Hiruzen, who also saw this, had his brow frowned. He didn't know if the Uchiha Clan was involved in this situation, but the political landscape will definitely be in turmoil after this, and if not solved correctly, then a civil war might happen.
While he wasn't the Hokage any longer, that doesn't mean he will turn a blind eye to the chaos that happened after this. He knows that he has to help Minato to solve this problem peacefully.
Still, he had to focus on fighting the Nine-Tailed Fox first before he could even think about the problem with this discovery.
Just as the leaf ninja thought that they managed to hold the Nine-Tailed Fox, it suddenly released an incredibly loud roar that caused a shockwave, pushing everyone away from the Tailed Beast.
The Nara Clan members spit out large amounts of blood from their mouths as they suffer from the backlash of their technique.
Now that the Shadow Imitation Technique is broken, the Nine-Tailed Fox is finally free and uses its tails to attack the Akimichi Clan members who are holding it tightly.
The Akimichi sent a dozen or so members flying, destroying the buildings along the way. The only fortunate thing about it was the fact that there were no civilians along the way.
The ninja starts to launch various techniques to damage the fact, but due to the lack of strength behind it, it leaves close to zero in damages.
Only a few manage to provide considerable damage to the Nine-Tailed Fox, but the latter manages to kill a few ninjas along the way, which greatly demoralizes the whole group.
Just as the fox was about to continue its rampage, it noticed a familiar presence, and it turned its head and stared at the Hokage Monument. The ninjas in the battlefield also looked at the Hokage Monument and saw Minato standing at his own rock face, ready to fight the Nine-Tailed Fox.
The Nine-Tailed Fox releases another thunderous roar while its tail wags and destroys the surrounding area. The fox opens its mouth, gathering the chakra, performing the infamous technique of the Tailed Beast, the Tailed Beast Bomb.
One of the most destructive techniques known to man. While the technique consumes a large amount of chakra, with the Tailed Beast's large reserves of chakra, such a technique was nothing.
Once the Nine-Tailed Fox put enough chakra on the attack, the Nine-Tailed Fox immediately fired it towards Minato. The remaining building that stands in the way is destroyed as the Tailed Beast Bomb flies towards Minato.
Minato, who sees the attack, immediately waves hand signs to counter the Tailed Beast Bomb. After waving the necessary hand signs, he raised his hands forwards while holding one of his three-pronged kunai at the center and said coldly, "Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder!"
An incredibly complicated seal suddenly appeared and swallowed the Tailed Beast Bomb the moment it touched the seal.
The moment the Tailed Beast Bomb was swallowed, an explosion suddenly appeared several kilometers away from the village.
The explosion was seen by every ninja on the battlefield, and they couldn't help but feel the chills in their spines at this moment.
'If the 4th Hokage didn't transport the attack far away, the whole village might have fallen into ruins.'
Almost all the ninja thought inwardly after seeing the explosion. They were once again reminded of the danger behind the Tailed Beast and their destructive capabilities.
Just as Minato is about to face the Nine-Tailed Fox, he senses the masked man who controlled the Nine-Tailed Fox appear close to him.
In order to not alert the enemy, Minato feigns ignorance about the arrival of the masked man and instead just continues staring at the Nine-Tailed Fox, who is clearly about to run towards him.
The masked man gets close to Minato, and just as he was about to touch Minato's shoulder, Minato retaliates by swinging his right hand with his kunai, intending to kill the masked man in one hit.
But Minato's hand phases through him, and the masked man manages to hold Minato's hand. Just as the masked man performs his own space-time technique and absorbs Minato when the latter uses his own space-time technique to transport himself away from the mask as well as far away from the fox.
Minato trusted Hiruzen and others to hold on for a while longer while he finished dealing with the masked man. He knows that if he can't deal with the masked man right now, there is a high possibility that he will attack in the future, and that is something Minato has to prevent.
Hiashi and Fugaku, who saw what happened, couldn't help but feel shock. Especially the fact that someone manages to outclass Minato in terms of space-time technique.
Hiruzen was confused as to why Minato suddenly vanished and didn't fight with the Nine-Tailed Fox, but upon seeing the expression of Hiashi and Fugaku, he realized that the rampages of the Nine-Tailed Fox were much deeper than he expected.
He realized that whatever caused this terrible situation had a sinister plan and something must be solved as soon as possible. This also made Hiruzen realize what he should do from now on.
Hiruzen immediately commands the ninjas to fight the Nine-Tailed Fox, attract its attention, and lead the fox as far away from the villages as they can.
He knows that he needs to buy enough time for Minato to return, but he is also praying inside for Minato to join them as soon as possible to avoid losing more ninja that weaken the village.
He didn't order anyone to minimize the damages the villages suffered since he knows that it was an impossible task to pull off.
Meanwhile, Minato teleports himself away from the battlefield and into one of the training grounds of the village. The masked man arrived closely after Minato appeared, following him in this unknown training ground.
The two men stand a meter or so apart from each other while staring, ready to counter any surprise attack their enemy was planning. The two formidable ninja were eyeing each other, measuring each other's strength while at the same time looking for weakness.
"Who are you? Why did you attack the village, and what is your goal?" Minato asks in a serious voice.
Minato wants to know the goal of the person in front of him. This person manages to surpass him in space-time technique and with knowledge and power to control one of the most powerful Tailed Beasts that roamed the earth.
Throughout the entire ninja history there is only one person that manages to control the Nine-Tailed Fox, but that person is believed to be dead, and it's been several decades since that person's death.
But the possibility of him being alive wasn't exactly zero since there are many heaven-defying techniques that have been created throughout ninja history, and there might be a technique that manages to prolong one's own life.
The masked man didn't answer Minato; in fact, he outright ignored the latter and prepared himself for the upcoming fight. His weapon was a chain that connected to both of his arms.
Minato didn't feel anything after being ignored; instead, he studied the person in front of him more while at the same time bringing out his kunai and positioning himself in his battle stance.
"Are you... Madara Uchiha...?" Minato asks, while failing to hide his uncertainty.
Minato manages to arrive at this conclusion with the information he has right now, but he is also unable to fully believe the conclusion he arrives at.
"It doesn't matter who I am," the masked man said, deeply surprising Minato for a moment.
Minato didn't expect the masked man to talk with him thanks to the previous encounter. But Minato guesses the reason why the masked man decides to finally talk is due to the confidence the latter exudes at this moment.
"Now that I've freed the Nine-Tailed Fox, there's no hope for the Village Hidden in the Leaf," the masked man added.
Minato prepared himself to face the masked man. He knows he has to be quick and helps his comrades facing the Nine-Tailed Fox, but he also understands that he can't underestimate the enemy in front of him.
Minato and the masked man stared at each other intently. A leaf slowly falls towards the ground, and the moment the leaf touches the ground, both combatants dash towards each other.
The masked man launched a straight jab towards Minato's face but was redirected by Minato's own hands before launching his own counterattack by punching the masked man's head.
This attack was not only to deal with severe damages but also to tear down the mask and see the face behind it. Alas, Minato's punch was blocked by the masked man's palm.
Both combatants didn't use any techniques aside from the martial arts, and they exchanged blows one after another in rapid succession.
If anyone saw it, they might have thought that the two were currently sparring and practicing their own martial arts, enhancing their own mastery.