The Land of Rain was filled with falling rain, but Konoha, thousands of miles away, was plunged into blood and fire.
The surrounding wall, once mocked by Otonashi, had been smashed open with a huge gap. The ground was a mess, littered with shattered trees and collapsed houses. Looking at the tracks, it was as if something huge had crushed everything.
At the end of those crushing tracks, a giant turtle covered in spikes and possessing three tails was rampaging. Its tails swung wildly, sweeping close to the ground, shattering houses in its path like building blocks.
"Retreat! ANBU evacuate the periphery, Chunin and below are not allowed to approach!"
On a distant rooftop, Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed sharply, roared. Before him were fleeing civilians everywhere, ninjas running around like headless flies, making his eyes almost crack with rage.
"Yes!" A group of ANBU scattered. They were originally preparing to carry out a mission in the Land of Rain, but encountered the Mist invasion before they could even depart.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the Mist Assassination Unit forcibly broke through the defense line. Elites like Namikaze Minato were desperately engaged in battle, while this impenetrable monster suddenly appeared outside Konoha's walls.
Ninjutsu was useless, shuriken were like tickling. The opponent rolled directly into the village.
"Sarutobi, this is the Three-Tails, Isobu." A monkey-like summoning beast appeared beside him.
"I know. Those bastards from Hidden Mist actually deployed a Tailed Beast in battle!" Sarutobi Hiruzen's face was grim. Throughout the entire Third War until now, no one had used a Tailed Beast!
"It's rampaging! What do we do now!?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped forward, his face resolute as he extended his right hand.
"Of course, defeat it!!"
Adamantine Staff!
The Monkey King Enma instantly transformed into a pitch-black staff. Sarutobi Hiruzen gripped it tightly, leaped from the edge of the house, soaring as if through blood and fire.
Roar—
Isobu noticed the movement, and its three spike-covered tails slammed over sequentially. Facing the behemoth capable of smashing people into meat paste, Sarutobi Hiruzen formed seals in mid-air.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Several clones appeared simultaneously around him, then formed seals again.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
"Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
For a moment, wind, water, earth, and fire intertwined in the air. Explosions and boiling torrents erupted, actually forcing the three tails back. Sarutobi Hiruzen looked down from above at the triangular head, and the black staff in his hand suddenly elongated.
"Dare to cause trouble in Konoha! Die!!"
Bang!!
As if a sky-pillar slammed onto Isobu's head. A storm erupted outwards, actually blowing away the surrounding ninjas. The Three-Tails' massive body swayed a few times, and it quickly retracted its head.
Tough enough!
Sarutobi Hiruzen loosened his slightly numb hand. The clones in the four directions formed seals again.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The ground completely softened, turning into a brown swamp, instantly trapping Isobu. But it wasn't over. While the opponent struggled, the second wave of attacks was already prepared.
"Earth Release: Earth Movement Core!!"
The ground shook violently. Huge rock walls rose up. Ninjutsu originally used by ninjas to dig trenches became like building a city from flat ground in the hands of the Third Hokage, instantly enveloping Isobu.
And Sarutobi Hiruzen, standing atop the giant Adamantine Staff, took a deep breath, his chest puffing up high.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A massive amount of fire spewed from his mouth, turning the interior of the Earth Movement Core into a sea of flames.
The water-loving Isobu, as if being roasted over a fire, shrieked miserably and curled into a ball, rolling like a wheel.
Boom!
The seven or eight-meter thick earth wall was actually smashed down by it. Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen prepared to use Swamp of the Underworld again to restrain it, the wheel suddenly stopped, and the triangular head shot out high.
"Not good!"
Seeing the chaotic ball of light in its mouth, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression changed. Even the Three-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb was enough to raze Konoha to the ground.
"Hasn't Minato returned yet?"
Just then, a huge red and blue chakra surged up from the ground. Before anyone could react, a figure appeared beneath Isobu's jaw as if teleporting.
"That eternal Genin?"
In an instant, the Hokage recognized the opponent's identity. Looking at the disintegrating flesh, he instantly understood.
The Eight Gates Release Technique!?
Bang—
With a push of both legs, the entire ground shattered like a spiderweb, and the fist rising towards the sky slammed fiercely onto the Three-Tails' chin.
