Several days passed, and Konoha remained seemingly peaceful.

  But those paying attention had noticed that the movements of the ANBU were not as usual. Some ANBU units had already disappeared from the vilge.

  Even Minato was no longer w overtime in his office every night.

  In this period, Masashi had also pleted his preparations.

  On one hand, he accumuted natural energy within his body; oher, he maintained his chakra sensing, log onto the current jinchūriki, Kushina.

  The strain of maintaining both was siderable, but necessary.

  Ever since his Flying Thunder God Teique had been exposed at the assembly, his freedom of a had increased signifitly, giving him ample time for these preparations.

  Beyond this, there wasn't much else he could do.

  The Hokage building tightly trolled all details about Kushina's birthing location and the associated security measures.

  He had no access to this information. This meant he had no opportunity to try to stop Obito from unleashing the ails.

  It wasn't that Masashi was entirely indifferent. While his heart wasn't particurly warm, from both a personal and a strategic standpoint, he naturally hoped the ails would not be released.

  The release of the ails would ily pce the Uchiha a highly disadvantageous situation. After all, the ails' eyes were its greatest liability...

  But what must e will iably e.

  One day, he sensed Kushina's movements. Finally. The tdown begins.

  He teleported to a nearby loarked by the Flying Thunder God Seal, appearing on a rooftop.

  Sing below with his Sharingan, he spotted Kushina.

  Heavily pregnant, she was apanied by Biwako, the wife of Hiruzen.

  Masashi didn't particurly like this woman. She didn't bother to hide her warioward the Uchiha , an attitude that was inexplicably tiresome.

  Her husband was much more reasonable in this regard. His governance philosophy revolved around trolled flict—resolving internal issues through the political meisms of the system.

  This method left little room for pints. Everyone ying the same game, so cims of unfairness were just childish whining.

  If the Uchiha couldn't make use of their resources effectively, that was their own problem.

  Despite their dissatisfa with the Third Hokage's approach, the Uchiha 's grievances boiled down to their inability to olitical maneuvering.

  But such 'grievances' failed to garner any signifit public support within the vilge. Clearly, the Uchiha alsled with influeng public opinion.

  Their ret efforts at reputation-building, such as the Snow Festival, had helped somewhat. However, hoping to use this improved perception to iate with the Hokage's office was still a distant dream.

  Masashi had chosen his current vantage point carefully. It was distant enough not to attraBU attention while remaining withiimal observatie of his Sharingan.

  Through his enhanced visioched Kushina enter Mikoto, who was holding a child.

  Kushina's face lit up upon seeing her close friend, and the two began chatting animatedly.

  But when Kushina leaned slightly closer to Mikoto, Biwako immediately pulled her aside.

  Masashi observed the se indifferently. The soon-to-be-dead warranted no .

  Aside from Minato and Kushina, none of these people would survive. Obito would sughter them effortlessly.

  Even his former mentor's death hadn't softened his resolve; it only made him more ruthless toward others.

  He knows I'm here. I know he's here. We both know what's ing. One of the ANBU apanying Biwako was skilled in ter-surveilnd chakra sensing.

  The moment Masashi appeared, the ANBU detected him but chose not to act.

  Likewise, Masashi ignored him.

  As they say, one should be magnanimous toward the dead.

  Tonight, both he and the Uchiha would face a series of dilemmas where they could only choose the lesser of two evils. Perfect resolutions were no longer possible.

  Using the Flying Thunder God Teique, he returo the Uchiha pound, where the members were already gathered, eager for a.

  "It's tonight. The jinchūriki has left the vilge," Masashi announced.

  "Good!" Setsuna shouted, his enthusiasm uraihe old man had even donned his battle gear, cheg his on pouches.

  In his own words, "An Uchiha should never die in bed—unless…" Well, the rest was too crude to repeat.

  In any case, if he wasn't allowed to participate, no one else would have a peaceful night.

  "The tral district is most likely. They'll want maximum impact," Masashi proposed. "I suggest fog our efforts around the Hokage Rock, ensuring immediate access to evacuation routes."

