In an endless desert...
Under the scorching sun, a line of figures slowly advanced.
Minato Namikaze pulled a rope as he walked at the front, a chain of mindless, ferociously-gazing individuals bound behind him.
He had applied a Seal on their Chakra, reducing their combat strength to barely above that of ordinary humans—completely under Minato's control.
These subdued individuals were Rabid Folks captured by Minato.
Even within the Land of Wind, where people could freely move between towns, he had already captured over twenty such Rabid Folks.
A male and female duo—one older, one younger—gradually appeared before Minato's eyes.
Shinno frowned, glancing at the group tethered by Minato. He stopped walking. "Hold on! Where are you taking these people?"
Yusui clung to his arm, also eyeing the man holding the rope. "They can hurt others—what do you plan to do with them?"
Minato calmly regarded the two without breaking his stride. "I know these people will harm others, so I must find somewhere to lock them up."
"Wait," Shinno blocked his path again, hesitating slightly. "You look somehow familiar..."
"You might've seen me around these parts," Minato casually replied.
Shinno tugged his lips into what almost resembled a smile. "Who exactly are you to Minato Namikaze?"
Minato remained silent.
Deciding not to press further, Shinno said, "Would you entrust these people to me? Perhaps I have a way to treat them and restore them to normalcy?"
His tone was sincere. Minato's gaze turned surprised toward him. "Treatment?"
"That's right! Shinno-sensei is the greatest doctor there is." Before Shinno could explain further, Yusui proudly declared beside him.
"Oh no, I'm merely a somewhat experienced healer," Shinno humbly replied with a smiling face. "Please entrust them to me—I'll ensure they won't harm anyone ever again."
Suddenly sighing, Minato said, "These people cannot be restored to normalcy—even the world's most exceptional medical ninja couldn't manage that."
After saying so, he paid no heed to their reaction and continued forward, pulling along the chain of bound individuals.
"Hey, how rude can one person be..." Yusui shouted from behind him.
Shinno watched Minato's retreating figure with odd eyes before shifting his gaze away. He spoke, "Let's go, Yusui. There are more people waiting for us."
[Go forth, witness even greater despair—to allow the Zero-Tails to collect more dark power.]
"But Sensei, what if that man intends to do something bad? Shouldn't we follow?" Yusui asked.
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After a moment of hesitation, Shinno led her in the direction Minato took.
"What a pain," he sighed, then dropped the rope and performed several body replacements.
Moments later, he reappeared before the master and apprentice.
Yusui's eyes widened, and immediately afterward she felt a sharp pain in her neck. The scene before her became hazy.
She slumped limply to the ground.
After rendering Yusui unconscious, Minato turned his gaze toward Shinno.
"Don't worry, we'll leave this place." Facing Minato's stare, Shinno expressionlessly picked Yusui up.
He still looked like an old man with no fighting ability at all.
"No, you must forget what happened here."
Minato was firm in his stance, attempting to seal their memories. His hand had already landed on Shinno's shoulder.
But how would Shinno allow that?
As an ambitious individual, there was no way he'd let someone mess around with his mind or risk exposing his secrets.
He formed a Scalpel in his hand and slashed at Minato's wrist.
Contrary to his expectation, blood didn't gush out. Surprised, Shinno said, "Your body seems somewhat special."
"You're not just an ordinary doctor either," Minato replied calmly.
Among medical ninjas, merely being able to form a Scalpel meant you could barely hold your own against a Jonin.
"It's because you are Minato Namikaze, right? That's why you want to seal my memory. My disciple and I will leave here, and forget ever seeing you. Please step aside."
Minato didn't respond. Chakra was gathering in his hand—a pale blue orb began to form.
Realizing Minato's intent, Shinno grew increasingly furious.
What was this about? Did it really come down to a fight?
As he weighed his options, he debated—should he unleash his forbidden medical jutsu or awaken the Zero-Tails?
After a moment's consideration, a fierce gleam burned stronger in his eyes.
"Fine then, doesn't matter who you are—whether you're Minato Namikaze or not—you have to stay here today. Let me show you my achievements."
[Forbidden Medical Technique: Corporeal Activation]
An ear-splitting crack echoed as Shinno's aura surged violently. With a 'chi' sound, even the clothes on his body exploded outward, revealing large slabs of muscle.
This seemingly frail old man was actually a muscular hulk underneath.
Minato Namikaze's expression remained unchanged.
At this moment, dark black energy continuously seeped from Yusui's unconscious body.
