Chapter 153 – Tell Minato, Our Child's Name Is Naruto
The moon hung in the sky, black clouds drifting ominously, and the wind howled through the darkness.
In Konoha, atop the Hokage Rock, Uchiha Obito appeared silently.
He had already searched the entire village but found no trace of Uzumaki Kushina.
What intrigued him even more was that his former teacher, Namikaze Minato, was not in the village.
Neither was Uchiha Dali.
With the village's top combat power absent, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"If Kushina isn't in the village, then that means… my judgment was correct."
Once again, he activated Kamui and vanished.
When he reappeared, Obito was outside the village, inside the barrier protecting the location where Kushina was about to give birth.
The barrier team instantly detected the intruder.
They immediately reported the situation to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Shisui.
As the reinforcements rushed over, Obito had already begun to act against the laboring Kushina.
After swiftly eliminating all the Anbu guards, he didn't hesitate to kill Biwako Sarutobi, the midwife assisting the delivery.
Standing before the struggling Kushina, Obito looked down at the wife of his former mentor—a woman once known for her sincere and passionate nature—with eyes as cold as ice.
"Who are you?!"
Seeing a stranger by her side, Kushina instantly became alert and shouted in alarm.
But she was in the critical moment of labor. She couldn't stand, her body was extremely weak, and she couldn't even muster a tenth of her usual strength.
"So it's true that Jinchūriki become weak during childbirth," Obito said coldly.
"Who are you?!" Kushina demanded again.
But Obito didn't answer. Instead, he directly began to undo the seal containing the Nine-Tails.
At that moment, the Nine-Tails—long sealed within her and already itching for a chance to escape—responded to Obito's summon and was released.
"Summoning Technique!"
With a flash, Obito summoned the freed Nine-Tails directly into Konoha.
Tonight, the Nine-Tails would go on a rampage.
If all went according to plan, the village would be plunged into chaos and destruction. Konoha's combat strength would collapse overnight.
Uchiha Dali alone wouldn't be able to stop his plan.
As the Nine-Tails' chakra was forcefully extracted, Kushina's life force rapidly faded.
In her panic and desperation, she gave birth to baby Naruto.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Shisui, who were leading reinforcements, immediately noticed the disturbance coming from the village.
A deafening roar from a beast shook both earth and sky.
They could already see the towering figure, massive as a mountain.
"Oh no! It's the Nine-Tails!!"
"The worst-case scenario… it's actually happened!!"
Hiruzen instantly recognized the Nine-Tails.
His face changed dramatically, and his eyes filled with heavy dread.
"Shisui, go check on Kushina. I'll take care of the village!"
"You three, go with Shisui! The rest, come with me!"
At this critical moment, Hiruzen made a swift decision.
With the Nine-Tails unleashed, Kushina's situation was likely dire.
The top priority now was to stop the rampaging beast.
If they let it run wild, Konoha would be dragged into a hellish nightmare.
"Understood!"
Shisui didn't dare delay. With three Anbu in tow, he sped toward the barrier where Kushina was.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, led the remaining Anbu toward the village.
However, by the time Shisui arrived, it was already too late.
Kushina was on the verge of death.
The area was littered with the corpses of Anbu. Even Hiruzen's wife, Biwako Sarutobi, lay in a pool of blood.
"Lady Kushina?!"
Shisui rushed to her side.
"Quick, treat her!"
Though he knew full well that a Jinchūriki couldn't survive once their tailed beast was extracted, Shisui still ordered the nearby Anbu to try.
"It's no use."
"Don't waste your chakra…"
Kushina stopped them. Shaking her head with great effort, she said weakly to Shisui, "The enemy… wore a black cloak… and a strange mask…"
"My baby… is in his hands…"
She described everything she had seen—Obito's figure, appearance, and other details.
Upon hearing this, Shisui turned to the three Anbu and ordered, "Stay here. I'll go after him!"
With that, he activated his Body Flicker Technique and vanished.
"Lady Kushina, please hold on. We'll get you help right away…"
One of the Anbu knelt beside her, trying to offer comfort as her life force dwindled.
A single tear slid down Kushina's cheek, but there was a soft smile on her lips. "I really am a terrible mom… I didn't even get to hold you properly."
"Tell Minato… tell him… our child's name is Naruto."
...
At that moment, Uchiha Dali still had no idea Konoha had been attacked.
He was still in the middle of negotiating with the Five-Tails' Jinchūriki.
Unsurprisingly, the negotiations had reached a deadlock. Even after explaining his intentions, the other side wasn't convinced.
"That crap about saving the world coming from a Konoha shinobi—who's going to believe that?"
"As far as I'm concerned, all of you are demons. If not for your village, the ninja world would be far more peaceful."
As Han spoke, steam began to rise from his body.
Rōshi, standing behind Uchiha Dali, quietly warned, "His Steam Taijutsu isn't something to take lightly. Be careful."
Hearing this, Han's expression darkened. "So, you've really betrayed Iwagakure. I don't know why you're trusting this Konoha brat's lies, but I guess I'll just have to take both of you out."
"If you can even beat him," Rōshi muttered, stepping aside with a helpless shrug.
His gaze toward Han was filled with sympathy.
Before fighting Uchiha Dali himself, he'd been just as confident—thinking there was no way some punk from Konoha could defeat him.
He'd been completely wrong.
If Dali hadn't shown mercy, he'd be long dead by now.
"Don't make me sound so scary—I'm really quite friendly," Dali said as he turned to Rōshi, hands raised in mock protest.
"Now's my chance!"
Seeing Dali drop his guard, Han launched his attack.