Naruto: The Information Broker from the Uchiha Clan.

Chapter 421 Konoha Saved by the Uchiha

Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes.

Under the gaze of the Eternal Eye, not a trace of insincerity was detected.

The son of the Fourth Hokage, he was orphaned after his parents sacrificed themselves to save the village, but he received no blessings from them. Instead, for various reasons, everyone regarded him as the incarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Putting himself in Sasuke's shoes, he felt that even he would never give up so easily. Instead, he would make gaining everyone's recognition his dream and engrave it deep in his bones.

Losing something you've already gained is incredibly painful, and this pain even caused him to awaken his Mangekyou Sharingan.

And yet, I've never gained anything, only lost everything, always been isolated, always alone...

In such an environment, the personality that was born out of repression has become what it is today, which is something Sasuke cannot understand.

"Let's begin, Sasuke!"

Naruto clenched his fists, his resolute smile showing no sign of worry about the possibility of his death.

Sasuke reached out and touched it, and the two of them connected their chakra in the next moment.

"Although I can't understand it, I still admire your mindset. With the chakra connection, I will keep an eye on your condition at all times."

"Don't worry... I'm already going to accept the most help from someone who's a complete loser. I won't let you die."

……

outside world.

"roar!!"

Naruto lay on all fours atop Susanoo's head, crimson chakra surging from its body and forming tails that swung behind it.

Soon, Naruto's body was no longer visible, and even his face was reduced to a mere outline.

"roar!!"

A roar resounded as six tails formed from the Nine-Tails' chakra lashed out, and streams of chakra, almost tangible, filled the entire battlefield.

On the wooden dummy, Orochimaru showed no fear, but rather his face was full of excitement.

Beside him, the mindless Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had already been sealed away with the help of Guy opening the Seventh Gate and Kakashi, without sacrificing a large number of Anbu.

The Flying Thunder God Technique's mobility was not fully utilized due to Orochimaru's multitasking.

But no one was at ease at this moment; the wooden figure, which resembled a god, was pressing on everyone's nerves.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

After closing the Gate of Shock, Might Guy immediately collapsed onto Kakashi.

However, Kakashi, who was also on the verge of death from exhaustion, could not withstand the force at all. The two of them fell to the ground with a thud, but still tilted their heads back, looking at the situation in the distance.

"I was all ready to unleash the last of my youth, but I was saved in the end."

Kai then looked at Kakashi and said, "This kid, wasn't he your student before?"

Kakashi lay on the ground, head tilted back: "I'll control the Nine-Tails with my Sharingan, and then release its chakra through Naruto. But that would... put Naruto in danger."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone who was still alive looked over.

No one spoke up, because it was the best way.

Sacrificing a ninja who has mastered the Eight Gates to its peak, and a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, seems like there's no need to choose at all.

As a weapon of war, Jinchuriki are needed by the higher-ups of ninja villages, but what ordinary people fear even more is the sudden loss of control over the weapon.

During the Nine-Tails' rampage, none of the Jonin present had experienced that bloody battle.

Upon seeing the overflowing Nine-Tails chakra, the fear hidden deep within his heart, stemming from the level of life itself, resurfaced.

"Ahem!"

The Fourth Raikage lay sprawled on the ground, blood gushing from his abdomen. Four slugs clung to the wound, barely managing to stop the bleeding.

The battle with the Reanimated Second Hokage just now, without his outburst, might have resulted in even greater losses.

"Sealing the tailed beasts into one's body to form a jinchūriki is the strongest power to intimidate other villages."

"As a weapon, it is not necessary for the higher-ups to have emotions. Creating public opinion, isolating, a dark childhood... all of this is seen by them as a way to make the Jinchuriki's mentality stronger, strong enough to control this power."

"But in fact... a perfect Jinchuriki requires the Jinchuriki to confront their own darkness and bear the negative emotions of the Tailed Beast with their own light."

"Finally... after gaining recognition, the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast's chakra are connected, and their minds are in sync, thus becoming the perfect Jinchuriki."

The Fourth Raikage coughed up another mouthful of blood, his gaze fixed on the distance.

Is it an entanglement between Indra and Asura?

If Sasuke's guess is correct, then it's understandable that Naruto Uzumaki, who inherited Ashura's chakra, has been able to maintain his character to this day.

But similarly... this would make it impossible to recruit them into Kumogakure.

