Nine-Tailed Demon Fox

After mocking Obito's series of suicidal antics, Yuun immediately felt much more relaxed. Whenever he encountered a major character from the original story, he could not help but complain about them. It was not merely the lingering resentment from his previous life; more importantly, he feared that as time passed, he would gradually forget those plotlines.

Some research supposedly proved that human memories could only last seven years. Although Yuun thought that kind of research was highly unreliable, he had no intention of testing it personally. Whenever he had time, he could only try his best to recall the important plot points. At the very least, he had to remember his enemies' identities and abilities, or if he fell for something in the future, he would have no one to blame but himself.

Although Yuun focused most of his energy on training his body, he had not abandoned his Gentle Fist practice. As the saying went, three days without reciting made the mouth clumsy; three days without practice made the hands stiff. Every evening, Yuun jogged several laps around the Hyuga Clan compound before practicing Gentle Fist for an hour, making sure his body did not become stiff or sluggish.

No wonder Yuun felt such urgency about training. Not long after Kakashi was promoted to Jonin, Iwagakure, which had made no major moves for some time, declared war on Konoha. Konoha had originally been happily watching the Hidden Cloud Village fight on two fronts, but after the Third Raikage died in battle, Iwagakure turned its spearhead toward Konoha. Now Konoha was fighting on two fronts, dealing with both Iwagakure and Kumogakure at once.

This was not the first time Konoha had faced such a situation. During the most brutal period of the Second Shinobi World War, the Four Great Nations, along with Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Grass Village, had joined forces to besiege Konoha. But this time was different. First, Princess Tsunade, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, had left for unknown reasons. Then Orochimaru, the Cold Sovereign, had defected. Soon after, Jiraiya, the Mad Demon and last of the Three Legendary Sannin, had also left Konoha under the pretext of traveling. With the Three Legendary Sannin all gone, the White Fang of old having taken his own life with a blade, and the previous war against Hidden Sand having drained much of Konoha's strength, facing two great ninja villages at once was truly exhausting.

For a time, the village was on edge. Even Hizashi, who had withdrawn from the Hidden Sand battlefield less than a year ago, was drafted again. As for academy students like Yuun, who were not even Genin, they were forbidden from leaving the gates except to attend class. Fortunately, Hizashi had planned ahead and arranged things for Yuun, allowing him to train around the compound.

Yuun was not as worried as everyone else. He had once used the excuse of visiting his deceased father to make a trip to the Memorial Stone. Obito Uchiha's name was carved upon it, and it had only recently been added. Therefore, Yuun estimated that the war against Hidden Sand would end before long. After all, Obito was already dead, so the battle at Kannabi Bridge should have ended some time ago. And Neji Hyuga was already five or six months old. In another half year or so, Naruto Uzumaki should be born.

With the plot as such a useful weapon, even a child like Yuun, who could only receive information from the lowest levels, could infer certain things from it. Unfortunately, there was still no sign of Hizashi returning. Rumor had it that he had been sent to the Land of Lightning.

Kushina Uzumaki had already been pregnant for some time. As the Fourth Hokage's wife, people loved her for his sake, and not long after she became pregnant, the news had spread throughout Konoha. The source of the news could no longer be traced. Even when Inoichi Yamanaka personally intervened, he failed to find its origin and ultimately had to give up. A Jinchuriki was certainly important, but quite a few people knew about Kushina's pregnancy. If they truly tried to investigate, it was hard to say who they would find.

The previous three Hokage had all been powerful and beloved, but when it came to popularity, the Fourth Hokage clearly held the advantage. His civilian background and sunny personality had won him the support of nearly all civilian ninja. As Jiraiya's disciple, his great strength and almost flawless record had also earned him the support of a large number of clan ninja. In terms of support alone, the Fourth Hokage could absolutely crush the first three Hokage. Thus, upon learning of Kushina's pregnancy, nearly everyone offered him their blessings.

Immersed in happiness, the Fourth Hokage did not insist on continuing the investigation, and the matter was left unresolved. Only the instigator behind it was secretly troubled. Heaven knew why Yuun's head had heated up after standing by the Memorial Stone for a while. Luckily, the Byakugan bloodline did not reject the Transformation Technique, and Yuun had been clever enough. Otherwise, if he had been caught, he would have died an ugly death.

