At this moment, Minato's pupils trembled violently as he thought to himself:
Gento's words… actually came true!
But why hadn't there been any movement from the barrier outside or the Anbu?
How… did he manage to pass through the barrier?
"Ughhh!"
Behind him, Kushina let out a painful groan.
Minato turned his head, and his heart instantly sank to the bottom.
The seal on her abdomen was breaking apart at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Jet-black markings spread rapidly like living creatures, crawling across her entire body.
The Nine-Tails… was about to come out.
"Kushina!"
Minato gritted his teeth.
"Leave the Jinchuriki now!"
Before he could carefully think of a countermeasure, the masked man on the other side had already begun urging him.
He raised his kunai, aiming it at Naruto's face:
"Are you going to ignore this brat's life or death?"
Before his words even fell, he suddenly tossed Naruto into the air.
"Naruto!"
Kushina shouted with all her strength, tears bursting from her eyes.
The masked man leapt up, the kunai in his hand, stabbing straight toward Naruto.
At that very instant–
A flash of yellow streaked across the air.
Minato had already caught Naruto firmly in his arms.
Yet in the next second, his expression changed drastically.
The sound of explosive tags burning rang beside his ear.
On the swaddling cloth, several explosive tags were attached, rapidly igniting.
"Flying Thunder God!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Minato instantly vanished from the spot with Naruto.
Inside the barrier, only the masked man and the collapsed Kushina remained.
The masked man lowered his head to glance at the weakened Kushina and said indifferently:
"As expected of the Yellow Flash."
He reached out, grabbed Kushina, and his body slowly phased into intangibility.
In the next moment, the two appeared on a dim altar.
The masked man used chakra to suspend Kushina in midair in a spread-eagle position.
"Come out, Nine-Tails."
He said coldly.
A mass of crimson chakra was forcibly torn from the seal on Kushina's abdomen, falling to the ground as it rapidly expanded and condensed.
In the blink of an eye, a massive demonic fox appeared atop the altar.
"ROOOAR!!!"
The Nine-Tails howled toward the sky, its violent chakra flooding the surroundings.
The Sharingan in the masked man's eyes slowly rotated.
The Nine-Tails' roar abruptly stopped, its pupils unfocused as it was fully brought under control.
The masked man turned, preparing to leave with the Nine-Tails.
At that moment, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Kushina, who had fallen to the ground, actually trembling as she slowly climbed back up.
He was slightly startled, then a trace of admiration appeared in his tone:
"The Uzumaki clan truly is remarkable. Even after having the Tailed Beast extracted from their body, they don't die right away."
"In that case…"
A cold gleam flashed in his eyes:
"Let the Nine-Tails send you off!"
As he spoke, he directly controlled the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails raised its massive claw and slammed it down fiercely toward Kushina.
Boom!
Dust and debris exploded into the air.
When the smoke cleared, Kushina was nowhere to be seen.
The masked man raised his head, only to see Minato holding Kushina, standing not far away.
A cold smile curved on his lips:
"As expected of the Yellow Flash."
"Unfortunately, even though her life force is tenacious, once the Tailed Beast has been extracted, death is inevitable."
"Even with Flying Thunder God, you're always one step too late."
As his words fell, he no longer paid attention to the two and disappeared from the spot with the Nine-Tails.
In the next instant, above Konoha Village–
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Boom!
The enormous Nine-Tails appeared out of thin air.
Its massive body crashed heavily onto the ground, smashing apart large swathes of buildings.
The villagers looked up in terror, and upon seeing that gigantic figure, instantly fell into panic.
"What… what is that thing?!"
"The Nine-Tails! It's the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox!"
"The Nine-Tails has appeared again! Help!!!"
"Run! Run!"
Boom!
A claw came crashing down.
Large areas filled with houses were destroyed at once.
Within the flames, countless figures were swallowed.
Cries, screams, and pleas for help blended into one chaotic cacophony.
