After observing the scene, Akira immediately dismissed the idea of taking down his enemies in spirit form. The Preta Path of the Rinnegan could easily counter spirits, and with Nagato in peak condition, rushing in recklessly might spell disaster. Entering spirit form didn't make him invincible, nor could it ignore obstacles like the Flying Thunder God Technique. Barriers could intercept or trap his spirit form, and the Rinnegan had powers to directly affect souls.
Launching a surprise attack on a stationary Nagato held promise, but to assault him when he was fully capable, bolstered by Hashirama's cells and powerful abilities? Not worth the risk.
"Maybe targeting Obito is a better option," Akira mused, feeling a surge of anticipation. Obito didn't possess the Rinnegan, making a surprise attack on him potentially more feasible.
"Forget it, let's play it safe," he eventually decided. After all, he still had Obito's other Mangekyo Sharingan in his possession. With that, he was confident Obito would fall to him one day. But an attempt like this could only be used once—fail, and there would be no second chance. Akira knew he had to strike at the perfect moment, ensuring there'd be no chance for Obito to recover.
Now was clearly not the time.
"That's the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki… the Two-Tails Jinchuriki… the Four-Tails, and the Five-Tails… they're all still here…" Akira sensed the chakras of several Jinchuriki he recognized from the battlefield. He had memorized their chakra signatures, allowing him to identify them through his spirit form. If he hadn't familiarized himself with these particular chakras in advance, he wouldn't have been able to detect them now.
Back in Konoha, Akira opened his eyes, returning to his physical body in his meditative position. He was pleased with his initial experiment with the Spirit Transformation Technique.
"Perhaps Orochimaru got his inspiration for the Living Corpse Reincarnation from this technique," Akira thought.
Days turned into months, and soon October had arrived.
"I've finally mastered the sealing techniques from Kushina's training notes," Akira smiled, feeling a sense of achievement. He had acquired those notes more than half a year ago and had spent much of that time learning sealing techniques. While it was technically Kushina's notebook, it also contained insights from Minato, reflecting both of their thoughts and analyses on sealing techniques. Although it didn't include complete techniques, Akira could reverse-engineer many of the seals after thorough study.
Now, Akira's proficiency in sealing techniques was at a high level. There were few in all of Konoha who surpassed him in this field. Still, Minato and Kushina's mastery was beyond his reach. With the notes, he could figure out the Four Symbols Seal, but he wasn't capable of combining two of them into the Eight Trigrams Seal like Minato could.
"With my current skills, I can still seal away a Tailed Beast if needed," he thought.
As thoughts of the Tailed Beasts crossed his mind, Akira remembered,
"If I'm not mistaken, Naruto's birth is set for this October. I wonder if Konoha's higher-ups took my warning seriously."
The thought left him a bit uneasy. He decided to bring it up with Fugaku, so he could alert Minato to strengthen security.
Akira went to the clan leader's residence and informed Fugaku of his concerns. Upon hearing him out, Fugaku gave a rare, wry smile and replied,
"Akira, let it be. The higher-ups are extremely wary of the Uchiha. Last time I spoke to Minato about this, he mentioned that Kushina's safety during childbirth was now in the hands of a few select high-ranking ninja. Her delivery is imminent, so our presence might do more harm than good."
"Is that so?" Akira paused, then chuckled. "Well, if that's how things stand, we'll leave it at that."
"We don't have much choice," Fugaku sighed, sharing in Akira's frustration. He'd done all he could, the rest would depend on Minato and Konoha's councillors.
The days passed, and October 10th finally arrived.
"The 10th… Today is Naruto's birthday in the original timeline. Let's hope the butterfly effect is strong enough to prevent the Nine-Tails incident," Akira murmured to himself as dusk settled. Standing on his rooftop, he gazed at the clear, moonlit sky, ever vigilant and ready to act.
Time ticked by until it was well past nine. Akira glanced at the full moon, letting out a breath of relief.
"Past nine. Seems like that disaster isn't going to happen after all."
But fate had other plans. No sooner had the words left his mouth than a roar of fury echoed from the heart of the village. Akira spun around, his face darkening as he saw a colossal, mountain-like orange fox standing at the village's center. A pillar of dark red chakra shot skyward, gathering into ominous crimson clouds that spread across the sky. In an instant, all of Konoha was shrouded in a dense, red chakra fog, casting everything into a hazy glow.
In the fox's eyes blazed a sinister Sharingan—it was clearly under a genjutsu's control.
Onlookers could see two figures standing on its enormous head. One wore a single-eyed mask with a tiger pattern, cloaked in black, a lone Sharingan gleaming in his eye. The other figure had red hair, a cold expression, and the distinctive purple Rinnegan glinting in his eyes.
Boom!
The massive Nine-Tails moved, rising onto its hind legs. Each swipe of its claws shattered the ground, reducing houses to rubble. The sounds of terrified screams filled the air.
"Damn it…" Akira cursed under his breath as he sped toward the chaos. All around him, other high-ranking Uchiha had already burst from their homes, racing toward the Nine-Tails' location.
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Pls drop some Power Stones
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