Reaper Death Seal

"Uchiha Clan demon! I'll remember you! I'll never forgive you!" the Nine-Tails roared in Ye Han's ears, apparently trying to shake his resolve. Its will was raging, but under Ye Han's control, its body struggled less and less, like someone thrashing and cursing in a dream while their body refused to obey.

Ye Han could feel the Nine-Tails' fury. It was enraged beyond measure at being controlled by these weak creatures. What a humiliation! It had been sealed for years, robbed of its freedom and made to endure pain. Naturally, it refused to accept this. Every Tailed Beast had its own pride, and the Nine-Tails was the most powerful of them all. It hated this! It hated it with all its heart!

[ Ding—! Nine-Tails Chakra detected. Extraction beginning! Extraction progress: 1/100 ]

Ye Han heard the system notification. He'd had a mission like this, but the situation had grown so dire that he'd almost forgotten about it.

"Roar! Roar!" The Nine-Tails kept bellowing. Though it wasn't struggling very hard, the power of Ye Han's Sharingan was rapidly draining. Blood seeped from the corners of his eyes, and his chakra was being consumed in huge quantities. If Kushina's barrier hadn't restrained the Nine-Tails, Ye Han's Sharingan and genjutsu would never have been strong enough to control it—not even for a second. It took at least a Mangekyou Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails.

"This is bad! I can only hold on for a minute!" Ye Han said anxiously to the Fourth Hokage and Kushina. Controlling the Nine-Tails with his Two-Tomoe Sharingan was simply too much for him.

"I'll do everything I can to pull it back, then die with it. That will greatly delay its next revival," Kushina said weakly.

"Kushina... you've sacrificed so much for me... You helped me become the Fourth Hokage... You're my wife... and you made me a father..." The Fourth Hokage's voice choked with emotion, and tears welled in his eyes.

Kushina smiled at Minato. "Don't say that. I'm happy. My only regret is that we couldn't live together as a family of three, and that I never got to see what Naruto would look like when he grew up."

Listening to them, Ye Han was deeply moved. There was nothing he could do to help them. He'd thought he could seal the Nine-Tails back inside Kushina, but it seemed fate was correcting the course of history.

"No. I'll let you see your child," the Fourth Hokage said, then quickly formed Hand Seals.

Seeing the Fourth Hokage's hand signs, Kushina was startled. "What are you doing, Minato? Why are you using the Reaper Death Seal?!"

"I'll seal your chakra and the Nine-Tails' chakra inside Naruto. Then you'll be able to stay by his side as he grows up."

"You're going to sacrifice your life just so I can see Naruto grown up? And Naruto is our son!" Kushina cried in disbelief. She knew all too well how painful it was to be a Jinchuriki. For all these years, her status had been a secret known only to a few of Konoha's senior officials. Even the Konoha Sannin—Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru—didn't know she was a Jinchuriki.

Because nobody knew, Kushina had been able to live a relatively peaceful life in Konoha. But if others found out, they would surely treat her like a monster. After all, when she'd first learned she was going to become a Jinchuriki, she'd thought of herself as one too. If people found out Naruto was a Jinchuriki, she could only imagine what his life would be like and how the villagers would treat him. How could a mother want her child to suffer the same pain she had?

"But before that, we're ninjas! Naruto is the only one who can become a Jinchuriki in Konoha now. It's clear that what that man said before he left wasn't just alarmist nonsense. The Shinobi World may undergo drastic changes in the future, and Konoha needs the Nine-Tails' power. Without Konoha, our child would have no future. You know all too well the pain of losing one's home. I hope Naruto can one day become a hero who saves Konoha, just like Ye Han. And this incident may well be our fault. As the Fourth Hokage of Konoha and your husband, I can't shirk my responsibilities and duties!"

Hearing the Fourth Hokage's words, Ye Han admired him deeply. No wonder every other ninja seemed to pale in comparison to the Fourth Hokage. His intelligence, talent, and sense of responsibility made him the perfect example of a ninja. But Ye Han knew he wasn't some hero of Konoha. He was just an ordinary person. Compared to the Nine-Tails, he wasn't even an ant.

The Fourth Hokage's words persuaded Kushina too. She could take the Nine-Tails down with her, but after it revived, the Masked Man might control it again and attack Konoha. Then Konoha would be in even greater danger. Her homeland, the Land of Whirlpools, had also been destroyed in war, so she understood what Minato meant. If Konoha fell, Naruto would have nowhere to belong, and his life would be even more painful.

"Let's put our faith in this child. He's our son, after all! Reaper Death Seal!" the Fourth Hokage shouted.

"Whoosh—!"

A mysterious, pale-white Death God appeared behind Minato. It looked like a demon, with a dagger held in its mouth. The blade could sever its target's soul. For a Tailed Beast like the Nine-Tails, whose entire body was made of chakra, that meant its whole body.

Just then, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi finally reached the scene, using the Body Flicker Technique again and again. Seeing the Nine-Tails trapped, he looked at the staff in his hand, which had been transformed from Enma, and exclaimed, "Could that seal be..."

Hiruzen voiced Enma's guess. "It's the Reaper Death Seal."

"Whoosh, whoosh!" Several ninjas who had rushed over from behind landed beside the Third Hokage. "What's the situation, Lord Third?"

"We can't get through. There's a barrier ahead to keep the Nine-Tails from escaping. They're planning to take it on by themselves."

"Ah! Why is there a child over there too? What's he doing? Is that an Uchiha child?" The newcomers spotted Ye Han.

The Third Hokage froze, then took a closer look and exclaimed in surprise, "Uchiha Ye Han! That seal is... Is he using his Sharingan's genjutsu to suppress the Nine-Tails? What a reckless thing to do!"