During the few days Obito had been lurking in Konoha, he hadn't just been gathering intelligence.
He had also constructed a hidden stone-pillar barrier array in a secluded forest. Within this formation, the process of releasing the Nine-Tails would not leak its Chakra signature, ensuring the people of Konoha could not track them down prematurely. Up to this point, Obito's plan remained simple: extract the Nine-Tails and leave.
According to Black Zetsu, the Nine-Tails' Chakra was so immense that it could not be immediately absorbed into the Gedo Statue; doing so risked damaging the vessel. In the original history, the Akatsuki followed a specific order, and the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails were strictly reserved for the end. Therefore, Obito's intent was not to seal it yet, but to turn the Nine-Tails into his personal Summoning, controlling it with his Sharingan to achieve a massive spike in combat power.
As the "Will of Madara," Black Zetsu was well aware that Madara had once controlled the Nine-Tails to battle Hashirama... Though, admittedly, he hadn't won. Even the Nine-Tails had been "rubbed into the dirt" by Hashirama. Nevertheless, there was no denying that the Nine-Tails was truly formidable. If Obito could secure its power, Black Zetsu was more than happy to see him grow stronger.
Had Diarmuid been there, he would have been confused. Why do this inside Konoha? Why not take Kushina away to a safe location first? Unfortunately, he wasn't there, and he couldn't fathom the logic of a delusional "Demon King" like Obito. Perhaps Obito feared the Flying Raijin marker on Kushina; taking her too far might have invited Minato to catch them in the act of extraction.
At this moment, Kushina, having just given birth, was bound by several Chakra chains, her limbs pinned within the stone-pillar array. Her powerful Uzumaki constitution had already allowed her to recover significantly. Obito could feel her massive Chakra clashing against his sealing formation.
"Who... are you? Why are you doing this?" Kushina demanded, her eyes burning with rage.
Obito remained perfectly calm, not even averting his gaze. His eyes were cold. He offered no answer. Instead, the single eye visible through his mask began to shift, turning a deep, bloody crimson.
"The Sharingan!?" Kushina gasped.
In an instant, her mind raced. As the wife of the Fourth Hokage, she was well aware of the hidden undercurrents beneath the village's peaceful surface. Specifically, the Uchiha clan... After Orochimaru's defection, the tension between them and the Hokage's lineage had only worsened. The man before her possessed the Sharingan and immense power; he was almost certainly an Uchiha.
What are they planning? To seize the Nine-Tails? To take over Konoha?
"Come forth... Nine-Tails!!!" Obito barked. The crimson Sharingan instantly morphed into the Mangekyo, and a powerful ocular force pierced into Kushina's eyes.
"EAAAGH!" Kushina cried out in pain before losing consciousness.
At that exact moment, her body began to vent massive amounts of orange Chakra. The Nine-Tailed Fox, suppressed within her, had its eyes forced into the shape of the Sharingan.
It seemed everything in the world had its counter. The Nine-Tails was the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, yet they all appeared defenseless against the Sharingan. In the original story, Karatachi Yagura, a perfect Jinchuriki, was brought down by a single glance from Obito, turned into a puppet to turn the Hidden Mist into the "Bloody Mist." Madara had beaten the beasts into submission, and now Obito followed suit.
As Kushina lost consciousness, the seal on her stomach began to dissolve. The black ink-like characters of the sealing formula began to run and bleed like wet paint. Then, the head of the Nine-Tails erupted from her abdomen. It looked like she was being disemboweled, but upon closer inspection, there was no physical wound. The fox's head let out a deafening roar as its body began to rapidly expand.
…
Meanwhile, at the Hokage Residence, Diarmuid continued to watch the exterior. Generally, Konoha was still calm, though a large number of ninja had begun organizing the evacuation of civilians.
The villagers were bewildered. "We were just about to sleep! Why are we evacuating? What's happening?" The ninja didn't explain, mostly because they didn't know themselves; they were simply following emergency orders. Since no actual attack had started yet, the evacuation was proceeding smoothly.
