Chapter 554: Sasuke at the Door
Unfortunately, he couldn't discuss the matter of Obito with anyone. Minato Namikaze was not only Kakashi's teacher but also the Fourth Hokage of the village. He had many matters to attend to. The matter of Obito could only be postponed until it could no longer be postponed.
Because of the Tailed Beasts and the Reanimation Jutsu, he gathered the village's high-ups for a meeting to discuss how to deal with the situation.
He began by asking, "Nagato is dead, and the Akatsuki is on the verge of collapse, but Madara Uchiha is still capturing the Tailed Beasts. What are your thoughts on this matter?"
"Madara Uchiha's target is definitely Konoha Village. We must first be clear on this point," Homura Mitokado said in an old-fashioned, authoritative tone.
Several high-ups at the meeting nodded lightly. This statement was logical.
Koharu Utatane had a different opinion. "The masked man may not have this in mind. The Akatsuki has been amassing wealth. Perhaps capturing the Tailed Beasts is just to obtain more money and status."
Ino spoke up. She wasn't opposing for the sake of opposing; she had her own reasons. "Elder Advisor, I have seen the Gedo Statue. To be honest, that thing has an evil aura. Something so sinister doesn't seem like it's used to obtain money or status. I have no proof, but considering Nagato's philosophy of making the world feel pain, I think... I think they want to destroy the world. Using some method we don't know, they will gather the power of the nine Tailed Beasts and, like creating a Tailed Beast Bomb, destroy the ninja world in a single blow."
Koharu Utatane's triangular eyes glanced at her. What childish words. The adult world is all about interests. Destroy the world? Are they insane?
Minato Namikaze pondered for a moment. He didn't know Nagato well, but he knew Obito. As kind as Obito was before, he was as crazy now. Ino's idea of world destruction was consistent with his impression. Obito really wouldn't care about money or status. If he had the chance, he would rather take everyone with him to their deaths.
However, Ino had no proof, and he didn't want to discuss Obito's personality in this meeting.
He began to assign tasks. "Well... let's not worry about their specific purpose for now. The only jinchuriki still under the control of the ninja villages are the Seven-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails. We must..."
Currently, the six Tailed Beasts from One-Tail to Six-Tails had been collected by the Akatsuki. Among them, the One-Tail and Two-Tails had about half of their chakra absorbed. The Three-Tails to Six-Tails had been taken away entirely.
This was why the Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud was not in a hurry, while the Third Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone and the Fifth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist were burning with anxiety.
Among the five great ninja villages, only their two villages had their Tailed Beasts taken away. How could they not be anxious?
The Konoha high-ups reached a consensus: to protect the three jinchuriki with all their might. As for the captured Tailed Beasts, there was nothing they could do. If the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist could get their Tailed Beasts back, then they would continue to let them use them. If they couldn't, then that was that. It was impossible for Konoha ninja to risk their lives to pull chestnuts out of the fire for them.
The next topic was the Reanimation Jutsu.
This was a heavy issue.
The matter of the Second Mizukage and Second Tsuchikage joining forces to beat up the Third Tsuchikage was truly horrifying and had to be guarded against.
"How can the Reanimation Jutsu be released?" Minato Namikaze asked the two advisors.
As the disciples of the Second Hokage, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado had seen the Second Hokage use this forbidden jutsu back then and were relatively qualified to speak on the matter.
They provided some methods, which were basically focused on sealing.
They would counter each move as it came. If the enemy reanimated one, they would seal one. Other than that, there weren't any particularly good methods.
The Second Hokage's ninjutsu was known for its rigor, making it difficult for outsiders to decipher.
"Could the First Hokage be reanimated?" Minato Namikaze asked again.
Tsunade, who was yawning, stared straight at Ino.
Ino was stunned for a moment and said, "No, the First's soul is with the Shinigami due to the Reaper Death Seal. Without a soul, the Reanimation Jutsu cannot bring him back to the world of the living."
Minato himself had used the Reaper Death Seal. Although he had no memory of it at the time, he was very clear about the nature of the jutsu.
He continued to ask, "What about the Second Hokage?"
Tsunade looked at Ino again.
"...Probably not. The Second Hokage and I worked together to place an anti-reanimation seal on him. It's not impossible to break our sealing jutsu, but it's very difficult. It can't be broken in a short amount of time."
The Third Hokage's soul was also with the Shinigami, but no one mentioned it...
Konoha was only worried about the First and Second. As long as those two weren't reanimated, it was fine. The Third? Heh, even if he were reanimated, it wouldn't matter. The Third's title of the strongest Hokage, much like Hanzo of the Salamander's title of Demigod, was a bit inflated.
After the meeting that day, Konoha immediately implemented the highest level of protection for the village's cemetery.
Every family sent people to check the remains of their ancestors. No one knew how many corpses Kabuto had secretly stolen. If you didn't want to see your ancestor suddenly jump out and beat you up, a thorough check was a necessary operation.
Even Ino carefully searched the Yamanaka clan's cemetery. In the original timeline, no Yamanaka ninja had been reanimated, but it was hard to say now.
She and Kabuto had a certain tacit understanding, but Kabuto was also a madman. It was difficult to gauge him with a normal person's way of thinking. It was better to be cautious.
Night fell over Konoha Village.
Sasuke stood awkwardly in front of a small, single-family house and knocked on the door.
Naruto opened the door curiously and was a little confused to see Sasuke outside. "Sasuke, what are you doing here?"
Meeting under these circumstances, with a door between them, was, to be honest, a bit awkward for the two of them.
The bond between them had spawned seven or eight different versions of stories in the female ninja circles, led by Ino. Something along the lines of "Naruto was looking at the scenery from a bridge, while Sasuke, the scenery-watcher, stood on the bank looking at Naruto. The bright moon decorated Sasuke's window, and Sasuke decorated Naruto's dream." Such verses were practically household names.
This trend, with the rise of Ino's status, was now showing signs of spreading to other villages. At least Kurotsuchi and Mei Terumi knew some of the more "elegant" verses...
No one had told Sasuke about these things, so he didn't notice anything wrong. However, as he grew older and his family's feud had come to an end, he was consciously adjusting his interpersonal relationships.
To revive the Uchiha clan, he couldn't do it alone. He had come to realize this truth in the dead of night, while leaning on an iron rod.
He was consciously getting closer to Sakura and distancing himself from Naruto.
The two of them rarely met outside of official business.
Coming to his door in the evening like this was truly out of desperation.
Sasuke was the first to break the awkwardness. "Ahem, I'm here to see the Hokage."
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