The 10th of July, Konoha, Year 40
It had been two years since Kushina first accessed the Nine-Tails' power and stepped into her Initial Tailed Beast Form. Since then, her strength and control had only deepened.
Now, she could manifest up to six chakra tails, each amplifying her power exponentially. The only people capable of standing against her were the Five Kages and perfect Jinchūriki, though only one such Jinchūriki was active, and he was still too young to pose a real challenge.
If she were fully grown, even six tails would make her more than a match for the Kages. But at nearly fourteen, still growing and refining her skills, her Initial Tailed Beast Form simply boosted her existing abilities. She was already strong enough to overwhelm elite Jonin with ease, when you don't consider the Initial Tailed Beast Form.
Yet today, she had abandoned her rigorous training. After all, it was her birthday, her fourteenth, one step closer to adulthood.
Technically, adulthood began once a student graduated from the Ninja Academy and became a Genin, but among civilians, the age of fifteen was the marker. Few truly regarded someone as an adult before then, even for a ninja.
Still, Kushina preferred a quiet celebration. No extravagant party, just a few friends gathered for dinner.
With that, she made her way to the barbecue restaurant she had chosen earlier, anticipation growing with every step. The tantalizing aroma of grilled meats and spices wafted toward her, stirring memories of simpler times. It had been far too long since she had eaten out.
At the entrance stood six familiar faces: Sakumo, Hana, Kakashi, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Minato.
Though she was not particularly close to many in the village, she considered each of them a friend. Tsunade was one of her last remaining family members, though more Senju than Uzumaki. Sakumo was her teacher, and through him, she had come to know his family. Minato and Jiraiya were her usual mission partners, so she had also gotten closer to them.
"Happy birthday!" they all said in unison.
A small warmth blossomed inside her chest as she replied quietly, "Thank you."
Sakumo stepped forward, voice calm and steady. "We've already made reservations. They're ready to seat us."
"Great," Kushina smiled, the corners of her mouth lifting.
Together, they entered the restaurant.
The place was upscale, usually reserved for the Hokage, elite Jonin, or wealthy merchants. Kushina thought it fitting. This birthday deserved something special. After all... it would be her last spent in Konoha.
With her power growing, in another year, she could leave the village safely. Alone, she would be a formidable deterrent, strong enough to rebuild the Uzumaki legacy.
The waitress approached then, her voice polite and clear. "These are your seats. I'll return shortly to take your orders."
Kushina slid into her seat as the others gathered around the table. The warm scent of grilled meat and wood smoke mingled with the soft murmur of other diners, but what settled over her was the familiar comfort of friendly faces.
Sakumo smiled, his voice gentle but steady like a steady hand on a rough day. "Fourteen years already, huh? You're growing up fast. Almost makes me feel old."
Kushina smiled back, warmth flickering in her chest. "Yeah, time flies. Almost old enough to finally beat you at something, Sensei."
Sakumo chuckled. "I'll believe it when I see it."
Hana, sitting beside Sakumo, nudged Kushina lightly. "You picked a nice place for your birthday. Fancy enough to make you feel special, but not too stiff."
Kushina shrugged, glancing around. "It's a nice change of pace. Usually, I'm too busy training or on missions. Thought I'd treat myself this year."
Jiraiya leaned back in his chair with a teasing grin. "Training, missions... Do you ever rest? Even Minato doesn't try this hard. You're making the rest of us look bad."
Kushina laughed softly. "Don't flatter me, Pervy Sage. I have my bad days."
He immediately burst into outrage, while everyone laughed.
Minato, quietly sipping his tea, gave her a small smile. "You've worked hard. You deserve to relax a bit."
Kakashi, almost four years old, sat in a booster seat next to Hana, his eyes wide as he observed the adults. He didn't say much, but the occasional tilt of his head or small smile showed he was enjoying himself.
Hana reached over to ruffle his hair. "Kakashi, remember to say 'thank you' when the food comes, okay?"
Kakashi nodded seriously. "Thank you."
Tsunade, sitting across from Kushina, gave a small smile and folded her arms. "So, any plans for after dinner? More training? Trying to sneak in some extra missions on your birthday?"
Kushina grinned. "Nope. Today's a break. Maybe just relax and eat too much."
Sakumo shook his head, amused. "You're getting older, but some things don't change."
Hana smiled warmly. "You know, Kushina, birthdays are about more than just the food or the gifts. It's about the people who care enough to be here."
Kushina glanced around the table and felt a quiet sense of gratitude. "I'm glad you're all here. It means a lot."
