A Millennium-Long Conspiracy

When the Nine-Tails fell, quite a few people had already left the shelters, so many of Chentian's actions were witnessed by them.

Before long, everyone knew that Chentian had saved Konoha.

"Lord Chentian is still so young. He'll definitely become another First Hokage in the future!"

"I'll become as strong as Lord Chentian too, and protect Konoha with him!"

"Konoha... Konoha is finally going to rise!"

Whether old or young, everyone talked about Chentian, just like they had talked about Naruto after Nagato attacked Konoha.

Chentian's prestige in Konoha had reached its peak. Anyone who dared speak ill of him would definitely not live past the day.

Soon, Minato reappeared with Kushina in his arms. No one knew where he had sent Naruto.

Kushina was extremely weak now, and none of her former vitality remained.

Her rosy lips had begun to turn pale, and her pretty face was filled with exhaustion.

Without wasting any words, Chentian gently laid Kushina flat and then dragged the Nine-Tails over with his bare hands.

This action once again left everyone dumbfounded. Other than Might Guy, there was absolutely no one in Konoha capable of doing something like this!

But Chentian had no time to talk nonsense with them. Resealing the Nine-Tails was the top priority.

"Eight Trigrams Sealing!"

Two Four Symbols Seals, one upright and one inverted, overlapped, forming a circular seal on Kushina's abdomen.

The Nine-Tails' enormous body was uncontrollably drawn into Kushina's body until it had all been absorbed.

"Whew! If the Nine-Tails hadn't truly passed out, this might not have gone so smoothly."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Chentian let out a sigh of relief.

Kushina truly could not withstand any more strain now. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!

If it had been an ordinary person, they would have died the instant the Nine-Tails left their body. The future Gaara had been an example of that.

Kushina had only endured for so long because of the Uzumaki clan's constitution.

Once the resealing was complete, everyone, including Chentian, stared tensely at Kushina.

No one had ever resealed a tailed beast after it had been extracted from its host. No one knew what the final outcome would be.

Chentian was eighty or ninety percent confident, but until he saw the result, he was still deeply worried.

Fortunately, he had succeeded. Her pale lips gradually regained their color, and the exhaustion on her face began to fade as well.

She had not fully recovered yet, but that was normal. After going through something like this, she needed time to rest and recuperate.

As Kushina slowly recovered, everyone finally let out a heavy breath.

Besides worrying about Kushina and the Nine-Tails, they were also afraid that if Kushina died, this lord might suddenly go berserk.

If that happened, probably no one would be able to stop him!

Thinking this, they discreetly glanced at Chentian.

In truth, they were overthinking it. Chentian's chakra reserves had greatly increased and become chakra-ton levels, but his strength rating had not risen.

That was because he had only gained greater endurance. His offensive power had not increased at all.

He was invincible in a prolonged battle, but against someone like Minato, it was hard to say who would win.

After all, Minato was too nimble. If Chentian could not hit him, there was nothing he could do.

Fortunately, the Uzumaki clan's constitution was astonishingly strong, and everything was moving in a better direction.

Once Minato took Kushina back to the hospital, the matter officially came to an end.

The Nine-Tails had not set foot in Konoha from beginning to end, and Konoha had not suffered any losses.

After returning home, Chentian was alone. He brewed a pot of tea and began thinking slowly.

Minato had gone to the hospital to accompany Kushina and Naruto.

"Obito died by my hand and never entered the barrier even once. There was no sign that the Nine-Tails had been controlled!

"Yet the Nine-Tails still broke through its seal. Why?

"With Minato reinforcing the seal, none of this should have been possible. Yet it happened anyway!"

Taking a sip of tea, Chentian continued his analysis. "The Nine-Tails couldn't have done this with its own strength, but Brother Minato said that its impact force had suddenly multiplied several times at that time.

"It didn't just break through the seal. Brother Minato was even injured!

"So... what caused all this? What could have increased the Nine-Tails' strength so drastically?"

He poured himself another cup of tea and swirled it in his hand, but his heart sank bit by bit.

In the shinobi world, nothing could increase the Nine-Tails' power out of thin air, especially not for such a brief instant.

But from another perspective, the Nine-Tails had been created by the Sage of Six Paths, and the Sage of Six Paths was also the only one capable of doing such a thing.

But the Sage of Six Paths had been dead for a full thousand years. How could this be possible?

Suddenly, Chentian's grip tightened. The teacup in his hand shattered with a crack, and tea spilled all over the floor.

Yet he seemed possessed, showing no reaction at all as the tea flowed freely.

"The Sage of Six Paths appeared at the end of the original story, and he even gave Naruto and Sasuke power!

"Besides that, the chakra of his two sons had continued to be passed down and now resided within Naruto and Sasuke.

"If that's the case, then everything makes sense. The Sage of Six Paths should still be alive. Though I don't know in what form, it's most likely as a soul!

"He's controlling everything from behind the scenes, watching the development of every event in the shinobi world and occasionally intervening to change things!"

The more Chentian thought about it, the clearer his reasoning became, and more ideas surfaced in his mind.

"Since he's still alive, what is his purpose in doing this?

"According to the original story, the Sage of Six Paths sealed Kaguya together with his younger brother, and that brother moved to the moon to accompany their mother.

"But the Sage of Six Paths did not. Instead, he created Ninshu and ruled the entire shinobi world himself.

"He could be called an ambitious, ruthless tyrant who didn't care about feelings. He couldn't possibly be doing this just to help others. He definitely has a plan of his own."

Bit by bit, Chentian uncovered a corner of the millennium-long conspiracy.

Though he did not know whether his deductions were correct, a sense of urgency rose within him.

If his guess was true, why was the Sage of Six Paths doing this? He was already an invincible existence in the shinobi world!

Anything capable of making the Sage of Six Paths act this way had to be enough to threaten him. Chentian had to prepare early.

Coming back to his senses, he cleaned up the shattered teacup, repeatedly reviewing his deductions and comparing them with his memories.

Chentian found that the Sage of Six Paths' image was growing increasingly similar to the theories his fellow fans had proposed in his previous life.

He was definitely an ancient schemer who had spent a thousand years hiding himself even better than Black Zetsu!

Black Zetsu might even have been a pawn in his hand, manipulated into acting according to his calculations.

After all, the Sage of Six Paths watched over the shinobi world. No matter how low-key Black Zetsu had been, could he really have remained undiscovered for a thousand years?

Chentian remained skeptical about that.

"Forget it. With my current strength, I'm not qualified to think about these things. I'll deal with it later."

Rubbing his temples, he barely suppressed the stabbing pain from overthinking, tidied up, and went to sleep.

Though he slept, Konoha was incredibly lively that night.

Even the appearance of the Nine-Tails had failed to damage a single blade of grass in Konoha, and everyone was overjoyed. As for Chentian, the central figure of it all, his fame soared.

Whether shinobi or civilians, everyone was talking about him.

The only difference was that civilians and children worshipped him beyond measure, while shinobi trembled whenever he was mentioned.

The sight of him beating the Nine-Tails as though it were a child had been deeply engraved in their minds and could never be erased.

Even the proud Uchiha clan was completely convinced and no longer dared act as they pleased.

They repeatedly warned their clan's shinobi never to offend this man. Even if they did offend him, they were not to invoke the Uchiha name.