Chapter 354: The Miserable Black Zui Prepares to Deal with the Tailed Beasts!

A faint smile appeared on Uchiha Jin’s face.

Good!

Really good!

Though Uchiha Madara was no longer his rival, he was still among the strongest in the ninja world; considering the many powerful enemies and schemes he would face in the future, securing Madara as a top-tier asset truly delighted him.

But.

Before Uchiha Jin could speak, Uchiha Madara spoke again.

“Youngster…”

“If I find Itachi’ve lied to me…”

“Itachi will regret it!”

Madara’s tone was calm, as if discussing what to eat for dinner.

But those who knew him understood: Uchiha Madara was deadly serious—if he discovered he’d been deceived, even if he couldn’t defeat Uchiha Jin, he would strike at any cost.

Even if the result was—death!

Yet those who had survived the Warring States era had long since accepted death as inevitable.

And as for this…

Uchiha Jin certainly sensed the weight behind Madara’s words, but his expression didn’t change; he simply nodded and put the matter out of his mind.

Of course!

Did he really need to meddle in the Otsutsuki clan’s messes himself?

His face remained calm; after a simple nod, he said: “Then let’s go!”

After speaking,

He immediately took Hashirama and Madara and vanished from the icy space without another word.

Black Zui, who had just opened his mouth to ask: “...”

At this moment, he was utterly bewildered.

No rights at all!

I was just about to ask a question—can’t Itachi wait a second?

But unfortunately,

No one cared about his thoughts; Lin Mo didn’t even deign to glance at Black Zui.

The reason was simple!

Compared to Uchiha Madara, a top-tier asset, Black Zui had zero value to him.

On one hand, his strength was pitiful.

Though born of Yin-Yang Release and thus immortal, his goal was to free Kaguya—a goal irreconcilable with his own plans.

This guy could never be won over!

And since he couldn’t be won over, his special abilities and the White Zuis he controlled were useless to him.

Plus, he couldn’t kill him, so he might as well seal him here, just as Hagoromo sealed Kaguya.

Yes!

For exactly this reason, Black Zui was spectacularly ignored!

And with Black Zui unable to return to the ninja world, he naturally lost the ground to stir up trouble.

Perfect!

…

Meanwhile, on the other side…

After returning to the ninja world with Hashirama and Madara, Uchiha Jin told Hashirama to take Madara off to play, while Lin Mo now needed to deal with another problem.

The Tailed Beasts!

Yes.

With Nagato and most of the Akatsuki defecting, the Outer Path Statue and its Eight Tailed Beasts had naturally become Hidden Leaf’s spoils of war.

Moreover, with all Four Great Ninja Villages now joining the Hidden Leaf, there was no need to return the Tailed Beasts.

How to handle these Tailed Beasts had become a problem.

Lin Mo had no time to deal with it earlier; now that he finally had time, he needed to resolve it quickly.

Of course,

He didn’t go to the Outer Path Statue himself—it had been sealed days ago by Uchiha Jin into a vast underground space beneath the Hidden Leaf.

The seal there had been jointly created by Uzumaki Mito, Kushina, Minato, Tobirama Senju, and Orochimaru—master sealers; even as Hokage, entering that sealed space was no easy feat.

So, forget it!

Uchiha Jin had a simpler method.

He went straight to Minato’s home and found the Namikaze family.

“Hokage?”

“Welcome, please sit.”

“Kushina, make tea!”

Seeing Uchiha Jin at the door, Minato Namikaze showed surprise, then warmly welcomed him in.

Kushina, upon seeing Uchiha Jin, naturally went to the kitchen to make tea.

Naruto Uzumaki, a boy over one meter forty tall, with golden spiky hair and clean, well-kept clothes, immediately stood up upon seeing Uchiha Jin.

“Hokage!”

“No need for such formality—call me Uncle.”

Looking at Naruto Uzumaki before him, Lin Mo smiled.

Clearly,

Raised by his parents, Naruto was not as mischievous as in the original timeline; instead, he carried a hint of Minato’s sunny nature.

If not for the Six Paths whiskers on his face, he’d be a miniature Minato Namikaze.

“Naruto, what grade are Itachi in?”

“Third grade—next semester, fourth!”

“Time really flies.”

Uchiha Jin chatted briefly with Naruto, his eyes filled with a touch of melancholy.

Had he not appeared, the Uchiha Massacre would have occurred around this time; in two or three years, Naruto would graduate—the starting point of the original plot.

Now? Everything has changed!

Hiruzen Sarutobi and all the Hidden Leaf elders were dead; even their clans lived worse than death, still burdened by debt; the Akatsuki, the early-game boss, had defected to the Hidden Leaf; and the Five Great Ninja Villages no longer existed.

But…

Achievements came, but so did new troubles.

First, Hagoromo and Hamura, and Mount Myōboku—one of the Three Sacred Places; then, Hamura’s lineage from the moon; next, the deeply hidden Otsutsuki Isshiki, who apparently posed as the monk Jishin at this time.

As for greater threats from the Otsutsuki clan, they weren’t worth worrying about yet.

Time was still early.

At the very least,

Once he finished dealing with these miscellaneous matters, he’d move to other ninja world timelines and accumulate spiritual fortune to boost his power—then defeating the Otsutsuki clan would be far easier.

“Enough!”

“Minato, Kushina.”

“I came for Naruto—specifically, the Nine-Tails inside him.”

“I need to meet the Nine-Tails and discuss something with him.”

After brief small talk, Uchiha Jin stated his purpose.

In response,

Minato and Kushina were surprised but didn’t refuse—they weren’t afraid Uchiha Jin had ulterior motives.

On one hand, he was the Hokage!

But more importantly, they knew Uchiha Jin was now too powerful—the Nine-Tails meant nothing to him.

“Understood.”

Minato said nothing more; he called Naruto into the bedroom.

He briefly explained the situation, then lifted Naruto’s shirt and placed his glowing chakra-covered hands on Naruto’s abdomen.

Immediately,

The Eight Trigrams Seal began to swirl; Uchiha Jin activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and entered the sealing space.