Accompanied by a sharp, piercing scream, the mass of blackness kept expanding.
She was enveloped by it, her form gradually blurring.
Suddenly, in an instant, a monster appeared before Minato's eyes—it looked like a giant serpent, wearing a mask across its face.
Its entire body was jet-black, and the mask bore the character "zero."
Minato was greatly shocked. "Could she also be a Jinchuriki?"
"Jinchuriki? Of course she is!" Shinno laughed wildly, pointing at Minato while shouting orders, "Kill him!"
At this stage, the Zero-Tails was cognitively underdeveloped. However, instinctually, it chose to attack everyone except Shinno first.
A large hand sprouted from its body and rushed straight toward Minato.
[Wind Release: Rasengan]
The pale blue orb slammed into the Zero-Tails' body. While the Zero-Tails could absorb chakra, its digestive capabilities were still far from fully developed.
Seemingly hurt, the beast screamed again, and the sinister dark aura surrounding it became even more terrifying.
From afar, it looked like a giant serpent wrapped in black energy.
In the distance, one of the White Zetsus was drawn toward this dark aura. "What kind of commotion is this?"
The White Zetsu began heading toward the source.
"...The Rasengan vanished?" Minato helplessly watched as the spiraling sphere spun around Zero-Tails several times before gradually shrinking and finally disappearing.
"Minato, that thing is approaching," the Yin Nine-Tails whispered in his mind.
Gazing at Shinno, the muscular man with unfriendly eyes, Minato thought—wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
Instead of engaging Zero-Tails or Shinno directly, he swiftly performed [Body Replacement Technique] to escape danger, then immediately activated [Transformation Jutsu].
"Hmm?" Shinno gave him an odd look. Did transforming really make him stronger?
Maintaining his physical transformation, he felt a surge of power rush through him, filling him with joy and excitement.
Even based purely on physical strength, his speed became extremely fast.
WHOOSH...
With a faint sound splitting the air, he shot forward and smashed into Minato sideways.
"Die!"
Minato dodged with a 'tch' sound.
Shinno grew furious.
Giving him a cold glance, Minato avoided the White Zetsu and moved closer to the group of Rabid Folks from earlier, undoing the seals and ropes binding them along the way.
Then, guided by the Nine-Tails' sensing ability against the White Zetsu, he found a spot to temporarily hide himself.
The Rabid Folks, driven mad and ravenous like wild beasts, immediately began hunting for prey the moment they were freed.
Zero-Tails, standing tall and massive among them, stood out clearly.
Drool dripping from their lips, they charged forward hunched over like animals.
"Is he not coming out?" Shinno muttered, reluctantly turning to face this group of irrational enemies.
"That guy? Who's he talking about?" The White Zetsu silently observed the scene from its hiding place.
A long, thin black rope was slowly approaching.
The White Zetsu took two steps back and looked toward where it came from.
While Shinno dealt with the horde of Rabid Folks, Zero-Tails didn't stay idle either—it extended a long rope-like limb and swung it forward.
"And who are you?" Shinno also noticed the disturbance here. His eyes narrowed gradually. "You look familiar. I think I've seen your style somewhere—like in a movie or something..."
"Haha, you know too much," the White Zetsu chuckled eerily.
More and more White Zetsus were drawing near, emerging from the ground.
"What exactly is going on here?" Shinno grumbled after crushing the heart of one Rabid Folk, still unsatisfied.
Meanwhile, the White Zetsus launched attacks against both him and Zero-Tails.
Boom...
Chakra gathered in his hand, unleashing a punch that struck Zero-Tails. Both force and chakra exploded simultaneously—an attack strong enough to crack the ground under normal circumstances—but there was barely any visible effect on Zero-Tails' body.
The chakra from his fist had been absorbed.
"You actually suck up quite well!" the White Zetsu marveled.
Shinno stared in utter disbelief.
Why had he suddenly taken the form of Fifth Hokage Tsunade?
And not just the looks—how could he use her jutsu too?
The story splits here. Guided by the Nine-Tails like a radar, White Zetsu was gradually lured away. Minato planned his route carefully, slowly approaching the Ruins of Louran.
Cautiously entering the ruins, he made his way straight to the Dragon Vein's seal location.
Seeing that familiar sealing formation pattern, he became somewhat dazed.
"Can you break this seal?" the Yin Nine-Tails asked, spotting the formation through their connection.
"This seal was originally designed by me, and they haven't changed it at all," Minato said calmly. "Back then, you were still inside Kushina."
