"Teacher! Are you alright?"
It was at this moment that the clone brought Anko to Orochimaru's side.
At this moment, Anko's eyes were full of stars as she looked at Orochimaru with adoration, like a fanatical fan meeting their idol.
"Hehe... I only suffered minor injuries, it's nothing serious!"
Orochimaru rubbed her little head. If there was anyone in Konoha who was worried about him, it was probably this little girl in front of him.
"Orochimaru- senpai!"
Just as the two were talking, Minato Teleportation to Orochimaru's side.
"Hmm! Weren't you afraid my hands would shake just now?"
Seeing Minato's respectful demeanor, Orochimaru made a timely joke.
As expected, strength is the true currency in the Ninja World. If you have the strength, even the Hokage won't underestimate you; Genin can save the world.
Orochimaru was naturally in this category as well. This scoundrel of a snake was nothing special, but he was good at fighting!
"Hehe, I just believed in Orochimaru- senpai!"
Minato's smile was as bright and sunny as ever, which eased much of the worry in his eyes.
In a short period of time, he experienced his wife's childbirth, the birth of his child, the abduction of his child, the abduction of his wife, the battle against the culprit, and now he has to deal with the final troubles.
An ordinary person would probably have collapsed long ago, but Minato was able to withstand enormous pressure and overcome all obstacles.
Such mental fortitude is rare to find in the entire Konoha.
This clearly shows that he has a strong heart and is indeed an excellent Hokage.
"What do you plan to do with the Nine-Tails?"
Let's turn our attention back to the two behemoths on the battlefield.
Gamabunta was able to hold his own against the Nine-Tails, which had shrunk considerably, and Nine-Tails was already seriously injured.
Regardless of whether they can win or not, a brief stalemate is still possible, which is enough time for Minato to catch his breath.
Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Minato's expression turned serious once again.
The two fell silent for a moment. After a long while, Minato seemed to have made a decision, and his eyes were no longer hesitant.
"Senior, I want to save the Nine-Tails for Konoha!"
As he spoke, he glanced at Orochimaru, already realizing that Orochimaru's strength was no less than his own.
We also have to take Orochimaru's thoughts into account when making this decision. What if Orochimaru has other intentions towards Nine-Tails?
However, his worries were completely unnecessary; if Orochimaru wanted to seal the Nine-Tails, he certainly could.
If he disregarded the consequences and sacrificed this clone, he could seal away half of the Nine-Tails.
If the main body were present, it could also capture the other half of the Nine-Tails.
However, after the Reaper Death Seal is used, even if his clone obtains half of the Nine-Tails, it will dissipate.
By then, the Yang Nine-Tails and the Yin Nine-Tails probably won't be able to be fully assembled, and this imperfect outcome is not what Orochimaru wants to see.
The Reaper Death Seal already incredibly powerful, but it can only achieve this much against the Nine-Tails, which is unlike any other Tailed Beasts.
Most importantly, Orochimaru's goal is not just the Nine-Tails, let alone half of it; he has higher ambitions.
"Have you made a decision?"
Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Minato's body seemed to relax, and he let out a heavy sigh of relief!
He thought it would take a lot of talking, but it went so smoothly.
"Yes! It's decided!"
Orochimaru saw his eyes harden and become resolute, a decision that meant he would pay with his life.
"Even at the cost of one's life?"
This time, instead of getting a reply, he nodded emphatically at Orochimaru.
The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot again.
After a while, Minato reappeared, holding someone in her arms—his wife, Kushina.
At this moment Kushina was so weak that she couldn't even move her fingers, and she leaned against Minato like a lump of mud.
"O... Orochimaru..."
Kushina also saw Orochimaru standing to the side. Before she could finish speaking, Orochimaru stepped forward and began to examine her body.
The woman was already very weak during childbirth, and Obito forcibly extracted the Tailed Beasts from her.
Logically, sealing the Tailed Beasts back into the Jinchuriki's body should have saved his life.
However, it also depends on the Jinchuriki's level of control over the Tailed Beasts. If it's a Perfect Jinchuriki Killer B, then of course there's no problem.
But if it were Gaara, who was only half-baked, he would still die if his Tailed Beasts was extracted!
Kushina did not become Perfect Jinchuriki, and could only barely suppress Jinchuriki in normal times.
Not to mention Kushina at this moment, not only was the Nine-Tails forcibly extracted, but most of Kushina's life force was also drained away.
Under these circumstances, resealing the Nine-Tails back into the body is no longer feasible.
Sensing that Kushina's life force was gradually fading away, Orochimaru shook his head helplessly.
"The source of life is lost; even Tsunade couldn't Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
Minato gently laid Kushina down, and Orochimaru immediately began channeling Chakra into her body, the only way to slow the loss of her life force.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Minato had another baby in his arms.
"Naruto! My son!"
When she saw her son, Kushina's gaze softened.
"Naruto? He's a name that's either silent or astonishing when he finally speaks! It's quite a name!"
Orochimaru asked knowingly, saying that nothing is more appropriate than praising a child's child in front of the mother.
"Thank you, senior!"
Kushina's face, overflowing with maternal love, finally broke into a smile.
This name was taken from Jiraiya's novel, which shows how much Minato respected Jiraiya!
Next, Minato told Kushina about his plans, Kushina naturally had no objections.
However, she strongly opposed Minato's decision to die with her.
However, she knew that with Minato's personality, how could he possibly survive without her?
Orochimaru has no right to comment on this kind of double suicide; everyone has their own choices.
As for Naruto, Orochimaru could only express his sympathy.
"My poor child!"
"I believe he will understand what we did!"
Just as the atmosphere was becoming somewhat tense, a powerful gust of wind from an explosion shattered the scene.
"Cough cough... Minato, I can't take it anymore. Are you ready on your end?"
It turned out that Gamabunta had been knocked away by Nine-Tails and was now struggling to get up, covered in blood.
It's already at its limit to be able to maneuver for so long, and that's all thanks to its agile body.
"Hmph! Frog in a Well! Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit...!"
Finally regaining a little confidence from Gamabunta, Nine-Tails didn't forget to kick him while he was down, as if he felt he was invincible again!
"What did you say? Little fox!"
Upon hearing this, Gamabunta gritted his teeth, clearly enraged.
"Minato, don't stop me! I'm going to skin it today and make a fox fur coat!"
"I didn't stop you!"
Seeing Gamabunta spouting threats but not taking a single step forward, Orochimaru was speechless for the two of them.
However, Minato did not stand idly by. He conjured a barrier that covered an area of one kilometer in radius.
He then formed several complex hand seals, clearly intending to seal the Nine-Tails directly.
Orochimaru saw this and quickly stopped him.