Snake—Boar—Ram—Rabbit—Dog—Rat—Rooster—Horse...
Just as Minato was about to form the final Snake hand seal,
Natsu Yuu appeared out of thin air beside him, accompanied by Hashirama and Tobirama.
Minato sensed them instantly.
He immediately interrupted the Reaper Death Seal and used the Flying Thunder God to vanish from where he stood.
In the blink of an eye, he had teleported beside Kushina, holding the infant Naruto. His reflexes were astonishing.
No wonder he could use the Flying Thunder God in such dazzling ways.
"Who are you?"
Minato barked. After the successive attacks, his nerves were stretched to the breaking point.
He was even more shocked by the sudden appearance of Natsu Yuu and the others.
How could this be?
Were there still more enemies?
He had clearly already put up a barrier.
Even Third Hokage Hiruzen had been kept outside it. Who else could have passed through the barrier without a sound?
For a moment, Minato almost thought it was the masked man from earlier, the one suspected to be "Madara Uchiha."
But when he looked closely,
he realized that all three newcomers were extraordinary.
Two of them in particular looked almost exactly like the First Hokage and Second Hokage carved into Hokage Rock!
"Elder Brother, this Fourth Hokage doesn't even recognize us?"
Tobirama pursed his lips. He couldn't help complaining that this "student of our legacy, two generations removed" didn't recognize him, the old-timer who'd given him a power-up.
Besides, his portrait was carved into Hokage Rock in all its glory!
"Hahaha. We've been dead for a long time in this era. It's only natural that he wouldn't recognize us right away."
Hashirama laughed heartily, not minding at all.
After all, who could expect an ancestor who'd been dead for decades to suddenly appear in front of them?
Even if he recognized them, he couldn't possibly believe it right away.
"First Hokage, control the Nine-Tails first. Madam Kushina won't be able to hold on much longer," Natsu Yuu reminded him.
"Right, right! Leave it to me!"
Hashirama Senju didn't waste a moment. He clapped his hands together and entered Sage Mode in an instant.
"Sage Art: Gate of the Great God!"
Three enormous red torii gates dropped from the sky, stacking one atop another as they pressed down on the Nine-Tails. They sealed its Chakra and pinned it firmly in place.
The restraint was even more effective than the Adamantine Sealing Chains!
Minato and Kushina stared in astonishment.
"Is that... Sage Art?"
"So powerful!"
Minato recognized Hashirama's Sage Mode at a glance. He could use the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku too, though he hadn't mastered it yet.
But even all the toads of Mount Myōboku together would have a hard time defeating the Nine-Tails!
The answer was obvious.
It wasn't the Sage Art that was powerful. It was the man standing before them!
"Y-you're the First Hokage and Second Hokage?"
"Hmph! You finally recognize me, old man?"
After receiving confirmation, Minato was even more astonished.
"How can this be? Weren't you dead long ago...?"
"Could it be Impure World Reincarnation...?"
Minato certainly didn't believe that the First Hokage and Second Hokage, who'd died decades ago, were still alive. They must have been summoned by some kind of ninjutsu, like Impure World Reincarnation, which was recorded in the Scroll of Seals...
As for a jutsu that could completely revive the dead, no one in this era had ever heard of one.
"Foolishness! How can you compare me to those mindless summoned puppets?"
"Tobirama, did you leave behind those Forbidden Jutsu Scrolls?"
Hashirama raised an eyebrow. He'd picked up on the implication: had Tobirama left behind many forbidden techniques like Impure World Reincarnation?
"Elder Brother, I..."
Just then,
the weakened Kushina could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.
"Kushina!"
Minato panicked, but he was powerless to help.
"Sir, is there any way to save her?" Hashirama quickly turned to ask.
"It's simple. Just seal the Nine-Tails back inside her," Natsu Yuu answered.
"Huh?"
(°Д°)?
They all stared wide-eyed, unable to believe it.
Wasn't a Jinchuriki doomed to die once a Tailed Beast was extracted? Wouldn't sealing it back inside her solve the problem?
Could it really be that simple?
"Other Jinchuriki die as soon as their Tailed Beast is extracted. They don't even have a chance to seal it back inside. Only a rare few with strong life forces can survive a little longer. The Uzumaki Clan are one such rare exception."
"But what if..." Minato grew anxious.
He didn't know Natsu Yuu, but the First Hokage's attitude toward him, along with those eyes that seemed to possess the Rinnegan, were more than enough to prove that he was extraordinary.
But even if the idea made sense, there was no precedent. It was hard not to worry!
"Fourth Hokage, just listen to the sir. He won't... er... at least, we won't hurt you!"
"This... all right!"
Minato gritted his teeth and accepted Natsu Yuu's suggestion.
Besides, he didn't have many options.
He could either trust Natsu Yuu or continue performing the Reaper Death Seal.
The latter would mean certain death for both him and Kushina. The former offered a chance to save her, so it was worth trying.
If something really went wrong, with Hashirama, the First Hokage, and Tobirama, the Second Hokage, there, it couldn't cause any greater loss.
And if he thought about it another way,
he didn't want Naruto, who'd only just been born, to lose both parents and become an orphan...
"Kushina, are you..."
"I'm willing!"
The weakened Kushina agreed immediately. She didn't have the strength to figure out whether the sudden newcomers were really the legendary Hokage of the past.
But she was more than willing to try their suggestion, even if it failed.
At least then she would die with the Nine-Tails.
That might upset the balance of Tailed Beasts among the villages, but at least Minato would survive, and Naruto's father could protect him as he grew up.
For Kushina, there was no better outcome.
After all, she had already prepared herself to face death!
"Good. Fourth Hokage, prepare to seal it. I'll suppress the Nine-Tails!"
Hashirama got straight to work.
He clapped his hands together again, activating Wood Release: All Creation Technique. Two wooden hands burst from the ground and grabbed the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails had recognized Hashirama long ago. At first, it hadn't believed Hashirama could come back to life and struggled desperately to break free.
But as soon as the wooden hands seized it, the fox felt its resistance drain away.
Against the genuine God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, what was the point of struggling?
The Nine-Tails hadn't forgotten how he'd pinned it down with the Wood Golem Technique while shouting that it was too dangerous.
Compared to the Tailed Beasts, that guy was the real monster!
Forget it, forget it.
Better to lie still and behave.
Before long, the Nine-Tails was squeezed into a ball of Chakra by the two wooden hands.
Minato summoned a sealing altar and prepared to begin.
In no time, with Hashirama's help, he had sealed the Nine-Tails back inside the Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki.
Everything went smoothly.
It was the first time Minato had ever seen the Nine-Tails cooperate so willingly. It was as docile as a little fox—simply unbelievable!
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