Niyu Haseo took a few slow steps back, her hands half-raised, like the pained cries from the man ahead had nothing to do with her at all.
"Senior Kakashi, don't be too disappointed. There might still be a chance for you to shine later..."
The opponent collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head. He looked pretty miserable, although who knows whether he'd stand up again later.
If he were to rise once more, whether his strength would increase or decrease was even harder to predict.
This was the perfect moment to finish him off.
Yet Kakashi merely watched him cautiously without rushing forward—he was completely stunned, having no idea what had just happened. Why had this confident enemy suddenly fallen so easily?
Had the genjutsu backfired? Did Niyu truly possess the ability to resist the Mangekyo Sharingan's illusionary techniques? That seemed utterly impossible.
"What exactly did you just do?"
"One might call it... 'soul.' I simply set free a soul that had been sealed away and had lost its vessel. Uchiha always place too much confidence in their own genjutsu, which is why I got the opportunity to do this.
Ordinary ninja certainly wouldn't make such suitable 'passages.'"
"Soul? That's such an unscientific concept..."
Hmm, such an unscientific concept didn't really fit well with this world's peculiar worldview.
"Or maybe 'consciousness' works too—it's actually a collection of thoughts between consciousness and soul. I'm not quite sure how to describe it properly. To put it more clearly, I placed a Nine-Tails whose 'energy' had been stripped away inside him."
"I—"
"I know you definitely didn't understand that."
"..."
The Nine-Tails was a pure chakra entity—in other words, it was just a mass of chakra. How could its consciousness possibly be separated?
"No matter how I think about it, this seems utterly impossible," Kakashi immediately concluded.
"Some may think it's impossible—but others can prove them wrong.
At its core, the Nine-Tails was never natural—it was made on purpose."
That's what Niyu said.
At this moment, Kakashi noticed something unusual flicker briefly within her eyes.
"Haseo..."
He also guessed who had actually done this.
The God Tree served as the outer shell of the Ten-Tails. A long time ago, the Sage of Six Paths first removed the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—essentially its shell—and then extracted the Nine-Tails from the Ten-Tails God Tree. Now, Haseo had extracted the Nine-Tails' consciousness… It was a cycle, or perhaps a return.
"Even if Haseo managed something like this, why would you need to release the Nine-Tails' consciousness again? Little Lord Haseo, nobody knows what kind of reaction this might trigger."
There was some helplessness in Kakashi's tone, subtly carrying a hint of criticism.
"It's like this—if there was a button sitting in front of you, one whose function you totally didn't understand, you'd still probably try pressing it at least once, right?
People are just curious creatures. Try holding that back? It's nearly impossible."
"It's difficult to suppress one's curiosity, but the problem was that Niyu wasn't even trying to restrain herself—Haseo spoiled Niyu terribly in certain aspects.
"In any case, it seems the answer is about to be revealed."
Niyu Haseo's eyes remained locked on Obito Uchiha, who was struggling once again to his feet.
Kakashi stepped forward, and right then, the drowsy Black Cat leapt from above and landed beside Niyu Haseo's feet.
"It looks like the Nine-Tails isn't getting along too well with the body's original host."
A jinchūriki is a "product" formed from two bodies and two consciousnesses attached respectively to them. But now, two consciousnesses were crammed into one single body—one of them would inevitably be overwhelmed.
"The result is out. As expected, a human lifespan can't rival that of a Tailed Beast who has lived for thousands of years, almost entirely composed of resentment and hatred."
Niyu peeked out from behind Kakashi, her face just barely visible, as she greeted the new enemy, "Hey, Kurama, are you satisfied with this new body?"
"My other half… still exists…
Haseo's daughter."
Kurama had assumed a completely new physical form, but having lost the support of his original body, being trapped by Haseo for some time, and just finishing a battle of consciousness, he was now in terrible condition.
To be honest, he was practically powerless right now.
Kakashi was the jinchūriki, and Kurama wanted desperately to reclaim his own body; Niyu Haseo stood right here, and if given the chance, he wouldn't mind taking revenge on Haseo himself.
Yet Kurama was powerless to act. Besides, this was Konoha. If he accidentally summoned Haseo himself, then all the freedom he'd barely gained would vanish immediately... so without another word, Kurama turned tail and fled.
He didn't even bother threatening them—that alone proved how terrified he was. After battling Haseo for years, he'd been tormented for just as long.
It looked like he'd finally learned when to cut his losses.
"...So then, was that really Obito Uchiha, the Nine-Tails, or some combination of both?" Watching the figure recede into the distance, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder.
"The Nine-Tails, probably... I've heard the Uchiha can't handle psychological pressure—pretty delicate mental fortitude they've got there."
"..."
That effortless roast—throwing shade without even trying—was a skill honed over years of painful lessons.
"Senior Kakashi, aren't you going to chase him? Or go assist on other fronts?"
"Huh? Right, then you guys…"
"We're heading toward Konoha Hospital. It'll be safe enough staying by Older Sister Tsunade."
Niyu Haseo's thinking was very clear-headed, although nobody could blame Kakashi for feeling slightly disoriented—it was understandable since the events occurring around him were such a chaotic mess. Even normal ninja would struggle to adapt to sudden developments like these.
...
One of the two Uchiha infiltrators who entered Konoha had already been defeated by an utterly inexplicable technique—an outcome that most Konoha ninjas, as well as Obito Uchiha's companions, hadn't anticipated.
The Nine-Tails jinchūriki wasn't Orochimaru, yet incorrect intelligence regarding his continued presence within Konoha still hadn't reached Uchiha Itachi in time.
However, things didn't develop exactly as Haseo had estimated. He thought that by letting Orochimaru roam freely, those who wanted to capture the Tailed Beasts would no longer target Konoha. To his surprise, Orochimaru had stayed extremely low-key all these years—he was well-hidden and nearly impossible to track down normally.
Pain's plan seemed to be in a rush, which was why they sent people to infiltrate Konoha, attempting to obtain information about Orochimaru.
While Obito Uchiha's team had been decisively defeated, Itachi Uchiha—who had gone his own way—had achieved great success. In fact, he had already infiltrated Kagenami's underground base.
Kagenami was already in a state of near collapse.
At this moment, the one standing before Itachi Uchiha was Uzumaki Yayoi.
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