Meanwhile, as Hiruzen chased the Nine-Tails out of Konoha, Minato was still confronting the masked man.
"I must hand it to the Fourth Hokage. You wounded me and managed to pull out the Nine-Tails." He sounded both surprised and impressed. "However, the Nine-Tails will be mine eventually."
He began disappearing using his spacetime ninjutsu. "I am going to rule the world… and there are so many ways to go about doing that."
Minato could have tried to stop him, but he understood the situation well enough that the man was out of the fight. Though it seemed he wasn't worried about dying, he likely had some way of healing himself, but it would take time.
Even Tsunade would take a while to heal someone that badly hurt, so for now, he wasn't a threat, no matter how much the tone of his parting words told Minato he wasn't joking around.
The fight had been short, and while he hadn't been able to kill him now, he had already marked him, so he would flash to him at any time. First, he would deal with the Nine-Tails; then, he would see about finishing him off.
Someone like that was far too dangerous to be allowed to run around.
He took a moment to breathe before he focused on his markers and vanished from the clearing in a flash.
-----
Back with the mighty kyūbi no kitsune, the forces of Konoha had little other choice but to keep the beast busy by throwing their lives at it.
Every moment was bought with lives cut short—or, for the few lucky ones, just the end of their careers.
"Keep him occupied until the Fourth Hokage arrives!" someone shouted. He wasn't the first to say that, nor would he be the last, as even he himself bravely threw himself against the monstrous beast.
While they did that, the younger ones—the future of the Leaf—were taken deeper into the woods surrounding the village, gathered together to be sheltered from the current conflict.
"Now listen up, you young shinobi are to stay away from the Nine-Tails," one of the adults said to the younger kids.
"What do you mean by that?" a young kunoichi asked.
"This is not a battle between villages," the same adult as before answered. "This is domestic trouble," he continued. "There is no reason for you all to risk your lives."
"Speak for yourself," young Kurenai couldn't help but shout.
"Calm down," one of her companions told her. Though he clearly also wanted to help, he knew well that it would be pointless.
"You are shinobi as well," the adult continued with a determined voice. "We are not guaranteed a long life. But… my daughter… at least pass on the Will of Fire to my grandchild." He said, looking at Kurenai, his daughter, his pride.
"Make that your oath to your father… for I do believe in you."
-----
Around the same time, Minato once more appeared on top of one stony head and had another chance to see what had become of his beloved village.
"This is terrible," he couldn't help but exclaim; he hadn't realized just how bad it was until he saw it now.
As much as a fourth of the village was in ruins, and he could only imagine how many were dead just to limit it to that.
Even now, he once more saw the Nine-Tails prepare a Tailed Beast Bomb.
He had no time to waste.
Boar
Dog
Bird
Monkey
Ram
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Just as despair settled on everyone, the Tailed Beast Bomb was interrupted by a massive toad landing right on top of the Nine-Tails.
"It's the Fourth Hokage!" someone shouted.
And indeed, standing on top of the toad stood Minato Namikaze!
Yet, as he stood there, he couldn't help but think about the masked man's last words.
'Kushina, forgive me.'
"Hold down the Nine-Tails for just a while!" he quickly shouted.
"That's going to be tough… even for me!" the toad shouted back as he struggled to hold the beast down.
Yet Minato really did just need a moment, because only a second later, the Nine-Tails disappeared just before it could fire off a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Minato didn't have many options in where to take the Nine-Tails, and in fact… there was only one option.
And so he flashed to gather Kushina and Naruto to safety as he brought the Nine-Tails to his safehouse.
He couldn't help but gasp for breath; transporting something like the Nine-Tails wasn't easy, and after everything else today, he was starting to get winded.
"I must put up a barrier immediately." Despite being tired, he couldn't relax—not yet.
Yet… his chakra… he didn't have enough.
"Minato… I can still…" Kushina said weakly, before golden chains finally broke through her back, burrowing into the ground all around.
The same chains surrounded the Nine-Tails and bound it—its entire body, its tails, everything.
Though the beast wasn't happy with it and instantly started to struggle, causing Kushina to cough up blood as her already weak body was pushed to the limit.
"Kushina!" Minato shouted in concern; even little Naruto started to cry, feeling something was wrong.
"Did I wake you?" Kushina spoke sweetly to Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto."
"Kushina!" Minato couldn't help but repeat himself; he knew that tone, his heart clenched.
"I'm going to draw the Nine-Tails with me to my death," she simply stated. "So we can delay the revival of the Nine-Tails."
Behind them, the furious kyūbi no kitsune kept struggling against the chains, binding it.
"I'll be able to save all of you with what little chakra I have left." She did her best to smile at him. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."