That adventure had merely been Yuun acting on a sudden impulse, wanting to help Naruto in the future. If the villagers knew Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son, they would not be so indifferent toward him, much less hostile. But after thinking it over, Yuun still felt that his actions had been both rash and childish. Given the abilities of the Third Hokage and Danzo, along with the people's need for an outlet for their hatred, even if Yuun had taken this risk, the outcome probably would not have changed. At most, the village's security had become a little tighter.

Still, that was fine. At least it would make it more troublesome for that idiot Obito to infiltrate Konoha. Though with Danzo as an inside man, this level of security was no different from having none at all.

After that adventure, Yuun became even more cautious, practically becoming a model of someone who paid no attention to anything beyond the window. Every day, his classmates discussed all sorts of rumors circulating outside—some exaggerated, some terrifying, and some pure fantasy. Yuun simply let Hana Inuzuka fool around every day without paying her any attention. At most, he exchanged experiences about throwing ninja tools with Itachi. All his attention was focused on waiting for Obito's coming attack on Konoha.

Recently, Yuun often trained in the small plaza atop Hokage Rock. "Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!" Following Hizashi's instructions with meticulous precision, he stepped and struck with his palms. This was already his one hundred and forty-fifth attempt over the past few months to break through. As long as he could complete the full Thirty-Two Palms, his Gentle Fist could be considered beginner-level.

"Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms!" As his final palm struck the wooden post, a wave of weakness washed over him. Yuun staggered several steps before steadying himself. There was a reason Gentle Fist practitioners judged their level by the number of consecutive palm strikes they could perform. Only sufficient chakra control allowed them to strike the acupoints more accurately, sealing the enemy's chakra and ability to move, making it easier to continue the combo.

"Pant... pant..." Yuun shook his head and gathered his slightly disheveled hair, unable to suppress the smile on his face. "I've finally mastered the Thirty-Two Palms. Once I improve a little more, I should be able to learn Vacuum Palm... A long-range technique. I really can't wait..."

Not long afterward, Iwagakure stopped its continued offensive. Although it did not come to negotiate peace, almost everyone knew that Iwagakure was no longer a threat. With their logistical supplies cut off, they had lost the ability to continue attacking.

When the news returned, the tightly wound nerve in Yuun's mind relaxed somewhat. Since history had not changed, then the Nine-Tails' attack was merely a matter of time. For the period that followed, Yuun stayed home as much as possible every night. In any case, if he encountered the Nine-Tails, it would be the same wherever he was. He might as well stay home, where it was safer. At the very least, afterward, the Anbu would definitely search the village back and forth several times. Even if they knew it would be useless, they would still do it, if only to calm the people down.

Yuun had spread the news of Kushina's pregnancy, but in truth, he had no idea when exactly she had become pregnant or when her due date was. If he could see her, he could perhaps use the Byakugan to look through her and make an estimate. But Yuun did not even know where Kushina lived now.

Then, one night, just as Yuun had finished reading and was preparing to rest, the distance suddenly lit up. Explosions, screams, and the roars of a beast carried over from half the village away.

"The Nine-Tails..." Yuun quickly stepped out of his room and leaped to a high place to look out. "This is... truly breathtaking..." With the Byakugan's assistance, Yuun could still clearly see every movement of the Nine-Tails. Unconsciously, he recalled the opening line from Naruto in his previous life—when the fox moved its tail, mountains crumbled and tsunamis rose.

Facing the sudden attack, Konoha's ninja displayed the caliber expected of the strongest ninja village and leader of the Five Great Nations. Within mere seconds, hundreds of ninja had joined the battle from all directions, attacking the Nine-Tails with everything they had. They even paid with their lives to hold back the Nine-Tails' advance. Thanks to the precious time bought by their sacrifice, more and more Konoha ninja arrived at the battlefield.

Against any other enemy, Konoha's sea-of-people tactics would have already overwhelmed it. Unfortunately, they were facing the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. With its limitless chakra, merely swinging its nine tails could easily shatter the ninja's defensive lines. If not for the sheer number and madness of its enemies, a single charge would have been enough for it to rush into Konoha and begin slaughtering.

As large numbers of ninja arrived, overwhelming waves of ninjutsu easily engulfed the Nine-Tails. Unfortunately, in just an instant, the Nine-Tails recovered without a scratch.