Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 295 Where leaves dance in the air, fire burns on and on, and the flames will turn the village into a wasteland!

Bang.

A plume of smoke rose over the battlefield.

Just as the Konoha ninja watching the battle thought that Nagato was about to be torn to pieces by the Nine-Tails and that they would have to find a way to seal the Nine-Tails, they saw a tall figure.

The Demonic Statue of the Heretic!

This ugly and enormous monster appeared in front of Nagato, not only blocking the Nine-Tails' attack, but also sending the Nine-Tails flying with a single palm strike!

At this moment, everyone involuntarily stared at the suddenly appearing demonic statue of the Outer Path!

It must be said that the Nine-Tails' body was indeed rather small compared to the Gedo Mazo.

However, Kurama didn't care about being sent flying by a single blow. Instead, it looked up and stared intently at the Gedo Mazo that had suddenly appeared in front of it, the seven eyes that lit up on the Gedo Mazo's head, and the familiar chakra within its body!

Inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path...

It already contains the chakra of seven tailed beasts!

The Nine-Tails' gaze slowly changed. It stared at Nagato's Rinnegan and finally realized what Nagato was trying to do!

"You're really brave..."

Kurama's gaze gradually regained its rationality.

At this moment, it completely understood what Nagato was trying to do: this guy was going to gather all the chakra of their tailed beasts and revive the Gedo Mazo in front of it!

At that time, the Gedo Mazo in front of you will transform into the Ten-Tails!

Nagato floated down and landed on the head of the Gedo Mazo, looking down at Kurama (the Nine-Tails). He slowly opened his palm and said softly, "The things that gods do are naturally different from those of mortals."

At this moment, after the Gedo Mazo descended, Nagato's confidence returned, because in Nagato's mind, the Gedo Mazo was absolutely invincible!

When the Gedo Mazo was just an empty shell, it unleashed unimaginable power by extracting the life force and chakra from its body.

The Gedo Mazo now contains the chakra of seven tailed beasts, so there's no need to use Nagato's chakra anymore. Even with just its massive size and powerful strength, the Gedo Mazo can suppress the Nine-Tails!

The only troublesome thing is...

Every time Nagato uses the Gedo Mazo and the Rinnegan, he is actually consuming his own life energy.

After hearing Nagato's words, Kurama seemed to find it amusing and grinned, saying, "Hmph, idiot, you don't really think that just because you obtained the Sage of Six Paths' eyes, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with him, do you?"

The Nine-Tails' gaze turned dangerous again. It stared intently at Nagato above the Gedo Mazo, its eyes narrowing slightly. "How interesting... Humans are becoming more and more ignorant!"

The next moment, Kurama pounced on Nagato!

However, the Gedo Mazo held its head firmly, and the enormous Gedo Mazo and the ferocious Nine-Tails engaged in a fierce battle!

Although the Gedo Mazo was enormous, its hand movements were somewhat stiff; the Nine-Tails, though smaller, was exceptionally agile, and with a few leaps it broke free from the Gedo Mazo's grip, opening its mouth to condense and spew out a Tailed Beast Ball!

"Shinra Tensei!"

Nagato stood atop the Gedo Mazo, raised his hand, and unleashed Shinra Tensei at the Tailed Beast Ball. The immense repulsive force propelled the Tailed Beast Ball away, causing it to explode.

Boom!

A vast forest was instantly engulfed by the sound of the explosion!

This fierce battle is one that no one else can interfere with. The Tailed Beast Ball and Shinra Tensei could erupt at any moment, and no one knows when a Tailed Beast Ball will suddenly fall. The Konoha ninjas who have been responsible for scouting the battle situation are also risking their lives to watch the battle.

Teams of Konoha ninja began to retreat one by one under the command of their captains. After they retreated to the outer perimeter, they set up several more layers of encirclement to prevent the enemy from escaping after the battle ended.

It feels a bit like deceiving yourself.

Unfortunately, the source of this order was the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

Konoha Village.

In the Hokage's office.

Tsunade listened to all the battle reports sent from the battlefield, including the deaths of Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, and Jiraiya.

After giving a few orders with a frown, Tsunade told everyone else to leave the Hokage's office and return to their posts.

There was no one else in the Hokage's office now.

Tsunade stood in front of her desk, her gaze calm as she watched the last ninja leave and close the office door from the outside. Then, her body went limp and she collapsed to the floor, her back pressed tightly against the desk.

The Fifth Hokage, who had just issued orders with an incredibly forceful attitude in front of others, slowly extended his palm and covered his eye sockets.

Tears began to trickle down her face through the seam...

After receiving confirmation from the intelligence ninjas that Jiraiya had died in battle, Tsunade finally couldn't bear the emotional strain.

Her body trembled slightly, and even though she was crying, she dared not make a sound. She simply opened her mouth slowly and tried to breathe deeply, as if she wanted to release her grief from her chest like she was breathing air!

Tsunade clenched her hands tightly against her chest, suppressing the tightness and pain in her chest. After many years, she once again experienced what it meant to feel utterly heartbroken.

