Of course—
the one who panicked the most was Kakuzu.
Right now, everyone was staring at him with strange looks.
It was too socially deadly.
No one here was stupid—they could all tell something was wrong.
While everyone harbored their own suspicions—
the Gold Ranking Board began to tremble violently again.
This time, the phenomenon far surpassed all previous ones.
"Is it finally going to expose me? Sigh… poor me, guess I can't stay low-key anymore!"
Bai Yan smiled faintly.
In truth, he had never intended to stay low-key on purpose.
He just loved Naruto too much; aside from preventing tragedies, he never wanted to interfere too deeply.
Because of that, he barely had any presence in this world.
"Ding. Detecting that you, who possess special privileges, prefer to remain low-key—the Gold Ranking will censor your appearance with mosaic blur."
"..."
Bai Yan froze on the spot.
Who said he didn't want to be high-profile!?
He just didn't like forcing himself to show off.
But if he didn't have to act deliberately, and people naturally discovered how awesome he was—
being admired felt amazing, okay!?
Why didn't the Gold Ranking see through his humble-bragging?
"Ding. Detecting that you want to be low-key and show off at the same time—the mosaic will be removed. The footage is being adjusted again."
"Next… I, the Sage of Six Paths, am afraid I will be exposed!"
The Sage of Six Paths stared intensely at the board.
Since the Nine-Tails' summoner was listed as "one of them," he was certainly one of them.
Buzz—
[Summon Beast Rank #10: Seven-Tails, Chōmei]
[Summoner: Bai Yan]
Who is Bai Yan?
The tenth place really was a Tailed Beast.
Then the first…
Why was the Tailed Beast ranking not based on number of tails?
How was the Seven-Tails placed tenth?
The entire ninja world was even more confused.
But the Gold Ranking did not stop. More text appeared.
[Summon Beast Rank #9: Six-Tails, Saiken]
[Master: Bai Yan]
[Summon Beast Rank #8: Three-Tails, Isobu]
[Master: Bai Yan]
[Summon Beast Rank #7: Five-Tails, Kokuō]
[Master: Bai Yan]
[Summon Beast Rank #6: Two-Tails, Matatabi]
[Master: Bai Yan]
[Summon Beast Rank #5: Four-Tails, Son Gokū]
[Master: Bai Yan]
[Summon Beast Rank #4: One-Tail, Shukaku]
[Master: Bai Yan]
[Summon Beast Rank #3: Eight-Tails, Gyūki]
[Master: Bai Yan]
[Summon Beast Rank #2: Nine-Tails, Kurama]
[Master: Bai Yan]
What!?
Ranks 2 through 9 were all Tailed Beasts?
And the summoner—no, the master—was the same person?
Why was everyone else listed as "Summoner,"
but only he was listed as Master?
Why did no rewards appear for him?
Where was the footage?
And what about rank #1?
The entire ninja world exploded in confusion.
But everyone waited.
They wanted to see who would claim first place.
[Summon Beast Rank #1: Azure Dragon of the East, Vermilion Bird of the South, Black Tortoise of the North, White Tiger of the West]
[Master: Bai Yan]
"…First and second place… and I'm not on the list?"
The Sage of Six Paths' expression darkened.
Then, new text appeared—
[The combined reward for the above top ten is the Multiverse Chat Group. The ten separate footages have also been merged into one.]
Seeing this, everyone finally realized why the ranking behaved so strangely.
No one was impatient anymore—
because the footage would reveal everything.
Amidst universal anticipation—
[Footage begins!]
[A tall, imposing figure stood still in a forest somewhere in the Ninja World.]
"So intimidating! Just his back screams power!"
"Terrifying… that aura alone is overwhelming. I want to see his face!"
"No wonder he monopolized the entire top ten summoning beasts!"
…
Konoha, Chūnin Exam spectator stands.
"Husband! This Bai Yan not only has your name, even his back looks like yours!"
Ayame stared at the screen, shocked.
"Ahem!"
Bai Yan cleared his throat, smiling proudly.
"Well, actually, that is me. But I need to stay low—"
"Husband, stop messing around."
Ayame rolled her eyes before he could finish.
Meanwhile, many frequent ramen customers noticed the similarity.
Unfortunately, none believed that the two Bai Yans were the same person.
Except… Naruto.
Returning to the footage—
[Summoning Technique!]
[The man stood silently for a moment, then formed seals. The land trembled, and the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise manifested from the heavens.]
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Why did none of them remember such an earth-shaking event?
[—The Yan–Huang World!]
[With another seal, red and yellow light spread across the entire Ninja World—including the Pure Land. The Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, every being—froze instantly.]
[Then, the man teleported to every Great Ninja Village, released each Tailed Beast, beat them until they submitted, and returned them to their Jinchūriki.]
The entire ninja world was petrified.
This was too outrageous.
And how did he rough up the Jinchūriki so much without killing them!?
[Finally, the man formed one last seal—erasing the memories of the entire ninja world.]
Silence.
Utter silence.
Across the world—Pure Land or living realm—everyone went still.
Even the nine Tailed Beasts.
Originally, their memories had also been wiped.
Now, everything had returned.
And that… was one hell of a psychological shadow.
"Seriously… who is this Bai Yan?"
Everyone—except Bai Yan himself, and the Tailed Beasts—remained completely bewildered.
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