Some people desperately ran toward the outskirts of the village, some clutched their children and hid trembling in corners, while others knelt on the ground, weeping in despair.
"Help!"
"Someone save us!"
Amid the chaos, someone shouted:
"Danzo-sama! Where is Danzo-sama?!"
"Danzo-sama said he would protect us!"
...
An Anbu member knelt on one knee before Hiruzen Sarutobi, his voice trembling noticeably:
"Third Hokage-sama! The Nine-Tails… the Nine-Tails has appeared in the village!"
Hiruzen did not turn back.
He had already sensed the massive disturbance coming from the village.
The deafening roars, the blazing flames reaching the sky, and the continuous screams could be heard clearly even across several streets.
As he rapidly donned his armor, he issued orders in a deep voice:
"I understand. Leave the Nine-Tails to me."
After a pause, he added:
"You, Anbu, go protect the non-combatants. The elderly, children, the wounded; save as many as you can."
"Understood!"
The Anbu member accepted the order, his figure flickering as he vanished into the night.
Hiruzen stood alone inside the room, finally stopping his movements.
He looked out the window at the enormous crimson figure, cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Kushina's seal… had been undone?
Despite setting up barriers, despite arranging so many Anbu guards…
In the end, it still failed.
He suddenly recalled the words Gento had spoken in the Hokage's office a few days ago.
"Someone will make a move when Kushina gives birth."
"The target is the Jinchuriki and the Nine-Tails."
At the time, he had only thought it was the Uchiha stirring trouble, that Gento was exaggerating to create an incident.
But now…
Hiruzen felt a trace of regret for not listening to Gento's countermeasures.
He gritted his teeth and pushed the door open, stepping out.
...
Leaf Police Force.
Fugaku stood before the window, staring fixedly at the rampaging behemoth in the village.
Its nine tails swung wildly, and with every sweep, rows of buildings collapsed.
Flames soared to the sky, screams echoed endlessly, and the entire Konoha trembled.
He suddenly turned and said to Shisui behind him:
"Go inform Clan Head Gento outside the village immediately! Tell him the Nine-Tails has appeared!"
"Yes!"
Shisui did not waver; his figure disappearing instantly.
Fugaku then turned to the group of Police Force members inside the room and said in a deep voice:
"All of you, move out! Do everything you can to rescue non-combatants!"
However, the room fell into silence.
No one moved.
Fugaku frowned, sweeping his gaze across the crowd.
Inabi stood at the front, the resistance on his face undisguised. He gritted his teeth and said:
"I'm not going!"
His voice grew louder and louder.
"Yesterday, when we evacuated them, how did they curse us? They said we had nothing better to do, said we were just showing off!"
"And now that the Nine-Tails is here, they remember us?"
Tekka also stepped forward, his face ashen:
"I'm not going either!"
He pointed outside the window:
"Listen! They're shouting 'Danzo-sama save us!'! The one they trust is Danzo, not us Uchiha!"
"Now that something's happened, why should our Uchiha go die for them?"
"That's right!"
"Let them go find Danzo!"
"Didn't they say they didn't need us? Then let them die at the hands of the Nine-Tails!"
The members of the Police Force grew increasingly agitated as well.
After all, they were well aware of the Uchiha's current situation.
The Uchiha had diligently maintained order, only to receive hostility from the villagers in return.
They were no longer willing to step forward to protect such ignorant people.
Fugaku looked at them, at the anger and grievance that had been suppressed for years on their faces, his throat tightening.
"Enough!"
Fugaku slammed his hand down on the table.
His sharp gaze swept across everyone:
"Now is not the time to act recklessly!"
"The duty of the Police Force is to protect the people. No matter how they curse us, how they hate us, as long as we wear this uniform, this is our responsibility!"
"Do as I say. Move out!"
Moments later, figures shot out from the Police Force, rushing toward the blazing village.
...
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