c103: More Unbearable Than the Death of One's Father
"Si...Si Guoyi."
Seeing the colossal Nine-Tails vanish in an instant, a Konoha ninja couldn't help but gasp in disbelief, his face stunned.
The nearby shinobi echoed the sentiment. Truly, it was an overwhelming display of power. He was indeed the Yellow Flash worthy of the title of Hokage.
"Anbu, follow me."
"All other ninja are to tend to the wounded, search for survivors, and begin clearing the battlefield!"
"The threat hasn't fully passed. Remain vigilant!"
The Third Hokage, wielding his Adamantine Staff, barked orders with grim urgency.
"Yes, Sandaime-sama!"
Everyone quickly responded, galvanized into action.
"Sandaime-sama, wait." Uchiha Gen stepped forward quickly.
"What is it?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, already tense, replied a little sharply.
"Sandaime-sama, please take our Uchiha jōnin with you. We can synchronize our Sharingan to influence the Kyūbi for about one and a half seconds enough to help suppress or distract it," Gen said firmly.
Fugaku always lagged in decisive moments. This was yet another opportunity to build the clan's image before the entire village.
Every ninja here saw what happened. Eventually, so would all of Konoha how the Uchiha reacted in crisis.
After Minato declared the attacker might be connected to Uchiha Madara, this was the Uchiha clan's chance to show loyalty and bravery. No one could reasonably pin the attack on the Konoha Uchiha after this.
As long as Gen was here, the clan wouldn't fall not to internal traitors nor outside suspicion.
And of course, other political benefits went without saying.
Sarutobi looked at Gen with a flicker of surprise.
He had once dismissed the boy as another clan-bound Uchiha but clearly, at this crucial hour, Gen prioritized the Hokage and the village.
Knowing Fugaku, Hiruzen suspected he wouldn't have proposed this on his own. Could it have been Gen's idea?
Minato had told him once: it was Gen's suggestion that led both Shisui and Itachi to train under the Fourth Hokage and his squad. Now it made sense.
Gen, like Shisui, was an exceptional outlier—an Uchiha who might be worth cultivating.
Though he kept a calm demeanor, Hiruzen's tone softened.
"Will you be alright?"
Fugaku finally stepped forward. "Yes. We can do it."
"What about the rest of you?" Sarutobi asked.
"It is our duty to protect Konoha, Sandaime-sama!" Uchiha Shisui declared, his tone unwavering.
He had embraced his mentor Minato's beliefmthat the attacker was no ordinary rogue, but someone tied to Uchiha Madara's legacy.
And he wasn't wrong. Tobi really Obito had inherited Madara's ideology and eye, and even if the blood connection was distant, the spiritual legacy was real.
Minato's inference wasn't a miscalculation. It was an echo of the past repeating itself.
"I can still fight."
A second-stage Sharingan user wiped the blood from his eyes.
"Same here."
"Count me in."
The rest of the Uchiha jōnin quickly echoed their resolve.
The surrounding ninja were moved.
The Uchiha clan though often proud and temperamental—had proven dependable when it counted.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest swelled with something like hope. Maybe there was still a future where Uchiha and village could coexist.
"Very well. Follow me!"
"Let's move!"
He led his personal ANBU and the Uchiha vanguard in the direction where Minato had teleported the Nine-Tails beyond the village's edge.
Along the way, several ninja popped military ration pills to replenish chakra.
Other units obeyed orders and began to triage the battlefield.
…
Atop Konoha's rear mountains, Shimura Danzō stood frozen in shock.
What? Where was the Kyūbi?
Gone. Vanished. Without it, how was he to make a grand entrance, save the village, and demand restored authority?
After a beat, he snapped back and barked orders for his Root operatives to spread out and search for the Kyūbi's new location.
Root had fewer members than ANBU. As ANBU's secret extension, their formal deployment count was only one detachment seventeen ninja.
Even with overstaffing, Root had no more than two detachments at most.
And despite having sensory-nin among them, they couldn't locate the Kyūbi Minato had teleported it far to prevent collateral damage.
Sarutobi and his squad had to travel quite a distance before the giant beast came into view again.
By the time they arrived, the Kyūbi was already pinned ensnared by the crimson glow of Kushina Uzumaki's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
The barrier created by her chakra-linked sealing formation was formidable, enclosing the Nine-Tails completely. While the chains restrained the beast physically, the sealing barrier repelled interference from both man and beast.
Even touching it could harm Kushina or weaken her chakra, risking the Nine-Tails' escape.
Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived first. As Gen, Fugaku, Shisui, and elite ANBU caught up, their eyes widened at the sight before them.
Minato stood atop the seal, hands weaving hand signs.the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
"That's the…!"
"Soul-reaping seal…" Sarutobi Hiruzen muttered, stunned.
"Sandaime-sama, what technique is that?" asked Fugaku, eyes locked on the eerie figure behind Minato the shinigami, robed in white, rosary necklace dangling, kunai in its teeth, purple sash aglow.
All ears turned to the elder.
"It's an S-rank fūinjutsu from the Uzumaki clan."
"A forbidden technique that summons the Reaper to seal a soul, sacrificing the user's life in return," Sarutobi said, a shadow over his face.
"What?" Fugaku blurted, heart dropping.
So Minato was going to die?
The Uchiha had finally built a connection to the Hokage through students, slowly breaking the image of isolation. Now their hope Minato was about to vanish before their eyes.
If another Hokage came to power, the future might not favor the clan so readily.
Fugaku clenched his fists. Minato-sama… this was too hasty.
We might've still helped! Why rush into death alone?
His anguish ran deeper than when he lost his own father.
The other shinobi were similarly shaken.
Uchiha Gen clenched his jaw. So, Minato still walked the same doomed path.
But what about Kushina?
Was she… also planning to reseal the Nine-Tails within herself?
He had warned them… and yet…
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