The sealing finished. The weakened Kushina gasped for breath.
"It actually worked!"
Hashirama, who was proficient in Yang Release and medical ninjutsu, quickly assessed Kushina's condition.
Though she was still extremely weak, her remaining life force had stopped draining away. Simply put—she wasn't going to die.
"Kushina, how are you feeling?"
"I'm... okay. I think... I'm not going to die!" Kushina sensed the seal within her body and her life force, responding with both exhaustion and elation.
"Really?!"
Tears welled up in Minato's eyes as overwhelming emotion flooded through him.
He'd been half a second away from completing those hand seals to re-seal the Nine-Tails and commit double suicide with Kushina.
Who could've imagined such a dramatic turnaround? Neither of them had to die!
And the solution was simply re-sealing the Nine-Tails back into Kushina's body. It—it was that simple?!
Those damn Jinchūriki from the other villages spreading misinformation all the time! They'd made him misjudge the situation completely! Made him think Jinchūriki definitely died when their Tailed Beast was extracted!
Seeing this scene, Tobirama was equally overjoyed.
But alongside his joy came deeper concerns.
He recalled what Kai had mentioned earlier about the "Tailed Beast Deterrence System" problem. An overly comfortable environment really had caused all of Konoha to stagnate!
After all these years, Konoha had simply treated Jinchūriki as Tailed Beast containers.
They neither actively researched them nor actively controlled them.
Even now, they didn't even know the critical intelligence that "re-sealing the Tailed Beast prevents the Jinchūriki's death."
What the hell has Monkey and his crew been doing all these years?!
A bunch of incompetent fools!
If Kai hadn't brought Big Brother and himself here, this Fourth Hokage couple would've died tonight.
Having a generation of Hokage die just to seal the Nine-Tails—how embarrassing would that be if word got out!
He and Big Brother left the Nine-Tails behind to help Konoha, so how did it end up becoming the source of disaster for the village instead?!
…
"Thank you! Sir, thank you for telling us!"
"And First Hokage, thank you for your help!"
"Thanks to you both, Kushina survived..."
Minato hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Kai and Hashirama with sincere appreciation. Otherwise, he really might have committed lover's suicide with Kushina tonight.
This was a genuine life-saving debt!
"Hahaha! It's nothing. You're both excellent shinobi of the village—you shouldn't have died here. That said, the Nine-Tails' power really is terrifyingly strong! Hahaha..."
Hashirama scratched his head with a goofy laugh.
Everyone else was left speechless, and suddenly felt just a tiny bit sorry for the Nine-Tails.
"But First Hokage, Second Hokage... why are you here?"
"Well, that's rather complicated to explain."
Both Hashirama and Tobirama looked toward Kai, seemingly consulting this mysterious god about whether they could reveal the truth to Minato.
But Kai said, "Fourth Hokage, send your wife and child back first. We'll explain the details after you return."
Minato glanced at the weakened Kushina and baby Naruto, his heart swelling with even more gratitude:
"Right, right! I'll be back very soon."
With that, he scooped up Kushina and Naruto and vanished in a flash of Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique).
…
"Sir, are we really allowed to freely interact with future shinobi?"
"It's fine. You can interact with some of the village's core figures, but it's best not to expose yourselves on a large scale. The time you can stay at this point in history is quite limited."
"Got it. Understood!"
Tobirama immediately grasped the meaning and already had a plan forming in his mind.
He then immediately turned and roared toward several figures in the distance:
"MONKEY! GET OVER HERE AND GET SCOLDED!"
At that moment—
With Minato's departure, the barrier gradually dissolved.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who'd been anxiously waiting outside the barrier, finally heard Tobirama's voice and sensed that familiar chakra signature.
This isn't a dream!
It really is the First and Second Hokage!
Even though he'd already guessed Hashirama's identity earlier when he saw Myōjinmon (Gate of the Great God) and Mokuton (Wood Style) effortlessly subdue the Nine-Tails—
After all, in the entire shinobi world, aside from the Uchiha, only the God of Shinobi possessed such overwhelming power.
But how did they come back to life?
Did Minato secretly perform Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu)? But he shouldn't have learned that forbidden technique! And reanimated shinobi couldn't possibly possess this level of power!
All of Sarutobi's many doubts were interrupted by Tobirama's scolding.
No helping it now.
He immediately ordered the nearby ANBU and shinobi under his direct command to stand back, then quickly leaped in front of the three.
"First Hokage! Second Hokage! It really is you!"
Sarutobi exclaimed, memories of bygone days flooding back involuntarily. His eyes began to sting with tears.
"Monkey, it really is you. You've aged so much!"
Tobirama was filled with emotion as well. After all, just an hour ago—from his perspective—he'd parted ways with Sarutobi and appointed him as the Third Hokage.
Now in the blink of an eye, he was seeing elderly Sarutobi decades later.
Truly surreal.
"Second Hokage, how are you here? Did someone use a forbidden jutsu to summon you?"
"Monkey, your perception has gotten dull! Does this body look like it's in a summoning state?"
"What?! Don't tell me... you've actually been resurrected? But that's—"
"We'll explain the specifics after the Fourth Hokage returns."
"But Monkey, how come you're the only one here? Where are Danzō and the others?"
"Danzō, Koharu, and the others should still be in the village directing rescue operations..." Sarutobi immediately explained.
"What about Kagami?"
The moment Tobirama asked about Uchiha Kagami, Sarutobi's heart lurched. Cold sweat began forming on his forehead.
"Kagami is dead?"
How could Sarutobi's hesitation escape Tobirama's notice? Tobirama instantly guessed the truth.
"Yes."
"How did he die?"
"Near the end of the First Shinobi World War, he died in battle while covering our retreat."
"Right after I stayed behind to face the Kinkaku Force?"
"Yes. We were pursued by other Cloud ninja during our retreat..."
Kagami's death really had been an accident.
He'd volunteered to stay behind as the rearguard.
Given the life-and-death bond between Danzō, Sarutobi, and Kagami at that time, there's no way they would've murdered a comrade.
Back then, Danzō hadn't deteriorated to the point of betraying his teammates. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even considered sacrificing himself to cover the retreat.
Though he ultimately failed to voice that decision out of fear, it still proved his determination and conviction at the time.
However—
After the war ended, when ANBU quietly retrieved and buried Kagami's body, they discovered his Sharingan had mysteriously "disappeared." Sarutobi had a pretty good idea who'd taken them.
That's also why Sarutobi seemed somewhat nervous when Tobirama asked about Kagami's situation.
"Desecrating a comrade's corpse" wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
And he'd enabled Danzō by tacitly concealing the matter all along.
Otherwise, the Uchiha would've raised hell long ago. After all, the Uchiha Clan had their own rules about collecting the "eyes" of fallen clan members. When Madara left Konoha back then, he'd taken a large number of Sharingan with him...
"I see!"
Tobirama nodded in understanding.
That explained everything.
No wonder Konoha was so wary of the Uchiha now, going so far as to order them not to intercept the Nine-Tails.
Given the Uchiha Clan's temperament, without Kagami serving as a high-ranking official in Konoha and acting as a mediator—
They really could drift further and further from the village.
Tobirama had always known there was a faction of radical hawks within the Uchiha who followed Madara, combined with the Uchiha's inherent personality issues.
Without someone to mediate and integrate them, something would inevitably go wrong!
It's just—
Tobirama never imagined Kagami would die so early!
This had completely disrupted his plans for managing and integrating the entire Uchiha Clan...
Still, now that he wasn't dead himself, and with access to information about the future—once he returned, he'd definitely be able to change this outcome!
…