Immortality begins with the ninjas of Konoha.

Chapter 168 "Teacher, you've forgotten me too..."

Late at night on October 10th, Konoha Year 51, in a dense forest a few kilometers away from Konoha Village, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, heard a loud noise and his face turned solemn.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi, fully armed and clad in black armor, stopped, his trusted ANBU operatives on patrol immediately approached. They knew something was wrong with the village: "Hokage-sama, should we return?"

"The sensory class has not received any news yet!"

The ANBU member wearing a cat-face mask hurriedly reported. Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his head to look in the direction of the village again, pondered for a moment, and immediately gave instructions: "No, we continue patrolling. This may be the enemy deliberately creating chaos to attract our attention."

"Trust your fellow villagers; especially in times like these, it's crucial to remain calm."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed on his slightly aged face. Although he said that, the fact that the perception team was unable to send out information indicated that the situation was already very serious.

Several members of the Anbu responded loudly, saying that this was not actually the production site, and that Hiruzen Sarutobi had deliberately exposed it to hide the real location.

The two sides were not far apart. If the enemy discovered his plan, there were Tsunade and Minato on the other side. Hiruzen Sarutobi believed in their strength. As long as they held out for a moment, the crisis could be resolved.

The group prepared to continue their "acting." The White Zetsu used their Mayfly Technique to continue observing. Black Zetsu knew that Nagato had made his move ahead of time, so he immediately reported to Obito: "Lord Madara, there are currently barriers appearing on two stone walls."

"The Third Hokage's location is heavily guarded, and there are also many Anbu ninjas at the other location."

Without any hesitation, Obito Uchiha decisively abandoned Hiruzen Sarutobi's position and looked at Black Zetsu, saying in a deep voice, "Find me a weak point in the defense, and I will invade it immediately."

Black Zetsu responded and disappeared again. Obito Uchiha, who was hiding in the tree, stood up and looked at the stone wall in front of him. His feelings were still complicated: "Sensei, this is a necessary sacrifice in order to correct this world."

Inside the stone wall, Kushina's painful screams grew louder and louder, while Minato, hearing the loud noise, became increasingly tense, clearly indicating that an enemy had appeared.

"Concentrate, Minato!"

"Don't worry, Tsunade is guarding outside. You have to trust Kushina."

Due to her hemophobia, Tsunade did not participate in the delivery but was responsible for guarding the double barrier. Sarutobi Biwako stayed by the two young people's side, as her medical ninjutsu was enough to handle any difficulties.

Minato could only nod, and when he realized his wife was holding his hand, he couldn't help but force a smile.

The couple's child seemed to sense the impending crisis and was not born until almost midnight.

At this moment, the people in the stone chamber heard an even louder noise than before. Sarutobi Biwako hurriedly carried the child to the other side. Kushina's face was full of exhaustion, but she also smiled at this moment.

Although the Nine-Tails inside her body was "bound hand and foot," it still struggled desperately, sensing the condition of its Jinchūriki.

"The Nine-Tails' power is still too strong, Minato. You work with Kushina to complete the seal first."

"Tsunade will come to help Kushina recover her strength later, so we need to speed things up."

As Sarutobi Biwako placed the child into the baby basket, she quickly gave instructions. Just as Minato was about to respond, a whirlpool suddenly appeared in the room.

Before the three could even react, Obito Uchiha, who had broken through the barrier, had already released a genjutsu using his Sharingan. The moment Sarutobi Biwako turned around, blood spurted from her neck and chest.

"Lord Biwako!"

Minato instinctively cried out in alarm. At that moment, Obito had already attached the explosive tag to the baby's body, then threw the child into the air and smoothly formed a hand seal with one hand.

Kushina's eyes widened in horror as she saw a glimmer of fire on the child's body. She screamed in despair, "Naruto!"

Minato and Obito disappeared at the same time. The former stopped on the ceiling and hugged his son, while the latter came to Kushina's side and activated Kamui.

"boom!"

The stone chamber trembled, and flames erupted within the barrier. Minato and Obito disappeared simultaneously. It was only then that Tsunade, dressed in her combat uniform, realized what had happened. She rushed in and immediately went to Biwako's side.

"Damn it! What on earth happened?!"

Tsunade, trembling slightly, held Biwako in her arms. The old man was killed instantly, and with the explosion of the explosive tags, he no longer showed any signs of life.

In the distance, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a sudden pang of pain in his heart. Upon hearing the explosion, he immediately realized something was wrong, and the Anbu followed the Third Hokage as they rushed toward another stone wall.

When the group arrived at the foot of the stone wall, Tsunade appeared on the ground carrying Sarutobi Biwako. Sarutobi Hiruzen was slightly taken aback, then, suppressing his grief, calmly asked, "Tsunade, where are Minato and Kushina? Is something wrong with the child?"

