If they failed to reclaim the Scroll of Seals, and Kushina alone survived, that would be enough.
Minato Namikaze took out a kunai and cut Kushina's hand. Blood immediately began to slowly flow into the empty bottle.
Once the blood had filled two-thirds of the bottle, Minato Namikaze capped it, treated Kushina's wound with bandages, and slowly rose to his feet.
"Throw them at the same time?"
"Alright." Shirou nodded lightly.
Minato Namikaze threw the bottle of blood and steadily caught the healing potion Shirou tossed over.
Because Minato Namikaze had used considerable force when throwing the blood bottle, Shirou had to jump to catch it.
Taking advantage of that moment, Minato Namikaze bent down to place the healing potion on the ground, then his body vanished instantly.
The next moment, he appeared out of thin air behind Shirou and the Shirou who looked like the Third Hokage. A Rasengan formed in each of his palms.
It has to hit!
Smack! Smack!
The two Shirous extended their hands at the same time and struck his left and right wrists.
In that instant, Minato Namikaze felt an unparalleled force. The Rasengan in his hands involuntarily changed direction and smashed into the ground, leaving two massive craters.
"I hate it when someone plays tricks during a fair trade. So I have to teach you a lesson."
The Shirou who looked like the Third Hokage frowned slightly, stepped forward, and stood in front of Minato Namikaze.
The other Shirou slowly walked toward Kushina Uzumaki.
Seeing this, Minato Namikaze hurriedly activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, trying to rush over and save her.
However, his Chakra was nearly exhausted, and the Flying Thunder God Technique failed to activate.
"What are you trying to do? It was indeed wrong of me to cheat during a fair trade, but you also stole quite a few things from Konoha. How about we call it even?"
As Shirou drew closer and closer to Kushina, Minato Namikaze's expression turned extremely grim. He pulled a kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch, lowered his body, and secretly prepared to risk his life.
Because Minato Namikaze had acted too quickly, Kushina Uzumaki had not yet had the chance to drink the healing potion and remained barely alive.
She raised her head and stared into the eyes beneath his mask. Then she suddenly realized he was not looking at her, but at little Naruto in the swaddling clothes beside her, and she immediately grew tense.
"Y-you... What are you trying to do? Please, don't hurt Naruto. I'm willing to take his place."
"You can't take his place. Rather, only your husband can take Naruto's place. But I doubt you would want that to happen."
Shirou stopped two meters away from Kushina.
The next instant!
A ray of light flashed from his left eye and struck little Naruto precisely.
"You bastard! What did you do?"
Minato Namikaze roared, then suddenly noticed that little Naruto appeared to be unharmed. His anxiety eased slightly.
"What... What exactly did you do?"
"Ha ha ha..."
Shirou laughed for a while before finally speaking.
"Come to think of it, something similar seemed to have happened at the Uchiha Residence just now."
"I only wanted to collect some of Itachi Uchiha's blood, but he insisted on fighting me to the death. That left me no choice but to turn Sasuke into a female infant."
"I didn't expect the same thing to happen on your side."
"Still, they're both babies, so it's not that big a deal. Just pretend you gave birth to a daughter."
Minato Namikaze froze for a moment before suddenly understanding. He said calmly,
"You're the Gender-Bending Demon of the Ninja World? So you're from the Uchiha Clan."
"Jiraiya-sensei has been hunting you all this time, and Kakashi hates you to the bone. Why turn them into women? Why... would you do something so cruel?"
"Cruel?" Shirou retorted with a smile. "They nearly killed me before. As their enemy, I clearly had the chance to kill them, yet I chose not to. Isn't that mercy?"
"Mercy? To the people involved, that's worse than death."
Minato Namikaze added silently,
Especially Jiraiya-sensei, who has always loved Lady Tsunade. He was completely devastated and had even considered ending his own life.
"That's enough. Goodbye."
When Shirou noticed another version of himself flying overhead, he suddenly lost interest in chatting. He greeted the Shirou who looked like the Third Hokage, and both vanished from where they stood.
A Daughter Isn't So Bad Either
Chapter 49: A Daughter Isn't So Bad Either
"They're gone?"
Minato Namikaze warily scanned the surroundings, then quickly ran to Kushina, who was barely alive.
After uncapping the bottle and feeding her the healing potion, Kushina's face immediately regained its color, and she looked much better.
"Kushina, how do you feel?"
"Much better."
Feeling the Chakra in her body rapidly recover, Kushina Uzumaki let out a long breath. But when she turned to look at Naruto beside her, her expression became dazed.
She carefully opened the swaddling clothes and could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
Her newborn son had become a daughter just like that.
"Minato, a daughter isn't so bad either. I heard from Kakashi that people whose gender has been changed by the Gender-Bending Demon truly become women, inside and out."
"Mm."
Minato Namikaze could not help hugging Kushina as he said softly,
"If Naruto finds out after growing up that he was originally a boy, she'll definitely suffer terribly."
"So I'll announce to the public that we gave birth to a daughter from the beginning. Only the two of us need to know about the Gender-Bending Demon."
