Konoha, Year 48.
"Damn Fourth Hokage!"
With an angry roar, Anju saw a scene that was anything but pleasant.
A massive fox swayed its nine tails, its body bound by more than a dozen chains glowing with golden light.
A fox's head lay beneath Anju's feet, while he himself was being grabbed by a tall phantom wearing an oni mask and hurled toward a man.
Anju had clearly recognized the man beneath the towering phantom—Death God.
Anju desperately wanted to shout!
Don't, Minato!
But just as he tried to yell, he realized he could not open his mouth.
His entire body had already turned into a fox as he rushed into Minato Namikaze's stomach.
Then Anju felt darkness. Clearly, he had been locked inside the Little Black Room.
"It's over, it's over! You didn't even give me a chance!" Anju went numb on the spot. Thinking about the Naruto he had watched, he grew anxious. At this point in time, the Nine-Tails should have attacked Naruto, then killed Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze.
That could not happen. Otherwise, he could only follow Minato Namikaze to the Underworld.
At that moment, Anju sensed another consciousness.
Though he was sealed, he could still sense another Chakra aura that shared the same origin.
"Kurama! Don't!"
The moment the thought was sent out, Kurama, who had just raised his giant claw, was stopped by the voice that had suddenly appeared in his mind. The claw that should have struck down froze in midair.
When Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze saw Kurama preparing to attack their child, they quickly moved in front of Naruto as well.
However, the claw that should have come down did not.
"You're my other half?"
Kurama still had not figured out why his sealed other half had gained consciousness so quickly.
"Kurama, listen to me. I'm you from the future. I know many things that happened later, so you absolutely must not attack those two humans again."
"What do you want me to do?" Kurama did not argue at all after hearing Anju's words. He directly asked what Anju needed him to do.
No matter how bad things were, they could not get any worse than this. Maybe this future version of himself could help him.
"Kushina cannot die. Convince Minato Namikaze to seal me back into Kushina."
Kurama flatly refused. "I won't persuade humans!"
He utterly despised humans. He did not even want to speak to them.
"Then repeat my words, Kurama!"
After hearing Anju's words, Kurama lowered his raised claw. Then, Anju spoke one sentence at a time, and Kurama repeated each one.
"Minato!"
Below, Minato Namikaze paused as well after seeing Kurama stop, halting the Sealing Jutsu he had been preparing.
"A Jinchuriki won't die as long as the Tailed Beast is sealed back into their body! Do you want Kushina to die? Why aren't you sealing this old man back already?!"
Kurama looked down at the Namikaze couple with a lifeless expression.
Kushina Uzumaki was not in good condition either, but that was mainly because she had lost the Tailed Beast and was weakened after giving birth, leaving her with barely any strength.
Now that she had heard what the Nine-Tails said, she was overjoyed.
What mother could resist the temptation of watching her son grow up?
Kushina turned her sparkling eyes toward Minato Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze found it hard to believe as well.
A Jinchuriki who lost their Tailed Beast was certain to die. Yet now, the Tailed Beast was telling him that simply sealing it back into the Jinchuriki would save them.
Was that possible?
"Konoha has lost you, its Hokage, and now it will lose its Jinchuriki as well. Do you want Konoha to fall into war once again? Think about it. Why did Konoha win the Third Shinobi War? Without you, without a Jinchuriki, can Konoha still suppress the surrounding ninja villages?"
Kurama continued repeating the words.
"No, Konoha still has Lord Third Hokage!"
"Without the younger generation, Konoha will gradually weaken. This old man is giving you a choice now. Seal this old man back into Kushina. That way, Kushina will not die, and Konoha will retain the deterrent power of a Jinchuriki against the surrounding ninja villages."
After Kurama finished speaking, he realized something was wrong. Why was his future self actively asking humans to seal him?
"Kushina no longer has the ability to seal you!" Minato Namikaze refused decisively.
"Then seal this old man's Yin half, along with your Chakra, into Kushina. That can save Kushina's life as well." Once Kurama finished repeating those words, he understood Anju's plan and could not help frowning.
Minato Namikaze frowned as well. He turned to look at Kushina Uzumaki again, and when he saw the flame of life in her eyes and her tenderness toward Naruto, his attitude softened somewhat.
Looking at Naruto wailing atop the altar, Minato Namikaze could not bear it either.
Then he looked outside the barrier at the aged Third Hokage and began worrying about Konoha's future.
"Seal!"
After saying that, Minato Namikaze formed hand seals and used the Sealing Jutsu he had nearly finished preparing. It was the Sealing Jutsu meant to seal Kurama into Naruto.
