Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 38
🕑 Added 2024-12-02 01:18:59 +0000 UTCSeveral 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 village.
Even Minato was no longer working overtime in his office every night.
In this period, Masashi had also completed his preparations.
On one hand, he accumulated natural energy within his body; on the other, he maintained his chakra sensing, locking onto the current jinchūriki, Kushina.
The strain of maintaining both was considerable, but necessary.
Ever since his Flying Thunder God Technique had been exposed at the clan assembly, his freedom of action had increased significantly, giving him ample time for these preparations.
Beyond this, there wasn't much else he could do.
The Hokage building tightly controlled 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 Nine-Tails.
It wasn't that Masashi was entirely indifferent. While his heart wasn't particularly warm, from both a personal and a strategic standpoint, he naturally hoped the Nine-Tails would not be released.
The release of the Nine-Tails would inherently place the Uchiha clan in a highly disadvantageous situation. After all, the Nine-Tails' eyes were its greatest liability...
But what must come will inevitably come.
One day, he sensed Kushina's movements. Finally. The countdown begins.
He teleported to a nearby location marked by the Flying Thunder God Seal, appearing on a rooftop.
Scanning below with his Sharingan, he spotted Kushina.
Heavily pregnant, she was accompanied by Biwako, the wife of Hiruzen.
Masashi didn't particularly like this woman. She didn't bother to hide her wariness toward the Uchiha clan, an attitude that was inexplicably tiresome.
Her husband was much more reasonable in this regard. His governance philosophy revolved around controlled conflict—resolving internal issues through the political mechanisms of the system.
This method left little room for complaints. Everyone was playing the same game, so claims of unfairness were just childish whining.
If the Uchiha clan couldn't make use of their resources effectively, that was their own problem.
Despite their dissatisfaction with the Third Hokage's approach, the Uchiha clan's grievances boiled down to their inability to win at political maneuvering.
But such 'grievances' failed to garner any significant public support within the village. Clearly, the Uchiha clan also struggled with influencing public opinion.
Their recent efforts at reputation-building, such as the Snow Festival, had helped somewhat. However, hoping to use this improved perception to negotiate with the Hokage's office was still a distant dream.
Masashi had chosen his current vantage point carefully. It was distant enough not to attract ANBU attention while remaining within the optimal observation range of his Sharingan.
Through his enhanced vision, he watched Kushina encounter 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 scene indifferently. The soon-to-be-dead warranted no concern.
Aside from Minato and Kushina, none of these people would survive. Obito would slaughter 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 coming. One of the ANBU accompanying Biwako was skilled in counter-surveillance and 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 clan 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 Technique, he returned to the Uchiha compound, where the clan members were already gathered, eager for action.
"It's tonight. The jinchūriki has left the village," Masashi announced.
"Good!" Setsuna shouted, his enthusiasm unrestrained. The old man had even donned his battle gear, checking his weapon 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 central district is most likely. They'll want maximum impact," Masashi proposed. "I suggest focusing our efforts around the Hokage Rock, ensuring immediate access to evacuation routes."
"And your certainty comes 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 clan head had armed himself to the teeth, though it remained unclear whether he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan. Given the animation's inconsistencies, it wasn't a reliable reference.
After all, this was a 'second playthrough,' and remembering every detail was impossible. Only major events stood out—like iconic lines such as "Naruto!", "Sasuke!", and the dramatic sounds of destruction.
Clearing his thoughts, Masashi addressed the expectant crowd.
"No, that's all. When the time comes, we'll have to face it head-on."
"Exactly! No room for excuses tonight!" Setsuna declared fiercely. "Anyone standing in our way is a spy from another village—take them out!"
"That's unnecessary." Fugaku forced himself to remain calm. "Tonight's actions are to both prepare for potential threats and ensure the clan 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 village below.
Obito, the Uchiha clan is ready. Are you?
Without activating Sage Mode, Masashi's chakra sensing range covered roughly the size of the northern district of the village. 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 Nine-Tails.
A village as large as Konoha, the premier village in the ninja world with a population of hundreds of thousands, would be an absolute disgrace if it didn't house at least a thousand spies. And those are just the ones they knew about. The real number was probably higher.