Jiraiya leaned forward with a sly grin. "Speaking of gifts, I was going to get you a book on ninja tactics, but I figured you'd just charge straight at your enemy anyway."
Minato laughed softly. "Careful, sensei, she might beat you up one of these days."
Kushina smiled at them both. "You two never change."
Kakashi suddenly piped up, eyes shining. "Kushina-neechan, can I have some meat, please?"
Everyone turned toward the little boy. Hana smiled and reached for his hand. "Of course, Kakashi. It's a celebration after all."
Kushina ruffled his hair gently. "You'll get the best bites, little guy."
Sakumo leaned back in his chair, watching the group with a quiet satisfaction. "This is what it's all about, good food, good friends."
Tsunade nodded thoughtfully. "Whenever life keeps throwing challenges at us, moments like this remind me why we keep going."
Kushina felt a lump in her throat but smiled. "I know what you mean. Sometimes it's hard to see the good when there's so much… darkness."
Minato's voice was calm and steady. "That's why we need each other. To remind us there's light, even in the hardest times."
Jiraiya lifted his glass. "Here's to more birthdays, more friends, and more reasons to smile."
They all raised their glasses in a quiet toast.
The waitress appeared then, interrupting their moment with menus and a soft, "Are you ready to order?"
Kushina glanced down the table, meeting each of their eyes before she spoke. "Let's order everything that looks good. It's my birthday, after all."
Laughter bubbled around the table, easy and warm.
As the food arrived, the conversation drifted to missions, training mishaps, and memories of times they'd shared.
Sakumo told a story about a mission gone sideways. Hana chimed in with a few motherly warnings about taking care of oneself in battle.
Tsunade shared a quiet smile, watching Kushina with a sisterly pride. "You're stronger than you know."
Kushina felt a rush of warmth that had nothing to do with the spicy food. "Thanks, Tsunade."
Kakashi yawned suddenly, leaning against Hana, his eyelids drooping. "Too much fun," he murmured.
Hana smiled gently. "Time to rest, little one."
Minato nodded. "Yeah, early night for the future Hokage."
Jiraiya grinned. "Don't let him fool you. He's already sneaking off for secret training sessions."
Kushina shook her head with a laugh.
The evening waned gently. No grand speeches, no elaborate celebrations, just a simple gathering of people who cared, sharing stories, laughter, and the quiet promise of the days to come. Although the moment was sweet, Kushina had a somewhat bitter taste in her mouth.
It was then that an ANBU agent appeared in the doorway, his porcelain mask shaped like a hawk's beak.
"Lord Sakumo," the agent said curtly, "the Hokage requests your presence."
Sakumo's brows drew together. "Is it urgent?"
"Yes, sir. The Hokage needs you without delay."
For the briefest moment, Sakumo hesitated, eyes flickering between Kushina and the masked operative. Then, with a reluctant sigh, he rose to his feet. "Sorry, Kushina. Duty calls."
Kushina forced a small smile, but a prickle of unease coiled in her gut. The ANBU's tone was crisp and professional, but beneath it, she could sense a faint, buried malice. It was strange. ANBU were the most informed shinobi in Konoha; they should have the least reason to fear or despise her. Ignorant civilians fearmongered, but the ANBU? They knew the reality of a Jinchūriki.
Something was wrong.
"It's alright," she said lightly, standing from her seat. "I should be heading out anyway. It's getting late."
The others exchanged glances, mild surprise on some faces, but none protested. They saw her off with casual farewells, the evening's warmth still lingering in the air.
But the moment she stepped beyond the populated streets, the atmosphere changed. A sudden pressure settled on her senses, heavy and sharp. She could feel twenty-five distinct presences, encircling her from rooftops and alleys. This wasn't the wary unease of civilians, but the focused malice of shinobi.
Her pulse quickened.
Then, as if to confirm her worry, Sakumo appeared in her path. He looked… uneasy. Too uneasy for this to be routine.
"The Hokage requests your presence," he said.
Every warning bell in her mind went off at once. Surrounded by high-level shinobi. A direct order from the Hokage without explanation. This wasn't merely a summons.
She narrowed her eyes. "What does that old man want?" The bite in her tone was deliberate, a mask to hide the twist in her gut.
"I can't tell you," Sakumo replied. His voice was steady, but there was a note of regret buried in it.
Her gaze sharpened. "And if I say no?"
Sakumo's jaw tightened. "Then we've been authorized to use force."
There it was, the confirmation she didn't want but had expected. So… the old man had decided to make his move. Her mind raced. She had been careful over the past two years. Missions completed without complaint. No signs of dissent. She had even made a few friends here in the village, though she did so knowing she would have to leave.