……

At the same time, the armor of Susanoo spread, condensing chakra to form a gigantic Nine-Tails Naruto, enveloping him inch by inch.

"roar!!!"

A roar rang out, and the blue longsword slashed down at the wooden man.

"boom……"

The ground cracked open again, and the wooden dummy, which held a long sword in one hand, suddenly unleashed a burst of power with the other.

The Eternal Eye slowly rotated, and the seven tails wrapped in Susanoo twitched, knocking the wooden doll back several steps with a single blow.

"Buzz..."

Chakra condensed in the mouth of the Nine-Tails, and the eight tails covering the Susanoo swept up, fixing and binding the wooden doll's limbs.

The Tailed Beast Ball condensed and took shape, causing ripples in the surrounding air.

"boom!!!"

Intense light enveloped the entire wooden dummy, and Orochimaru, who was on it, had already turned into dust and disappeared when the wooden dummy technique was bound.

The circular crater originally created by the Shinra Tensei was once again enveloped by the power of the Tailed Beast Ball.

"Whoosh!"

Several figures swept past, taking away Kakashi, Might Guy, and other injured people who were unable to move. Even the aftershocks of the impact were too much for ordinary ninjas to withstand.

The circular light shield, as red as a raging flame, expanded rapidly and then suddenly exploded, deepening the circular crater in Konoha once again.

After the dust settled, the original giant had vanished. Even though the First Hokage was resurrected using White Zetsu as a sacrifice, he did not reach his peak condition from his previous life.

Furthermore, due to Obito's warning, Orochimaru dared not restore the mind of this god of ninjas, which greatly reduced the flexibility of the Wood Release: Wood Release technique.

This is why even the resurrected Second Hokage was still overwhelmed and killed by the Flying Thunder God Technique, which possesses space-time ninjutsu.

If it were Tobirama Senju himself, without any ties, he could come and go freely unless the space could be sealed off; otherwise, it would be impossible to restrict him.

"Whoosh..."

A gentle breeze swept by... and ashes, like scraps of paper, began to gather.

"Seal him off!"

"quick!"

One after another, figures flashed into the center of the battlefield. Not far away, Naruto, covered by Susanoo, had his crimson chakra slowly gather and disappear as Sasuke pressed his hand down on his forehead.

Finally, on top of Susanoo's head, Naruto, whose body was mostly burned, lay unconscious.

Sasuke, whose eye power was greatly depleted, also had to dispel Susanoo, but he still maintained his Eternal Eye, keeping a close eye on the First Hokage who was recovering.

The next moment, the ground churned.

Earth Escape, Huangquan Marsh.

A flash of cold light passed by, and a long sword slashed through Orochimaru's mouth, spraying blood from the neck of an ANBU member.

After only a moment's hesitation, the intruding sealing squad was bound by the swamp.

With his hands forming a hand seal, the reanimated First Hokage, who was recovering nearby, vanished.

Orochimaru glanced at the sealed Edo Tensei Second Hokage not far away, when a giant snake suddenly sprang out from the ground, swallowed him whole, and disappeared.

"Sasuke-kun...you really keep surprising me!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the black Amaterasu Fire suddenly erupted.

The inextinguishable flames could be ignited with the eye of the beholder, yet Orochimaru felt no pain despite the intense heat.

"Whoosh..."

His entire body turned into mud and crumbled into pieces, while Orochimaru slowly rose from the ground beside him.

"So, Sasuke-kun, even now, you're still maintaining your fighting strength?"

Orochimaru still smiled: "But how long can you fight like this? Under the Impure World Reincarnation, the spirits from the Pure Land not only possess near-infinite chakra, but they are also immortal."

"You might be able to defeat him once, but how long can you maintain the power of your Sharingan and your chakra?"

Sasuke looked at Orochimaru indifferently: "You can give it a try..."

After he finished speaking, both of them fell silent.

Orochimaru glanced at Naruto next to Sasuke, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Having witnessed the complete Susanoo, he became even more obsessed with Sasuke's eyes.

However, it cannot be denied that the Impure World Reincarnation technique is not invincible. Infinite chakra requires time to recover, and the amount an individual can unleash at one time is still finite.

The Wooden Dummy Technique is the limit; without restoring the consciousness of the deceased, even a weakened version of the True Thousand Hands Technique cannot be used.

