"I never said you could move."
The sight of the Nine-Tails' enormous claw being blocked by such a tiny blade was rather comical.
"Now that I finally have such a useful ability, how could I not test it properly?"
Ye Wuyue donned the fiery red Hollow Mask. In the next moment, powerful black-and-red Spiritual Pressure burst from his body. At that moment, he looked like a monster too.
After putting on the mask, wave after wave of impulses battered his mind, causing his innate desire to fight to expand enormously. At the same time, his own Spiritual Pressure increased nearly tenfold.
"Kehehehehe! Go to hell!"
Ye Wuyue let out a crazed laugh, raised his blade, and swung it down. A black-and-red slash wreathed in flames shot from the blade and flew toward the Nine-Tails ahead.
"Roar!!!"
The Nine-Tails roared and raised the only claw it could still move to block the slash.
"Minato... what... do we do now?"
Kushina stared at the situation before her, at a loss for what to do. She had originally planned to pull the Nine-Tails back into her body and die together with it, but Minato had stopped her.
However, Minato's plan to seal the Nine-Tails inside Naruto had clearly fallen through. The Shinigami summoned by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal had run away, so how could they seal it now?
"I can't hold on much longer... Decide quickly... Cough, cough..."
Kushina coughed up another mouthful of blood. She was already at the end of her strength.
Minato picked Naruto up from the ground. He had just tested it, and the Dead Demon Consuming Seal could no longer be used. He could not summon the Shinigami at all. Given the Nine-Tails' current state, resealing it seemed rather unrealistic.
"I'll seal your Chakra into Naruto's body first. I'll do my best to preserve your Chakra in the future so that you can meet Naruto every day. As for the village, leave it to me."
Minato changed his original plan. Protecting the village, protecting the country, and protecting Naruto—he would handle all of that himself. He could not dump those responsibilities onto his child.
"Thank you, Minato."
Kushina's final worry finally disappeared. She looked at Naruto in Minato's arms with boundless love.
"Kushina, withdraw the Adamantine Sealing Chains. That way, you'll be able to preserve more Chakra as well."
"All right..."
The golden chains binding the Nine-Tails suddenly vanished. Freed from its restraints, the Nine-Tails let out an angry roar and swiped a claw at Ye Wuyue in midair.
"Ahahahahaha! Caged beast, let me set you free!"
Seeing this, Ye Wuyue neither dodged nor retreated. He swung his blade at the Nine-Tails' claw, sending a black-and-red crescent-shaped slash flying toward it. At the same time, the flames around his body clung to the slash, forming a pillar of fire.
The slash beneath the pillar of fire collided with the Nine-Tails' claw. It met almost no resistance before severing the sharp claw, while the wound was scorched black by the extreme heat.
"Roar!!!"
The Nine-Tails cried out in pain, the savagery in its slit pupils growing even more intense.
Damn human!
The Nine-Tails opened its mouth, and a black sphere slowly condensed within it. At the same time, Minato left the area...
"Lord Third, I'll leave Naruto to you for now. Please protect him. I'll deal with the Nine-Tails."
A flash of golden light passed by, and Minato appeared before the Third Hokage. He handed Naruto in his arms to Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had already sealed Kushina's remaining Chakra inside the infant Naruto, allowing Kushina to see Naruto through that Chakra as well.
"I understand. I'll protect Naruto. By the way, do you know what that humanoid apparition in front of the Nine-Tails is?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took Naruto and asked Minato with a solemn expression.
"I don't know either. He suddenly appeared after I used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. He looks like a spirit, but his strength is extraordinarily powerful. In any case, it's a good thing for us that he's attacking the Nine-Tails right now."
After saying those few words, he disappeared from the spot...
Meanwhile, Ye Wuyue, wearing the Hollow Mask, let out a wild laugh as he watched the Nine-Tails prepare to release a Tailed Beast Ball.
"Kehehehehehehe, what a clumsy beast! Did you really think I'd let you release that attack?
Pine Torch!"
A dragon-shaped wall of black-and-red flames instantly enveloped the Nine-Tails. The wall spun and burned, its terrifying heat continuously scorching the Nine-Tails' body.
"Yaaah!!!"
The intense pain caused by the flames interrupted the Nine-Tails' attempt to condense the Tailed Beast Ball.
"All Konoha shinobi, fall back! Get away from the Nine-Tails! Leave the rest to me!"
A yellow figure appeared before the many Konoha shinobi and issued the order. Then his figure vanished again, reappearing in front of the Nine-Tails.
Ye Wuyue naturally saw Minato Namikaze approaching as well, but his desire to fight was too intense at the moment. He paid no attention to one of his favorite characters from Naruto.
About three seconds later, the Nine-Tails broke through the dragon-shaped wall of flames. However, its entire body was now charred black, and its aura was much weaker than before. A hint of fear had appeared in its eyes as it looked at Ye Wuyue.
Ye Wuyue clearly had no intention of letting it off so easily.
"Try my final attack, beast!
Blazing Heat... Hell!"
Ye Wuyue could already feel that the Spiritual Pressure within his body was running low. His soul also seemed to have weakened considerably, and he could no longer enjoy himself. Before finding a host, he might as well experience this powerful force one last time.
As his voice fell, nearly ten pillars of fire shot into the sky around the Nine-Tails, seemingly piercing the heavens and earth. Then the ten pillars converged on the Nine-Tails at the same time, gathering together before exploding in an instant. Endless flames spread outward from the center of the explosion.
This is bad!
Minato, who had just entered Sage Mode, abandoned his attack on the Nine-Tails when he saw the earth-shaking explosion. The Nine-Tails already looked doomed, but the explosion was also an enormous threat to Konoha.
"Space-Time Barrier!"
Minato rapidly formed hand seals. To make the barrier encompass as much of the explosion's impact as possible, he used all his remaining Chakra to perform this Space-Time Ninjutsu.
A translucent shield covered the center of the explosion. All the shock waves produced by the blast were drawn into the Space-Time Barrier and then transferred to the forest outside Konoha...
"Warning! Warning! The host's soul is excessively weak. Find a host as soon as possible! Attention! The host must be an infant under one year old, or fusion will be difficult!"
After unleashing this final attack, Ye Wuyue felt that his Spiritual Pressure had been completely exhausted. The system's warning confirmed it.
Ye Wuyue removed the fiery red Hollow Mask from his face, and his soul returned to its original translucent color.
Everything he had done today was not merely to experience the might of a top-tier combatant. Wanting Minato to survive was also one of the reasons he had taken action. After all, he would most likely be living in Konoha in the future, and having Minato in charge would be far better than having Hiruzen Sarutobi in charge.
I have to take over a baby under one year old? Then I'd better find one who'll grow up handsome.
After stroking his chin and thinking for a while, Ye Wuyue settled on a target.
You'll do!
After deciding on his target, Ye Wuyue's soul flew in one direction. He roughly knew where the target was now.
Meanwhile, after expending tremendous effort to transfer away the impact of the explosion, Minato automatically exited Sage Mode. Then his gaze turned toward the front.
A creature resembling a piece of charred coal lay there. Although it could no longer even stand, it was still alive.
Minato walked toward the creature lying on the ground.
"Lord Hokage!"
A Sealing Squad arrived just in time and waited for Minato's orders.
"Seal the Nine-Tails... inside me..."
Before you continue