Seal

"Roar--!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh--!"

Black energy rapidly condensed in the mouth of the Nine-Tails. The Tailed Beast Bomb, an attack method used by all tailed beasts, possessed immense and terrifying destructive power. If Konoha Village were to take a hit like that, it would be nearly wiped off the map, if not destroyed entirely. He absolutely could not allow the Nine-Tails to devastate Konoha.

The Fourth Hokage formed hand seals. As the Tailed Beast Bomb of the Nine-Tails landed before him, it seemed to be caught by a spatial rift, swallowed bit by bit, and then vanished.

Boom, boom!!!

A massive explosion suddenly occurred in the distance, far from Konoha. The earth shook, and the light of the blast illuminated the edge of the night. A mountain seemed to have been obliterated by this single Tailed Beast Bomb, demonstrating just how powerful the attack truly was.

The Fourth could not help but drop to one knee, gasping for air. Teleporting such a massive Tailed Beast Bomb required a vast amount of chakra. Since chakra was the product of combining spiritual energy and physical energy, consuming it meant draining both his mental strength and his stamina.

He could not go on like this; he had to move the Nine-Tails away, or he would have no way to teleport another Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Whoosh--!" The kunai in his hand flew toward the Nine-Tails. Minato vanished from atop Gamabunta and reappeared beside the beast.

"Swish--!"

The figure of the Nine-Tails and Minato disappeared together. Many ninjas were stunned at the sight. The Third Hokage frowned and said, "Did Minato use the Flying Thunder God technique to teleport himself along with the Nine-Tails? Quick, follow them!" Although the Nine-Tails had been transported a great distance away, everyone could still clearly feel its evil chakra emanating from the southeast. They had to go and provide support.

"Swish--!" The Fourth's figure reappeared before Mirai and Uzumaki Kushina.

"I have teleported the Nine-Tails to a place far from the village. Let us go and seal it," Minato said to Uzumaki Kushina.

"I will go as well," Mirai said with some difficulty.

Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato were both surprised to hear this. Uzumaki Kushina said, "Mirai, you have already done so much. You don't need to risk your life again."

"I have my own mission. To prevent any accidents—although my movements are somewhat restricted—I can use my Sharingan to suppress the Nine-Tails so that the sealing can proceed smoothly." Mirai's mission was to assist Namikaze Minato in sealing the Nine-Tails and to obtain some of its chakra to unlock the Rare Beast Pavilion. He had already survived the greatest hurdle of his mission—staying alive against Uchiha Obito—so how could he fail here?

Namikaze Minato pondered slightly upon hearing Mirai's words. His own chakra was running low, and the sealing would be difficult to complete. But even if it meant death, he had to take the Nine-Tails with him; he could not let it continue to destroy the village.

"Mirai, this will still be very dangerous..."

"But if we don't go, the village will be in danger, won't it?" Mirai said with a smile. That smile seemed to cast all thoughts of his own life and death aside—the same smile he had worn when Uchiha Obito had his hand around his throat earlier.

The expressions on the faces of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina shifted. A child as young as Mirai possessed the resolve to disregard his own life to protect the village. It was no wonder that the Third Hokage and that mysterious masked man had both praised a child like Mirai so highly; the boy himself was incomparably exceptional.

"Very well, let's go!" Namikaze Minato prepared to teleport himself, Mirai, Uzumaki Kushina, and the newborn Naruto to the vicinity of the Nine-Tails.

The Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina exchanged a glance, both understanding the meaning in the other's eyes: no matter what, they had to protect the life of this child, Mirai. It did not matter if the two of them sacrificed themselves, but Mirai was the future hope of Konoha Village.

"Swish--!" When the group appeared, they were not immediately discovered by the Nine-Tails due to the cover of the rocks. At this moment, the Nine-Tails was wreaking havoc on the forest.

This was Mirai's first time observing the Nine-Tails at such close range. At this distance, he could feel the terror of its chakra even more clearly. Could such a monster truly be defeated by human strength? However, it seemed that in the anime, no one could actually beat these tailed beasts; they were all subdued using special ninjutsu.

"I need to set up the barrier quickly, but my chakra..." Ever since Uzumaki Kushina went into labor, the Fourth had been using his own chakra to suppress the beast, followed by constant fighting. Now, his chakra was bottoming out.

"I... can still..." Uzumaki Kushina said with difficulty. She was in the same state. Having just given birth, while simultaneously suppressing the Nine-Tails, and then having the beast ripped from her body by Uchiha Obito—it was a miracle she hadn't died. Only the Uzumaki Clan possessed such resilience. Both of them were now essentially at the end of their rope.

"Clatter, clatter--!" Chains of chakra emerged from behind Uzumaki Kushina. "Whoosh, whoosh--!" The iron chains swept across the ground, quickly surrounding the Nine-Tails.

Boom!!

The chains pinned the Nine-Tails to the ground and began to tighten. The Nine-Tails turned its gaze toward them.

"Namikaze Minato..."

"Roar--!" Finding itself trapped like this, the Nine-Tails let out a roar at Namikaze Minato. It reminded the beast of the time it was sealed; it had been pinned down by these very same seals.

Having just emerged to enjoy its freedom, how could it allow itself to be sealed away again? "Roar--!" It began to struggle violently, and the chains started to shake.

"Cough, cough!" Seemingly due to the Nine-Tails' struggles, Uzumaki Kushina began to cough, spitting out bright red blood.

At this moment, Mirai spoke up: "I will control the Nine-Tails and stop it from struggling." As he spoke, Mirai stepped forward, formed hand seals, and activated his Sharingan.

Mirai's eyes instantly turned blood-red. Two tomoe appeared within his pupils and began to spin rapidly as he started to use genjutsu to suppress the Nine-Tails.

"Roar--!" The Nine-Tails looked up and let out a roar.

"That evil chakra again. Damn descendant of Uchiha Madara! That guy just enslaved me, and now a child with only a two-tomoe Sharingan wants to use genjutsu to control me too!" Even though it was the Nine-Tails' roar, Mirai could clearly hear the meaning of its voice in his ears.