"I can't be sure. The intruders seem to possess some kind of space-time ninjutsu. Everything happened too fast!"

"I'm sorry, teacher, I..."

Just as Tsunade was about to apologize, Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted his disciple, turned to the Anbu behind him, and quickly ordered, "Get the sensory team moving! Watch out for Minato's chakra!"

"The enemy's objective is very clear: we need to eliminate the target within the Land of Fire."

The Anbu members vanished instantly. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade both looked towards the village. The pitch-black night couldn't conceal the massive cloud of smoke, clearly indicating that something had happened in the village as well.

"There's no time, Tsunade. The village can't lose the Nine-Tails."

Hearing her teacher's words, Tsunade could only clench her fists in response. Hiruzen Sarutobi had clearly given up on Kushina, and now it was time for the "battle for the Nine-Tails".

About 5 kilometers away, in a safe house, Minato Namikaze suddenly appeared with a child in his arms, fell to the ground, and immediately vomited blood.

The enemy acted too quickly; in the instant of the explosion, he could only twist his body to protect his son, but the aftershocks still injured his back.

Minato, forcing himself to stand, placed his son in the prepared baby basket. Looking at the wailing Naruto, he whispered comfortingly, "I'm going to save Mommy!"

When he turned around, Minato's face was full of killing intent. Even with all his senses, he still couldn't detect the mark on Kushina's body. Suppressing his heartache, he immediately moved to Tsunade's side.

"Lord Hokage, I can't sense the Flying Thunder God mark on Kushina."

17

"The Nine-Tails has most likely already been extracted!"

When he said these words, Minato could no longer suppress his killing intent. At this moment, he was no longer a husband and father; he had become the "Yellow Flash" on the battlefield.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Minato suddenly sensed the mark and immediately replied, "Hokage-sama, I'll go first!"

"I will do my best to keep them here. I absolutely cannot let the enemy take Nine-Tails away."

The enemy clearly knew the Flying Thunder God Technique very well. Tsunade wanted Minato to calm down, as this act of revealing coordinates might be a trap, but Minato had already disappeared, obviously preparing to sacrifice himself.

"Follow Minato!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a deep command, and Tsunade silently accelerated. The enemy had clearly used Jinchuriki as a trap, forcing them to "walk into the trap."

In a pre-prepared barrier within the dense forest, Obito formed a hand seal with one hand, successfully controlling the Nine-Tails with the Tailed Beast's release seal and his eye power. As he pulled the tailed beast away, Kushina in mid-air had already lost consciousness.

"Roar!"

The Nine-Tails, freed from its seal, roared and looked up. Obito's crimson eyes turned to the Nine-Tails, and soon the tailed beast's eyes transformed into Sharingan.

Faced with such powerful eye power, the Nine-Tails was nothing more than a "toy," and Obito was very satisfied with his own power.

"Who...who are you?"

Why did you hurt my child?

'

With the tailed beast extracted, Kushina also awoke from the genjutsu. At this moment, the spare tailed beast chakra in her body came into play. Although her life force was draining away, she knew that she would not die in a short time.

"The power of the Uzumaki clan? That's truly remarkable."

"As a Jinchūriki, this is your fate. Die in peace!"

After a brief response, Obito commanded the Nine-Tails to swing its claws, while simultaneously gathering ocular power in his eyes, preparing to kill Minato Namikaze, who was attempting to rescue him.

"roar!"

The Nine-Tails raised its massive, sharp claws to stab at Kushina, but Minato suddenly appeared and picked up his wife. The moment he did, a chilling sensation began to rise from her neck.

"Kamui!"

Obito unleashed his eye power, and the Nine-Tails' claws struck down with a deafening crash, leaving only a large pool of blood on the shattered stone platform.

Under a large tree in the distance, Minato and Kushina both fell to the ground.

Seeing the huge, swirling gash on her husband's shoulder, Kushina, covered in blood, moved to his side, sobbing, "Minato, how are you? It's all my fault..."

"Cough... Naruto is safe, the backup plan worked, that's great!"

Minato's right arm had lost sensation. He had forced himself to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge the attack, which severely damaged the meridians in his body. After saying this, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The enemy clearly knew his ninjutsu very well, and the timing of the attack was perfect. Just as Minato was about to forcefully gather chakra to take his wife away, a vortex appeared again.

Obito Uchiha moved calmly, taking off his hood to reveal his short hair.

Under the cover of night, looking at the only teacher who had ever cared for him, Obito continued to mock in Madara Uchiha's tone: "As expected of the Yellow Flash! You actually managed to survive my attack."

"—Who exactly are you?"

Minato frantically adjusted his breathing, trying to buy time with his talk-no-jutsu and gather more chakra.

Knowing his teacher's intentions, Obito didn't attack immediately: "Heh... In that case, let's die together!"