Shinobi villages were open environments. Barriers were useful, but they could only detect irregular entries into the village.
Unsurprisingly, the spies were also very interested in where the Nine-Tails' 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 expanded—it was simply that this chakra was so intense that it swept over Konoha like a storm. Any ninja with sensing abilities would immediately recognize it for what it was.
This scale and ferocity—it could only be a tailed beast.
Obito had succeeded.
While Biwako was indeed the Third Hokage's wife, her strength was merely that of a jonin guard. As for the ANBU, primarily composed of special jonin, they weren't even worth mentioning.
Masashi didn't count on these people. He had placed 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 confidence come from?
Masashi rose from the Hokage Rock, his Sharingan already active, scanning the darkening village below.
"Uchiha!"
A loud shout came from behind, footsteps landing heavily on stone.
Turning his head, Masashi saw a Konoha ninja leap onto the Hokage Rock, chakra flaring with barely contained hostility.
"Why is an Uchiha standing atop the Hokage Rock?" The man's stance was aggressive.
One glance was enough for Masashi to identify the man's lineage.
The clans in Konoha often had distinctive appearances—especially the Hyūga and the Uchiha.
For the Sarutobi clan, their men typically had square faces and abundant facial hair as defining traits.
Judging by the thick beard circling this man's face and his habitual stance while engaging in taijutsu, Masashi immediately identified him as a Sarutobi.
It wasn't that he bore any particular grudge against the Sarutobi clan. But at present, the Sarutobi clan's behavior was, frankly, peculiar.
How to put it...they embodied the Konoha 'protagonist' spirit to an excessive degree, often inserting themselves into situations unnecessarily.
On a normal day, he wouldn't care about a bit of sniping in conversation, but tonight, he had no patience for interpersonal drama.
After giving the man a glance, Masashi turned his head back toward the village. The Nine-Tails' chakra was growing stronger by the second.
"Is the Hokage Rock your family's property?"
Incidentally, 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 villagers 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 clan's quality had indeed declined 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 clan'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 clan.
But one thing was undeniable: most of the Sarutobi clan's official shinobi were now active in the ANBU, and thanks to the Third Hokage's influence, their unofficial members rarely had to face life-threatening battles.
As a result, the current generation of Sarutobi shinobi were detached from reality—possessing a strong sense of entitlement yet lacking strategic perspective. They often exaggerated trivial matters, such as their public hostility toward the Uchiha, blaming them for the village's perceived lack of unity.
Even after Minato became Hokage, the Sarutobi clan's behavior didn't change 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 'second office.'
They genuinely believed Minato was too young to lead and needed Hiruzen's guidance—not as a pretext, but as a sincere conviction.
Even Hiruzen himself found this absurd and reprimanded them early on.
After dismissing the Sarutobi ninja, he resumed focusing 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 surface and scattering debris. A figure in a black cloak leapt upward from the ruins of a summoning seal that had just appeared.
Drawing his sword, Masashi vanished again, slashing toward the figure's neck. The steel cut through the air, aimed at the perfect angle to sever the major arteries.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
The voice beneath 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 changed since last time. Five seconds between phases. That's all I need. "I knew you were up to no good, plotting against the Uchiha clan."
The sound of countless footsteps drew closer—shinobi approaching rapidly.
Hovering mid-air, Obito realized that despite being in the village's center, the streets were completely 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 calculated to leave no room for normal evasion.
"Masashi, don't underestimate me." Obito's voice brimmed with anger as the shuriken passed through his body, clattering 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 ocular jutsu emitted distinct chakra waves, and Masashi had memorized this frequency during their encounter in the Land of Rain.
The kunai passed through, entering through Obito's mask and exiting from the back of his head.
"I told you—huh?" Obito began to retort but noticed Masashi's left hand forming a single-handed seal.
Instinctively, he activated Kamui again.
With a deafening explosion, flames engulfed his vision, further devastating the already-ruined ground and temporarily concealing Masashi.
The blast wave shattered nearby windows, raining glass 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 flames and heat waves subsided, he charged out of the explosion's radius, aiming directly at him.
Compared to his teacher, this neighbor he once thought he knew but actually didn't at all turned out to be the biggest threat to his plans.
