Chapter 163: Konoha Reaps What It Sows

In the heart of Konoha village.

Buildings collapsed in heaps, flames soared into the sky, bodies were strewn everywhere, and rivers of blood flowed.

The Nine-Tails was still rampaging.

At this moment.

After a period of preparation, Jiraiya finally gathered enough natural energy to activate Sage Mode.

On each of his shoulders, there was a small green toad.

They were the two eight-hundred-year-old sages of Mount Myoboku, Shima and Fukasaku, who had fused with Jiraiya through the Two Lives Technique, enhancing the power and duration of Sage Mode.

In addition, Jiraiya's face was adorned with a red sage mask, his pupils became horizontal slits, numerous small grains appeared on his nose, and his hands and feet turned into frog's webbed limbs. He had completely "frogified."

This appearance was too ugly, so Jiraiya was reluctant to activate Sage Mode unless absolutely necessary.

But even after sacrificing his image and gaining powerful strength through Sage Mode, Jiraiya, despite using all his tricks, still couldn't suppress the rampaging Nine-Tails.

"Roar!"

As the Nine-Tails went berserk again, many Konoha ninjas were sent flying.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The toads Gamawunta, Gamaken, and Gamabunta also disappeared in a puff of smoke due to exhaustion.

The situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for Konoha.

The chakra of the Nine-Tails seemed endless, and there was no way to knock it down or kill it—realizing this, the Konoha ninjas fell into deep despair.

It seemed that no one knew how to win this battle.

In fact.

This was all Konoha's own doing.

Back then.

The First Hokage's Wood Release was the nemesis of all Tailed Beasts, including the Nine-Tails, which was a plaything in his palm.

But after the First Hokage's death, the vast Senju clan mysteriously disappeared, and there was never a second Hashirama Senju.

Although there was a successful Wood Release test subject—Yamato, he was not of the Senju bloodline, and his strength was not enough in front of the Nine-Tails.

The Uchiha clan's Mangekyou Sharingan could also control the Nine-Tails.

But starting from the era of Uchiha Madara, this clan had serious conflicts with the village's upper echelons, and the successive Hokages failed to resolve this issue, which only intensified the conflict.

In the end, it led to a complete break between the Uchiha and Konoha.

Apart from the Senju and Uchiha Konoha's former ally—the Uzumaki clan, could also control the Tailed Beasts with their special physique and sealing techniques, so all the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha were from the Uzumaki clan.

However, during the Second Great Ninja War, the Uzumaki clan was besieged by various countries and ninja villages around them, but they did not receive strong support from Konoha and were wiped out.

There was another way. That was to cultivate Naruto Uzumaki into a perfect Jinchuriki, make him friends with the Nine-Tails, gain its trust, and thus use the power of the Nine-Tails for Konoha.

Just like Gaara of the Sand, Killer Bee of the Cloud, and the Fourth Mizukage of the Mist, they were all perfect Jinchuriki.

Unfortunately, Naruto was too young.

On the other hand, for this son of a hero, the Konoha higher-ups surprisingly adopted a laissez-faire attitude. They didn't cultivate him carefully, let alone feed him properly, almost starving the poor kid to death.

As a result—Naruto was completely unaware of the Nine-Tails' existence within him, let alone using its power.

In short, as the leader of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Konoha originally had many talents, secret techniques, and methods that could be used to suppress the Nine-Tails, but now, not one was left.

In the end, facing the rampaging Nine-Tails, they ended up in this situation.

If they let the Nine-Tails continue like this, Konoha will eventually be destroyed.

There was no other way.

Seeing that the situation was out of control, the Third Hokage finally made up his mind, his eyes flashed, and he shouted to Jiraiya:

"Find a way to restrict the Nine-Tails' mobility, I'll deal with it!" Seeing the Third Hokage's resolute gaze, Jiraiya shivered, vaguely realizing something, and finally nodded heavily.

Whoosh, whoosh.

As Jiraiya quickly formed seals, a huge blood-red swamp suddenly appeared under the Nine-Tails, trapping it.

Sage Art: Swamp of the Underworld.

The more the Nine-Tails struggled, the deeper it sank, unable to escape for a while.

But this alone was not enough.

Swoosh.

Jiraiya leaped high into the air again, and Shima and Fukasaku on his shoulders opened their mouths together, emitting a strong sound wave that enveloped the Nine-Tails in the swamp.

Sage Art: Frog Song. This was a powerful genjutsu released by sound. The Frog Song performed by the two great sages of Mount Myoboku was enough to trap the Nine-Tails in a brief illusion.

The opportunity had come. Seeing this, the Third Hokage planted his Adamantine Staff into the ground and stepped on it.

Whoosh.

