Chapter 144: The Collapse of Konoha

The man wearing a bizarre vortex mask had his entire face concealed behind it. The only part exposed to the outside was a single right eye positioned right at the center of the mask's swirling pattern.

However, from Orochimaru's perspective, this sole visible right eye of the man was hidden deep within the dark recesses of the mask's aperture, making it difficult for anyone to catch a clear glimpse of it easily...

Even for Orochimaru, who had long since grown accustomed to the other party's such mysterious and theatrical attire, he still continued to sneer at it with utter disdain—

Wanting to play the mysterious figure while wearing such a high-profile mask, it truly makes one worry about his intelligence!

Was this guy seriously not trying to be a comedian?

A sinister smile with a distinct serpentine aura slowly surfaced on his pale cheeks, and Orochimaru once again narrowed his pair of golden, slit-pupiled eyes:

"What on earth are you plotting, Madara? I agreed to cooperate with you, not to be unilaterally utilized by you! If you still refuse to tell me a single word of truth by now, then I believe this 'cooperation' need not continue any further."

As he spoke, Orochimaru, who had originally been leaning against a tree, straightened his body, looking as though he might leave at any second.

To this, the masked man opposite him merely chuckled softly and shook his head.

"You are far too impatient, Orochimaru."

His tone was frivolous, yet the aura surrounding his entire person shifted abruptly. He instantly transitioned from a seemingly harmless passerby (?) to a boss-level entity with an astonishing and oppressive presence.

"Well now, when you were still a member of Akatsuki, I already said these exact words to you, didn't I?"

"Other people's words... must be listened to carefully until the end. You must not interrupt arbitrarily simply because you are impatient."

The man spoke with a smiling expression, yet the moment his voice rang out, Orochimaru abruptly tensed his nerves—

Damn it! He had almost fallen under the other's genjutsu!

If it hadn't been for...

A flash of hostility swiftly crossed his golden pupils. Orochimaru grimly pressed the corners of his lips together and let out a cold, hissing laugh.

"When you can actually come up with a reason that convinces me, then you can assume that posture to lecture me, Madara."

He spoke in a soft tone, completely ignoring the trace of disbelief that had leaked out for a split second from the man opposite him due to the failure of the genjutsu...

——More unexpected things were yet to come.

Uchiha... Obito.

The former member of the Sannin, who now... seemed to still hold not a single shred of goodwill toward Konoha, thought the S-rank missing-nin with a cold smile, while the chilly and nonchalant smile at the corner of his lips seemed... to also fluctuate in a subtle and erratic manner.

***

Returning our gaze to the Chūnin Exams arena.

Although there had been quite a few twists and turns along the way—such as the match between Naruto and Neji not being a one-sided and tragic affair as depicted in the original timeline, but rather an exceptionally evenly matched and brilliant battle; such as Rock Lee, even though he still felt a bit low-spirited while watching the matches from the sidelines this time, his injuries were actually recovering quite well thanks to Kurama's treatment. Since he was now already capable of performing light daily training, he felt much more of a lingering unwillingness and regret rather than the profound despair of the original work, and these would surely soon forge within him an even firmer determination and conviction, allowing him to continue marching resolutely down the path of realizing his ideals.

Yet ultimately, Sasuke still made a dazzling entrance alongside Kakashi at the very last moment, just like in the original story, and won the opportunity to engage in a ultimate showdown with Gaara in an extremely striking manner.

Standing in the spectator stands, Kurama watched as that red-haired boy carrying a large gourd slowly walked down to the arena with a look of uncontrollable excitement and murderous intent, ultimately standing opposite Sasuke. Looking at the equally undisguised, faint anticipation on his little fan's face, the kitsune could not help but smile helplessly and shake his head:

"Itto is going to have a headache over this now. Before the match has even begun, this brat Sasuke is already this excited."

Under such a state, it seemed highly unlikely that he would be able to follow the instructions Itto had previously given him: "Do not go all out at the very beginning of the match, hold back a little bit, and try to keep the initial phase of the battle developing steadily."

However, Kurama cared very little about this—whether Sasuke could complete the mission assigned to him by Itto was directly related to Konoha's side of the plan, but it had no significant impact on Kurama and Hades. Just like whatever plans Konoha might formulate, they would ultimately fail to affect the situation on their side either.

The kitsune and the God of the Underworld were probably the two most calm and unconcerned individuals among everyone present today—compared to the brooding Third Hokage, the Konoha ANBU forces secretly standing on high alert, or the group of hidden conspirators lurking in the shadows who were impatient to launch their attack and whose specific details and ultimate objectives were temporarily "unclear" as they waited for the battle to reach its climax.

Therefore, regarding Kurama's "sigh," which carried more of a sense of watching a good show than actual worry, Hades remained noncommittal. Nevertheless, from the slightly upturned corners of the Black Deity's mouth, one could easily perceive that His Majesty probably found Sasuke's current state of abnormal excitement rather pleasing to witness.

"If the situation becomes even more chaotic, Itto might not have so many other distracting thoughts left."

He spoke in a flat tone.

Hearing this, Kurama turned his head to look at him with a hint of surprise.

"I didn't realize you cared so much about Itto's attitude?"

He blinked.

