The Bloody Eve

October 10th, the 51st year of the Konoha era.

On this day, the sky over Konoha appeared exceptionally vast and high, with the autumn sun filtering through sparse clouds to cast a golden rim upon the leaves as they gradually turned yellow.

To the vast majority of villagers, this was just an ordinary day.

The streets remained bustling with noise, long queues formed in front of the Ichiraku Ramen stand, and children from the Ninja Academy chased each other on the playground, their laughter carrying far on the autumn breeze.

However, beneath this peaceful facade, an invisible undercurrent was surging wildly at the very edge of the village's barrier.

Outside Konoha, within a highly concealed cavern protected by barriers.

This was the top-secret location designated for the childbirth of the Nine-Tails jinchuriki of each generation.

To prevent the seal from loosening during the delivery and causing a leak of Nine-Tails chakra, Biwako Sarutobi, wife of the Third Hokage, personally led an elite medical team and Anbu to surround the area, leaving no gaps.

"It hurts... Ugh! Minato, I feel like my stomach is about to burst!"

Inside the cavern, Kushina Uzumaki lay on a specially prepared delivery bed, drenched in sweat, her hands gripping the sheets so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

On her distended abdomen, the complex Eight Trigrams Sealing Style was twisting and deforming violently, as if something terrifying were trying to break free from its cage.

"Hold on, Kushina! It will be over soon!"

As the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze had completely lost his usual composed and calm demeanor.

He knelt by the bedside, his hands continuously channeling chakra to maintain the sealing jutsu, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.

In those azure eyes, there was not only the joy and nervousness of becoming a father but also a deep anxiety regarding the instability of the seal.

The Nine-Tails' chakra is launching a frantic counterattack... I must suppress it!

Deep in the dense forest outside the cavern.

Two figures stood silently atop a towering tree, looking down from above at the cavern wrapped in layers of barriers.

"Is that the place?"

Uchiha Hikari wore her signature red and white casual attire, but for the night operation, she had draped a black cloak over it to conceal that vibrant splash of red.

Her sharp eyes peered through the gaps in the leaves at the masked Anbu ninjas patrolling vigilantly below.

"The barrier's strength is high, at least four layers. The outer perimeter is a sensory barrier, while the inner layers consist of physical defenses and sealing formulas."

Hikari analyzed calmly, her tone carrying a hint of professional pickiness. "However, there is a minute stagnation in the chakra flow at that specific angle... If it were me, I could force my way in, though it might take some effort."

"As expected of Hikari, your eye for detail is excellent."

Yue Uchiha stood beside her with his arms crossed, the mask painted with strange patterns already covering his face, revealing only a pair of deep, piercing eyes.

Yue looked up at the sky.

The sun had completely set, and a massive full moon was slowly climbing above the treetops.

"The time is almost here."

"Obito should have arrived by now."

Almost the moment Yue finished speaking.

Several Anbu ninjas at the entrance of the cavern suddenly collapsed without warning.

There were no screams, no blood splatter, and not even a ripple of chakra was emitted.

They were like puppets whose souls had been suddenly extracted, slumping limply to the ground.

"Who goes there?!"

An Anbu captain with keen sensory abilities spun around, his kunai ready to be thrown.

"Kamui."

A bizarre spiral ripple distorted the air.

The man wearing the one-eyed spiral mask and a black robe appeared out of thin air behind the Anbu captain, like a ghost emerging from the void.

Before the captain could react, a gloved hand passed through his chest; strangely, it left no wound, instead directly sucking his body into that twisting spatial vortex.

This scene unfolded too quickly and too quietly.

It was quiet enough to make one's skin crawl.

Inside the cavern.

"Waa--!!"

A loud, clear cry from a newborn finally shattered the suffocating tension.

"It's born! It's born! A healthy boy!"

Biwako Sarutobi held the little one, who was covered in amniotic fluid yet brimming with vitality, a relieved smile on her face. "Minato, Kushina, congratulations to you both!"

"Naruto..."

Kushina weakly lifted her head, looking at the wailing child, tears of happiness sliding from the corners of her eyes.

Minato was so moved that his hands trembled slightly; he had just reached out to hold his son.

However, at the very moment this joy reached its peak—

Tragedy descended.

"Puchi!"

Two extremely faint, muffled sounds rang out.

Biwako Sarutobi and another medical ninja didn't even have time to scream before their bodies went limp and collapsed.

"Lady Biwako?!"

The smile on Minato's face froze instantly, his azure pupils contracting violently.

He saw a man in a black robe wearing a Tiger-Patterned Mask, who had appeared from the shadows of the delivery room at some unknown moment.

In one hand, he held the still-crying infant Naruto, while the kunai in his other hand was pressed coldly against the throat of that newly born life.

"Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

The Masked Man's voice was hoarse and indifferent, permeated with an extreme disregard for life.

"Stay away from the jinchuriki, or this brat's life... will be over."

That scarlet Sharingan stared fixedly at Minato through the eyehole of the mask, as if savoring the desperate expression of the "Yellow Flash" as he plummeted from heaven into hell in an instant.

"It has begun."

Perched on a treetop, Yue Uchiha watched the terrifying killing intent erupting from within the rock cavern, along with the precarious, wavering chakra fluctuations of the Nine-Tails seal.

He pulled three specially crafted black scrolls from his robes, handing one to Hikari and keeping two for himself.

"Hikari, in this battle, we are neither heroes nor villains."

Yue adjusted his mask and leaned his body slightly forward, preparing to dive.

"We are the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

"When Minato is lured away from his post and the Nine-Tails breaks its seal... that will be the signal for us to act."

Hikari took the scroll and carefully tucked it behind her waist.

She looked down at the cavern filled with the scent of death, then looked up at the cold, full moon in the sky.

Her red cotton-padded jacket snapped in the night wind.

"Understood."

"BOOM—!!!"

The next second, a heaven-shaking explosion erupted from the direction of the rock cavern!

In order to save Naruto, who had been tagged with explosive tags, Minato was forced to activate the Flying Thunder God and leave the cavern.

With the suppression gone, Kushina was left completely exposed before the Masked Man.

The Nine-Tails' dark red chakra, filled with hatred and destruction, began to frantically erode the fabric of reality like a bursting dam.

In the distorted air, the phantom of a massive demon fox with nine tails was rapidly taking shape.

Its roar instantly tore through the tranquility of the Konoha night.

"ROAR—!!!"

Kurama had officially manifested.