As Kushina was engulfed by the Nine-Tails' chakra, the red torii gate that had been suppressing it instantly collapsed.
Freed from its restraints, the Nine-Tails rose to its full height, shock flashing through its crimson eyes.
It had never expected Kushina—who had always feared its power—to dare accept its chakra so directly.
Because of the seal, it was usually extremely difficult for the Nine-Tails to influence her.
At most, it could only exert a faint pull when her emotions spiraled out of control, briefly seizing command of her body.
Even then, that level of power was quickly suppressed by Konoha's ninja. But this time was different.
"Hate… destroy… annihilate everything in the Konoha!" The Nine-Tails' voice thundered through the sealing space.
Kushina, now in direct contact with the Nine-Tails' chakra, had completely lost her reason, allowing the beast to unleash far more of its power.
With Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara long gone, there was no one in the Konoha it truly feared anymore.
This time, it would overturn Konoha entirely.
---
In the real world.
All the Anbu ninja tasked with monitoring Kushina had already appeared.
Watching Kushina—her entire body wrapped in violent red chakra, three massive tails already formed behind her—they were overwhelmed with tension.
"Kushina! Calm down immediately!" The Anbu captain shouted, desperately trying to awaken her remaining sanity.
But it was useless. In this state, Kushina could no longer hear him at all.
Instead, she locked onto him as a target. With a violent swing of her tail, she attacked at terrifying speed.
Even a single tail carried monstrous power.
An ordinary ninja would have been crushed instantly! But the Anbu captain was no ordinary ninja.
As a Jonin, he reacted immediately, vanishing with a Body Flicker and narrowly evading the strike.
Still, beneath his mask, his expression was grim. Because among the three tails writhing behind Kushina, a fourth was slowly beginning to take shape.
"Quick—activate a barrier jutsu immediately!"
At his command, the other Anbu ninja scattered around Kushina, forming hand seals in unison.
A green barrier instantly rose, enclosing her within it. This was the same method they had always used in the past whenever Kushina lost control.
They would imprison her first, then find a way to calm her down afterward.
"It's good that she's contained—" Before the Anbu ninja could finish speaking, a sound like shattering glass rang out.
Crack! Kushina, now fully entering her Four-Tails state, shattered the barrier jutsu with brute force. Bang!
"How is that possible?!"
"She destroyed the barrier we created together!"
"With only four tails… how terrifying would the full Nine-Tails be?!"
Horror spread across their faces.
Looking at Kushina, completely consumed by the Nine-Tails' chakra, a chilling sense of death crept into their hearts.
And yet, not a single one of them fled.
This was the Senju Clan Compound.
If the rampaging Nine-Tails were allowed to escape from here, the entire Konoha would be plunged into disaster.
"No matter what, we cannot let the Nine-Tails leave this place!" The Anbu captain's voice rang out, firm and resolute.
Within the dense Four-Tails chakra, Kushina's human form was no longer visible. Her entire body had become a mass of dark red energy.
Calling it the Nine-Tails itself would not have been an exaggeration.
As his voice fell, the Anbu captain charged forward, attacking without hesitation. The other Anbu followed closely behind.
But before an overwhelming difference in power, their efforts were no more than throwing eggs at a rock.
In the original era, Naruto Uzumaki—while in his Four-Tails state—had been able to contend with Orochimaru, one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin.
And Naruto only possessed half of the Nine-Tails.
Kushina, however, contained the complete Nine-Tails. In the same Four-Tails state, her power was far greater.
In the blink of an eye—
Every Anbu ninja was severely wounded. Even the Anbu captain was sent crashing to the ground.
"Damn it… is there really no way…?!" Ignoring his roar, the Nine-Tails began to condense chakra.
A Tailed Beast Bomb formed before it.
And its target was not the Anbu; it was Konoha itself, beyond the Senju Clan Compound.
Compared to the insignificant insects before it, the Nine-Tails loathed the entire Konoha far more.
After finally breaking free, if it couldn't unleash enough destruction, how could it possibly vent its hatred?
Despair filled everyone's faces.
Boom! The Tailed Beast Bomb detonated.
A terrifying shockwave tore through the area, nearly blowing the already-injured Anbu off their feet.
The Senju Clan Compound suffered devastating damage. Entire rows of buildings collapsed, crumbling into dust.
And this was only a casually fired Tailed Beast Bomb.
The destruction it caused was already this horrifying. If the Nine-Tails were to fully manifest, the Konoha would not be able to withstand it at all.
"Leave this to me. All of you, retreat immediately!" At that moment, a blue-haired figure wearing sunglasses appeared before the wounded Anbu.
It was Aoshi.
At the same time, he felt a deep sense of relief.
Relief that after finishing grading the papers, he had decided to visit Kushina—and had headed straight for the Senju Clan Compound.
Because of that decision, he arrived in time. Just in time to stop the Nine-Tails from destroying Konoha.
"It's Lord Aoshi!"
"Thank goodness—Lord Aoshi is here!"
The moment Aoshi appeared, every Anbu ninja showed expressions of relief, as if they had narrowly escaped death. Without hesitation, they quickly retreated to a safe distance.