Although Itto had maintained contact with them ever since the night of the Uchiha clan massacre, and prior to his "reconciliation" with Sasuke, he had always maintained a secret cooperative relationship with Kurama's side, he was still Uchiha Itto—a man who, for the sake of his younger brother's safety and his own envisioned "correct path," could watch with his own eyes as his clansmen and even his parents were ambushed and slaughtered before him. In his mind, the weight of Konoha had always been second only to Sasuke.

Therefore, even though he chose to cooperate with Kurama and Hades, and over the years—due to the two of them raising and caring for Sasuke—never revealed his relationship with them or the "extraordinary" nature of Kurama and Hades to Konoha, when truly faced with a choice of whose plan to ultimately obey, Itto still chose Konoha.

Even though deep down he knew better than anyone else that what Kurama and Hades were planning was what Sasuke desired and what could truly change things.

This was Itto's obsession; it was the final opportunity for the village he had exhausted all his efforts to protect to offer him some shred of hope and validation. Itto probably... did not want to let go of it no matter what, and even more so because only now, at this very moment, did he have the condition to take that gamble without having to worry about failure—even if he truly lost the gamble, at the absolute worst, Kurama and Hades were still there.

They would protect Sasuke well, ensuring that even if Itto failed, he would not have to pay the most agonizing price.

For Itto, that was already enough.

——Kurama could guess a bit of Itto's thoughts, but he hadn't expected that His Majesty himself would actually feel somewhat... displeased by Itto's choice?

Hades maintained a calm and composed expression under his slightly astonished gaze.

Down in the arena, Sasuke and Gaara had already started fighting. Both of them were holding back slightly while essentially operating at full capacity, trading blows with great momentum and an imposing atmosphere. Against this backdrop, the Underworld Sovereign's unruffled composure and poise naturally formed a strange and powerful aura, making it difficult—at least for Kurama—to look away.

"He relies far too much on your soft-heartedness."

Turning his head to meet the kitsune's gaze, the God of the Underworld spoke in a deep voice. His tone was low and slightly sharp, carrying a mesmerizing, silky smoothness.

The moment Kurama's gaze locked with his lover's, his heart had already trembled slightly. When Hades uttered the words, "He relies far too much on your soft-heartedness," unsure whether to call it fitting to the moment or simply making the kitsune feel somewhat amused and helpless, his heart genuinely became... softened into an utter mess at that very instant.

"I don't mind."

Reaching out his palm to gently grasp the Underworld Sovereign's somewhat chilled hand, their fingers interlacing with one another, Kurama raised the corners of his lips. Under the gaze of the Black Deity's emerald eyes—which appeared cold and indifferent on the surface but actually concealed countless tender affections—he smiled until his eyes curved into two shallow crescents:

"You know what, Hades? Becoming traveling companions with you, accepting your proposal and 'contract'—that is the very best decision I have ever made. Without exception."

——Before his voice had even faded, he saw his lover's pupils suddenly contract. The strength of the reciprocal grip transmitted from his palm was so tight that it felt as though he were being firmly imprisoned, never to be allowed to slip away or escape again. Kurama lowered his eyelids slightly, harboring not the slightest doubt that if the upcoming "play" weren't of great importance to them, Hades might have pulled him into a tight embrace regardless, and then...

And then, in an unprecedented turn of events, the kitsune—who was always inclined to be the active one in his interactions with the Sovereign of the Underworld—actually slowly... began to blush.

Seeing this, His Majesty, whose breathing had previously been somewhat unsteady, instantly regulated his breath as if utilizing some cheat code...

"I said before, temporarily... we won't do anything yet."

Slender and slightly cool fingertips gently grazed across Kurama's palm, and the God of the Underworld laughed in a low voice.

Therefore, you don't need to be so...

——So what?

Nervous? Worried? Or perhaps... expectant?

Hades did not voice the words to the end.

Yet Kurama simply turned his head away in silence under his lover's smiling gaze, soundlessly burying his flushed cheeks into the embrace of the white fluffball on his shoulder, which wore an expression that clearly said, "I understand everything"...

——Damn it! One and all, they were both teasing him!

And from an angle the kitsune could not see, the dark-haired God of the Underworld and the fluffy, adorable white furball exchanged a profound look. For a fleeting second, the curves of the smiles at the corners of their mouths were strikingly similar—

In a time unknown to the kitsune, it seemed that... something rather terrible (?) had happened...

***

The battle between Sasuke and Gaara was gradually approaching its climax.

As Gaara's sand shield was continuously breached and Sasuke's attacks inflicted genuine and increasing damage upon him, the red-haired boy, whose emotional state was already extremely unstable, was pushed to the very brink of complete loss of control and eruption.

Finally, his entire body was enveloped by sand, forming a massive, completely enclosed sphere of sand that blocked all of Sasuke's attacks with absolute defense.

After multiple attempts yielded no results, a purple flash of lightning finally ignited in the palm of Sasuke's hand. The result of a month of intensive training under Kakashi—the Copy Ninja's sole exclusive signature ninjutsu, "Chidori"—shattered the heavy barriers of sand with tremendous momentum, ultimately leaving traces of his very own blood upon Gaara's body...

Accompanied by the instantaneous disintegration of the sand sphere's defense, Gaara appeared before the public with a deeply unsettling expression of near-collapse, accompanied by white feathers that had begun to drift across the sky from unknown origins, and... the various factions within the arena finally beginning to stir. When three colossal pythons materialized above Konoha and began wantonly destroying the village, the signal that people harboring differing agendas had all been waiting for was sounded in an instant—

The Fall of Konoha began from this very moment.