"Roar!"
The Nine-Tails roared again, struggling wildly, trying to break free from the crushing grip of the enormous hand.
At this moment, it had shaken off its fear. The malice of a tailed beast burst forth, its evil chakra surging in all directions. The oppressive aura made many people's legs go weak; quite a few simply collapsed to the ground.
Yet its resistance changed nothing. As it struggled, the golden giant's hand swelled even larger, wrapping around it completely, gripping it like a human might hold a hamster, only its head sticking out.
Smack!
In the very next instant, a huge slap landed squarely on Kurama's face, leaving it stunned in midair. The vicious gleam in its eyes instantly turned clear.
It was dumbfounded.
Kurama was utterly dumbfounded.
Ever since it had been separated from the Ten-Tails by the Sage of Six Paths and gained its own consciousness, the Nine-Tails had been synonymous with terror. Never had anyone slapped it in the face.
Even those two loathsome people from back then hadn't done this to it.
Before it could react, smack! Another loud slap landed on the other side of its face.
"Human!" Kurama no longer roared, but spoke in the tongue of men, thrashing violently. "All of you should die!"
Its furious threats, made while being held up in the air and slapped, carried no intimidation at all, if anything, it looked rather ridiculous.
But in the next moment, Kurama showed everyone present just how terrifying a tailed beast could be.
Having lost all reason, it opened its huge mouth wide at the golden giant. Violent energy began gathering within.
In just a moment, a black Tailed Beast Ball formed, and with explosive speed that no ordinary human could hope to react to, it hurtled straight toward the giant's face.
Sensing the violent energy emanating from the orb, everyone watching was dumbstruck.
A Tailed Beast Ball, straight out of legend.
But then, the very next instant, they were even more stunned.
The golden giant simply reached out and snatched the orb out of the air, lightning-fast, catching it in his palm.
Boom!
The explosion of the Tailed Beast Ball thundered like the sky breaking apart, but all of its destructive force was locked within that giant hand, not a wisp escaping.
Not just the onlookers, even Kurama was shocked.
The Tailed Beast Ball was a tailed beast's greatest killing technique; every time it had unleashed one before, the destruction was catastrophic. But just now, right before its eyes, this terrifying giant had caught it barehanded, and come out completely unharmed.
Its eyes grew clear again, not the clarity from being slapped, but the clarity of sudden calm and rationality.
The man before it was even more terrifying than those two old bastards. He was not an opponent it could hope to defeat.
For some reason, Kurama even had the illusion that he was facing the Sage of Six Paths himself.
The pride of a tailed beast made it instinctively want to resist, but in this moment, man was the butcher and it the meat; the crushing power from that hand left it with little will to fight.
"What do you want?" Kurama's tone was still defiant.
"Your power is too great. I can't just leave you be, you must be sealed." The voice rumbled across the place once more.
Hearing this, all of Konoha was speechless.
If the Nine-Tails weren't still being held in Shin's grasp, they might almost have believed it.
But they also knew it wasn't that the Nine-Tails wasn't strong enough. Rather, Shin's strength had far surpassed their understanding.
The mighty Nine-Tails, the legendary strongest tailed beast, was no more than a chicken before him. Such an existence made everyone feel an incomparable sense of safety.
And so, the world where only the Nine-Tails suffers had been realized.
Kurama thought, Wait... why does that line sound so familiar?
It stared blankly for a good ten seconds before it finally reacted, letting out a series of roars.
It had been sealed away long enough, those endless, lightless days were unbearable. Even if it meant dying, it was no longer willing to be sealed again.
But in the next instant, it suddenly stopped struggling, its face full of disbelief as it looked at Shin inside the golden giant.
Because just now, a voice had sounded by its ear, one that only it could hear:
"I will seal you, but I'll let your consciousness remain free from the seal, able to live however you want. Of course, the condition is that you must cooperate with me."
"Human... you're not lying to me?" Kurama asked cautiously, testing the waters, a strong hope rising in its heart.
"If I wanted to do something to you, you couldn't stop me anyway. You have no choice but to believe me, don't you?"
"Hmph! I'll trust you this once," Kurama said, trying to preserve some dignity. "If I find out you're lying to me, I definitely won't let you go."
Shin ignored that and instead released the Nine-Tails, patting its head like a pet. The touch made Kurama's fur bristle with goosebumps, but it didn't move, obediently squatting in place instead.
The next second, the golden giant dispersed. Shin teleported to the ruins of the Senju clan grounds, appearing beside Mito.
At this moment, Tsunade was crying uncontrollably, both hands pressing on Mito's chest, pouring life force into her nonstop.
Beside them stood Kushina, Minato, and Nawaki, all three with tears streaming down their faces.
Seeing this, Shin sighed, placing one hand on Tsunade's shoulder.
A surge of boundless life force erupted, part of it flowing into Tsunade, replenishing what she had just exhausted, and part into Mito's body.
After more than ten seconds, Mito slowly regained consciousness. Feeling the life force still pouring into her, she suddenly grasped Tsunade's hands and spoke with gentle yet firm resolve:
"That's enough."
Tsunade's hands froze. "Obachan..."
Looking at the tear-streaked faces around her, Mito smiled. "A day like this was bound to come, wasn't it? The day we agreed on is only about a month away, what difference does that make?"
"I can't bear to lose you!" Nawaki cried, unable to speak clearly.
Being the youngest, he had never truly experienced the pain of losing a loved one, and simply couldn't accept it.
Mito reached up and gently stroked his cheek. "Everything about me was buried in the past long ago. I truly miss Hashirama."
"These years, having you all with me has made me more than happy enough."
Her pupils began to lose focus, but she firmly refused to let Tsunade continue pouring life force into her.
Her granddaughter was in her prime, how could she let her waste her own life on an old woman like herself?
"Kushina, remember what I'm about to say, don't blame the Nine-Tails." Mito spoke seriously. "I released it on my own. The fault isn't his. Treat him well."
Kushina could only nod silently through her tears.