As the staff grew bigger and longer, extending hundreds of meters forward, the Third Hokage was lifted, quickly approaching the Nine-Tails.

During this process, his face was serious, and he began to form seals, preparing to emulate the Fourth Hokage's method.

The last time Konoha successfully subdued the Nine-Tails.

It was during the Nine-Tails' attack years ago. After Kushina Uzumaki suppressed the Nine-Tails with the Adamantine Sealing Chains, Minato Namikaze performed the Reaper Death Seal. The couple sacrificed their lives to seal the Nine-Tails.

At that time.

Half of the Nine-Tails' chakra, along with Minato's soul, were taken into the stomach of the Reaper, while the other half of the chakra was sealed into the newly born Naruto Uzumaki by Minato.

Now, facing the Nine-Tails, the Third Hokage once again used the Reaper Death Seal, which was truly a last resort.

Because not only would this result in the Third Hokage's death, but Konoha would also lose the remaining half of the Nine-Tails, and would never be able to master the power of the Tailed Beasts again.

In addition, Naruto Uzumaki, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, would not survive after the Nine-Tails was extracted.

But now.

To protect the village, this was the only way left.

Just as the Third Hokage completed the seals and the shadow of the Reaper was about to descend into the real world.

Whoosh!

The Nine-Tails, trapped in the swamp, suddenly woke up, and several of its tails swept towards him.

The Third Hokage was taken aback, tried to dodge but was too slow, and was hit head-on by a fox tail. He was sent flying hundreds of meters away, crashing into a pile of ruins in the distance.

He was, after all, old.

The previous high-intensity battles had almost exhausted his chakra.

If the Third Hokage had been decisive from the start, cooperating with Jiraiya to perform the Reaper Death Seal on the Nine-Tails, they might have succeeded.

But his hesitant nature caused him to miss the last good opportunity.

It was over.

Seeing the Third Hokage sent flying, Jiraiya's heart sank to the bottom.

His Sage Mode couldn't last much longer. Once it was forcibly deactivated, no one would be able to stand against the Nine-Tails.

Could it be... was this destined to be the day of Konoha's destruction?

Just then.

Whoosh.

A woman in a green cloak suddenly appeared on the battlefield, charging alone towards the Nine-Tails.

It was Tsunade.

Swish.

Several of the Nine-Tails' tails swept towards her again.

In Tsunade's eyes, the crimson three-tomoe Sharingan quietly emerged. The powerful dynamic vision of the Sharingan allowed her to capture the trajectory of each fox tail.

Then Tsunade dodged left and right, narrowly avoiding the Nine-Tails' attack. She leaped onto its massive body, finally reaching the top of the Nine-Tails' head.

"Ha!" Tsunade steadied her footing, let out a shout, and a powerful surge of energy erupted from her body as she threw a punch.

Superhuman Strength.

Boom!

Her punch was powerful and heavy, immediately knocking the Nine-Tails down, with most of its head sinking into the swamp.

But this alone was not enough to subdue the Nine-Tails.

The next second.

Hum, hum, hum.

Tsunade's palm suddenly burst into a dazzling green light, enveloping the massive body of the Nine-Tails.

The green light came from the First Hokage's relic—the crystal necklace that had been passed down and eventually returned to Tsunade's hands.

The First Hokage had sealed his own Wood Release chakra in the necklace.

At this moment, the chakra in the necklace, like a floodgate opening, poured out without leaving a drop, forming a force capable of suppressing the Nine-Tails.

"Roar!"

The Nine-Tails roared again, its eyes crimson, desperately resisting the First Hokage's chakra.

Jiraiya, who had come to his senses, immediately rushed to help. He leaped into the air and quickly formed a giant Rasengan in his palm, several meters in diameter.

Sage Art: Massive Rasengan.

Boom! It heavily hit the Nine-Tails, knocking it down again.

Then, the once arrogant Nine-Tails was finally sealed by the First Hokage's Wood Release chakra, disappearing with a reluctant and angry roar.

On the spot.

Only Naruto Uzumaki, with his hair in a mess, clothes torn, and body covered in wounds, lay unconscious on the ground.

Jiraiya was still not at ease. He took out a sealing tag with the word "suppress" written on it and stuck it on Naruto's forehead, causing the Nine-Tails within him to fall into a deep sleep.

After doing all this, his tall body swayed, and he was forced to deactivate Sage Mode, kneeling on the ground.

Finally... they had won.

Seeing this, the surrounding Konoha ninjas all felt like they had survived a catastrophe, and they all collapsed on the ground.

After a while.

The Third Hokage, supported by the Anbu, along with the Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho, and Yamanaka clans, came over.

"Tsunade, we owe you..." The Third Hokage slowly said, casting a grateful look at Tsunade.

