Minato Namikaze, with his high emotional intelligence, could tell from Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude that even if future investigations proved Danzo was connected to the Nine-Tails' attack, Hiruzen would still protect him.
During Orochimaru's defection incident, countless villagers—from genin to chunin, and even ANBU jonin—had been used as experimental subjects and died or disappeared. Hiruzen led the ANBU to storm Orochimaru's hideout; he had a chance to kill Orochimaru, yet still allowed him to escape.
"Are these people who harmed the village… more important to you than the village itself?"
Minato, who had always believed in and upheld the Will of Fire, and who had become Hokage because of it, found himself questioning that very creed for the first time.
But for now, he could only set that aside. Minato had far more important matters to handle—for the innocent people of the Hidden Leaf, and even more so, for his wife, Kushina Uzumaki.
"Look over there! Someone is fighting the Nine-Tails alone!"
An ANBU ninja pointed toward the Nine-Tails, shouting excitedly.
"That's… Yosuke?"
Asuma stared carefully. Although Yosuke's appearance had changed drastically, he still recognized him.
Hiruzen, who had never seen Yosuke before, asked, "Yosuke? Who is that?"
Minato explained, "Yosuke-sama is a powerful samurai, and a friend of mine. Right now he's suppressing the Nine-Tails to help us reseal it.
I need to prepare the sealing ritual now. Lord Third, please lead the ninjas to support Yosuke-sama and help keep the Nine-Tails restrained."
With that, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished, reappearing beside Kushina.
Kushina gave a reluctant kiss to the sleeping Naruto and said to him, "Minato, I still have some chakra left. I can use Adamantine Chains to hold down the Nine-Tails. That way, we can delay its revival further. But I… won't have long to live. We'll at least have time to find a temporary vessel to become the new jinchuriki."
Minato shook his head. "It hasn't come to that."
"Minato, this is the only way. This is your duty as Hokage."
"It is my duty—but not yours!"
Minato's voice rose slightly.
Kushina looked at him in surprise. These weren't the words of the Minato she knew—her gentle husband who would sacrifice everything for the Leaf without hesitation.
"What happened, Minato?"
"Kushina… this incident wasn't a coincidence. Someone within the village may have been involved.
For the sake of the village, I've always been willing to give up my life without hesitation… but in the end, it turns out the ones I want to protect are the ones who betrayed me."
Minato looked despondent, a bitter smile curling at his lips.
"No matter what you decide, I'll support you, Minato. What do you plan to do?"
"Kushina, conserve all your chakra to slow the loss of your life force. Right now, Yosuke-sama is holding the Nine-Tails down. If we can successfully reseal the Nine-Tails inside you, then everything can still be salvaged."
Minato removed the Hokage cloak draped over his back.
"Though it may not be something a Hokage should say… this time, I want to live—for you, and for our child."
On the battlefield
The Nine-Tails gathered its chakra and fired a Tailed Beast Bomb at Yosuke.
Yosuke flapped his blood-red wings with agility and dodged the incoming blast.
"Blood Demon Art: Dark Binding!"
Blood-formed bindings coiled around the Nine-Tails and held it in place.
"Breath of Blood, Fourth Form: Asura Blood Domain Heaven!"
Behind Yosuke, a colossal female figure made entirely of blood materialized, vivid and lifelike.
As Yosuke swung his blade, the giant figure swung its massive blood-forged sword as well.
A tremendous slash tore through the battlefield, aimed straight at the restrained Nine-Tails.
With a thunderous explosion, a deep trench carved itself along the slash's path.
The blood blade sank deep into the Nine-Tails' body.
The Nine-Tails roared in pain, violently tearing apart the bindings and swinging its claws toward Yosuke.
With superior mobility, Yosuke weaved through the air, dodging continuously while unleashing every breathing-form sword technique he knew, striking the Nine-Tails again and again.
The scene looked entirely like Yosuke overpowering the Nine-Tails.
Although the beast possessed immense strength, it had only a small handful of attack methods, and each had an obvious wind-up—easy to evade.
Yosuke's relentless assault gradually weakened the Nine-Tails' chakra, but its chakra was vast—like an unfathomable ocean.
From the ground, the ninjas launched their jutsu to assist Yosuke.
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Divide!"
"Lightning Style: Lightning Strike!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
All their jutsu slammed into the Nine-Tails together.
The giant beast staggered under the combined attack. Yosuke could clearly feel its aura weaken further—more than his own sword strikes had managed.
He fell into thought. His sword techniques were extremely effective against physical bodies, but against a chakra-construct like the Nine-Tails, they were nowhere near as efficient.
In other words, to effectively damage a being composed of chakra—weakening its power—he needed chakra as well.
For the first time, Yosuke truly acknowledged the significance of chakra, something he had always disregarded.
If something exists, it exists for a reason.
To defeat magic… you must use magic.
Yosuke refined the chakra in his body, feeling it merge with his own natural power. Inspiration struck, and he conceived a new sword form.
He swung the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. The moonlit night sky was suddenly dyed with a sinister, blood-red glow.
The red radiance gathered as if drawn by a magnet, converging entirely into the blade.
The sword pulsed with ominous scarlet light. Yosuke's hands trembled—the power of this newly created sword form far exceeded his expectations, almost overwhelming him.
"Breath of Blood, Sixth Form: Crimson Sun Blood Prison!"
Yosuke swung with all his strength, unleashing a gigantic crimson slash.
As it sped forward, the slash twisted and transformed into a massive blood-red dragon. With a deafening roar, it charged straight toward the Nine-Tails.
Sensing the immense danger, the Nine-Tails bristled, gathering chakra once more and launching a Tailed Beast Bomb to intercept the attack.
But the dragon-shaped slash twisted its body mid-flight, narrowly avoiding the Tailed Beast Bomb, and continued surging toward the Nine-Tails.
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