"Kushina… it's because of you that I'm the Fourth Hokage! You made me a man! And you made me this baby's father. And yet…" Minato struggled with what to say.
Kushina just smiled at him. "Minato, don't give me that look! I'm happy that you loved me." Every word was a struggle. "And today… is this child's birthday. If I were to imagine me alive, and our future together, the three of us as a family… I can't see us having anything but a happy life."
Minato felt tears run down his face as she spoke… these… were her final words, a final goodbye from the woman he loved.
"If I were allowed just one regret," Kushina continued, "it's that I won't be able to see Naruto grow up."
"How I wish I could have seen that."
Minato couldn't stand it. "Kushina, there is no need for you to die with the Nine-Tails. Preserve what little chakra you have left for a reunion with Naruto." He slowly wiped the tears from his eyes. "I'll seal all of your remaining chakra inside Naruto."
"It will be part of an Eight Signed Seal. And then, I'll take the Nine-Tails with me, with the only sealing jutsu I can do since I'm not a Jinchūriki—the Reaper Death Seal!"
Kushina looked up in shock. "But the caster of that jutsu…!"
"And one more thing," Minato continued. "I will only seal half of the Nine-Tails. Sealing a power this immense is physically impossible. It's also strategically unwise."
He hadn't had long to consider this… but he knew the truth. "If you take the Nine-Tails and its seal with you when you die, there won't be a Jinchūriki around when it reemerges. That will upset the balance of power between the Tailed Beasts."
He had always known the Nine-Tails was the strongest, but it wasn't until today that he fully realized just how big the difference between them was. "The Reaper Death Seal will seal half of the Nine-Tails with me forever…"
Even half… would likely be enough to bring destruction to a village, but it would also be easier to control; there was no need for the entire thing. "As for the other half of the Nine-Tails…"
He thought back to what Jiraiya-sensei had talked about once… about him maybe being the so-called Child of Prophecy.
If there was such a thing… it wasn't him… he couldn't even save the woman he loved, what right did he have to save the world?
No… that duty… he would leave to someone else. "I will seal it inside Naruto with the Eight Signed Seal!"
Kushina gasped and opened her mouth to speak.
"I know what you want to say," Minato cut her off. "But remember what Jiraiya-sensei said about world upheaval—and the calamities that would follow."
He thought back to the masked man. "Two things were confirmed to me today. That masked man who attacked you is a harbinger of disaster! And the one who will stop him is this child!"
Minato wished he could do it himself… but he knew that it couldn't be… neither he nor Kushina were strong enough to do this alone… there was no other way.
"This infant, whose godfather is Jiraiya-sensei… he will open up the future as a Jinchūriki." He could already see it. "I don't know why, but I'm convinced of this." He slowly put Naruto down.
"But Minato…!" Kushina couldn't help but exclaim.
Minato didn't listen; this was his duty. He slowly stood up and started weaving the hand signs.
"Reaper Death Seal!"
An invisible smoke rose from him, slowly taking on the form of the Shinigami.
"Let's put our trust in this child!
He's our son, after all!"
Further back, Hiruzen Sarutobi had appeared just in time to witness Minato weave the jutsu, and he couldn't help but exclaim in shock. "Don't tell me…! Yes, it's the Reaper Death Seal!" He couldn't imagine it… someone so young, so talented… so strong.
He didn't know if he, in that situation, could have made the same decision as calmly as Minato had.
Minato didn't pay attention to something happening that far away; his attention was on the Nine-Tails and on Kushina. "When I'm finished with the Reaper Death Seal, I will seal your chakra inside Naruto."
Minato had already planned it all out. "When he tries to control the Nine-Tails' power as a Jinchūriki, I want you to help him out."
"Our son…" Kushina could barely speak. Still, she couldn't keep quiet. "He's our son, which is why I don't want to put such a terrible burden on him." She knew how difficult it could be, being a Jinchūriki.
"And also, why use the Reaper Death Seal?" she couldn't help but shout. "If it's just so I can meet a grown-up Naruto, even if it's just for a short while, there's no need for you to die!"
"I want you to stay by Naruto as he grows up and protect him! I don't get it! To keep the balance of Tailed Beasts? For the sake of the nation and the village? Why must Naruto be sacrificed!?"
"Why must you sacrifice yourself for me?!" Every word she spoke caused more blood to fly out, but she didn't care. This was her last chance to say these things.
"To forsake one's nation—to forsake one's village—is the same as forsaking one's child. Your own homeland was destroyed, so you of all people should know… the harsh life that awaits those without a country," he tried to explain himself.
"Besides, our family is… shinobi!"
(End of chapter)
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