Minato slowly opened his black eyes and looked at the face before him—unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar.
"Are you... Kiyosuke?" he asked cautiously.
"Yes, Minato. The situation is urgent, there's no time to explain. We need to seal the First and Second Hokage!" Kiyosuke replied.
"The First Hokage? The Second?" Minato turned his head and saw Orochimaru and the Senju brothers standing on the rooftop.
"You actually managed to break the Dead Demon Consuming Seal? Is this the Edo Tensei?"
He had thought the Dead Demon Consuming Seal was the most forbidden of forbidden techniques—essentially impossible to undo. Yet Kiyosuke had not only broken it, but used another forbidden jutsu, the Edo Tensei, to bring him back.
"So that's what happened... Then... Kakashi, and... Naruto? Are they here too?"
His gaze fell on the blond-haired boy, and Minato's expression softened instantly, his eyes full of affection for his son.
"Is that the Fourth Hokage?" Hashirama asked curiously, studying Minato. Just moments ago they had been talking about him—who would've thought he'd be revived in the next moment?
"Looks like... he hasn't figured out what's going on yet."
Tobirama was still resisting the control, his brow tightly furrowed. His older brother was still holding on, but he was slowly starting to attack Kiyosuke. If the Fourth joined the fight, perhaps they could win. After all, if he had been able to seal the Nine-Tails, he clearly possessed powerful sealing techniques. Maybe they could seal him and Hashirama both. As for Sarutobi... he didn't look like he could hold out much longer.
Minato approached Naruto and gently asked,
"Are you Naruto?"
"I-I am... Namikaze Naruto!"
Naruto hesitated for a moment before answering loudly.
"Uzumaki, huh..."
Minato paused. He had thought the village would give Naruto Kushina's surname. It must've been Kiyosuke who pushed for the name Namikaze. Otherwise, the village never would've allowed a jinchūriki to share a surname with the Fourth Hokage.
He ruffled Naruto's hair and said, full of guilt,
"Sorry, Naruto. It must've been hard all this time."
Minato knew exactly how painful life as a jinchūriki could be—he had walked with Kushina through those difficult years.
"No, Kiyosuke-san has been really good to me! I have lots of friends, and he even found me a brother and a cousin!"
Naruto held back tears that were about to spill. He didn't want to cry in front of the father he had idolized since he was a child. Instead, he gave a sunny smile—one that only deepened Minato's guilt.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. Papa has to go fight now. Watch closely—see how brave your father can be!"
In an instant, golden chakra surged from his body. Black markings spread across his skin, his hair rose like flames, and his previously blue eyes turned into orange-red vertical pupils.
"So cool!"
Naruto's eyes sparkled. Sasuke and Sakura, standing nearby, were stunned by the transformation.
"So this is the power of the Fourth Hokage?" Sasuke murmured.
"Sensei's power..."
Inside Naruto's mind, the Nine-Tails roared in rage.
"Damn you, Fourth Hokage! You've already taken control of half of me? Damn it—this cursed cage!!!"
It slammed its claws against the bars of the seal, but no matter how hard it struck, it couldn't break through.
...
Up on the rooftop, Orochimaru's face turned dark. Minato had been revived... and was using power he technically didn't even possess. This caught him completely off guard.
The Senju brothers, however, were surprisingly familiar with this form.
"Ohhh! That's Mito's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode... though it looks a bit different," Hashirama said.
His wife, Uzumaki Mito, had immense chakra—second only to himself—and wielded the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques passed down through generations. She could suppress the Nine-Tails and draw on its chakra easily. But Minato's form seemed slightly different. Was it because the user was different?
Tobirama added,
"The Fourth died sealing the Nine-Tails, right? If he used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, then his soul should be in the Shinigami's belly. So he managed to tame the Nine-Tails just as a soul? No... wait. That kid—he's got the Nine-Tails' chakra in his body. Ah, I see. He split the Nine-Tails in two?"
Tobirama focused his senses. Sure enough, inside the blond-haired boy was a raging, terrifying chakra—clearly the Nine-Tails'. With that much information, it was easy to deduce: before his death, the Fourth had split the Nine-Tails into two halves. One sealed inside the child, and the other taken into the Shinigami's stomach.
Tobirama couldn't help but admire Minato's cleverness.
It did weaken the Nine-Tails' power, but also made it easier to control.
From what he had heard just now, Minato had done it all... for his son.
The Fourth Hokage truly was a remarkable man.
What a shame he died so young. If only...
...
"You two, enough talk! Attack!"
Orochimaru, hearing Tobirama's analysis, knew he couldn't delay any longer. He strengthened his control and forced them to begin their assault.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Tobirama unleashed a torrent of fierce water, while branches burst from Hashirama's arm—lush and dense—sweeping toward the enemy.
"Fighting the two great predecessors... this is a unique experience!"
A massive chakra hand stretched from Minato's back and grabbed the wood branches, yanking them hard. He flung Hashirama into Tobirama's water stream, which blasted through his body.
Kiyosuke immediately followed up, landing a powerful kick that sent Hashirama crashing into the building.
He threw a custom kunai near Tobirama's feet and, in the next second, appeared right in front of him. A blue sphere formed in his palm.
"Rasengan!"
The Rasengan slammed into Tobirama's chest, drilling through and leaving a hollow hole.
"Kiyosuke!"
"Here!"
Kiyosuke caught the still-reforming Hashirama, leaping toward Minato.
Minato extended two chakra hands—one grabbed Kiyosuke and Hashirama, the other reached toward the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who was fighting Hiruzen Sarutobi. With Tobirama still in hand, Minato vanished from the rooftop along with everyone.
...
Outskirts of Konoha
Minato brought them all to a clearing outside the village. Hashirama and Tobirama broke free from the chakra hands and leapt away, but Rasa was completely powerless—he could only await his sealing.
"Flying Thunder God, huh? You're fast, Fourth."
Tobirama couldn't help but praise him. In terms of sheer speed, Minato might even surpass him.
"To be praised by the creator of the technique himself—what an honor!" Minato smiled, then said,
"Now, Kiyosuke and I will have to fight you, Second Hokage. I'm sorry... but this is for the village."
"No worries. Being surpassed by future generations is only natural. Hahaha! With people like you, Konoha will surely know peace again! Hahahahaha!"
Hashirama was incredibly optimistic, accepting the situation with ease.
That is... if only he hadn't just formed a hand sign...
"Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
"Wood Style: Wood Human Jutsu!"
In an instant, a towering wood humanoid and a giant dragon erupted from the ground beside him.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo