he stared at the current Hyuga patriarch, saying with tacit understanding: "There are as many branch family members as we need."

When the topic touched upon the main and branch families, the other elders who had been silent joined in; this was exactly what they were good at, and they had far too much experience in it.

Hyuga Ryudo looked at the noisy scene with a headache, tapped the wooden floor hard to signal for silence, and sighed helplessly: "The main family must also shoulder a portion of the responsibility."

"How can that be! The lives of the main family are incomparably precious!" the elder behind Gencho couldn't help but whisper, but seeing everyone's eyes fixed on him, he hurriedly lowered his head, "I do not mean that I doubt the power of the Hokage."

Ryudo waved his hand to make him shut up; fortunately, he was just a sycophant who existed to continue the bloodline and had no real say, so he continued the previous topic: "What exactly is the purpose?"

The candlelight shone on the wrinkles of Ryudo's cheeks, and a withered, aged murmur escaped his thin lips, echoing in the room for a long time.

"It couldn't be for an ideal, could it?" Gencho, who had quietly straightened his posture, broke the silence and probed.

Ryudo's eyes widened instantly, and a startling light erupted from his slightly dim white eyes. He rose from his cushion and paced back and forth on the wooden floor, saying excitedly: "Judging by all the signs from Konoha, that should be correct."

"But how will he handle these Tailed Beasts?"

Following this, Ryudo's bewildered voice caused the entire room to fall back into silence, leaving only the sound of the candle wick burning.

Black Zetsu felt melancholy; he felt immense regret at not being able to witness the scene of the Nine-Tails being sealed in person, as those ninjutsu were the most spectacular clashes in his long memory.

Judging from the final battlefield between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan, the Asura and Indra of this generation were terrifyingly powerful; their strength was infinitely close to the first generation of Asura and Indra, perhaps even surpassing them.

He dared not personally observe a battlefield where Senjutsu and the Eternal Mangekyo were unleashed; if he were sensed, his nearly thousand years of hiding would be completely exposed to the sunlight. He absolutely could not capsize in the gutter when success was so close at hand.

This was the generation with the most hope of birthing the Rinnegan; he could not be too careful.

Hiding in the night like a pool of thick ink flowing through the shadows, he dodged the visible and hidden sentries outside the room, sensed the edges of the sealing barrier, and carefully poked his head out to gaze at the sealing tool that had fallen into silence after containing the Nine-Tails.

He muttered in his heart that the suggestion to seal the Tailed Beasts separately was truly excellent; he didn't know which genius had come up with it, but he must find an opportunity to thank him properly—it was simply perfect.

The pitch-black water vortex suddenly splashed, and above his upright body, gray, round eyes appeared, his shark-like sharp teeth curling at the corners of his mouth as he laughed silently.

Ps: Thanks to "Book Friend 20180131135157572", "Tianjin Xiaoyue", "Book Friend 20210126091413949", and "Boiling Fish Ball" for their support.