When his former teacher failed to recognize him, a surge of painful emotions welled up within him. Obito's bloodshot eyes widened as he was about to unleash Kamui once more when a massive black staff swept across him.

The ape demon transformed into the Vajra Staff, which pierced through Obito's head. Immediately afterward, Tsunade's powerful downward strike from the sky also pierced through his body.

"boom!"

Under Tsunade's attack, the surrounding ground shattered, and the sunken earth ripped away the surrounding trees.

Obito, who had intended to deactivate his Hollowfication, felt the violent attack and simply retreated. When he reappeared, he was already on the head of Kurama, who was being besieged by the Anbu.

From attacking to tracking and then returning, Obito completed the entire process in less than two minutes without even glancing at the Anbu around him. His eye power erupted once more, and Kurama immediately opened its mouth wide.

A dark purple energy sphere began to condense in front of Kurama, and the surrounding ANBU members cried out in terror, "This is the direction of the village!"

"Stop the Nine-Tails!"

"Attack the masked one, stop him..."

Obito, atop the Nine-Tails, gazed towards the village, a flicker of longing crossing his crimson eyes before replaced by chilling killing intent: "The world that will end the ninja begins here!"

"call out!"

A massive Tailed Beast Ball erupted from Kurama's mouth. The Earth Release techniques released by the Anbu were ineffective, and after a scream, the Tailed Beast Ball hurtled past.

Minato appeared in front of the Tailed Beast Ball with Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Third Hokage's chakra was unleashed without reservation, and a huge earthen wall rose from the ground.

"Earth Release·Earth Style Wall!"

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the Tailed Beast Ball exploded on the spot. The immense power caused the Anbu members in the distance to scream as they were instantly blasted away. A huge circular crater appeared, and everything around them vanished.

Although Minato had already moved with Hiruzen Sarutobi, the aftershocks of the explosion still knocked the two of them to the ground.

"As expected of the Hokage, what are you going to do with the second one?"

Obito muttered to himself, looking at Tsunade who was rapidly approaching him. A ferocious smile appeared on his face behind the mask as he activated the Tailed Beast Ball and Kamui simultaneously.

Although the second Tailed Beast Ball of the Nine-Tails was smaller, Hiruzen Sarutobi was unable to detonate it prematurely again. Although the Earth Release ninjutsu changed the direction of the Tailed Beast Ball, it still flew towards the village.

Tsunade's attack missed again, Obito had already turned into a vortex and disappeared, and Kurama was punched to the ground and then twisted wildly.

With most of his black armor shattered, Hiruzen Sarutobi rushed to Kurama's side. Not seeing the Tailed Beast Ball explode, he knew that someone in the village had neutralized the attack.

"Ahem, once the Nine-Tails is under control, I'll immediately cast a sealing jutsu!"

When Minato arrived in front of Kurama, he knelt on the ground, panting heavily as he watched Tsunade and Kurama fight hand-to-hand. Suddenly remembering something, he shouted, "Lady Tsunade, hold on a little longer, I'll bring Kushina over right away."

"Kushina should be able to reseal the Nine-Tails..."

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to say something, Tsunade's wounds instantly disappeared. She forcefully grabbed the Nine-Tails' giant claw and swung her massive body away.

"That damned guy!"

Just as Tsunade roared and was about to deliver another punch to completely control the Nine-Tails, the tailed beast in front of her suddenly disappeared with a bang.

"Damn it! It's a psychic technique?!"

"How can someone summon the Nine-Tails?!"

Amidst the thick white smoke, Tsunade clenched her fists. The enemy's plan was a series of interconnected schemes, outmaneuvering them all before finally leaving with the tailed beasts.

Minato, who had lost too much blood, turned even paler upon seeing Kurama disappear. Resealing Kurama might save Kushina, but with Kurama gone, his wife might not live much longer and would face death.

Minato gasped for breath, trying to calm himself down, but the image of Kushina holding Naruto filled him with regret.

"Uchiha Madara? Cough... Only he can summon the Nine-Tails..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered to himself, startling Tsunade and Minato. Just as they were about to say something, Osamu Furukawa suddenly appeared beside Tsunade: "Looks like I'm late?! Sensei, leave the rest to me!"

"I will bring the Nine-Tails back; the enemy is still within my perception range."

Just as the three were about to say something, Furukawa Osamu's figure disappeared again. Minato, after barely managing to gather his chakra, looked ashamed: "I'm sorry, I can't sense Osamu and Kurama in my current state..."

Tsunade pursed her lips and remained silent. She suddenly realized her hemophobia seemed to have disappeared, and shook her head self-deprecatingly. Then, the light of the Palm Healing Technique appeared on her palm: "I trust Xiu. Let's finish the treatment first!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the silent ANBU soldiers lying on the ground, then slowly walked to his wife's side. His suppressed emotions erupted, and tears welled in his eyes: "I'm sorry, Biwako..."