No one had expected that the hero who saved Konoha in the end would be Tsunade.

However, when they saw the pair of Sharingan in her eyes.

The people of Konoha couldn't help but have complex expressions, whispering to each other.

Tsunade and the Uchiha clan indeed had a deep connection.

Was she the hero who saved the village, or an accomplice to the Uchiha's destruction of Konoha?

Faced with these strange looks.

"Hmph."Tsunade snorted coldly, said nothing, and holding the crystal necklace that had exhausted its chakra, she turned and walked away.

Leaving the people of Konoha looking at each other.

"Tsunade!"

Jiraiya called out to Tsunade's retreating figure, but he couldn't make her turn around. In the end, he could only watch as she disappeared from his sight.

Sigh. The Third Hokage let out a long sigh, then with a weary face, he instructed everyone: "Let's take care of the injured first."

Everyone dispersed quietly.

Then.

An Anbu appeared and reported to the Third Hokage:

The Uchiha clan, taking advantage of the battle between Konoha and the Nine-Tails, had fled Konoha as a whole and entered the forests of the Land of Fire.

"Hokage-sama, should we... pursue the Uchiha clan?"

The Anbu asked hesitantly, his tone uncertain.

Pursue?

Did Konoha have the strength?

Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage let out a silent bitter smile. As for the Uchiha clan leaving the village, his only feeling was a sense of relief.

He was grateful.

The Uchiha, this plague, had finally left Konoha. He only hoped they would never return.

But after a moment of contemplation, the Third Hokage called for Kakashi and Tenzo.

"Follow the Uchiha clan, see where they're going, and report their movements to me in a timely manner."

He instructed them. What the Third Hokage was most worried about was that the Uchiha would really run to the Cloud Village and then turn around to attack Konoha.

"Yes." Kakashi and Tenzo took the task and hurried away.

In the distance.

Danzo hid in a building, observing the situation on the battlefield.

This chaos of the Nine-Tails was actually caused by him.

If he hadn't used the Sharingan to cast a genjutsu on Naruto, releasing the Nine-Tails inside him, it wouldn't have led to the Nine-Tails losing control and nearly destroying Konoha.

Having caused this, many Konoha ninjas would surely hate him to the extreme.

So Danzo hid, not daring to show himself, for fear of being attacked by the angry Konoha ninjas.

However. The Third Hokage's situation wouldn't be much better. After this turmoil, the Third Hokage would sooner or later be ousted, and a new Hokage would be born in Konoha.

For Danzo, although he had lost Shisui's Sharingan, and all his subordinates were dead, as a former advisor to the Hokage, he had operated in Konoha for decades and still had some backup plans.

Therefore, when the time comes, Danzo would reappear and seize the position of Hokage in one fell swoop.

...

A day later, in the evening, the setting sun's afterglow spilled onto the earth.

In the vast primeval forest of the Land of Fire, the Uchiha clan, who had escaped from Konoha, had been on the run for a whole day and night, and were now camping and resting in a clearing in the forest.

After leaving Konoha, where to go? For this question, the Uchiha clan had discussed it internally and conducted a collective vote.

First was the Cloud Village to the north.

Although the Fourth Raikage had shown goodwill to the Uchiha, promising that they were absolutely welcome to join the Cloud Village family.

But anyone with a clear mind knew that such a promise couldn't be taken lightly.

This break with Konoha had cost the Uchiha clan dearly, almost half of their fighting power was lost, and they urgently needed to recuperate.

They needed to avoid combat as much as possible in the short term.

If they naively rushed to join the Cloud Village with hopeful expectations, and the latter turned against them, then the Uchiha would be walking into a trap.

Next, to the east across the sea was the Mist Village, and to the west into the desert was the Sand Village.

These two major ninja villages' attitudes towards the Uchiha were probably the same—coveting the Uchiha's Sharingan, especially the Mangekyou Sharingan.

With that in mind.

The only path left for the Uchiha seemed to be heading south.

"I've heard that in the vast sea to the south of the Land of Fire, there are countless islands with many small villages and countries. Perhaps, we can also go to the sea, find an uninhabited island, and establish a new home for the Uchiha."

Clan head Fugaku expressed his opinion.

His proposal immediately received the support of most of the clan members.

For over a thousand years.

The Uchiha clan had always been at the center of the world stage, never ceasing their battles and killings.

Especially in the past few decades, the Uchiha clan had been doing the dirty work for the police force in order to survive in Konoha, constantly having to deal with the village's higher-ups, leading to constant conflicts and disputes.

The clan members were tired.

Now, They just wanted to get away from the conflicts of the ninja world and find a paradise for the Uchiha.

Would such a place exist?