Hearing Minato's proposal, Kushina immediately shook her head. As a Jinchūriki who had endured scorn and rejection from the village, she could tolerate being cursed, ostracized—even threatened with death. But her child? That was something she would never allow.
Back when Kushina became the new Jinchūriki, many in the village had opposed it as well. Even so, no one dared cross her outright—she was under the protection of Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the First Hokage. And after Mito passed, Kushina matured into a kunoichi strong enough to earn respect on her own.
Yet despite all that, she could not bear to let her newborn son suffer the same fate she had.
Minato ignored her pleas. Tears streaming down his face, he pressed his hands together and invoked the Dead Demon Consuming Seal—a technique that summoned the Shinigami at the cost of the user's own soul to ensure a perfect sealing.
A ghostly figure materialized behind him: draped in white robes, skin pale as ash, a demonic mask covering its face, and a spectral blade clenched between its teeth.
"Kushina… trust this boy. He's our son," Minato said softly, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "And under the care of the Third Hokage, Naruto will grow up safely."
Outside the barrier, Hiruzen—who had arrived moments earlier—watched in disbelief.
"That seal… the Dead Demon Consuming Seal," he muttered. "So he intends to sacrifice himself."
At that moment, Minato's right eye twisted, the pattern blooming into an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. A familiar voice echoed—not from Minato's mouth, but from within.
"Kushina, you should understand what I told you before," Ash's voice murmured from somewhere unseen.
"You…" Minato stiffened, instantly realizing Ash must have tampered with his right eye long before this moment.
Kushina, unlike Minato, immediately recalled the warning Ash had given her before he vanished:
Kushina, one day you will regret the choice Minato makes.
And indeed—Minato had made his choice. Between his family and his village, he chose the village.
"So? What are you planning to do?" Minato growled, his voice hoarse from both pain and anger. Though he had chosen the village over his family, he still tried to ease his guilt—using the Shinigami's power to let Kushina see Naruto's future before she died.
"Third Hokage, what should we do?"
Several ANBU finally arrived, stopping at Hiruzen's side.
"No… they've erected a barrier to prevent the Nine-Tails from escaping," Hiruzen replied grimly.
"They intend to resolve this themselves."
He reached out and touched the barrier—and was immediately repelled.
This was Hiruzen in his prime, not the weary old man he would later become. Bold and decisive, he threw himself into the crisis without hesitation.
A sudden, muffled thump echoed.
"Tch—damn… that hurts…" Minato hissed. The Shinigami's arm had pierced straight through Minato's very soul before emerging from his stomach, reaching toward the bound Nine-Tails.
"Ngh… you troublesome Fourth Hokage…" Kurama growled, feeling part of his chakra being torn away.
"As I said before, Minato… the final victory belongs to me."
Ash's form shimmered within Minato's right eye—smiling as if the chaos around them meant nothing.
"Your plan won't succeed," Minato gritted out, enduring the agony of having his soul consumed.
"My son will stop you. I believe in him."
"It's time," Ash whispered.
The pattern of his Eternal Mangekyō shrank sharply—the trigger Minato had feared.
This was Ash's plan all along.
Just before Minato severed the contract binding the Nine-Tails, Ash activated a timed ocular technique he had implanted in Minato's right eye.
In that instant, the Yin Half of the Nine-Tails' chakra was wrenched free—and sealed not into Naruto, but into Minato himself.
"Damn… my body's going numb. The Nine-Tails' chakra really is this corrosive."
After sealing the Yin Half of Kurama's chakra into himself, Minato felt his entire body lock up, paralysis spreading through every limb.
"So it was the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
Outside the barrier, the Third Hokage watched as Kurama's mass shrank drastically. Only this technique could divide the Nine-Tails' chakra and rip part of it away.
"But the Nine-Tails is still there," an ANBU behind him said anxiously.
"Even halved, he's still too big. The Fourth can't seal all of it alone, can he?"
Minato forced himself upright. The numbness faded just enough for him to form hand seals again.
"Next… is the Eight Trigrams Seal."
A summoning glyph flared beneath him as he used a sealing technique, manifesting a stone altar. Minato gently placed baby Naruto on it. Nearby, Kushina—still binding Kurama with her weakening chains—wore a hollow, devastated expression. Minato's choice had crushed her.
"That's the sealing altar…"
Kurama, now half his original size, glared at it with hatred.
"You damned Fourth Hokage. You intend to seal me into that little brat?"
"Cough… cough…"
Kushina finally stirred, her breath ragged. Chakra depletion ravaged her body, but her eyes fixated on Naruto with desperate worry. Seeing this, Minato hurried to her side.
At that instant—
"Die!"
Kurama's slit pupils contracted sharply. Kushina's momentary distraction caused her Adamantine Chains to falter. In that heartbeat, a gap opened.
Kurama lunged.
With a roar, the Nine-Tails thrust out its massive left claw, aiming straight for the infant lying defenseless on the altar.
Thud—!
"Cough!!"
"Cough!!"
Two voices echoed at once.
...
TN:
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