On the banks of the Naka River.
"Naruto… remember that Mommy will always love you."
After whispering those words, Namikaze Minato turned toward the fox behind him. In his eyes, only resoluteness remained.
"Nine-Tails—Reaper Death Seal!"
He carried an unshakable determination, intent on leaving a safeguard for his child.
"Sealing this old man again?!"
Kurama was furious—extremely furious!
Decades ago, that man had said its power was too strong and sealed it away with one hand!
Later, without it even doing anything, it was sealed into a red-haired woman again.
Now, after finally breaking free, it was about to be pressed back down?
Then what was the point of all this chaos?!
Its emotions erupted.
Nine crimson tails began smashing down at random, venting its rage.
Boom!
Rumble—!
The ground split open as demonic, flame-red chakra shot everywhere like fire!
A massive fox tail slammed down without warning.
But as that phantom figure holding a blade appeared, all the chaos was split cleanly in two.
The Nine-Tails struggled unwillingly, yet could only be torn apart.
Half of it entered the tiny body of Naruto.
When the battle finally ended, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina collapsed on opposite sides.
Between their hands, they cradled a naked, blond-haired infant.
On his cheeks, three faint whisker marks were barely visible.
Looking at his child, Minato finally smiled.
Joy, relief, hope—along with regret and heartache.
Gathering the last of his strength, he leaned close to the baby's ear and whispered softly,
"Actually… Daddy also… loves you very much, Naruto."
"With the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, even without his parents' protection, the others in the village won't dare act recklessly, right?"
"And with the Third Hokage, Lord Jiraiya, and that kid from the Hatake family… it should be enough to protect you."
"Naruto… please don't blame your father and mother…"
…
Beneath the burning clouds of chakra, the Four Red Yang Formation let out a dying hum.
The blood-colored barrier enclosed the entire depression, forming a hemispherical prison.
Looking closely, countless dense sealing runes crawled across the surface of the barrier.
Sparks occasionally burst out—
Pfft.
Effortlessly melting rocks into honeycomb-like holes.
The power was terrifying.
"By order of the Third Hokage! No one is allowed to approach!"
Outside the formation, an ANBU jōnin wearing a dog-faced mask stood with blade drawn.
At the tip of his sword, the footsteps of the Genma Squad's three members came to an abrupt halt.
Shiranui Genma spat out the senbon in his mouth and frowned.
"Look carefully. The three of us are the Fourth Hokage's guards!"
In response, the ANBU only shook his head and continued blocking their way.
The Fourth was dead.
The Third Hokage held supreme authority.
Whoosh—!
Fifty meters behind them, a white cloak emblazoned with the words "Fourth Hokage" flapped loudly in the night wind.
But that once-dazzling golden hair had already lost all its luster.
Tap.
Uchiha Arata curled up behind a charred tree stump.
The Nine-Tails had been stubborn—it had taken this long to be completely sealed.
He then turned his gaze toward the three-man squad, his eyes gradually locking on.
Before him floated colorful specks of light that only he could see—
Entries belonging to others.
Above Shiranui Genma's head, a rare purple glow flickered.
[Flying Thunder Formation (Incomplete): Form a formation of three to activate. After use, allows teleportation to a marked location. Limited to three uses per day.]
"So this is… a castrated version of the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Behind the stump, Jin's baby-fat cheeks puffed slightly.
Like a cautious night owl, he hugged the shadows and moved quietly.
Along the way, seven ANBU corpses lay sprawled across the cracked ground—smashed to death by the rampaging fox tails.
One of them, wearing a breathing apparatus identical to Hanzo of the Salamander's, was extremely close to him.
Above the shoulder armor, traces of demonic fox chakra still lingered.
A corpse?
Jin's heart stirred.
He glanced toward the formation—four ANBU there weren't paying attention to this area.
He slightly stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth. After three breaths of deliberation, he decisively stopped.
After all, he'd never looted a corpse before—better practice first!
The next second, he lay down in the stump's shadow and reached out.
The instant his fingertips touched the first corpse, a cold system prompt exploded in his mind:
[Contact with elite chūnin corpse detected!]
[Plundered Common Entry: Agile Body (White)—slightly improves limb coordination (stackable).]
[Stacking in progress. Congratulations, host, on obtaining Fine Entry (Green): Light as a Swallow.]
[Light as a Swallow: Flexibility increased by 50%, speed increased by 50%.]
In an instant, a tingling sensation shot up his spine to the back of his neck—
Then spread through his limbs.
He felt the muscles in his legs grow more compact.
His arms felt lighter, as if he truly were light as a swallow.
It upgraded!
Two identical white entries—actually upgraded!
"So this is looting?" he muttered. "No wonder it's so addictive."
He licked his slightly dry lips and reached for another corpse.
This one actually dropped a green entry!
[Contact with elite chūnin corpse detected!]
[Plundered Fine Entry: Dynamic Vision (Green)—your eyesight can track flies (stackable).]
The moment the green light merged into his body, Jin clearly felt heat in his eyes.
Soon, the surroundings in the dark night seemed to slow down slightly.
He could even make out the lip movements of the Hokage's guard squad cursing in the distance.
"This one's good."
He took a deep breath, looked at the other corpses a short distance away, bent his body, and experimentally pushed off the ground.
Whoosh.
Tap.
That two-and-a-half-year-old body leapt more than two meters in a single step—landing so lightly that dust hadn't even risen yet.
Meanwhile, the ANBU outside the barrier were still fixated on the three-man guard squad.
No one noticed that, in the corner, a certain Uchiha child was quietly looting corpses.
Zzzrt!
When Jin touched the fifth charred corpse still wearing a mask, something sudden happened!
The dead body grabbed his wrist.
From its crushed throat came a strange "heh heh" sound.
"Tsk! Even Naruto has zombies now?!"
Without hesitation, he twisted and snapped that withered bone!
Only then did he realize—it was residual Lightning Release chakra acting up.
He immediately lowered his body, curling into the dark shadows.
Completely motionless.
"Hm?"
At the same time, several ANBU heard the disturbance.
But after a casual glance and realizing it was just fallen comrades, they lost interest.
Only Shiranui Genma frowned and looked more closely.
Suspicious.
"What is it, Captain?" Raido Namiashi scratched his head, pressing a hand to his long blade.
"Oh—nothing. Probably heard it wrong."
Genma shook his head and spat out the senbon.
Whoosh!
Pfft!
The senbon sank in—no response.
He shook his head and stopped paying attention.
Three breaths later, Jin finally relaxed, his eyes gleaming strangely.
"This entry… what's the difference between this and turning on invisibility?"
"You can't even see me when I'm right in front of you—how is this any different from a J-20C stealth fighter?!"
Still, the scare made him abandon the idea of continuing.
Turning around, he looked at the increasingly dim Four Red Yang Formation and moved toward the other side.
Time was running out—if he didn't enter now, the barrier would break.
Ten seconds later.
On the opposite side of the formation.
By moonlight, Jin activated his golden body.
A faint golden glow rendered his entire figure slightly transparent.
Then—
Boldly, openly, without alerting a single soul—
He walked straight into the barrier.