No matter how convincing the Nine-Tails sounded, Minato Namikaze still had to deal with the Nine-Tails first in case it was deceiving him. As for Kushina, he could only try what the Nine-Tails had suggested afterward.
Kurama's massive body was quickly sealed into Naruto's body. Then Minato Namikaze squeezed out what remained of his strength, intending to seal part of his Chakra and the Yin Nine-Tails back into Kushina Uzumaki.
But after battle after battle, he no longer had much Chakra left.
At that moment, Anju within the Sealing Space noticed Minato Namikaze forcing out Chakra. He immediately shared his own Chakra with Minato. Getting sent into the Shinigami's Stomach would be far worse.
With that fresh power, Minato Namikaze quickly performed the seal once more, sealing part of his own Chakra and the Yin Nine-Tails together into the Sealing Space within Kushina's stomach.
Kushina Uzumaki directly used Adamantine Sealing Chains to pull Minato Namikaze's Sealing Space into her body.
After doing all that, Kushina Uzumaki collapsed weakly beside Naruto.
As for Minato Namikaze, he dropped to his knees. After taking Kushina Uzumaki's hand, the Death God's phantom behind him pulled out and swallowed his soul before vanishing.
After the barrier disappeared, Hiruzen Sarutobi led the Anbu into it.
After an investigation, the Anbu reported back.
The Nine-Tails had been sealed into the infant, Kushina Uzumaki was unconscious, and Minato was dead.
This time, unlike the original story, Kushina Uzumaki had not died. Instead, there was now an infant Jinchuriki.
That night, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Shimura Danzō began making preparations for the aftermath at the Hokage Building.
"Hiruzen! The most urgent matter is to select a new Hokage to take charge, then rebuild the village!"
Shimura Danzō was the first to speak.
"There's no need. These are extraordinary times. I will resume command as Hokage. First, summon the heads of the various clans to the Hokage Building for a meeting and tally the losses."
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew exactly what his old comrade wanted. He immediately cut him off and issued his orders.
Danzo looked as though he had eaten shit. He turned around resentfully, intending to leave.
"Oh, right, Danzo. Make arrangements for the new division of the clan compounds."
Naturally, the task that would offend people was thrown to his old comrade.
After all, he was the greatest Third Hokage—and the "strongest" Hokage!
With a dark expression, Danzo accepted the order and left without another word.
At this moment, inside Kushina's Sealing Space.
Anju sat together with Minato Namikaze very seriously.
Kushina was still in the hospital. The Sealing Space had originally belonged to Minato Namikaze, but Minato Namikaze was dead, making Anju the master of the Sealing Space now.
To entertain Minato's sealed Chakra, Anju simply used Chakra to create a bright sky, a gentle breeze, an endless grassland, and a small pavilion that looked completely out of place.
Then he shrank himself into a grayish orange fox.
Ever since arriving in this Naruto world, Anju had been unable to turn back into a human.
It was also Minato Namikaze's first time seeing grassland inside a Sealing Space. Sitting on the stone bench in the pavilion, he looked somewhat dazed.
"Hello, Minato Namikaze." A dark orange fox jumped onto the stone table, drawing Minato Namikaze's attention. "Nice to meet you. I'm the Yin Nine-Tails. You can also call me Anju!"
"You're the Nine-Tails?" Minato Namikaze watched the tiny dark orange fox warily, forming a Rasengan in his hand.
"Yes, but we're both the same now. We've been sealed. Don't forget that."
Only then did Minato Namikaze remember that he had sealed the Yin Nine-Tails, after which Kushina had sealed his Chakra and the Yin Nine-Tails.
"Right. I should be dead too." Minato Namikaze relaxed and dispersed the Rasengan in his hand.
"That's right, you're dead. But as long as I'm here, you won't completely disappear." Anju said smugly.
"What do you want?" Minato Namikaze looked strangely at the dark orange fox before him. He could not understand what Anju intended to do.
Were Tailed Beasts this easy to talk to?
"Take you with me to witness a miracle."
P.S. This book emphasizes logic. Kushina's personality is too straightforward; she does not like talking nonsense and would rather start hitting people directly. Her only weakness is Naruto, so because of her personality, she will be harshly suppressed by the Third Hokage early on.
After losing the Third Hokage's suppression, Kushina's behavior will change greatly. So do not say that the protagonist seems to have changed personalities. It is simply the difference between being suppressed and not being suppressed.
Later, when Kushina's chances of becoming Hokage grow greater, she will start to let herself go. Please read carefully and put some thought into it.
Note: Minato Namikaze is a robot. A dead Minato is a good Minato.
Before you continue