Kyuubi's massive claws, dripping with malevolence and chakra, halted mid-air.
Blocked.
By a knife.
A single blackened blade held between the hands of a grinning soul wreathed in a crimson mask.
"I didn't say you can move."
Ye Wuyue stood firm, the edge of his weapon humming with ominous spiritual energy. The monstrous chakra of the Nine Tails twisted and roared around him, yet it was his own aura that turned the world oppressive—thick with violence and madness.
"So, this is the power… not bad at all." His tone was pleased, amused even.
The fiery red grimace mask locked onto Ye Wuyue's face. The next moment, a black-and-red tide of spiritual pressure exploded outward from his translucent form. The spiritual flames that wrapped around him turned heavier, darker, and infinitely more suffocating.
He looked less like a ghost and more like a demon.
The mask clawed into his instincts, magnifying his bloodlust. Every ounce of rationality was drowned beneath raw desire to fight. His power surged—tenfold, maybe more.
"Jie hahahaha! Go to hell!"
Ye Wuyue laughed like a madman, drawing back his arm. A black-red slash, wrapped in spiritual flame, roared from his blade like a tidal wave and hurtled toward the towering Nine Tails.
"ROAR!!!"
Kyuubi bellowed. Its lone functional claw extended to intercept the blow. Even in pain and hatred, the Tailed Beast's instincts for survival remained terrifyingly sharp.
"Kushina… now what?"
Minato's face was pale as he held baby Naruto in his arms. Across from him, his wife's lifeforce was slipping away by the second.
Kushina's plan had been clear—drag Kyuubi back into herself with the Adamantine Sealing Chains, and die together. But Minato had stopped her.
Now, that path was no longer viable.
And neither was the other.
The Reaper Death Seal—Shiki Fūjin—had failed.
Minato had summoned the Death God once, only for the ghastly form to be blocked… not by the Nine Tails, but by the masked entity now attacking it.
The ethereal Shinigami—its gaping mouth, skeletal frame, and beaded hair—had receded unnaturally, disrupted by Ye Wuyue's presence. Something about the intruder's soul clashed with the summoning's laws.
And now… there was no reaper left to call upon.
"I tested it just now…" Minato muttered bitterly, "Even with my chakra, I can't resummon the Shinigami. He's… gone."
"Then…" Kushina coughed blood, eyes dimming, "what now?"
Minato gritted his teeth. They were out of time. He looked down at Naruto. He couldn't saddle their son with this burden—not without hope, not without protection.
"I'll seal your chakra into Naruto first. He'll need you in the future… even if it's just through memories. As for the Nine Tails…"
Minato clenched his fist.
"I'll take it into myself."
"…Thank you, Minato." Kushina's voice was soft, eyes full of warmth as she looked at Naruto for the last time.
"Jiushina," Minato said, "Release the Adamantine Chains. Save what little chakra you have left."
"…Alright."
The golden chains receded, freeing the Kyuubi from its prison.
The beast, now unbound, roared in fury and lashed out—not at Naruto, not at the dying Kushina, but at Ye Wuyue, the one who dared wound it.
"Hahahahaha! Imprisoned beast, let me free you!" Ye Wuyue howled, slashing again. This time, a half-moon-shaped arc of black-red flame rocketed toward the Tailed Beast's paw.
The flame-shrouded strike cleaved through the beast's claw, severing the limb mid-air.
"ROARRR!!!"
Nine Tails screeched, the edges of its wound scorched black. It stared at Ye Wuyue with fury… and the first signs of fear.
Its chakra surged violently, condensing into a jet-black sphere—the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Minato's eyes sharpened. He vanished in a golden flash.
"Lord Third!"
He reappeared beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, cradling Naruto in his arms. "Please protect Naruto. I'll deal with the Kyuubi."
"…Understood." Hiruzen's expression was grim as he accepted the child. "Minato… that masked phantom. Do you know what it is?"
"No," Minato said honestly. "He's not chakra-based. Feels more like a soul—a foreign one. But right now… he's keeping the Kyuubi distracted. That's good enough."
And then Minato disappeared once more.
Back at the battlefield, Ye Wuyue cackled again, not noticing—or perhaps not caring—that the Tailed Beast Bomb was nearly complete.
"Jie jie jie! Slow beast, did you think I'd let you finish that?"
"Torch!"
A spiraling tornado of black-red flame erupted from the earth, encircling the Kyuubi and trapping it inside a vortex of hellfire. The blaze spun wildly, incinerating everything it touched. The temperature soared, and even the massive Nine Tails howled in agony.
"OWWWWWW!!!"
The pain was enough to interrupt the Tailed Beast Bomb, dispersing the concentrated chakra back into the air.
From above, Konoha's remaining shinobi watched in awe—and horror.
"Everyone fall back!" a yellow blur flashed across the battlefield. "Get away from the Kyuubi! Leave the rest to me!"
Minato, now cloaked in Sage Mode, turned back toward the burning beast, heart pounding.
Ye Wuyue turned to see him… and for a moment, paused. But the instinctive hunger for battle overrode any recognition.
He laughed, blood-drunk and wild.
The wall of fire collapsed. The Kyuubi staggered out—burnt, limping, one claw gone. But still alive.
Barely.
It locked eyes with Ye Wuyue, trembling.
But Ye Wuyue wasn't finished.
"One final strike!" he screamed.
"Flame Hell – Infernal Pillars!!!"
Ten crimson-black pillars of fire exploded skyward around the beast. They slowly arched inward—then slammed down on the Nine Tails, converging at its center.
The explosion was apocalyptic.
Minato's eyes widened in horror.
That blast… if left unchecked…
"Konoha…!"
"Time-Space Barrier!!"
He formed hand seals at blazing speed. A translucent barrier shimmered into being, enveloping the firestorm. The moment the flames touched the barrier, they vanished—teleported to the distant forest far beyond the village borders.
"Warning! Warning!"
The voice of the system buzzed inside Ye Wuyue's fading soul.
> "Host's soul is severely depleted! Spiritual pressure nearing collapse! Locate a compatible boarder immediately! Requirement: infant under one year old!"
Ye Wuyue gasped. His flames flickered. His soul dimmed.
Removing the fiery grimace mask, Ye Wuyue's spiritual form turned transparent again.
His job here was done.
He hadn't just come for the thrill. He'd wanted to see the power of this level… to push the mask's limits. And maybe… maybe tilt the scales.
After all, if he was going to live in Konoha, he preferred Minato Namikaze in charge over Sarutobi.
Power and vision mattered.
"A baby, huh…"
He rubbed his chin in thought. "…Has to look good too. I won't settle."
Then his eyes lit up with clarity.
"You'll do."
And with that, Ye Wuyue's soul drifted silently across the land, drawn toward his chosen host.
Meanwhile, back at the battlefield—
Minato, drained and gasping, released Sage Mode. The smoke cleared.
A burnt, twitching creature lay in the center.
Still alive.
But broken.
"Lord Hokage!"
The sealing squad finally arrived, eyes wide at the carnage.
Minato walked forward, fists clenched.
"Prepare the seal," he said. "We're sealing the Nine Tails…"
"…into me."