Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 311 It's been a long time, Obito!

The terror of death terrified Naruto Uzumaki, but it did not break him.

Naruto, amidst lingering fear, ignited a relentless rage.

So this is how my mother was torn apart! Her death was so painful, yet when she met me within the seal, there was only profound happiness and an unconcealable reluctance to part.

[The mother was in so much pain, yet she showed it in the slightest.]

That damn bastard!

Naruto's hatred for Obito was somewhat insincere, since he had no memory of his parents' deaths.

His hatred stemmed from the pain of his miserable childhood, but by the time he realized it, he had already enjoyed several years of good life under the care of his teacher, and the pain had become blurred.

Because pain becomes blurred, the hatred that arises from it also appears vague and not as unforgettable.

But when you experience the same thing yourself, and the perpetrator is the same person, the hatred finally becomes tangible and incredibly real.

Naruto's eyes gradually became bloodshot as he stared intently at Obito through the wall of flames, wishing he could devour his flesh and drink his blood.

However, he did not lose his mind because of this, and stopped Sasuke and Sakura who were approaching in time, preventing them from running into the wall of flames without knowing the extent of the danger.

Sasuke Uchiha glanced at Naruto Uzumaki, secretly swallowed, and didn't dare to ask a single question.

That's fucking terrifying.

How can Naruto Uzumaki, such a gentle guy, become so terrifying when he gets angry?

What exactly happened just now?

Sasuke Uchiha was relatively quiet, but Sakura Haruno's legs were trembling like noodles.

Naruto's terror is on a completely different level from the terror of his enemies.

Naruto took more than a dozen deep breaths and finally controlled his anger, gradually calming down.

He looked at Obito Uchiha, who was frozen in place but slowly recovering, and asked, "Sasuke, Sakura, what do you think of his strength? Can we defeat him?"

Sasuke Uchiha remained silent for a while before answering, "His strength is greater than Itachi Uchiha's. If he didn't only have one Mangekyou Sharingan, Sakura probably wouldn't have had a chance to hit him from a blind spot."

"He has the ability to intangibly transform his body and traverse space, as well as the Wood Release bloodline limit and an exaggerated self-healing ability, making him a monster with perfect combat capabilities."

Sasuke paused for a moment, then finally said, "Naruto, I don't think the three of us together can defeat him."

Naruto looked at Sakura Haruno and asked, "How are you feeling, Sakura?"

Sakura Haruno suppressed her double fear and replied in a trembling voice, "It's impossible to win, and the chakra in my Yin Seal is exhausted. I have almost no fighting power left."

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed deeply: "Alas, weakness is indeed the original sin."

"Next time, next time I'll definitely kill you, you bastard!"

"Team 7 of Konoha, retreat!"

Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, one on each side, supported the limp Sakura Haruno and chased after the main force.

On the other side of the wall of flames, Obito Uchiha gradually recovered from the impact of the terrifying eye power and regained consciousness from his complete paralysis.

His eyesight returned, and he saw Konoha's Team 7, their backs to each other as they walked away, supporting one another.

At that moment, Obito Uchiha thought of the joy and sorrow he experienced when he was young, along with Kakashi Hatake and Rin.

Obito's eyes felt slightly warm, his nose tingled, and he almost burst into tears.

But his obsession had already hardened, and his emotions were only fleeting. He immediately began to consider how to hunt down the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Obito sneered, "Trying to run away from me? That's wishful thinking."

"Do you know that I am the strongest in space-time ninjutsu? How could a mere Nine-Tails Jinchuriki possibly escape from my grasp?"

Obito stretched out his right hand, grabbed a handful of Konoha's Team 7 who was about to disappear over the sand dunes, and said viciously, "Run, run! I'll come and catch you once I've recovered."

"If I catch you this time, you'll die a miserable death."

Suddenly, Obito Uchiha sensed a faint spatial fluctuation. Before he could react, a hand reached out from behind him and gently removed his mask.

Then an incredibly familiar face appeared before Obito. He observed it carefully for a long time, then sighed and said, "It really has been a long time, Obito."

Obito Uchiha shrank back, muttering, "Minato Namikaze—Sensei—"

"sorry."

Even after turning to the dark side, Obito Uchiha is still Obito.

When he puts on the mask, he seems to be able to truly believe he is Madara Uchiha. He can call Minato Namikaze "Fourth Hokage" without batting an eye, and when he is about to kill Kushina Uzumaki, he can sneer and call her "Nine-Tails Jinchuriki".