Orochimaru knew this technique; it was a technique capable of destroying an entire city with a single strike, utterly devastating, and destroying everything within its attack range.

And the characteristic of immortality...

The dead, resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation, need time to recover after being destroyed. In this world, a single sealing technique can resolve this.

In addition...

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is not dead, but with such injuries, he may be completely devoured and possessed by the Nine-Tails at any moment.

Once the Nine-Tails is fully released, the opponent will be able to control it with the power of the Eternal Eye, and then I will have no chance of winning.

Sasuke, on the other hand, did not rush to help.

Instead, he still kept his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan active, wary of Orochimaru sacrificing White Zetsu again to use the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

A figure flashed by in the distance. Orochimaru smiled, constantly avoiding eye contact with Sasuke.

"So this time, Konoha was saved by the Uchiha, whom they had once personally destroyed. I find this ending quite interesting."

"I wonder what the old man in the Pure Land would think if he saw this scene. If I had known this wind would blow things out like this, I should have let him come out and see for himself earlier."

Sasuke remained silent, his gaze still fixed on Orochimaru.

If given the chance, perhaps illusions could solve all the problems.

"Next time... Next time, I'll show the old man the stupid things he's done. If you were still in Konoha, things would be completely different."

As soon as he finished speaking, Orochimaru collapsed to the ground and disappeared without a trace.

Sasuke, who was opposite him, frowned but did not relax. From the beginning, he had suspected that, based on the experience of one of the Legendary Sannin, after being restrained once, he would not need to face the Sharingan with his true form.

Especially with the presence of that masked man, Orochimaru must have known that the eyes he obtained from Itachi Uchiha were no longer ordinary Mangekyou Sharingan.

Five minutes, ten minutes...

Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan power had faded and could no longer be maintained, yet he remained standing.

Sixteen minutes later, after glancing at Naruto who was enveloped by slugs, he collapsed to the ground.

……

In a dark cave.

Orochimaru spoke up: "Kabuto... you never disappoint me."

Behind him, Kabuto Yakushi spoke up, "The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was taken by that person, but the overflowing Nine-Tails chakra has been collected, and there's also the Fourth Hokage..."

Before he could finish speaking, ripples appeared in mid-air.

Masked Obito looked at the two of them: "Orochimaru... why don't you continue?"

Orochimaru turned around: "Although I don't know what your purpose is, if you continue, I feel that you will obtain something extraordinary."

"Let me think... The Ten-Tails? Using the combined power of the nine tailed beasts to intimidate the ninja world, that's Pain's will, but it shouldn't be yours."

"As the mastermind behind Akatsuki, I think you must have your own agenda. Even Pain, with his Rinnegan, is probably just a pawn in your game... right, Tobi..."

Masked Obito remained silent for a moment, then looked at Orochimaru before his Mangekyou Sharingan flashed by.

Even with the Mangekyou Sharingan, it was impossible to tell whether the Orochimaru in front of them was the real Orochimaru.

What do you want?

Orochimaru licked his lips: "I need a large number of White Zetsu, and your ultimate goal..."

Masked Obito chuckled dismissively: "You couldn't withstand that level. Tearing apart your soul to use natural energy to develop a reincarnation technique—your soul is already utterly shattered."

"In this state, you are not only countered by illusions, but you have also severed the path to higher levels."

The road ahead is blocked...

Orochimaru knew the flaws of the Reanimation Jutsu from the very beginning.

But as a genius, he didn't believe such a flaw was insurmountable. Even if there was no immediate solution, he was confident he could find one in the future.

After a long silence, Orochimaru spoke: "It seems there are some of someone's methods within your body... I want to know your secrets. In exchange, how about it?"

Methods...

The first image that flashed through Obito's mind was that of Madara Uchiha with a full head of white hair.

Besides Black Zetsu, do they have any other tricks up their sleeve?

"I've resurrected the Fourth Hokage using the Impure World Reincarnation technique. Once I extract the Nine-Tails' chakra from his body, I'll tell you my purpose..."

Kabuto looked up slightly; no matter how you looked at it, these conditions seemed like a scam.

But he didn't speak; he trusted Orochimaru's every decision.

"pocket……"

Orochimaru reached out, and Kabuto placed a sealing scroll in Orochimaru's hand.

"This is the Nine-Tails' chakra I just collected. After establishing a basic level of trust, I will resurrect the Fourth Hokage."

……

(End of this chapter)