Obito is completely numb! The near-death Jinchuriki, Lord Madara, you saved them?

The spatial vortex slowly dissipated atop the Mizukage Building, and Lin Feng's figure solidified once more.

The salty sea breeze ruffled his wild black hair, and the chaotic flames of Konoha Village, reflected in the mirror-like water, shimmered in his purple Rinnegan like the closing act of a grand play.

"Lord Madara, this move of yours... it truly is..."

Black Zetsu emerged halfway from the shadow beneath his feet, its yin-yang face filled with incomprehensible shock and a trace of genuine, heartfelt awe.

It simply could not fathom why the plan had been altered so abruptly.

"What? Do you think I've gone soft?" Lin Feng didn't look back, casually picking up a bottle of fruit juice from the ice bucket Kisame had prepared in advance.

"No, I wouldn't dare." Black Zetsu lowered its head quickly. "It's just... letting Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki live seems to contradict our original intention of throwing Konoha into chaos..."

"Original intention?"

Lin Feng twisted off the cap, took a sip, and let out a satisfied hum.

"A dead hero is far less interesting than a living, sidelined one. You will soon understand that, sometimes, living is far more painful than dying."

[Ding! Detected that the host's actions have had a subversive impact on the world line, successfully altering the fated deaths of core characters 'Namikaze Minato' and 'Kushina Uzumaki'!]

[Roleplay mission "Director of the Nine-Tails Incident" completion level: Beyond S-rank! Comprehensive evaluation: SS+!]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the following rewards:]

[1. Eye power proficiency +20%! Control over the Rinnegan has been significantly enhanced!]

[2. Special Ability--Life Feedback (Yang): Can consume one's own chakra to infuse life force into a designated target. Possesses powerful healing and restorative effects; can instantly save a dying jinchuriki.]

[3. Legendary Item--Flying Thunder God Mark (Permanent Coordinate) x3: Can permanently set this mark at any location, ignoring distance and barriers to perform spatial teleportation at any time.]

Lin Feng felt the surging power of his ocular prowess once more, along with the gentle, warm life energy that had appeared in his mind, and he felt quite pleased.

"Let's go. The first half of the show is over; it's time to see the expressions on the actors' faces."

He casually branded a Flying Thunder God Mark onto the top of the Mizukage Building, then, with Black Zetsu in tow, his figure vanished once again.

On the other side, in Konoha Village.

When Sarutobi Hiruzen led a large contingent of Anbu and jonin into the heart of the barrier with the resolve to die, everyone was so stunned by the sight before them that they halted in their tracks.

There were no corpses as they had anticipated.

There stood only the exhausted Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki, supporting each other, with a peacefully sleeping infant held tightly in Kushina's arms.

The massive body of the Nine-Tails had long since vanished.

"Minato?! Kushina?!"

The pipe in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand clattered to the ground. His cloudy eyes widened, and he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

"You... you are still alive? Where is the Nine-Tails?"

"Lord Third..." Minato's voice was incredibly hoarse, and a gentle smile of survival appeared on his face. "The Nine-Tails... has been resealed."

"Sealed? But you two..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze swept back and forth across them. Although they were weak, their life force was stable; they looked nothing like people who had just undergone the extraction of a tailed beast and the execution of a forbidden jutsu.

This defied all common knowledge of ninjutsu!

"Someone... saved us." Minato took a deep breath and spoke the name that would shake the entire ninja world.

"Uchiha Madara."

"After the person who released the Nine-Tails was wounded by me and fled, he suddenly appeared and saved Kushina and me."

In an instant, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

Every ninja who had arrived, including Uchiha Fugaku, who had just led his clan in battle and won the respect of the entire village, had their expressions frozen solid at that moment.

"What did you say?" Fugaku was the first to speak, his voice cracking; he even forgot to use honorifics.

Lord Madara? Saved the Fourth Hokage and his wife?

How could Lord Madara possibly save someone from the Hokage's faction?

That sounded even more absurd than Senju Tobirama speaking human language!

"Minato, are you too exhausted? Are you hallucinating?" one of the elders from the advisory council couldn't help but ask suspiciously.

Minato shook his head bitterly.

"It is no hallucination. His power... those Rinnegan eyes, there is no mistake. It was he who forcibly interrupted my Dead Demon Consuming Seal, and it was he who suppressed the Nine-Tails and told me... the method to save Kushina."

He briefly recounted the sequence of events, including how the Nine-Tails was split in two, with the Yin-attribute chakra sealed back into Kushina to sustain her life, and the Yang-attribute chakra sealed into Naruto.

Everyone present was shaken to their core.

