"You'd better pray this masked bastard opens the portal soon. I can't maintain this state much longer. When my chakra runs out, neither of us are getting out of here."
After delivering the grim warning, the Yin Nine-Tails obediently shrank down and entered Minato's soul.
(Don't ask how a ghost can have an "inside"—that's just how the physics of the Reaper Death Seal work).
Kurama's warning wasn't an exaggeration.
It wasn't the Sage of Six Paths, maintaining Minato's human form temporarily was already pushing its limits.
Once the maintenance period passed, Minato would revert to an invisible intangible soul form and his consciousness would fade back into a coma.
In that state, he definitely wouldn't be able to use Flying Thunder God and they would both be sitting ducks in the void.
Kurama really didn't want to be mind-controlled by a Sharingan again.
Minato was naturally a bit airheaded in daily life, but when it came to combat tasks, he possessed terrifying focus.
Taking the Nine-Tails' words to heart, Minato concentrated entirely on sensing the spatial fluctuations of the Kamui Dimension.
The moment there was any movement, he would act.
Inside Minato's spiritual core, the Nine-Tails lay semi-recumbent, panting slightly.
Maintaining this state of intense concentration for the ghost actually consumed more energy, reducing their time limit.
But Kurama didn't mention this.
They were in enemy territory—it couldn't exactly tell the Fourth Hokage to "take a quick nap" to save chakra, could it?
"Huh?"
Minato's eyes suddenly snapped open.
He detected spatial fluctuations... and the faint resonance of a Flying Thunder God mark he had left in the outside world years ago.
...
Meanwhile, in the Outside World.
The Masked Man (Obito), having just finished eating a plate of curry rice at a roadside diner, prepared to use his convenient Space-Time Ninjutsu to travel back to base.
Having learned his lesson after Kakashi's previous surprise shit deliveries, Obito no longer ate meals inside the Kamui Dimension.
Now, he always ate at public restaurants.
If he ate outside, Kakashi couldn't possibly warp a live explosive tag or a piece of shit onto his dinner plate, right?
As everyone knows, Obito needs to materialize his physical body when transporting himself.
Thus, the moment Obito activated Kamui and the spatial vortex opened to suck him in... a glowing, golden figure suddenly materialized right behind him out of thin air, a swirling sphere of dense chakra already formed in his hand.
"Rasengan!"
BAM!
"GAAHK—!"
Obito was violently slammed face-first into the dirt, his back crushed by the grinding force of the Rasengan.
He was thoroughly disoriented and coughing up blood.
'What the hell?! Where did that Rasengan come from?! And did I just hallucinate my dead Sensei's voice?!'
As the Rasengan dissipated and the attacker vanished, Obito frantically scrambled away and looked behind him.
"Huh?"
There was no one there.
Even when he carefully scanned the area with his Sharingan, there wasn't a single trace of anyone having been present.
No chakra signature, no footprints.
'Damn it... is this some kind of daytime haunting?! Am I developing schizophrenia from the Kamui stress?!'
Obito touched the gaping, swirling wound on his back, which was bleeding and oozing White Zetsu fluid.
If it weren't for the intense physical pain, he would have genuinely thought he'd fallen victim to a Genjutsu.
He remained cautiously on guard for several minutes, terrified that the Ghost of Minato might appear and strike again.
But no one showed up.
Frustrated, terrified, and beaten half to death for no apparent reason, Obito activated Kamui and teleported away to treat his wounds.
So what actually happened?
The sequence of events was quite simple.
The moment Obito opened the portal, Minato sensed his old Flying Thunder God mark (the one permanently branded onto Obito's back during the Nine-Tails attack).
Minato instantly teleported out of the Kamui Dimension directly to the mark.
Fully aware that the person outside was the same "Madara" who had murdered his wife and attacked the Leaf, Minato used the last dregs of his chakra to slam a Rasengan into his spine.
Simultaneously, Minato used Flying Thunder God to forcibly transport the Yin Nine-Tails within him directly to the coordinates of the Hokage Rock back in Konoha.
Immediately after completing the transfer, having exhausted Kyubi's power to maintain his physical form, Minato's soul smiled... and naturally ascended to the Pure Land in an instant, fading into light.
Minato and Yin Kyubi hadn't explicitly discussed this exact plan, but they acted in perfect sync.
Minato chose to trust that Kyubi wouldn't destroy the Leaf, and Kyubi understood Minato's intention: sending the fox to the heavily guarded village was the only way to protect it from Obito.
If Kyubi had been left outside the diner, Obito would have just recaptured it.
...
Konoha.
POOF.
A massive cloud of smoke erupted atop the Hokage Rock.
The sudden appearance of the colossal, glowing Yin Nine-Tails naturally caused an immediate panic.
It was too conspicuous.
Villagers screamed, pointing at the monument.
However, before the panic could even fully set in... the Nine-Tails vanished.
It disappeared so quickly that many people rubbed their eyes, wondering if someone was just playing a sick prank with a large-scale Transformation Technique.
In reality, the Nine-Tails had been instantly teleported to a secure training ground outside the village by the Second Hokage, who had been waiting atop the monument.
As the absolute master of the Flying Thunder God, Tobirama Senju could easily deduce what the Fourth Hokage might do.
If the Fourth escapes, he will definitely transfer the beast back to the village to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
Therefore, Tobirama had left Shadow Clones at the most likely teleportation coordinates.
The Hokage Rock was the most obvious open space.
Now that the Nine-Tails had indeed appeared (and showed no signs of going on a rampage), Tobirama couldn't help but hold the Fourth Hokage in much higher regard.
'Smart kid.'
After teleporting the beast away from the civilians, Tobirama's main body arrived to communicate with it, while his clones notified Hiruzen and Kushina.
Kyubi didn't give Tobirama any attitude.
After all, this dude wasn't that inherently evil Hashirama Senju who had once grabbed the almighty fox by the neck like a kitten and casually declared.
"Your power is too overwhelming to be left unchecked."
Tobirama was reasonable.
"That Fourth Hokage kid did exceptionally well," Tobirama expressed satisfaction after learning the sequence of events, especially the part where Minato hit the Masked Man with a Rasengan.
Tobirama crossed his arms, his red eyes narrowing.
"That Uchiha Obito fellow ranks among the most wicked, even within the inherently evil Uchiha clan. He's like a demon lord—beating him up purely accumulates positive karma. The monks from the Fire Temple should all take turns pounding on him."
"..."
Kushina, who had just arrived via Body Flicker, heard this incredibly specific hate-filled Uchiha slander and offered a highly awkward smile.
"Stop smiling, Kushina. We'll temporarily seal the Yin Nine-Tails within you."
"Huh? We're not giving it to Naruto?" Kushina was bewildered.
Was this why they called her over?
"Look at this half of the Nine-Tails. It's cooperative, yes. But consider the current disposition of the Yang half already inside Naruto. They haven't reconciled yet," Tobirama pointed out sharply.
"Oh... alright then." Kushina reluctantly agreed.
Indeed, one half of the fox had experienced a trauma-bonding road trip with Minato, while the other half was still a grumpy tsundere trapped in her son's stomach.
What would happen if the two halves merged right now?
Wouldn't the fox develop split-personality disorder?
Better to keep it with her for now and return it after Naruto matures.
'Wait.'
Kushina paused, realizing what this dynamic actually was.
Taking her son's massive source of wealth and saying, "Mom will hold onto this for you until you're older"?
She was literally treating the Nine-Tails like a child's New Year's Money!