  "And your certainty es from...?" Fugaku's eyes narrowed.

  "Logic. Where else would you unleash a tailed beast for maximum effect?" Masashi replied coolly.

  "Any additional intel?" Fugaku asked.

  The head had armed himself to the teeth, though it remained unclear whether he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan. Given the animation's insistencies, it wasn't a reliable reference.

  After all, this was a 'sed pythrough,' and remembering every detail was impossible. Only major events stood out—like iies such as "Naruto!", "Sasuke!", and the dramatic sounds of destru.

  Clearing his thoughts, Masashi addressed the expet crowd.

  "No, that's all. Wheime es, we'll have to face it head-on."

  "Exactly! No room for excuses tonight!" Setsuna decred fiercely. "Aanding in our way is a spy from another vilge—take them out!"

  "That's unnecessary." Fugaku forced himself to remain calm. "Tonight's as are to both prepare for potential threats and ehe doesn't fall into an irreparable situation."

  "Enough talk. I'll take up position at the Hokage Rock," Masashi said, vanishing from sight.

  Reappearing atop the Hokage Rock, he sat cross-legged, gazing down at the brightly lit vilge below.

  Obito, the Uchiha is ready. Are you?

  Without activating Sage Mode, Masashi's chakra sensing range covered roughly the size of the northern district of the vilge. Anything beyond that was too much for him.

  Naturally, Obito wouldn't appear directly within that range.

  However, Masashi still detected a malicious chakra signature. After all, it wasn't just the Konoha shinobi keeping an eye on the ails.

  A vilge as rge as Konoha, the premier vilge in the ninja world with a popution of hundreds of thousands, would be an absolute disgrace if it didn't house at least a thousand spies. And those are just the ohey knew about. The real number robably higher.

  Shinobi vilges were open enviros. Barriers were useful, but they could only detect irregur entries into the vilge.

  Unsurprisingly, the spies were also very ied ihe ails' jinchūriki had gone.

  Finally, the sky began to darken.

  Sitting atop the Hokage Rock, he suddenly sensed a wildly chaotic chakra signature.

  His sensing range hadn't expa was simply that this chakra was so intehat it swept over Konoha like a storm. Any ninja with sensing abilities would immediately reize it for what it was.

  This scale and ferocity—it could only be a tailed beast.

  Obito had succeeded.

  While Biwako was ihe Third Hokage's wife, her strength was merely that of a jonin guard. As for the ANBU, primarily posed of special jonin, they weren't even worth mentioning.

  Masashi didn't t on these people. He had pced his trust in Minato.

  Clearly, even Minato hadn't been able to stop Obito—despite already being informed about the threat of 'Madara.'

  Why did they think that just because Hashirama's wife was fine, Kushina would be too?

  Where did such fidene from?

  Masashi rose from the Hokage Rock, his Sharingan already active, sing the darkening vilge below.

  "Uchiha!"

  A loud shout came from behind, footsteps nding heavily on stone.

  Turning his head, Masashi saw a Konoha ninja leap onto the Hokage Rock, chakra fring with barely tained hostility.

  "Why is an Uchiha standing atop the Hokage Rock?" The man's stance was aggressive.

  One gnce was enough for Masashi to identify the man's lineage.

  The s in Konoha often had distinctive appearances—especially the Hyūga and the Uchiha.

  For the Sarutobi , their men typically had square faces and abundant facial hair as defining traits.

  Judging by the thick beard cirg this man's fad his habitual stance while engaging in taijutsu, Masashi immediately identified him as a Sarutobi.

  It wasn't that he bore any particur grudge against the Sarutobi . But at present, the Sarutobi 's behavior was, frankly, peculiar.

  How to put it...they embodied the Konoha 'protagonist' spirit to an excessive degree, often iing themselves into situations unnecessarily.

  On a normal day, he wouldn't care about a bit of sniping in versation, but tonight, he had no patience for interpersonal drama.

  After giving the man a gnce, Masashi turned his head back toward the vilge. The ails' chakra was growing stronger by the sed.

  "Is the Hokage Rock your family's property?"