They were not shocked by the feasibility of such a sealing method, but rather by... the logic behind Uchiha Madara's actions.

Why would he do such a thing?

Since he was not the one who released the Nine-Tails, he could have chosen to stand by and watch as Konoha's pillars were successfully destroyed. Why choose to save them personally at the very last moment?

What on earth was he plotting?

Fugaku's heart surged with an extremely complex emotion.

On one hand, the Fourth Hokage was alive, and his position as Hokage's assistant, having just earned great merit by "saving the Hokage," instantly became stable.

On the other hand, the name "Uchiha Madara" did not have a good reputation in Konoha Village, and the pressure returned to the hearts of all Uchiha clansmen.

He had just led the entire clan to clear their name, only for their ancestor to jump out and perform such a world-shattering "confusing act." Although the Fourth Hokage currently stated that Uchiha Madara was not the one who controlled the Nine-Tails, it would still make the Uchiha clan suspicious, and he didn't know how they would establish themselves in Konoha in the future. After all, everyone knew the old story of Uchiha Madara controlling the Nine-Tails.

All eyes would once again focus on the Uchiha clan, with deeper scrutiny and suspicion.

Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the pipe from the ground and took a deep puff, forcing himself to calm down.

"This matter is classified as an S-rank top secret!"

He scanned the surroundings, his tone more solemn than ever.

"Tonight's events will be publicly announced as the Fourth Hokage and his wife exhausting all their efforts to suppress the Nine-Tails with a new sealing jutsu. Regarding 'Uchiha Madara,' no one is allowed to leak a single word!"

"Those who disobey will be treated as traitors!"

"The Uchiha clan has made great contributions in helping Konoha repel foreign enemies, and no one is allowed to doubt the Uchiha clan's performance in this incident from now on!"

Inside a hidden mountain cave.

In the darkness of the cave walls, Uchiha Obito sat cross-legged on a stone pillar, using White Zetsu's cell tissue to repair the half of his body that had been pierced by the Rasengan.

His scarlet single eye coldly "looked" in the direction of Konoha Village through the forest in front of him.

Although he could not see it with his own eyes, he could imagine the tragic scene there.

Kushina would not survive.

Konoha had lost its strongest Nine-Tails jinchuriki and would surely fall into great grief and chaos.

And the Uchiha clan, as the only clan with the Sharingan and the ability to control the Nine-Tails, would inevitably become the target of suspicion and misplaced anger for the entire village.

Everything was proceeding exactly as he had planned.

His revenge, his Eye of the Moon Plan, had finally taken the most perfect and crucial first step.

"Rin..."

He softly called out the name that only existed in his memory, a hint of morbid satisfaction appearing on his masked face.

"Soon, this false world will end. Soon..."

Just then, the space beside him distorted, and Black Zetsu's yin-yang face slowly emerged from the ground.

"Oh my, Obito, it seems you're quite injured," Black Zetsu said in his unique, hoarse, and sticky tone.

"It's you, Black Zetsu?" Obito ignored his teasing and asked coldly.

"Why are you here? How is the situation in Konoha?" "Did they suffer heavy losses?"

"Hmm... you could say that." Black Zetsu's tone was a bit strange.

"What do you mean 'you could say that'?" Obito frowned, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

"The Nine-Tails did cause a huge disturbance in Konoha, and the village did suffer heavy losses," Black Zetsu said slowly, as if deliberately trying to pique his curiosity.

"However, there was a small accident."

"An accident?"

"Ah, about that..." Black Zetsu showed an extremely eerie smile, a smile mixed with schadenfreude and a trace of fear.

"Kushina Uzumaki did not die."

The expression on Obito's face instantly froze.

His scarlet single eye widened, staring intently at Black Zetsu, as if trying to see through him.

"What... what did you say?"

"I said she didn't die," Black Zetsu spread his hands. "Not only did she not die, but the Nine-Tails was perfectly split in two. Half remained within Kushina, saving her life, and the other half was sealed into their newborn son."

Boom!

Obito's mind felt like it had been struck by lightning, and everything went blank.

Impossible!

This was absolutely impossible!

No one could survive after the tailed beast was extracted! No one could break the Dead Demon Consuming Seal!

Teacher Minato... how could he possibly have such an ability...

"Who... who did it?!" Obito grabbed Black Zetsu's collar and roared hysterically, "Who else in Konoha could do this?! Was it the Third Hokage?!"

"No."

Black Zetsu let him grab him, his smile growing brighter and more cruel.

He leaned close to Obito's ear and, in an almost chanting tone, softly uttered the answer that completely shattered Obito's worldview.

"It was Lord Madara."

"It was Uchiha Madara who personally saved them."