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Minato Namikaze lifted Naruto from Miyuki Uzumaki's arms.
Miyuki was under a body-binding jutsu, but she could still speak.
She said nothing. Her eyes were bloodshot, her gaze on Minato utterly foreign.
Minato summoned the ritual tools for the Eight Trigrams Seal.
He placed Naruto within the circle of eight candles and began weaving hand signs. When they were complete, he pressed five fingers against the infant's stomach.
A sealing formula bloomed on Naruto's belly.
Minato twisted his hand—clockwise.
A dark, swirling vortex opened at the formula's center.
"Seal!" Minato commanded.
The Nine-Tails' chakra was yanked, pulled screaming into the vortex. The titanic beast shrank, its form collapsing in on itself.
When it was half its original size, Minato twisted—counter-clockwise.
He tore the Nine-Tails in two. The positive, yang half vanished into the seal on Naruto.
Only the shrunken, yin half remained.
Minato's own chakra was bottoming out. A second Eight Trigrams Seal would be a desperate struggle.
He thought of asking Qianyu for help.
But one look at Qianyu's face—that cold, contemptuous stare that said trash—and the plea died in his throat. To Qianyu right now, he wasn't human. No help would come.
Qianyu spoke suddenly. "Minato Namikaze. You… don't regret this, do you?"
Minato blinked, then shook his head. "I don't. I am the Fourth Hokage of Konoha. This is my duty."
Qianyu's laugh was a short, sharp crack. "Is it? I respect your sense of duty as Hokage. Truly. But… why must your child and your wife bear your responsibility? Your wife loves you. She chose to share your burden. But she explicitly refused to let her child carry it.
"You forced that burden on her anyway. And now you force it on your son.
"That child isn't just yours. He is hers, too.
"Was there no one else in all of Konoha fit to be a jinchūriki?
"Are you the only one who loves this village? Or does your love only prove itself by sacrificing what's yours?"
Minato's lips trembled. His whole body shook. "I didn't—"
"Didn't you?" Qianyu's mouth twisted. "What was that barrier for, then?"
"To prevent the Nine-Tails from escaping," Minato said, his eyes fixed on the ground.
"Prevent its escape? Doubtful." Qianyu's voice was a blade. "Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others are here. They had the power to drive the beast from the village. You think they couldn't control it while it was bound by Adamantine Sealing Chains?
"You always preached about trusting your comrades. Is this trust? Do you feel noble? Heroic?
"I'm sure you do. In Hiruzen's eyes, you are. They're probably weeping right now. Their Hokage, sacrificing his wife and child for the village.
"Look at your wife. Look at your newborn son. The man who should be their shelter chose to be the storm."
Minato's gaze flickered to Naruto, wailing on the ground, and to Miyuki, her eyes hollow and empty.
His fists clenched. He couldn't bear to look.
Qianyu shook his head. "Honestly, I pity you, Minato. The Yellow Flash, fastest man alive. Couldn't save Obito Uchiha. Couldn't save Rin Nohara. Couldn't save your wife. Now you sacrifice your son.
"It's your choice. Your family. None of my business. But Miyuki was Kushina's dear friend. She's my friend. Seeing her like this hurts.
"She loved you. And you made sure she'll never look at you the same way again."
Qianyu hadn't planned on saying any of this. His goal was Miyuki's survival, not Minato's.
But the situation had shifted. Minato would live.
So Qianyu spoke, hoping the words might stick. Hoping the future Hokage would remember to be a husband, a father, even as he carried the village. Naruto's fate as a jinchūriki was sealed. But his childhood didn't have to be hell.
Minato stumbled to Miyuki's side, his voice raw. "I'm sorry, Miyuki. I'll make it up to you. To Naruto. I swear it. But let me finish this first."
Miyuki said nothing. Her vacant stare remained locked on their crying son.
Minato helped her stand, guiding her to the altar's center. He swallowed two soldier pills, placed his hand over her stomach.
The Eight Trigrams formula appeared on her skin.
He twisted—clockwise. The dark vortex opened once more.
Hand signs. Fast, final.
"Eight Trigrams Seal! Seal!"
The remaining half of the Nine-Tails was dragged into Miyuki.
But as Minato tried to lock the seal shut—it failed.
His chakra was spent. The seal wouldn't hold.
The Nine-Tails thrashed, clawing its way back out.
"Miyuki!" Minato cried, desperation clawing at his throat. "Use your chakra! Suppress it!"
Miyuki didn't move. She just looked at him. That hollow, dead-eyed look.
Minato's heart shattered.
"M-Miyuki…"
She offered no resistance. Minato pushed with everything he had left, physically forcing the leaking chakra back into her body. He tried again to lock the seal.
The Nine-Tails' chakra exploded outward.
The blast sent Minato flying. He tumbled across the ground and lay still. He tried to push himself up, but his chakra was gone. The impact was the final blow. His eyes rolled back, and darkness took him.
Qianyu sighed. What a damn mess.
He formed a single hand sign, coating his hands in crackling chakra. He grabbed the writhing mass of dark energy and shoved it back into Miyuki. A sharp counter-clockwise twist.
Click.
The seal locked.
Qianyu exhaled. The Nine-Tails rampage was over.
He'd only wanted Miyuki to live. To raise her son.
He glanced at the unconscious Minato Namikaze. Somehow, against all odds, the Fourth Hokage had survived too.
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