Outside the Hidden Leaf Village, Minato Namikaze landed in a flash of light, cradling his newborn son Naruto.
As he set the child down in a safe location, a black swirl twisted in space nearby—his enemy had followed.
"You escaped quickly," the masked man said, stepping through the vortex. "But where can you run now, Fourth Hokage?"
Minato didn't answer. He was already calculating.
A space-time ninjutsu… like the Second Hokage's, but not exactly. My kunai passed through him. Is it intangibility? Phase shift? There's a pattern, there must be.
He tightened his grip on his special kunai.
The masked man lunged, but Minato vanished mid-dash—teleporting to a kunai behind him.
"Behind you," Minato muttered, and slammed a Rasengan into his enemy's back.
BOOM.
The masked man's body flew, skidding along the ground.
"He's marked," Minato noted, activating the Contract Seal mid-motion. In a burst of sealing energy, the connection between the Nine-Tails and the masked man severed.
The man staggered back, clutching his chest, the glow of the jutsu still flickering on his body.
"Tch... Contract Seal..." he growled.
With another Kamui swirl, he vanished.
"That space-time jutsu again," Minato muttered. "He'll be back. But for now—Kurama!"
The Nine-Tails Attack
Freed from control, Kurama reared back and roared—a thunderous sound that leveled nearby trees.
Now enraged, betrayed, and still surrounded by Konoha ninja, the beast's fury exploded.
"Everyone, fall back!" Fugaku shouted, unleashing Fire Release—but it barely singed the beast.
Beside him, Uchiha Kai narrowed his eyes. "This is getting out of control. If we don't act soon—"
"Kai, what are you planning?" Fugaku asked.
"I'll hold the line. Pull the young ones back."
As the Nine-Tails inhaled, chakra condensed in its mouth—a forming Tailed Beast Bomb.
"That's not good."
Just then, the clouds parted. A massive shadow fell.
Gamabunta slammed down from the sky, pinning Kurama beneath his weight.
"About time," Kai muttered.
"Minato-sama!" came cries from the surrounding ninja.
On Gamabunta's head stood the Fourth Hokage, cloak fluttering, face grave.
"Everyone, cover me!" he ordered. "We're ending this."
A flash of golden chakra lit the air as Minato teleported both Kurama and himself away from the village—the Tailed Beast Bomb exploding harmlessly in the distance.
Obito's Retreat
In the void of Kamui's dimension, Obito clutched his arm. His voice trembled with rage.
"He sealed my link to the Nine-Tails... He even left a mark on me without me noticing…"
Nearby, White Zetsu tendrils slithered to reattach his lost limb.
"Namikaze Minato... and that Uchiha boy... Kai."
Obito's Sharingan swirled.
"This isn't over. The world will still drown in illusion... when the Moon's Eye Plan begins."
With a whirl of Kamui, he vanished once again.