Kushina Uzumaki nodded slightly, picked up little Naruto again, and said hesitantly,
"If she's a girl, Naruto isn't really a suitable name, is it? How about Naruko?"
"Alright."
"From what that Gender-Bending Demon said earlier, Mikoto's child, Sasuke, seems to have been turned into a girl too."
"Sasuke and Naruto are both babies, so it isn't too much of a problem. But many people know Fugaku's second child was a boy. It'll be very difficult to keep the news sealed."
"There will always be a way. This is for the children's healthy upbringing too." Kushina Uzumaki said with a soft smile.
"Mm. Little Naruto was just born. As long as the two of us keep our mouths shut, her gender can remain hidden."
Minato Namikaze paused, then turned to look at the Nine-Tails Fox not far away.
At that moment, it was lying there obediently, with strange red patterns reflected in its pupils.
"Kushina, has your Chakra recovered?"
"No problem. It's fully recovered. That healing potion he gave me works almost too well. There's still some left in the bottle, so let's have the medical division study it later."
"I'll arrange it."
Minato Namikaze took out a sealing scroll and sealed away the small bottle containing roughly a quarter of the remaining healing potion. Then he smiled.
"Now I truly don't have any Chakra left at all. Kushina, can I ask you to seal the Nine-Tails inside me?"
"Minato wants to become a Jinchuriki?"
"Mm. The Nine-Tails is temporarily under control and can't resist. From now on, I'll bear the suffering Kushina endured."
Becoming a Jinchuriki could grant tremendous power, but it was not necessarily a good thing.
Setting aside the psychological pressure, once they lost control, the people around them could all be put in danger.
That was what had happened this time. If the Nine-Tails were sealed back inside Kushina, something similar might happen again if they had a second child in the future.
Therefore, excluding Kushina, the only candidates left were himself and Naruto.
But Naruto was still young. Unless there was no other choice, Minato Namikaze would rather let her grow up happily like an ordinary child.
In truth, there was only one choice: himself.
"Minato..."
Kushina Uzumaki held her husband's hand, hesitation written across her face.
Seeing this, Minato smiled and said,
"My Chakra has always been somewhat insufficient. After becoming the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, I'll also be able to protect the village and you two better. Please, Kushina."
"Since Minato has already made up his mind, then... shall I begin?"
"Do it!"
Just as the enormous Nine-Tails Fox was sealed inside Minato Namikaze's body, the Third Hokage arrived with dozens of Anbu.
As a result, every one of them clearly witnessed the scene.
"Minato, did you... seal the Nine-Tails inside your body?"
"Yes, Lord Third. This was the best choice."
"Minato, is that your child?"
The Third Hokage shifted his gaze toward little Naruto in Kushina's arms, looking curious.
"Lord Third, this is the child Kushina just gave birth to. Her name is Naru... Naruko. She's a girl."
Minato Namikaze spoke those words somewhat awkwardly.
His newborn son had suddenly become a daughter. Clearly, he still needed time to accept that reality.
"Lord Third, is the village alright?"
"Thanks to you moving the Nine-Tails away, the village's losses weren't severe. You did well, Minato."
Minato Namikaze secretly let out a breath of relief, then suddenly realized something and asked nervously,
"Lord Third, the Nine-Tails was released because of a man wearing a Swirl Mask. He had a Sharingan in one eye and was skilled in space-time ninjutsu."
"After I drove him back, he never appeared again."
"But just now, I encountered another Masked Man. His mask was a different style from the first man's, and his eyes had strange Sharingan patterns... He used a special potion to save Kushina's life."
"In exchange, he took a vial of Kushina's blood."
"Before we fought, from what he said, he wasn't allied with the first Masked Man. He was merely taking advantage of the chaos to loot Konoha, taking quite a few things. Among them may have been the Scroll of Seals."
"Also, he drew a vial of blood from members of every major Kekkei Genkai family in Konoha."
"After our fight, I discovered that he was the notorious Gender-Bending Demon of the Ninja World..."
By the end, the Third Hokage's expression had changed slightly.
Drawing blood from every Kekkei Genkai family in Konoha meant he was obviously conducting experiments.
This suggested that the other party was likely not from the Uchiha Clan, but had transplanted Uchiha blood through some special method.
If that method could be widely applied, Konoha's various Kekkei Genkai might flood future battlefields.
Imagining a battlefield filled with Sharingan and Byakugan, the Third Hokage fell silent for a moment.
Moreover, the Scroll of Seals might have been stolen as well, and that was even more alarming than the Sharingan and Byakugan.
Thinking of the various forbidden books within the Scroll of Seals, the Third Hokage swayed as though he could barely remain standing.
"Minato, you said that person was the Gender-Bending Demon?"
As he spoke, the Third Hokage unconsciously glanced at the infant in Kushina's arms.
The only way to confirm the Gender-Bending Demon was to have someone's gender changed.
But Minato was still a man, so the one whose gender had been changed was actually his child?
Minato Namikaze froze slightly. Noticing the many Anbu behind the Third Hokage, he hurriedly said:
Before you continue