Under the black night sky, an enormous, orange-red fox with nine tails was wreaking havoc upon everything in its path. Each violent roar it released echoed across vast miles, shaking the very skies above.
Countless shinobi had tried to halt its advance, only to be effortlessly swept away by the swinging tails of the Kyūbi—crushed in an instant, their chakra extinguished like flickering flames.
Then, from a single point on the battlefield, countless golden chakra chains burst forth—Adamantine Sealing Chains—entangling the rampaging beast, halting its charge as it thrashed against the glowing bonds.
A baby's cry pierced through the turmoil.
"I woke you up… sorry… Naruto…"
Kushina Uzumaki gasped, her breath shallow. Blood poured from the corner of her lips. Having just had the Nine-Tails forcibly extracted from her body, she stood at death's door, held together only by her iron will and Uzumaki vitality.
"Kushina!"
Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, called out in anguish. The newborn Naruto cried louder in his arms.
"Just… hold the Kyūbi like this… I'll die too… But this way… we can delay its resurrection… I'll use my remaining chakra to help you… this is the only way…"
With great difficulty, Kushina smiled—a peaceful, resigned expression blooming on her face.
"Forever… thank you… for everything you've given me…"
The sound of Naruto's crying softened slightly, even as the restrained Kyūbi howled, still struggling to escape Kushina's binding chains.
"Kushina… You made me the Fourth Hokage… You made me your husband… You made me Naruto's father… but I—"
Minato's voice trembled, weighed with guilt.
"Minato… don't wear that expression… I'm happy… you love me… and today is… our child's birthday..."
Her gaze drifted to Naruto, whose small face turned toward her. His teary eyes reflected a spark of recognition—a faint, innocent smile formed, his first in life.
"I only have… one last wish… I want to see Naruto… when he's grown…"
Kushina reached forward, yearning to touch her child, but her body failed her—the last remnants of strength drained.
"I understand. Your remaining chakra… I'll seal it inside Naruto… through the Eight Trigrams Seal. You'll meet him… when the time is right. As for the Nine-Tails… I'll deal with it. I have no choice… I'll use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
Minato wiped his tears, his tone resolute.
Kushina's expression flickered with shock.
"But… that sealing jutsu… it'll—"
"I only sealed half of the Nine-Tails into myself. I'll place the other half in Naruto using the Eight Trigrams. For balance… for the village… for the future."
Minato gently laid Naruto on the sealing altar and stood, fingers forming hand seals in a blur. Behind him, a ghostly, skeletal figure materialized—white robes, wild white hair, a hideous mask—the Shinigami, the death god invoked through the Uzumaki clan's most forbidden technique.
"Because Naruto is our child…"
Kushina, a former Jinchūriki herself, understood too well the burden being passed onto their son.
"For the balance of the tailed beasts, for the world of shinobi… I cannot abandon this duty. Abandoning the village, abandoning the country… would be abandoning Naruto too. You know this pain, Kushina—the pain of a homeland destroyed."
Minato's voice no longer trembled. His eyes burned with conviction.
The Shinigami's grotesque arm extended outward, ready to grasp the soul of the Kyūbi—and Minato himself.
But then… it stopped.
The Shinigami froze. Its head turned sharply, eyes locking onto a tear in space—a ripple, invisible to human eyes.
Kushina and Minato both felt it—some unseen shift.
"…What is this…?" Minato muttered.
From a different dimension, Kurozawa Ren floated, disoriented, facing the skeletal hand stretching toward him. Panic surged through him.
"What the hell is this?! Damn this stupid system!"
Moments ago, he had been a regular college student. One minute asleep in a substitute class, the next—forcefully bound to some sketchy, malfunctioning transmigration system, hurled into the Naruto universe.
And now? Stuck in the soul plane. Without a body. Floating like a lost ghost.
Before he could react further, the Shinigami had locked onto him as a viable soul to devour.
"I sense a fatal threat to the host. Compensating due to system error. Awarding: Zanpakutō – Ryūjin Jakka, Vizard Mask, and Captain-Class Reiatsu Experience Card. Please accept."
"What the hell?!"
Kurozawa Ren's hand instinctively extended. In his palm, a fiery long blade burst into form—the legendary Zanpakutō: Ryūjin Jakka, oldest and most powerful fire-type weapon in Soul Society. Simultaneously, a Hollow mask appeared in his left hand.
An immense rush of power flooded his being. His soul pulsed with heat, force, and pure Reiryoku.
On the battlefield, Minato and Kushina looked on in stunned silence. A hazy figure wearing a black haori, surrounded by fire, appeared in midair—still ghostlike, but growing more substantial.
Kurozawa Ren didn't wait.
"There is no one true form. All things—burn to ash. Ryūjin Jakka!"
With a roar, the flames erupted from his blade, spiraling around him like a storm. He slashed directly at the approaching arm of the Shinigami.
A searing arc of fire cut through the air. The death god's arm shrieked and was severed.
Kurozawa Ren staggered mid-air, the blow draining his essence. But the result was instant: the Shinigami recoiled, backing away, for the first time… afraid.
The reaper had consumed countless souls before, but this was different. This soul—this power—was something ancient, something divine. The Zanpakutō radiated a spiritual pressure the Shinigami could not suppress.
Faced with that overwhelming Reiatsu, the Shinigami retreated, vanishing into the ether. Minato's soul, untouched, slipped back into his body like a drifting ember returning to flame.
Kurozawa Ren floated, blade burning, his heart racing.
"Damn… that felt incredible!"
His fatigue was undeniable, but the exhilaration far outweighed it. In his past life, he had loved Naruto, dreamed of mastering its powers. Now—this—was something even greater. A fusion of shinobi and soul reaper. Fear and regret gave way to joy.
Minato, still stunned, glanced upward at the blazing figure that had repelled death itself.
But there was no time to reflect.
The Kyūbi roared, one massive claw lurching toward infant Naruto—still lying vulnerable on the altar.
Kurozawa Ren's eyes sharpened. With a burst of flame and speed, he dove—blade-first—blocking the claw midair in a blaze of fire and fury.