  Ially, he was standing atop Hiruzen's statue. So what? Nowhere was it written that stepping on the Hokage Rock was forbidden.

  "Why has the Uchiha suddenly mobilized? And why are you forcibly evacuating vilgers from the district? There's been no directive from the Hokage building authorizing this!"

  "Please save both our time." Masashi turned back. "Just scram."

  The three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes made the Sarutobi ninja immediately aware of the disparity between their abilities.

  Without another word, he sensibly disappeared.

  The Sarutobi 's quality had indeed deed over the years, though their growing numbers had masked this fact.

  In the Warring States Period, such behavior would have been impossible. The Sarutobi ninja would have fought without hesitation.

  The 's fiery temper had been as famous as their mastery of Fire Release.

  One had to wonder whether Hiruzen's rise to power had ultimately been good or bad for his .

  But ohing was undeniable: most of the Sarutobi 's official shinobi were now active in the ANBU, and thanks to the Third Hokage's influeheir unofficial members rarely had to face life-threatening battles.

  As a result, the current geion of Sarutobi shinobi were detached from reality—possessing a strong sense of entitleme g strategic perspective. They often exaggerated trivial matters, such as their public hostility toward the Uchiha, bming them for the vilge's perceived ck of unity.

  Even after Minato became Hokage, the Sarutobi 's behavior didn't ge much. Many of their official shinobi held key positions in the ANBU and often bypassed Minato to report directly to Hiruzen, as if operating a 'sed office.'

  They genuinely believed Minato was too young to lead and needed Hiruzen's guida as a pretext, but as a sincere vi.

  Even Hiruzen himself found this absurd and reprimahem early on.

  After dismissing the Sarutobi ninja, he resumed fog his chakra sensing, using the Sharingan to observe within its maximum visual range.

  Finally, he detected a familiar chakra signature.

  At the same time, Masashi used the Flying Thunder God.

  In an instant, he teleported and struck the ground with a powerful punch, shattering the surfad scattering debris. A figure in a bck cloak leapt upward from the ruins of a summonihat had just appeared.

  Drawing his sword, Masashi vanished again, sshing toward the figure's neck. The steel cut through the air, aimed at the perfegle to sever the major arteries.

  "Flying Thunder God Ssh!"

  The voice beh the mask growled through gritted teeth as it dodged the attack, "You really did leave a mark on me!"

  "Madara, huh? Got beaten up earlier, didn't you?" Masashi sneered.

  His movement patterns haven't ged si time. Five seds between phases. That's all I need. "I knew you were up to no good, plotting against the Uchiha ."

  The sound of tless footsteps drew closer—shinobi approag rapidly.

  H mid-air, Obito realized that despite being in the vilge's ter, the streets were pletely deserted.

  This didn't match his expectations at all.

  As the thought crossed his mind, a barrage of shuriken rained down on him, their paths carefully calcuted to leave no room for normal evasion.

  "Masashi, don't uimate me." Obito's voice brimmed with anger as the shuriken passed through his body, cttering harmlessly onto the empty streets below.

  "Then do something to earn my respect." Masashi appeared again, hurling a kunai toward Obito's face just as his Kamui deactivated.

  The Sharingan's ocur jutsu emitted distinct chakra waves, and Masashi had memorized this frequency during their enter in the Land of Rain.

  The kunai passed through, entering through Obito's mask aing from the back of his head.

  "I told you—huh?" Obito began to retort but noticed Masashi's left hand f a single-handed seal.

  Instinctively, he activated Kamui again.

  With a deafening explosion, fmes engulfed his vision, further devastating the already-ruined ground and temporarily cealing Masashi.

  The bst wave shattered nearby windows, raining gss onto the empty streets.

  "So it was an explosive tag..."

  Obito realized that Masashi had transferred the explosive tag onto the kunai.

  This man's use of the Flying Thunder God differed from that of his teacher.

  This time, Obito didn't deactivate Kamui. As the fmes a waves subsided, he charged out of the explosion's radius, aiming directly at him.

  pared to his teacher, this neighbor he ohought he knew but actually didn't at all turned out to be the biggest threat to his pns.