Diarmuid withdrew his gaze and turned around. "Well, time for me to get to work."
He grabbed the handle of the office door. If he had looked up, he would have seen the sign: Hokage's Office. The door was locked, but Diarmuid simply pulled. He ripped the entire door frame right out of the wall. Locks? Irrelevant.
Entering the office, Diarmuid closed his eyes, extending his perception. He walked toward a specific bookshelf and reached for the cabinet door. However, the moment his fingers touched it, a barrier manifested. His hand was repelled, and a flash of flame instantly ignited on his skin, attempting to consume his entire body in the blink of an eye.
But a power swifter than the flames intervened. Black smoke drifted from Diarmuid's hand, and the burning fire vanished. Without hesitation, his smoke-wreathed palm reached for the cabinet again.
…
Simultaneously, in the Sarutobi compound, Hiruzen was briefing the gathered ninja.
"Fugaku, have the Police Force maintain order. Prioritize stability and protect the citizens at all costs," Hiruzen commanded.
"Understood, Lord Third," Fugaku Uchiha replied solemnly.
Fugaku knew that this order effectively sidelined the Uchiha clan from the front lines of combat if trouble broke out. It was a sign that the Third Hokage still didn't fully trust them. However, he also sensed Hiruzen's underlying goodwill. If the Uchiha protected the people well during this crisis, their reputation in the village would improve.
Fugaku and Minato's relationship wasn't strained, and he felt that both the current and former Hokage were essentially "doves." This was good; this was how the Uchiha could truly integrate. If the Hokage held extreme hostility toward them, they'd be back to the era of the Second Hokage.
Neither Hiruzen nor Fugaku expected the Nine-Tails to be released via the Sharingan. All their preparations were about to be rendered moot.
"Shikajin, lead the Jonin squads. Be ready to support the Anbu at any moment. We don't know how many invaders there are, but prepare for a hard fight," Hiruzen ordered.
A ninja who looked to be in his fifties nodded seriously. "Yes, Lord Third. The Jonin squads are assembled and ready for deployment."
This was Nara Shikajin, the father of Shikaku and grandfather of Shikamaru. The current head of the Nara clan.
"Hiruzen, should we notify Danzo?" Koharu suddenly asked. Only a few here were entitled to call him by his first name.
Hiruzen shook his head coldly. "That bastard probably received the news before we did. There's no need to notify him. If he wanted to..."
Hiruzen's words cut off as his expression shifted violently. His Chakra fluctuated.
"What is it, Lord Third?" Shikajin asked.
"Someone has infiltrated the Hokage's Office and broken the barrier! Damn it, the Scroll of Seals is inside. We cannot let it be stolen, it's too dangerous!" Hiruzen snarled. He kicked off the ground, vaulting over the wall. Behind him, a large group of ninja followed, racing toward the Hokage Residence.
Shikajin did not follow. He stood his ground and commanded, "Listen up! It's confirmed that multiple enemies have infiltrated Konoha. According to Anbu reports, Kushina-sama has been abducted. The Fourth Hokage is likely in pursuit. From this moment, all divisions are to activate the 'Third Internal Combat Protocol'!"
"Yes!" the remaining ninja shouted. Among them were the heads of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi and Hizashi, as well as Yuhi Shinku and the heads of the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans.
Hiruzen arrived at the Hokage Residence in seconds. He was about to signal his guards to surround the area when a roar erupted from the distance.
"Summoning Jutsu!!!"
Hiruzen instinctively sensed a catastrophic threat. He turned his head to see a massive cloud of white smoke exploding in the distance. Before the smoke could even clear, a beastial roar shook the entire village.
Nine tails blotted out the sky, radiating a demonic allure under the blood-red moon. Even the drizzle that had been falling seemed to stop, as if yielding the stage to the creature's grand entrance.
"The Nine-Tails!!?" Hiruzen gasped in fury.
In that moment, he forgot all about the Scroll of Seals. The absolute priority now was to deal with the Nine-Tails!