Minato wanted to question Ash's final words… but there was no time.
The Nine-Tails was still rampaging through Konoha, its rage no longer suppressed.
Seeing Ash vanish, Minato quickly swallowed a Soldier Pill to recover stamina and chakra. The Flying Thunder God Technique consumed enormous energy, and his last exchange with Ash had pushed him close to his limits. Even so—space-time ninjutsu was what made him the Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash.
"To protect the village… the Nine-Tails must be forced out of Konoha's walls."
Not far from the raging beast, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood with several ANBU.
"Buy me time to prepare a sealing jutsu!" Hiruzen commanded.
He bit his thumb, drawing blood, and swiftly ran it across his hand in a practiced sealing pattern.
A burst of white smoke erupted—
A powerful, ape-like creature—his partner, the Monkey King Enma—appeared.
"Hiruzen, why summon me again—"
Enma abruptly froze, eyes widening as he saw the Nine-Tails tearing through the village.
"That monster… the strongest of all the Tailed Beasts…!"
"I don't know the details," Hiruzen replied grimly, "but its movements are slower than before. Enma—transform! Adamantine Staff!"
"Understood! Transform!"
Enma's body elongated and hardened in a flash of light, becoming the legendary Adamantine Staff in Hiruzen's grip.
"Stretch!"
The Third Hokage thrust the staff forward—its length shooting outward like a launched spear.
"BOOM!"
"ROAR!!!"
The staff smashed into the Nine-Tails' chest and forced the massive fox back across the shattered ground—more than ten meters of sliding earth. The power of the Third's strike was unquestionable.
But even so—forcing the Nine-Tails completely outside the village was no simple task. It was the mightiest of the Tailed Beasts for a reason.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Minato's voice cut through the chaos.
Another explosion of smoke—
"BOOM!"
The ground collapsed beneath a titanic shape.
Gamabunta, the chief toad of Mount Myōboku, landed squarely atop the Nine-Tails, pinning it beneath his massive weight.
"Minato! Are you crazy!?" Gamabunta roared. "How did the Nine-Tails break free from its seal!?"
"Sorry, Bunta—hold it down!"
Ignoring his partner's outrage, Minato leapt from the toad's head and landed atop the Nine-Tails' fur.
He glanced once at the burning ruins of Konoha… remembering Ash's final smirk.
"We can't let him continue this destruction…"
In a flash of yellow light—Minato used the Flying Thunder God again, teleporting both himself and the struggling Nine-Tails far away from the village walls.
"It's Minato…" Hiruzen muttered as he watched the Fourth Hokage teleport the Nine-Tails away.
"Even while transporting the Nine-Tails with himself, the chakra cost must be enormous. We'll send reinforcements immediately."
He turned sharply to the ANBU behind him.
"Half of you follow me. The rest stay and rescue the injured!"
The Third Hokage sprinted toward the outskirts of the village, where Minato and the rampaging Tailed Beast had vanished.
Far from the burning Konoha, Minato Namikaze appeared—holding Kushina and their newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, in his arms. The Nine-Tails writhed furiously, already restrained only by Minato's will.
"Kushina… I'm sorry," Minato whispered.
"I know…" Kushina smiled sadly through her pain.
She forced what little chakra she had left to surge—manifesting countless golden Adamantine Chains from the ground. They wrapped tightly around the Nine-Tails, forming a circle of seals and restricting its movements.
But the effort was too much.
"Cough! Cough!"
Kushina spat blood, her knees trembling. Naruto cried in Minato's arms as if sensing everything—fear, pain, destiny.
"Hurry, Minato…" she pleaded weakly.
"My chakra… I don't have long. We have to seal the Nine-Tails before I'm gone…"
"Kushina…" Minato's voice broke. There were no words strong enough to express what he felt in that moment.
Kushina gazed at Naruto's tiny, crying face—tears streaming down her own.
"What a pity… I won't get to see what our Naruto will grow up to be…"
Her voice trembled with a mother's sorrow.
Minato clenched his fists, jaw tight with determination.
"Kushina, listen. I'll seal your remaining chakra inside Naruto. You'll be able to see him again—see how he grows, how he lives."
His eyes hardened.
"And I'll use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
Kushina's eyes widened—pupils shrinking in shock.
"No, Minato! You can't!" she cried.
"That jutsu kills the caster! And why must Naruto become a Jinchūriki? Why burden him with this fate alone!? You know how Jinchūriki are treated by the village—how they suffer!"
Her tears fell freely, desperate and terrified—not for herself… but for their son.
...
TN:
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