The good news was that Uchiha Madara hadn't come back to life.
The bad news was that his ancestor had returned.
However, after hearing Uchiha Yoru's words, the Nine-Tails was furious on the surface, despite the fear it felt inside.
Ever since that giant Susanoo appeared, it had stayed cooped up in its cage. It had even stopped releasing chakra to harass Naruto, yet someone had still come looking for it.
This was the last straw!
"You damn human brat! I'll kill you with my own hands!"
The Nine-Tails took up a fighting stance, ready to attack, but then suddenly remembered that it was sealed.
Its anger surged, and its resentment toward humans grew even deeper.
Especially... that blond man who had suddenly appeared before it.
"Namikaze Minato!!!!"
The Nine-Tails roared, glaring at Namikaze Minato in the Hokage Cloak with eyes full of hatred. It gripped the bars with its forepaws, wishing it could bite him to death right then and there!
In the Nine-Tails' eyes, humans were all rotten, especially Uchiha and blondes. They were the very definition of inhuman!!
Uchiha Yoru frowned, then shot Namikaze Minato a cold glance.
His Sharingan turned slightly, and terrifying ocular power erupted in an instant.
"Damn!"
Namikaze Minato's heart lurched. He tried to react, but the world suddenly spun around him.
The scene before him warped rapidly, and then endless darkness swallowed his consciousness.
The chakra remnant inside Naruto couldn't withstand ocular power on Indra's level. It was suppressed in an instant.
Uchiha Yoru coldly withdrew his gaze.
"Now it's your turn, Nine-Tails."
The Nine-Tails bared its fangs. Its gaze brimmed with hatred, but a trace of unease lurked beneath it.
"Hmph. Don't get cocky, brat."
Though it refused to back down, it knew that Uchiha Yoru was no one it could provoke with impunity.
Golden chains suddenly appeared out of thin air, speeding toward Uchiha Yoru like serpents.
"Sealing Jutsu: Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
The chains tore through the air, attempting to bind Uchiha Yoru.
Uchiha Yoru sneered. Susanoo's skeletal frame appeared in an instant, and with a swing of its arm, it smashed every chain to pieces.
"Pathetic trick."
His gaze immediately locked onto the source, and Uzumaki Kushina's figure appeared.
But before she could react, her pupils suddenly contracted.
Uchiha Yoru's powerful mental force crushed her directly. Uzumaki Kushina didn't even have time to cry out before she lost consciousness.
The Nine-Tails stared at the scene, dumbfounded. The rebellious spirit that had just flared up was snuffed out instantly.
"Don't come any closer!!!"
It screamed inwardly, but its body was frozen in place as if bound by fear.
Uchiha Yoru walked toward the Nine-Tails, his gaze cold.
"Beasts should know their place."
The Nine-Tails trembled, terror filling its red eyes.
But its struggles were useless.
Under the Sharingan's ocular power, the Nine-Tails once again fell into an endless world of illusion.
Outside
Uchiha Yoru withdrew his consciousness. Before him stood the enormous beast, its presence having crushed the surrounding buildings.
Uchiha Yoru frowned and thought to himself, I don't need to use the Nine-Tails yet...
He calmly ordered the Nine-Tails to use the Transformation Technique to shrink, then commanded it to help his clone deliver a meal to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire!
As for the buildings it had crushed, Yamato would just have to endure a little hardship.
No, how could the boss's business be called "hardship"? It was a perfectly sound expression of the Will of Fire!
After giving his orders, Uchiha Yoru headed toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Along the way, he encountered many Konoha villagers. They all looked at him fearfully and addressed him in reverent tones: "Fifth Hokage-sama."
Uchiha Yoru nodded, but paid no mind to it.
He knew that what filled the villagers' eyes was mostly fear, not genuine respect.
But he didn't care.
Uchiha Yoru was nothing like the softhearted Konoha F4 of the past.
In his view, their benevolent policies toward civilians had been downright inhuman.
The strong naturally had certain privileges, though rules still had to be followed.
As far as he was concerned, anyone who went against the Will of Fire was destined to be eliminated.
The history of Konoha made that clear. Plenty of outstanding shinobi had been slandered by civilians.
The naturally evil Konoha F4 really were guilty of heinous crimes!
As Uchiha Yoru was lost in thought, a tall, white-haired man suddenly appeared before him.
"You're the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Yoru, aren't you?" The man spoke with an air of carefree defiance.
Uchiha Yoru stopped and stared at the stranger, a deep, contemplative look flashing through his eyes.
Jiraiya made no effort to hide the way he sized Uchiha Yoru up, his expression complicated.
Who could have guessed that this handsome, dignified young man was the culprit behind the so-called "Night of Clan Extermination"!
That's right, the Night of Clan Extermination referred to the extermination of the Konoha F4's clans.
Jiraiya recalled the intelligence he'd received and couldn't help shuddering. According to the report, several thousand people had died that night! (My Sarutobi Clan having four thousand people isn't too much, right? [hands on hips])
He had only decided to put aside his work and return to the village to see what was happening after learning of Konoha's upheaval.
During that time, he'd planned to ask Tsunade to return with him, but she had her own intelligence channels. Though Sarutobi Hiruzen's death had affected her somewhat, she had no interest in Konoha's government.
As long as Konoha itself wasn't destroyed, she, Princess Tsunade, couldn't care less what happened to it!
"Speak."
Uchiha Yoru's tone was calm, but carried an unquestionable weight.
Jiraiya watched him, his gaze deep. "That enormous beast just now—if I'm not mistaken, it was the Nine-Tails, right?"
He paused, brow furrowing, his voice growing heavier. "The seal was still secure before. You were the one who released the Nine-Tails, weren't you? What about Naruto...?"
Jiraiya didn't care about the so-called higher-ups' fate. Sarutobi Hiruzen's passing had left him with little more than a touch of melancholy.
Even the respect he felt was merely a mark of regard for his former teacher.
But he had returned to the village for much more than to mourn the dead.
Over the past few days, he'd observed that order in Konoha was being maintained steadily—more steadily, in fact, than it had been under the Third Hokage.
And aside from those whose clans had been exterminated, the supposedly ruthless Fifth Hokage didn't seem to be targeting anyone else.
At this moment, however, Jiraiya cared most about the child his student had left behind—Uzumaki Naruto.
But before he could finish, Uchiha Yoru cut him off coldly. "What about Naruto? What does that have to do with you?"
"Who gave you the right to meddle?"
Uchiha Yoru's eyes were icy, and his voice carried even greater force. "Did you take care of him? Did you ever even go see him?"
"As the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, I have every right to control the Tailed Beast in the village!"
"You're a Konoha shinobi. You've spent all this time wandering the Ninja World under a flimsy excuse instead of returning, and that was bad enough—"
"Now that I've become the Fifth Hokage, you've come back."
"But what I see in your eyes isn't loyalty. It's doubt!"
"Jiraiya, from this moment on, you are an enemy of Konoha!!!"
Before you continue