"Oh." The Yin Nine-Tails had no desire to revisit those past events. "Are we opening it now?"
Without speaking, Minato stepped into the center of the sealing formation, half-kneeling on the ground with a serious expression as he began forming hand seals.
Faintly, the symbols in the seal slowly lit up: [Rin], [Pyo], [To], [Sha], [Kai], [Jin], [Re]... (the ancient hand-seal sequences)
"Tsk, I hope this doesn't bring *them* back," the Yin Nine-Tails muttered anxiously as the formation glowed.
Then, through his shared connection with Minato, the Nine-Tails could feel the Dragon Vein's chakra beginning to overflow.
"What abundant chakra," it remarked.
Minato stood up, waiting for what would come next.
Inside his heart, he silently prayed — just as many years ago from this very place, may a bright yellow-haired teenager emerge smiling again...
Outside.
White Zetsu's intelligence transmission was extremely fast. Though he couldn't speak directly to Kaguya, once he reported the situation to Tsunade or Hinata, Kaguya learned about it instantly.
Hiroki returned from Shikkotsu Forest to the Ninja World, and was soon sent by White Zetsu to where Shinno and others were fighting.
Hiroki didn't join in — he simply stood at a distance, watching. "What's going on?"
"I don't really know either. When I got there, it was just that old guy and the serpent fighting off some crazed individuals," White Zetsu shook his head.
"Do you know how it started?" Hiroki asked.
"It seemed like there was another enemy at first," White Zetsu replied.
Hiroki fell silent for a moment. "How many are guarding the Dragon Vein now?"
"One or two, maybe."
"Take me to see it."
As Hiroki stepped into the Louran Ruins, the entire ruined complex was empty, echoing occasionally with the sound of his footsteps.
After looking around, he entered the most important location — the central seal spot of the Dragon Vein.
On the ground, the black seal markings had faded badly — clearly worn down by time.
Hiroki squatted down, placing one hand flat on the floor. His brows gradually knit together. Turning his head, he asked White Zetsu, who was waiting nearby, "You really found nothing unusual?"
White Zetsu scratched his head.
"The Grel Stone's already gone? What're you using to refill your chakra now? You've gotta notice how easy it is to pull chakra from this place lately, right?" Hiroki continued.
White Zetsu froze.
"Someone definitely came here before. This seal has loosened..." Standing up, Hiroki stated coolly, eyes fixed intently on the formation.
After a brief pause, he stepped back out, eyes narrowing coldly at where Shinno was.
He formed hand seals and pressed them onto the ground.
[Summoning Jutsu.]
A puff of smoke appeared.
Then, a pitch-black monster flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
"Where the heck is this now?" Satori asked lazily, crossing his legs midair as he looked down at an expanse of yellow sand.
"That long worm over there—get it," Hiroki pointed toward the Zero-Tails.
"Long worm?" Satori glanced in that direction. "Oh, so it's just an ugly snake?"
Satori sneered and flew straight toward it.
The surroundings gradually darkened, and Shinno instinctively looked up, immediately stunned. "What the hell is this? My Zero-Tails should be the most perfect creation aside from the Nine Tailed Beast. Where did this thing even come from?"
"Get out of the way!" Satori shouted at White Zetsu and his group.
White Zetsu's clones exchanged glances, dispelled their Disguise Jutsu, and scattered immediately.
Before the echoes of Satori's shout faded, the black feathers on his body shot downward like steel needles, slicing through the air with a *swish-swish-swish* sound.
For ground-bound enemies, he didn't even need to exploit their fear.
The sky seemed to pour down a rain of black feathers. Shinno dodged behind the Zero-Tails, whose body split apart, forming a stone-hard, shield-like square plate.
*Clink-clink-clink…* All the feathers were blocked.
Next, another long arm sprouted from the Zero-Tails' body, attempting to yank Satori out of the sky.
Too bad for it, Satori knew his edge—and wouldn't let anyone get close.
He climbed higher into the air, circled around, then spread his wings wide and began flapping furiously.
Blustery winds whipped up the sand, almost blowing right in their faces. Shinno coughed hard, choking on the dust.
Suddenly, he realized he was being blown farther and farther away from the Zero-Tails.
Smirking triumphantly, Satori dove down, snatched him up, and sent him flying toward Hiroki.
Hiroki extended his palm and pulled him in with a gravitational force, catching him easily. With a cold voice, he said, "Talk. Who sent you here?"
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