But ultimately, it didn't matter. She had prepared for this day.
A deep, ominous pulse echoed from within her. Dark red chakra bled into the air, the sheer pressure of it prickling the skin of every shinobi present. Even the veterans among the ANBU stiffened, struggling to stand their ground. The killing intent wrapped within it gnawed at their composure.
Sakumo's eyes widened, a rare flicker of shock breaking his usually impassive face.
The chakra didn't just roll off her- it took form. A humanoid frame towered around her, molten gold eyes glaring from a fox-shaped visage, two sharp ears standing tall, six long tails fanning out behind her.
"You've mastered this much of the Nine-Tails' power?!" Sakumo's voice carried a mix of disbelief and concern.
He thought that he, as her sensei, would know the most about her abilities. This only caused his face to darken more. If she were hiding this much, what else was there?
Kushina's hand tightened around the haft of her scythe, a weapon she never went anywhere without. In the blink of an eye, she moved, the world around her blurring. She was on him, the scythe's curved blade screaming toward his neck.
The Elite Jonins present couldn't even perceive her movement, but Sakumo was no mere Jonin.
The White Fang met her head-on, his short sword flashing to intercept. The clash rang out like a bell, the shockwave rattling the ANBU watching from the shadows.
"We need reinforcements!" Sakumo barked between blows. "Call the Sannin and the Hokage now!"
He barely had time to finish before she was on him again, her speed spiking in a burst of raw power. This time, she slipped past his guard, driving a kick into his chest. The impact hurled him through the wall of a nearby building, debris crashing down around him.
She didn't waste the opening.
Jonin-level ANBU dropped in around her, but they might as well have been fresh genin for all the good it did them. She carved her way through with ruthless efficiency, no hesitation and no mercy. Their blood slicked the cobblestones in her wake as she sprinted toward the looming cliff of the Hokage's rock.
By the time she reached it, the village's elite had arrived. Orochimaru's cold presence, Jiraiya's heavy footsteps, the steady pressure of Sakumo closing in again, and the unmistakable weight of the Hokage himself. All of them stood below her, unwilling to underestimate her now.
She stood on the narrow ledge beside a small switch set into the rock's face, the village sprawling out below in the moonlight.
The four men fanned out in a loose half-circle, with grim faces. Each for different reasons.
Jiraiya's brows were knitted in confusion and alarm. "What are you doing, Kushina? You think you can just tear through the village like this and walk away?"
Orochimaru tilted his head slightly, golden eyes narrowing with predatory curiosity. "Interesting… so this is the full extent of your progress. I'd heard whispers, but seeing it in person…" His lips curled into a faint smile. "It makes me want to test it."
Hiruzen stepped forward, voice low but hard. "You've gone too far. Stand down now, and we can still resolve this without further damage."
She let the fox-shaped chakra head fade away, revealing her real face. Cold and calm, though her eyes were burning with emotion. Then his question seemed to ignite something within her, and the calm shattered into a snarl.
"Resolve this?! You mean bury it, just like you've buried everything else in this rotten village?!"
Sakumo's grip on his blade tightened, but he didn't speak.
Her voice rose, venom in every word. "Ever since I came here, this place has done nothing but tear me down. The disdainful looks of the villagers, the isolation from my classmates, the endless games the higher-ups play. You-" she jabbed a finger at Hiruzen "-let Danzo leak my status to the whole village to control me. You stood by when Uzushio fell! You let my home burn!"
"This village is rotting from the inside out with leaders like you!"
"Enough," Hiruzen said, the command in his voice like steel. "If you will not come willingly-"
"-Then you'll have to make me!"
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Sakumo, and Hiruzen formed a wall before the mounted switch. Even without speaking, they moved as one, their intent clear: she would not get past.
Her first step was an explosion of motion, the ground cracking beneath her feet as she swung her scythe in a murderous arc at Hiruzen. He intercepted with his adamantium staff, but the impact sent hairline fractures down his arms.
Sakumo struck next, closing the gap in a blink, his short sword flashing for her shoulder. She caught the blade in her bare hand, her chakra cloak harder than stone, but before she could counter, Orochimaru's shadow surged forward, snakes lashing from his sleeves to coil around her legs.
A blast of wind from Jiraiya slammed into her chest, forcing her back a step. Hiruzen followed up immediately, his staff lengthening and sweeping at her knees. She vaulted over it, twisting midair, and snapped her heel toward Jiraiya's head. He ducked, barely, feeling the air shudder above him.
