Konoha's Second Tailed Beast

"Holy shit..."

At an outdoor base of the Hidden Mist Village, Konoha ninja now covered the surrounding mountains and plains.

Tonight, not even a mosquito could escape this encirclement.

No one could fight their way out to deliver a message, even at the cost of their life.

Having just stuffed the Three-Tails into Nohara Rin's body, White Zetsu closed his eyes bleakly. Was it his turn to sacrifice himself today?

But...

But Obito was still on his way.

The White Zetsus were pitiful, and the Mist ninja whom the White Zetsus had duped into coming were pitiful too.

To hold out until Obito arrived.

"Brothers! For the Hidden Mist Village!"

"For the Hidden Mist Village!!"

The Hidden Mist captain fabricated by White Zetsu rallied the troops whose morale had been flagging.

"White Zetsu will never be slaves!!"

This White Zetsu was the last White Zetsu Madara had planted in the Hidden Mist Village with a captain's post. All his other White Zetsu brothers had sacrificed themselves for the Moon's Eye Plan. The entire Hidden Mist Village could not find a second White Zetsu.

For the Moon's Eye Plan, the White Zetsus were willing to bleed out their last drop of blood!

"Huh? What do you mean, White Zetsu will never be slaves?" a Mist ninja asked in confusion.

"The captain's name is White Zetsu."

"Oh, I see!"

"Then I, XXXX, will never be a slave either!"

This was a one-sided slaughter.

They had dared imprison Minato's disciple, the Fourth Hokage's student's crush. Did they wholesale their entire nine clans or something?

They had built such a nice base, yet within an hour it was demolished until not even a roof tile remained.

Even the earthworms inside were split vertically in half.

A Three-Tails had just been sealed inside Rin. She had heard the Mist ninja discussing how they would deliberately let her be rescued later. Once she returned to the Konoha camp, they would trigger the Three-Tails' rampage and make her harm Konoha.

What was she supposed to do?

Masaichi pulled Nohara Rin out of the sealing altar, then leaped away in several great bounds.

The moon was huge tonight.

Masaichi had excellent jumping ability. He leaped very high.

Minato, who was clearing the battlefield, looked up at the sound. This scene felt strangely familiar.

"Rin, the moon is so big tonight."

"But I might not be able to see it anymore, Masaichi."

Somewhere in the wilderness, Obito was still hurrying over.

He was frantic with worry.

Almost there! Just wait for me a little longer.

"What is Minato-sensei doing? And where is Masaichi?! Didn't I tell him to take good care of Rin? Damn it!!"

The White Zetsu attached to half of Obito's body naturally had no idea that the Mist ninja base had been utterly destroyed. He echoed Obito's words. "There was nothing we could do, Obito. This Ninja World has always been like this, full of cold words and cruel stares. Not everyone is like you, willing to risk their life for their comrades."

"Of course!"

Obito answered proudly and continued on his way.

I have to make it in time!

And what was Madara doing underground?

He was wondering whether he had offended Masaichi in his previous life.

Up to now, the only part of his plan that had succeeded was capturing Obito for some initial brainwashing, and he had personally handled even that.

Madara smiled helplessly. In truth, he was simply out of options.

"Lord Madara, how should we proceed with the next stage of the plan?"

Black Zetsu actually had plenty of ideas, but every one of them required time.

Madara did not have much life left to begin with. After some thought, he entered standby mode, temporarily halting his bodily functions and saving his last breath to entrust Obito with his legacy. Everything was in your hands now, my will.

Black Zetsu felt a pain in the ass. In the end, did he still have to take the field himself?!

Wait.

Madara had always believed his plan was successful and that Obito would definitely return, so he had never warned Obito not to expose their whereabouts.

If Obito happened to mention to Orochimaru and the others that Madara was still alive...

That very night, Black Zetsu had the White Zetsus carry the dormant Madara and the Gedo Statue away.

Masaichi!

I will never let you off!

It was that bastard's appearance that had caused one major deviation after another in their plans.

They had never intended to seize Rin so hastily.

But because Obito slept after every serving of protein powder, and then slept again after every serving of protein powder, coupled with the Hashirama Cells Madara had transplanted into him, his recovery rate had grown faster by the day. His body had fully recovered yesterday.

They had no choice but to move the plan forward. They captured Rin without having the Hidden Mist Village restrain Konoha first.

Two major events had recently occurred in Konoha!

First, Obito, who had supposedly died on the battlefield, had returned on his own.

Second, Konoha now had another tailed beast.

At first, Madara had arranged many White Zetsus in the Hidden Mist Village. The White Zetsus deceived the Third Mizukage into sealing the Three-Tails inside a Konoha ninja, then secretly releasing that ninja. Once he returned to Konoha, they would activate the seal and have the Three-Tails destroy Konoha.

The plan was simple and brutal. If they had not run into an Uchiha, a sudden Tailed Beast Bomb would have been enough to give Konoha hell.

But precisely because it was so simple and brutal, Konoha resolved it with ease.

"Orochimaru-sensei!!"

With Rin on his back, Masaichi returned to Konoha under the escort of dozens of ANBU members.

This was not him neglecting his duty or abusing his authority by abandoning his command responsibilities and leaving the front lines without permission.

It was because...

Konoha had struck gold this time.

Orochimaru-sensei had just become Hokage and needed a great achievement to prove himself and win public support.

The enemy had delivered a tailed beast right to them.

That Third Mizukage was really quite the nice guy.

What sealing techniques did Konoha Village lack? Only someone out of their mind would agree to let a tailed beast destroy Konoha.

"The Three-Tails? The Third Mizukage truly is a fine fellow." Orochimaru smiled as well. The better Konoha did, the better off he was. His relationship with Konoha was one of mutual exploitation!

First this, then that.

And finally, one more thing.

The sealing technique Orochimaru-sensei used was called the Five Elements Seal. Its greatest function was preventing someone from using chakra, though Orochimaru merely confined the tailed beast's chakra, allowing Rin's chakra to function without interference.

After all, not every tailed beast was the Nine-Tails. Though unwilling, the Three-Tails was not rebellious. He did not struggle and simply lay flat.

Just like that, the tailed beast seal on Rin was easily reinforced.

The Hidden Mist Village had lost a tailed beast!

"Rin."

"Masaichi..."

Unlike those experienced people who dated often and had high proficiency, these two adolescent boys and girls both had avoidant attachment styles. Even saying a few words made them embarrassed.

Orochimaru watched the ambiguous atmosphere between them. Tsk, tsk. The rotten stench of romance.

He actually wanted to break them up.

Dating meant Masaichi would have to devote half his attention to someone named Nohara Rin.

Then how was he supposed to slack off? How was he supposed to conduct experimental research?

He also feared that his student would fall into ruin from now on, immersing himself in dull romantic love.

Masaichi should be with him instead!!!

He should follow his arrangements!

"Masaichi, Rin, I do not want your relationship to become public," Orochimaru said.

Masaichi: "?"

Rin: "?"

What relationship could we possibly have?

Orochimaru made his move. He intended to strangle their romance within its cradle.

That was the Hokage for you! He had the power to be willful.

As long as Masaichi was assigned to the east, Rin would be assigned to the west. As long as Rin was in the north, Masaichi would be placed in the south. In short, Orochimaru did not want the two to see each other often.

This teacher of theirs had truly gone to great lengths.

Children blinded by ambiguity!

Nohara Rin's teacher was Minato. If Nohara Rin learned even a little intelligence from you and passed it to Minato Namikaze, it would be a fatal blow to us!

The competition for Hokage had just ended, and Konoha's internal conflict had only just begun!