Departure, Time

Minato Namikaze's home was filled with laughter and cheerful voices, woven into a warm sea of merriment.

Yet beneath that brightness and bustle, in a dark corner of Namikaze Naruto's spiritual world, a colossal beast lay dormant.

The Nine-Tails, the strongest Tailed Beast, imprisoned by the Eight Trigrams Seal, slowly opened its eyes, bloodshot scarlet filling them.

Its gaze pierced through layer upon layer of sealing barriers and locked onto Minamoto Takuya at the banquet.

With just one glance, the Nine-Tails' violent chakra erupted like an ignited powder keg!

Blood-red, destructive chakra surged from its ferocious body, transforming into rolling Demon Mist that madly battered the inner walls of the seal, producing a low, dangerous hum.

It hated him! It hated Minamoto Takuya for splitting it in two and sealing it here! It wanted to tear him apart!

But without Namikaze Naruto's intense emotional turmoil serving as the fuse, and without Kushina Uzumaki's special bloodline weakening the seal—

No matter how hysterically the Nine-Tails struggled and roared, its terrifying power, enough to move mountains and fill seas, remained firmly locked within the Eight Trigrams Seal personally inscribed by Minamoto Takuya and continuously reinforced and perfected by Minato Namikaze.

The sealing runes flickered faintly under the impact of the scarlet chakra, yet remained as immovable as stone.

Only after a long while did its futile rage gradually subside. The Nine-Tails' massive body heaved violently as it panted heavily.

The savagery in its eyes was gradually replaced by confusion, even revealing a trace of humanlike alarm.

Why? Why did this human's presence make it so uneasy?

It was a lethal threat, like encountering a natural predator born from the instincts of life itself!

That unease was incomparably clear, yet blurred by the barrier of the seal, making its source impossible to grasp