Seal It Back and It'll Be Fine?!

Whoosh!

A faint sound of tearing air rang out from a Safe House in Konoha.

Minato Namikaze appeared out of thin air, holding the weakened Kushina in his arms.

"Naruto!"

Kushina immediately spotted little Naruto sleeping soundly on the bed. Babies were naturally sleepy, and perhaps Naruto had exhausted himself from crying; he was now sleeping deeply.

Kushina murmured softly, tears welling up in her eyes. As Minato settled the weakened Kushina onto the bed, she looked at Naruto, and the tears in her eyes finally rolled down her cheeks.

They had clearly... only just met their child.

The Tailed Beast had already been extracted from Kushina's body by Obito. A Jinchuriki who lost their Tailed Beast had only one fate: death.

Although the Uzumaki Clan's formidable vitality was enough to keep Kushina alive for a short time, her fate had already been decided.

Kushina was destined to be unable to accompany her child as he grew up, destined to never see Naruto as an adult, destined to never see the day Naruto became an outstanding ninja, never to see him marry and have children...

Perhaps there had been no regrets in the first half of Kushina's life, but from the moment the Nine-Tails was extracted and little Naruto was born, her life had become filled with regrets.

Minato gently laid Kushina on the bed and tucked the blanket around her. His eyes, too, were filled with grief and fury.

He could clearly sense Kushina's life force weakening. At most, she had one hour before all life left her body.

This should have been the joyous day of his child's birth, yet...

"Kushina..."

Watching Kushina cradle Naruto lightly as she wept, Minato felt as if something were lodged in his chest, making it hard even to breathe.

A sorrowful atmosphere filled the Safe House.

Whoosh—

Just as Minato finished settling Kushina in, space suddenly rippled inside the Safe House.

Still immersed in his grief, Minato instantly gripped a kunai and spun around to look behind him.

He had thought that Obito, who was proficient in Space-Time Ninjutsu, had pursued them here.

But when he turned, he saw a group of powerful Hyuga Clan ninjas suddenly appear inside the Safe House.

Nearly a hundred elite ninjas packed the hundred-square-meter Safe House to the brim.

At their head was Hyuga Hiashi, wearing a forehead protector and a green flak jacket. Beside him stood Shinichi Hyuga, who was only as tall as Hiashi's waist.

The spatial fluctuations were emanating from Shinichi.

"You..."

Even Minato was stunned for a moment when he saw the Hyuga Clan elites who had arrived.

He had never expected to receive the support of Hyuga Clan ninjas at a time like this.

After his brief daze, Minato felt a little moved. Hyuga Hiashi himself had led the team here. For a clan like the Hyuga Clan, dispatching such a force was practically sending out their entire strength.

Though grateful for the Hyuga Clan's help, Minato could not hide his despondency.

Silently turning back, Minato still focused his attention on Kushina and Naruto. He wanted to cherish the last moments he had with his family.

"This is..."

Hiashi's Byakugan instantly saw through the current situation. He could clearly sense Kushina's life force draining away rapidly, and he could not see the Nine-Tails' terrifying, immense Chakra within her body.

Seeing Minato's dispirited expression and Kushina's weakened state, Hiashi understood what had happened.

Hizashi's protection mission... had failed!

"Teacher Minato, why are you still here?"

"Hurry up and find the Nine-Tails."

"There's still... time!"

Just as everyone was sinking into the oppressive atmosphere, Shinichi frowned and hurriedly reminded him.

His words instantly caught Minato's attention.

"There's still time...?"

Minato seemed to have grasped a lifeline. He abruptly turned to Shinichi and asked anxiously, "Shinichi, what do you mean when you say there's still time?"

This was the first time Shinichi had seen Minato so shaken. Until now, Minato had always seemed confident and composed in Shinichi's eyes.

In the end... even the exceptional Minato Namikaze was still a human being with deep emotions.

Minato was anxious, but Shinichi was exceptionally calm at this moment. Hearing Minato's question, he had no intention of keeping him in suspense.

"I mean exactly what I said."

"I can tell that the Nine-Tails has disappeared from Teacher Kushina's body."

"A Jinchuriki who loses their Tailed Beast has only one outcome: death."

"But..."

"That applies to ordinary Jinchuriki! The moment an ordinary Jinchuriki loses their Tailed Beast, they are declared dead!"

"But Teacher Kushina is from the Uzumaki Clan. The Uzumaki Clan's powerful vitality means she will not die immediately even after having her Tailed Beast extracted."

"And that time is enough for us to do many things!"

"As long as we can seal the Tailed Beast back into her, Teacher Kushina won't die!"

The preparations Shinichi had made earlier had not changed the outcome of Kushina having the Nine-Tails extracted. His arrangements had been thorough enough, but Obito Uchiha's Kamui was unfathomable. Even knowing the details of that ability, it was difficult to say with certainty that one could stop him.

Many ninjas in the Shinobi World knew how Minato's Flying Thunder God worked, but weren't A and B Combination of the Cloud Ninja the only ones who had escaped alive from Flying Thunder God?

Knowing Obito's abilities was one thing. Being able to deal with Kamui was another.

But...

The situation had not yet become hopeless!

The intelligence Shinichi possessed had always been one of his greatest trump cards.

A Jinchuriki would die after having their Tailed Beast extracted?!

That was outdated information!

"What?!"

"Shinichi, what did you say?!"

"As long as we can seal the Tailed Beast back, Kushina can escape the fate of death?!"

"Are you sure?"

Shinichi's words made Minato's eyes light up. A ray of dawn had suddenly appeared in his darkened life.

To be honest, after learning that Kushina had been stripped of her Tailed Beast, Minato had even briefly considered dying alongside her.

But Shinichi's words gave him hope to keep living.

"Treat a dead horse as if it were alive."

"If the Hyuga Clan's records are correct."

Shinichi did not overstate things, while also providing an explanation for the source of his information.

The Hyuga Clan was a great clan with a thousand-year legacy. Hearing this, Minato did not dwell on it. Instead, he became even more energized.

Boom—

And just as they were speaking, a terrifying, evil Chakra suddenly descended upon Konoha.

A roar came from somewhere within the village, and the Nine-Tails' Chakra instantly entered everyone's Perception Field.

"The Nine-Tails!"

"Teacher Minato, the Nine-Tails has appeared!"

"The Hyuga Clan will protect Teacher Kushina. Whether Teacher Kushina's life can be saved depends on you!"

The moment he sensed the Nine-Tails' Chakra, Shinichi could not help but feel his heart palpitate.

One could never understand that power without facing it directly. Even his heart was pounding wildly at this moment.

Join the battle against Obito? Or join the battle against the Nine-Tails?!

Shinichi was not foolish enough to put himself in such danger. Though his combat strength was decent and he could contribute something to the battle, the risks were not proportional to the gains.

I'm not strong enough yet. Don't get reckless.

For now, providing intelligence was enough. As for the rest, he just needed to avoid becoming a burden to Minato.

As for the Nine-Tails and Obito... Minato Namikaze would deal with them himself!

"Hiashi, Shinichi, everyone from the Hyuga Clan, Kushina is in your hands!"

Minato also knew time was pressing. After saying that, he vanished from the Safe House with Body Flicker.