Boom!!
That body, weighing who knows how many tons, was actually lifted up. The Tailed Beast Bomb flew into the sky and exploded, leaving the sky cloudless for miles. And the price was that person's hand shattering into flying ash.
"Lord Hokage!!"
A roar, seemingly using all remaining life force, jolted Sarutobi Hiruzen from his shock. Might Duy, having lost one hand, spun in the air like a whirlwind, kicking out with his leg.
Bang!
Another gap appeared in the wall. The giant turtle flew backward like a meteorite, crushing the forest, until even the distant mountain peak collapsed.
This storm blew the Konoha ninjas rushing from the front lines for support scattering everywhere. Among them, a white-haired teenager crashed heavily onto the ground and lost consciousness.
There was no time to attend to the heart-wrenching cry of "Dad!" from somewhere on the ground. Still in mid-air, Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils shrank sharply.
He saw Isobu's jaw was completely shattered, revealing an unconscious brown-haired girl inside.
"That's Minato's squad's..."
The Hokage recognized her, but now there wasn't even time to think of the girl's name. Everything had to be discussed later.
"We must drive it away before the Three-Tails recovers!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen instantly rushed to Isobu's side, stepped onto its jaw, stared directly at the girl pausing for only an instant, and his hands began forming seals without hesitation.
This seal was extremely complex even for a ninja professor. Fortunately, the Three-Tails didn't recover for a long time, finally allowing him to complete it.
"Get lost!!"
Immense chakra surged out, like a needle piercing into Isobu's body. The world fell silent for an instant, then began to resonate with a rumble.
Tailed Beasts have no flesh and blood bodies; they are essentially large clumps of special chakra. Its power rapidly decreased, and in an instant, it lost connection with the Jinchuriki.
The giant turtle's body faded. After giving the old man a fierce glare, it gradually disappeared into the air.
"If Tailed Beasts weren't impossible to kill, you think you could leave?" Sarutobi Hiruzen stared coldly back, the solid entity beneath his feet becoming illusory.
Want revenge? Come back in a few decades!
Except for the devastated forest and the hellish landscape of Konoha's blood and fire, everything seemed dreamlike. Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the girl lying on the ground, seemingly asleep, his expression becoming complicated.
The Three-Tails was finally extracted, but the Jinchuriki was dead.
.......
"Why..."
Just as the Third Hokage confronted the corpse, at the edge of the forest, a person wearing a spiral mask stared blankly at this scene.
In the distance was his beloved Konoha, plunged into blood and fire. Just moments ago, he had personally witnessed this giant turtle rampaging inside. But just as he prepared to step in and help, the giant turtle was dealt with by Grandpa Third, but the one 'controlling' it was actually Rin.
Obito was confused. His mind simply couldn't process it. He could only shift his gaze back and forth between the near and far, his single eye trembling slightly.
How he wished now that his right eye was the blind one. That way, Rin could have lived.
"That's the Three-Tails. Your friend, as its Jinchuriki, was doomed to die." A voice came out, it was the spiral White Zetsu attached to him: "Sorry, the entire mountain was collapsed by your other friend. It took too much time to get out."
Otonashi collapsed the mountain that day; getting out now wasn't as simple as breaking down a door.
Obito didn't speak, seemingly having stopped thinking, just staring blankly as more and more ninjas gathered around the Third Hokage. His gaze finally rested on Rin's sleeping face.
He could distinguish life from death. It was precisely because of this that he couldn't think. Amidst the devastation and ruin, for some reason, the old man's words echoed in the boy's ears.
"Then who do you think was wrong?"
Otonashi wasn't wrong for saving more people. Grandpa Third, desperately defending Konoha, certainly wasn't wrong either.
Then who was wrong? Who was wrong!?
Unable to go mad, unable to vent, the pent-up suffocation formed by confusion accumulated in his chest, feeling like it would explode!
A tear of blood appeared on the spiral mask. The crimson eyes, with only two tomoe, transformed into a complex pattern. Everything in Obito's vision turned blood-red.
Looking at the corpses strewn everywhere, and the Hidden Mist elites stealthily approaching in the distance, amidst the flashing blades and shadows, his feet moved.
In this instant, the teenager had found the answer—
The world is wrong!!