At the same time, the Anbu captain noticed a vast purple barrier rising around the Senju Clan Compound.
"That's… the Four Violet Flames Formation!" His tone was filled with shock.
Although the Four Violet Flames Formation did not require four Kage-level experts like the Four Red Yang Formation, it still normally demanded the cooperation of four Jonin.
Yet Aoshi had cast it alone—using nothing more than four shadow clones. And the barrier was powerful enough to completely block the Nine-Tails' attacks.
Just how strong had Lord Aoshi become? Even this casual display of strength left the Anbu captain, himself a Jonin, utterly astonished.
Outside the Senju Clan Compound, Sarutobi Hiruzen also arrived.
He had been handling official affairs in the Hokage's office when he suddenly sensed an ominous, overwhelming chakra.
In an instant, he realized—The Nine-Tails had gone berserk.
And not just any rampage. This one was far more terrifying than before.
Otherwise, he would never have sensed the Nine-Tails' chakra from so far away.
Without sparing a moment to consider the cause, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately mobilized Anbu forces and rushed over.
But by the time he arrived, he was stopped by the Four Violet Flames Formation.
"Aoshi, what's the situation?" he called out.
Although he was equally shocked that Aoshi could deploy the Four Violet Flames Formation with only shadow clones, the Nine-Tails was the priority right now.
Hiruzen could restrain his surprise. The Anbu accompanying him could not.
"He used the Four Violet Flames Formation by himself?!"
"Is this really Lord Aoshi's current strength? This is unbelievable!"
"It's a good thing Lord Aoshi is on our side… If he were our enemy, it would be pure despair!"
One by one, their gazes filled with awe as they looked toward Aoshi. They had always known he was powerful—but they had never truly understood what that meant.
This scene finally gave them a concrete answer. Conservatively speaking, Aoshi alone was already stronger than at least five Jonin.
Ignoring the reactions of the Anbu, Aoshi's shadow clone spoke calmly to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"It's under control. My main body has already entered."
"Fortunately, this happened inside the Senju Clan Compound, so there have been no casualties. I'll deal with the Nine-Tails as quickly as possible."
Hearing Aoshi's composed assurance, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt his tension ease significantly.
Aoshi—who had defeated the Seven-Tails in single combat—should indeed be capable of handling the rampaging Nine-Tails.
"Good. Then I'll leave it to you," Hiruzen said solemnly.
Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, Aoshi's main body stood face to face with the Nine-Tails.
"Honestly… I was planning to spend some quiet time with you today, and this is how it turned out," Aoshi said calmly.
His voice seemed to pierce through the violent chakra, restoring a sliver of Kushina's awareness beneath the Nine-Tails' influence.
But in her current condition, there was no way for her to return to normal on her own.
Roar! Another Tailed Beast Bomb was launched, hurtling straight toward Aoshi.
Having lived in the Konoha for decades, the Nine-Tails possessed deep knowledge of ninja techniques.
It understood one thing clearly—
It had to eliminate this human first before continuing its destruction.
Facing the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb, Aoshi remained unhurried. With a single hand sign, he unleashed Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!
A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, colliding head-on with the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Boom!
A violent explosion tore through the area, the ground cracking like shattered glass.
Immediately afterward, Aoshi formed another single-handed sign.
Water Style: Six Water Dragon Bullets!
Six enormous water dragons materialized, roaring as they surged toward the Nine-Tails.
"He's using such high-level ninjutsu with only one hand sign!" The Anbu observing from afar were completely stunned.
If it were any of them, they would have been overwhelmed instantly. Yet the Nine-Tails' hide was unbelievably tough.
It took the attack head-on—without suffering even the slightest injury.
What followed was a ferocious battle.
Under the shocked gazes of the Anbu, Aoshi and the Nine-Tails clashed head-on—and Aoshi did not fall behind.
It was simply inhuman. So overwhelming that words failed them.
"As expected of the Nine-Tails," Aoshi said calmly. After that brief remark, he stopped holding back.
If this continued, the entire Senju Clan Compound would be reduced to ruins.
From his earlier exchanges, Aoshi had already accurately determined the level of force needed to subdue the Nine-Tails without inflicting fatal harm on Kushina.
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Hundreds of Aoshi's shadow clones appeared at once, each forming a Big Ball Rasengan.
They surged forward simultaneously, slamming into the Nine-Tails.
Although the Nine-Tails immediately counterattacked, destroying many of the clones, it could not evade the barrage that followed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chain of deafening explosions rocked the battlefield, the ground trembling violently. Thick clouds of dust filled the air, completely obscuring vision.
Using this moment, Aoshi swiftly executed a sealing technique. The Nine-Tails' chakra that had been corroding Kushina was sealed directly into a scroll.
With his top-tier talent in sealing techniques—and his training under Mito Uzumaki—this process was effortless.
As the Nine-Tails' chakra was sealed away, Kushina finally regained consciousness. She was incredibly weak, but her first reaction was immediate remorse.
"I'm sorry, Aoshi…" Kushina knew she had been far too impulsive this time. She had nearly caused an irreparable disaster.