But when the mask is removed, he reverts to Obito Uchiha, bickering and arguing with Kakashi Hatake, no longer displaying the coldness and composure he once had when imitating Madara Uchiha.

But that was when he was facing Kakashi Hatake. From a young age, Obito Uchiha had never been convinced of his worth.

Although Obito himself was the worst student and Kakashi was the top student in his grade, Obito always regarded Kakashi as his rival and constantly competed with him.

Now that Obito Uchiha's mask has been removed, leaving him completely exposed to Minato Namikaze, his spirits immediately crumbled.

Minato Namikaze sighed, "Obito, what happened to your face?"

Obito Uchiha trembled even more violently. His trembling lips made it impossible for him to speak. The only sound that came out after the air rushed through his throat was "woo woo, woo woo woo woo".

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was a gentle Hokage. If it were the Fifth Hokage, Sasuke Natsumi, he would have slapped him across the face long ago.

Of course, Obito Uchiha would cry and sob in front of the Fourth Hokage, but he dared not stop in front of the Fifth Hokage. As soon as he saw Sasuke's shadow, he would run away frantically to avoid being beaten to death by the strongest ninja in the world.

Only when Minato Namikaze intervenes will Obito Uchiha, that slippery eel, stop, debating with his teacher for his absurd ideals, and finally engaging in another great battle.

Once the great war begins, Minato Namikaze, with his abilities, will have a chance to defeat Obito Uchiha.

This is why Xia Zuo was willing to expose Konoha's biggest secret in order to mobilize Minato Namikaze, while he himself remained in Konoha to oversee the situation.

A mimosa plant slowly emerged from the distant yellow sand, and the yin-yang face of the black and white Zetsu was revealed from the split leaves. He recognized the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who had been resurrected using the Impure World Reincarnation technique at a glance.

Black and White Jue were taken aback, and then realized a big problem. He quickly sank into the ground and used the "Xuan" character ring to connect with the heretical demon statue.

At this moment, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, hidden in the mountainous region bordering the Land of Wind and the Land of Bears, is extracting the One-Tailed Beast from the belly of the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara.

The one drawing the seal was Nagato, whose hands were constantly changing hand seals, controlling the sealing technique originating from the Rinnegan to continue operating.

【Sealing Technique: Nine Seals of the Illusionary Dragon】

Under the extraction effect of this sealing technique, pale blue wind chakra continuously flowed from Gaara's nine orifices and converged into the Gedo Mazo.

Because Nagato regained his health with the help of White Zetsu cells, his strength was far greater than in his original crippled state, and he didn't need Pain's help at all.

Therefore, it is not necessary for all the core members of the Akatsuki to be present to assist, and the extraction speed of the Tailed Beasts can reach the limit of the Gedo Mazo's absorption.

Nagato's phantom noticed the appearance of Black Zetsu's phantom, immediately opened its eyes and looked over, only to be surprised to find that his expression was strange.

Nagato then asked, "Black Zetsu, what happened?"

Black Zetsu replied, "Something's not right. There's something wrong with the Sunagakure reinforcements. Only Chiyo came from Sunagakure; the rest were all reinforcements sent by Konoha."

Konan asked in surprise, "Is the main force of the rescue team all Konoha ninjas?"

Black Zetsu replied, "Yes, they are all Konoha ninja."

Deidara scoffed, "I found it strange when I heard that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had arrived, but it's too much that Sunagakure only sent an old woman."

"Is it that Konoha and Sunagakure have a good relationship, or does Sunagakure not care about its Fifth Kazekage, or is Sunagakure truly out of options?"

Black Zetsu's words were repeatedly interrupted, and he jumped up and down, shouting, "That's not the point! The point is, besides Jiraiya, Kakashi Hatake, and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, there's some other weirdo who's come to Konoha!"

Nagato's eyes instantly sharpened: "Could it be that the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, has personally taken action?"

Black Zetsu shook his head and said, "It's not the Fifth Hokage, it's the Fourth Hokage."

"Um?"

All the members of the Akatsuki organization, including Itachi Uchiha, who was severely injured by the power of the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, were stunned.

Kakuzu asked, slightly annoyed, "Zetsu, are you mistaken?"

Kisame Hoshigaki then added, "The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, has been dead for almost 20 years, hasn't he?"

Itachi Uchiha said, "16 years."

"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is 16 years old this year. He was born at the same time that the Fourth Hokage died in battle."