"Stay on her!" Hiruzen barked.
Sakumo blurred in again, short sword striking from one side while Orochimaru's snakes and blade thrust from the other. Kushina parried both, only for Hiruzen to jab her ribs with the end of his staff and force her into Jiraiya's waiting trap- a large toad meant to contain her.
With a single slash, she severed the toad's tongue. The shockwave forced them back a step, but she didn't get to press the advantage- Sakumo was already in her face again, blade singing as it carved through the air.
"Still pulling your hits?" she asked with a smirk, meeting his strike head-on.
"It's not too late, Kushina," he grunted, deflecting her counterblow.
Orochimaru slithered low along the ground, striking from below with a sword thrust aimed at her abdomen. She twisted, letting the blade graze past, but that turn left her open for Hiruzen's staff to crash into her back. She stumbled forward, teeth gritted, only for Jiraiya to slam his palm to the ground, a puff of smoke revealed a giant toad that swung its tongue like a whip, forcing her into another evasive leap.
Her foot hit the ground hard, chakra exploding from her soles and cracking the earth. The shockwave pushed all four men back momentarily.
"Still think you can hold me here!" she called, voice challenging, breath only slightly heavier than normal.
"If we must," Hiruzen replied grimly.
Sakumo surged forward, his short sword gleaming. His left arm broke from an earlier encounter, but he still got her attention.
Her counter kick sent him flying into the stone face, breaking many of his bones and knocking him out cold, but it bought just enough time for Orochimaru's snakes to lash from her flank, winding around her.
She yanked once, tearing the snakes apart, but Hiruzen's staff was already coming down from above. She caught the blow on a tail, counter-swinging her scythe toward his ribs- only to feel the earth shift beneath her as Jiraiya's swamp jutsu sank her legs.
Orochimaru surged in low, Kusanagi aiming for her abdomen. She let herself sink another foot, catching the blade between two tails, and blasted upward in a violent leap that shattered the mud's hold. She landed hard, sending a shockwave through the chamber.
Jiraiya was already weaving seals, a massive toad appearing above her with its tongue snapping toward her neck. Kushina spun, slicing the tongue mid-lash, only for Hiruzen to slap an explosive tag on her back. The explosion only halted her for a second, but that was all they needed.
Orochimaru lunged from behind, Jiraiya from the left, and Hiruzen from the right, their strikes perfectly timed to force her inward. She braced, two tails catching Jiraiya's kick, another smashing into Orochimaru's guard, while her scythe locked with Hiruzen's staff. For a few seconds, the chamber was nothing but grinding force and flashing chakra as they all pressed against her, trying to collapse her defense.
She roared, muscles straining, and threw them all back with a burst of chakra that cracked the walls.
But even before she could move toward the switch, the floor beneath her heaved upward- Hiruzen's earth dragons snapping at her legs. She vaulted over them, landing just in time to see Jiraiya's shadow clone rushing in with a binding rope. She slashed it apart, only for the real Jiraiya to appear above, raining down a barrage of kunai laced with explosive tags.
The chamber lit up, dust and fire swallowing her. For anyone else, it would have been the end. Kushina emerged unscathed, shroud blazing brighter than before, but her advance had slowed again.
Hiruzen didn't waste the opening. "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!" A roaring fire dragon swept toward her, forcing her back as Orochimaru flanked with an extending Kusanagi strike. She batted the sword aside, but in that moment, Jiraiya's toad slammed its shield into her side, driving her toward the wall.
She dug in, feet gouging trenches in the stone, then grabbed the shield's rim and hurled the toad over her shoulder, smashing it into the floor.
Her breathing was steady, her chakra unshaken- but her eyes burned hotter. "Enough."
Two tails lashed out, swatting Jiraiya and Orochimaru aside, while a third coiled around Hiruzen's staff and ripped it away.
She didn't look back. In a blur, she reached the mounted switch, her eyes smouldering beneath the burning cloak. Her head materialized from the chakra shroud, lips curled in a snarl.
"This village shouldn't be allowed to exist!" she spat, and without hesitation, she flipped the switch.
The first explosion thundered beneath their feet, followed by another and another, rolling through the village like the beating heart of destruction.
The Hokage's Tower, the market streets, the distant residential districts.
From the Hokage's Rock, she could see it all. The plumes of smoke and the fire consuming the skyline.
She drank in the horror on their faces for a heartbeat longer, then turned and vanished into the chaos.
By the time they could move, she was gone.
Hiruzen stared at the firestorm. His voice was quiet, almost to himself.
"Konoha… is destroyed."