Konoha's Tatsuya

In a secluded corner of Konoha, in a rather desolate residential area, a dozen or so dilapidated houses stood isolated.

Rumble...

The sounds of intense explosions echoed distantly. Most of the residents in this area had already fled.

In front of one of the houses, a man clad in simple hemp clothing stood silently, gazing up at the distant, rampaging Nine-Tails. He appeared to be in his late twenties, with a full head of silver hair and a long, thin scar running down his right cheek.

"This is... Nine-Tails chakra?" He stared at the distant chaos, sensing the malevolent chakra radiating through the air, and a crazed smile twisted his lips.

He pulled a sealing scroll from his pocket and placed it on the ground.

"Unsealing Jutsu: Five Elements Release!"

Five orbs of chakra appeared in the man's right hand, which he then pressed onto the sealing scroll.

Whoosh...

Instantly, the seal on the scroll opened, and a powerful suction force emanated from it, drawing in the scattered golden Nine-Tails chakra that permeated the air.

A continuous stream of golden Nine-Tails chakra was pulled towards him, forming a small, golden vortex cloud above the man's location.

"Haha! Yes! Suck in more!" The man's face contorted with a maniacal grin.

In the darkness, Tatsuya's form moved swiftly through the dense forest surrounding Konoha.

The sounds of battle grew increasingly intense. The fight between the village and the Nine-Tails had likely reached its climax. Tatsuya could only selectively ignore it.

He understood that until Minato Namikaze forced Obito to retreat, the battle between the Nine-Tails and the village would not end anytime soon. The only thing he could do now was to help stabilize the situation within the village as much as possible.

Huh?

Suddenly, Tatsuya stopped, landing on the crown of a large tree.

Looking up at the moonlit sky, he saw a golden vortex, over ten meters tall, appearing not far ahead. In the midst of the surrounding chaos and noise, this bizarre golden vortex had gone unnoticed.

"This is Nine-Tails chakra? Someone is collecting it?" After carefully sensing the oppressive, malevolent feeling emanating from the golden vortex, Tatsuya immediately identified it as being composed of scattered Nine-Tails chakra.

Such a massive concentration of Nine-Tails chakra was clearly highly unusual.

Tatsuya hesitated, his expression uncertain. He was considering whether or not to approach and investigate.

In the original Naruto storyline, the details of the Nine-Tails' attack were sparse. Tatsuya didn't know if this situation was part of the original events or a change caused by his presence. With the situation unclear, Tatsuya didn't dare take unnecessary risks.

As Tatsuya hesitated, the golden vortex of Nine-Tails chakra continued its final rotations and compression. Gradually, the vortex shrank, finally vanishing into the air.

"Sealing Jutsu: Five Elements Seal!"

"Haha, finally done! The first step is a success!" In front of the house, the man quickly performed hand seals, resealing the scroll that now contained a large amount of Nine-Tails chakra.

"Heh heh! Still hesitating? What a clueless rookie!" Having completed this, the man pocketed the scroll and stood up, glancing in Tatsuya's direction.

Just moments ago, he had sensed Tatsuya's presence through the subtle fluctuations in his chakra when Tatsuya's emotions had wavered. Compared to this man, Tatsuya clearly lacked combat experience.

Whoosh!

In a blur, the man leaped towards Tatsuya.

Having unexpectedly collected the Nine-Tails chakra, the man wanted to eliminate any loose ends and then focus on carrying out his plan.

On the treetop, sensing the man's rapidly approaching presence, Tatsuya's expression changed slightly.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Without hesitation, Tatsuya formed hand seals and unleashed the ninjutsu.

A powerful gale formed in front of Tatsuya, rapidly swirling towards the approaching man.

"Tch! Not bad, kid!" The man's expression changed slightly as he sensed the powerful gale rushing towards him. His hands swiftly formed seals in mid-air.

"Wind Style: Beast Wave Violent Wind Palm!"

Instantly, a massive amount of wind-natured chakra coalesced on the man's arm, forming a gigantic, blue beast claw.

Boom!

The blue beast claw collided with the gale, instantly ripping through and destroying it.

After tearing through the gale, the blue beast claw, formed from wind chakra, continued its advance, extending towards Tatsuya.

Tatsuya hastily dodged.

Dust and debris billowed up as the blue beast claw smashed into the spot where Tatsuya had been standing, creating a large crater.

His first attack having missed, the man didn't stop. His right wrist flicked, and a chakra blade appeared in his hand. He then swiftly leaped forward, attacking Tatsuya again.

Seeing his opponent's aggressive attacks, Tatsuya didn't hesitate. He bit his finger and began summoning Seiryu.

Poof!

White summoning smoke erupted, and a gigantic snake tail swept towards the man.

Caught off guard, the man was struck directly by the tail, sent crashing into a thick tree trunk, snapping it in half.

"Seiryu, go!"

Seiryu's surprise attack had succeeded. Tatsuya commanded him to press the advantage.

Strike while the iron is hot! Tatsuya's earlier hesitation had nearly put him in a dangerous situation, and he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Through their brief exchange, Tatsuya had already confirmed that the man's strength was at least that of a Special Jonin.

"Damn it!" Seeing Seiryu's swift and powerful attack, the man's face turned ashen. He could only scramble to dodge.

Faced with Seiryu's overwhelming size and strength, he had no good way to counter.

One tree after another was snapped by Seiryu's sweeping tail. As the man continued to dodge and weave, the sealing scroll he had used earlier fell out of his pocket.

Oh no! Seeing the sealing scroll fall from his pocket, the man was horrified. He immediately abandoned all other concerns and turned to retrieve it.

Bang!

But just as he turned, Seiryu's swift attack arrived.

The blow was both powerful and accurate, sending the man's body flying like a cannonball into the distance.

Simultaneously, Seiryu's head turned, and with a gentle suction, he swallowed the sealing scroll that the man valued so highly.

As his body flew through the air, the man saw this scene and let out a desperate roar.

With the scroll inside Seiryu's belly, retrieving it was likely impossible!

The man was decisive. While still airborne, he shot a furious glare at Tatsuya, who stood not far from Seiryu, and began forming hand seals.

"Unsealing Jutsu: Five Elements Release!"

From a distance, the man directly undid the seal on the Nine-Tails chakra.

Instantly, a massive surge of Nine-Tails chakra enveloped Seiryu.

Roar!

The intensely corrosive, malevolent chakra caused Seiryu to writhe in agonizing pain.

"Seiryu!" Tatsuya cried out, his face contorted with alarm.

The intense pain caused Seiryu to thrash and twist uncontrollably, making it impossible for Tatsuya to approach.

This situation lasted for nearly ten minutes before subsiding. Seiryu, who had been so formidable moments ago, lay listlessly on the ground, his body covered in extensive burns.

Seeing this, Tatsuya didn't hesitate. He immediately took out a large quantity of food and forcibly fed it to Seiryu, then performed hand seals to help him quickly convert the food into life energy.

An hour later, Seiryu's condition had stabilized. Tatsuya raised his head, looking towards the Hokage Tower, a somber shadow passing over his eyes.

There, the Nine-Tails' massive figure had vanished. It had likely been pushed out of the village by the Third Hokage.

The Fourth's time was running out.