Black Zetsu jumped up and down in exasperation: "I didn't see wrong, it's the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze! He has blond hair, used the Flying Thunder God Technique, and is wearing a haori with 'Fourth Hokage' printed on the back!"

"I saw it clearly too. Minato Namikaze has cracks on his face. He's a Reanimation Jutsu! The Reanimation Jutsu developed by Orochimaru!"

The Akatsuki members were even more bewildered: "Edo Tensei?!"

"The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!!"

Upon hearing that Black Zetsu had believed him, Nagato couldn't help but repeat the enemy's identity softly.

A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he blurted out, "Oh no, the Fourth Hokage is that guy's...teacher?"

Itachi Uchiha's eyes widened: "To scheme to this extent, doesn't that prove that the Fourth Hokage wasn't the only one resurrected from Konoha using the Impure World Reincarnation technique?"

The members of the Akatsuki organization were immediately in an uproar.

This is a big problem.

If the Impure World Reincarnation technique could resurrect the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, then the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju should be able to as well, and the First Hokage Hashirama Senju would be even more of a problem, right?

The thought of all the powerful Kage-level ninjas from Konoha Village emerging one after another to launch a suicidal attack on the Akatsuki organization made even Nagato, with his immense strength, gasp in horror.

Konan sighed deeply: "As expected, it's not just us who came up with this idea. The Second Hokage of Konoha Village was the developer of the forbidden technique 'Impure World Reincarnation,' so it's quite logical for them to come up with this idea."

Nagato's face was grim as he commanded, "Everyone, use the [Illusionary Body Technique] to project your abilities onto the battlefield to support Sasori and Deidara, ensuring the seal is successfully completed."

"As long as we can accomplish this, everyone should retreat. There's no need to fight the Konoha ninja head-on."

Deidara asked, "Boss, are we still going to capture Kurama?"

Nagato glanced at him sideways: "If you're not afraid of death, you can try it yourself."

"But I'm going to capture the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki next, and the others need to cooperate with me to seal the Eight-Tails. No one has time to save you."

Deidara sighed, "Sigh, alright, I understand."

"I thought I'd be able to meet the Fifth Hokage this time and experience his Loulan Explosion."

"Ah... explosions are art, but why can't I achieve that kind of breathtaking art?"

Sasori of the Red Sand angrily snapped, "Shut up! Don't drag me down with you if you want to die!"

"And another thing! Explosions aren't art; eternal beauty is!"

"You stupid figurine fanatic, do you even deserve to call your toys art?"

"That's enough!"

Enraged, Nagato roared, and under the oppressive aura of a superior being with the Rinnegan, everyone fell silent and quietly went about their business.

The silence lasted for a while until Kisame Hoshigaki spoke, breaking the silence.

"Chief, it's my turn to intercept them."

Uchiha Itachi recovered slightly. He opened his bloodshot eyes and warned, "Be careful of genjutsu. The [Illusionary Body Technique] cannot provide immunity to some genjutsu damage."

Kisame Hoshigaki grinned: "Thank you for the reminder, Itachi-san. I'll be careful."

After Team 7 of Konoha held off Itachi Uchiha, the main force of the rescue team swept through the Akatsuki's minions and quickly approached the Land of Bears.

When the yellow sand disappeared and the ground turned into lush green grass, the rescue team encountered the second core member of the Akatsuki organization who was blocking their way.

Standing nearly two meters tall, with a shark-like face and skin, Kisame Hoshigaki is the ninja whose image most closely resembles a monster, and also the most earnest and honest ninja.

Kisame Hoshigaki was a second-generation member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from Kirigakure, and he possessed an amount of chakra that was unimaginable to ordinary ninjas.

In an era when Hashirama Senju was gradually forgotten, Kisame Hoshigaki's chakra was astonishing to ninjas, who even called him the "Tailless Tailed Beast".

Of course, with the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Sasuke, sweeping across the ninja world, no one mentioned this title anymore.

After all, Kisame Hoshigaki couldn't withstand an attack from 20 ninjas, while a true Chaton ninja could sweep through an entire ninja village and over a thousand—

Famous ninjas can even exchange ninjutsu and win.

Kisame Hoshigaki's nickname gradually became "the honest man" because among the core members of Akatsuki, he was the only one still using complete hand seals to perform ninjutsu.

Moreover, he would do everything in his power to complete the mission, even at the cost of his own life.

You could say that Kisame Hoshigaki is the purest ninja, a tool who lives for missions.