From this day forward, she will be the only one left of the three legendary Sannin of Konoha.

"Jiraiya..."

After a long while.

Tsunade took a few deep breaths, quickly wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her palms, slowly stood up, and walked out of the Hokage's office.

Tsunade glanced at the ANBU troops stationed there and said softly, "Immediately summon Nara Shikaku to guard the village and prevent any sneak attacks from Uchiha Obito!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

The ANBU ninja leaped away and left the area.

Just as Tsunade was about to leave, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado suddenly appeared and blocked her way: "Tsunade, where are you going?"

"I'm going to take Jiraiya's place in the fight!"

Tsunade gazed at the two elderly men and said in a deep voice, "The village is now at its most dangerous juncture. There's no need for me to stay here and wait for Obito Uchiha to emerge!"

This was their original personnel allocation.

Tsunade will stay in the village to prevent Obito Uchiha or others from launching a sneak attack; Jiraiya will also lead the strongest ninjas to confront Pain and Nagato.

The battle has now reached its most dangerous stage.

All six paths of Pain have been eliminated, at the cost of the deaths of Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, and Jiraiya; the Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi and the Fifth Kazekage Gaara remain on the battlefield, entangled with Konan.

On the most important battlefield, the Nine-Tails, now freed, and Nagato, who has summoned the Gedo Mazo, are still locked in fierce combat, which has now reached a fever pitch.

Apart from Kage-level powerhouses, other ninjas don't even have the right to intervene.

Koharu Utatane slowly backed away to make way for them. Watching Tsunade's retreating figure as she walked past them down from the Hokage Building, she couldn't help but say, "Tsunade, you must come back alive."

"Too verbose."

Tsunade frowned and waved her hand.

After a while, Tsunade suddenly stopped, turned her back to Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, and said softly, "If anything unexpected happens, I nominate Shikaku Nara to be the Sixth Hokage of Konoha."

"Tsunade!"

Mitokado Yan's expression changed drastically.

Koharu, however, watched Tsunade's retreating figure and silently nodded.

Just as Tsunade left Konoha to head to the front lines, Uehara Naraku was watching all of this, casually stretching.

"Alright, Mr. Obito."

Uehara Naraku glanced at Uchiha Obito beside him and whispered, "It seems Konoha has sent all its ninjas to deal with Lord Nagato! While these Konoha ninjas are engaged in fierce fighting at the front, you can burn Konoha to the ground from the rear!"

"What?"

Obito Uchiha and Minato Namikaze stared at Naraku Uehara in disbelief.

What is this guy thinking? He was just saying that Kabuto should help Konoha resist Nagato when it was in the most danger, but now he suddenly wants to destroy Konoha!

"You don't need to look at me like that."

Uehara Naraku clenched his fists, his voice growing increasingly somber as he said, "Now, immediately carry out the orders I've given you!"

After saying this, Uehara Naraku stared intently at Uchiha Obito and said in a deep voice, "You should know where we are! The Konoha Memorial Monument isn't far from here!"

"Yes, I understand."

Obito Uchiha touched his mask with his palm.

Whenever he hesitated even slightly, this bastard would use Nohara Rin to threaten him. What was the point of that?

"very good."

Uehara Naraku nodded in satisfaction at Uchiha Obito and said in a deep voice, "Then go, go burn down this Konoha filled with the so-called Will of Fire!"

"…yes."

Obito Uchiha's figure vanished as a space-time vortex.

Just after Obito Uchiha left, Minato Namikaze frowned and asked, "I don't understand, what exactly do you want to do..."

"All I want to do is destroy Konoha!"

Uehara Naraku casually explained, "Besides, all the Konoha Kage-level shinobi are currently dealing with Lord Nagato, so I don't need to worry about losing Konoha's fighting strength when we destroy the village..."

"I can't understand..."

Minato Namikaze's brow was furrowed deeply.

To be honest, Minato Namikaze is really hard to understand.

Uehara Naraku hoped that all the Kage-level shinobi in Konoha would go to fight Nagato and even defeat him; yet, after all the Kage-level shinobi left Konoha, he sent people to destroy the entire village!

What exactly is this guy trying to do?

Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses and said coldly, "Naraku-sama's orders were never for the purpose of protecting Konoha. How could the Fourth Hokage have such a misconception? Naraku-sama only needed to use Konoha to force Nagato-sama to withdraw!"

"..."

Uehara Naraku nodded sullenly.

His original plan included destroying Konoha, because this was a rare opportunity, and destroying Konoha would bring him the final ultimate transformation of mainstream chakra: fire power.

Uehara Naraku slowly raised his finger, manipulating Uchiha Obito to appear on the Hokage Rock. His face gradually became serious, and his eyes became more and more earnest.

"Tell them the outcome of the Will of Fire!"

Uehara Naraku narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a deep voice, "Go, tell them that wherever the leaves dance, the fire will never cease, and its light will illuminate the village until it is reduced to ashes!"

There are still four more updates...

(End of this chapter)