A Father's Request

"Less chatter, time to work."

Lin Zi stomped his foot, and the chakra of Kurama within him exploded outward.

A crimson Tailed Beast Cloak surged up from his body, yet it showed no signs of going berserk. Instead, it spread out like an all-encompassing net, slamming down over the limp, rampaging Nine-Tails on the ground.

On the mental plane, Kurama's will crushed down with ferocious, unparalleled intensity.

"Behave yourself, you brat!" That voice detonated on the chakra level, dripping with disdain. "A shameful other half, pulled out by humans to be used like a dog—isn't that embarrassing enough?"

The rampaging Nine-Tails was unconscious, yet its instincts trembled violently; the cold, sinister Tailed Beast chakra was forcibly shoved back into its body, not daring to leak out even a fraction.

Lin Zi stood atop the Nine-Tails' head and glanced back, seeing Minato still standing there in a daze, his brows knitting into a tight knot.

"What are you still staring at? Form the seals! Shove it back in!"

Minato snapped out of his trance.

The sealing formation spread out with the unconscious Nine-Tails and Kushina as its two poles, complex patterns glowing with a faint light across the ruined ground.

Kushina lay at the center of the formation, cradling Naruto, her red hair splayed out and her face as pale as paper.

Minato stood outside the formation, his hands moving in a blur to form seals.

As the Third Hokage and the Sealing Squad moved to approach, Lin Zi whipped his head around. A flash of crimson flickered in his blue eyes, his gaze scraping across them like a blade. His voice was low, yet it chilled their marrow.

"Dare to cross that line, and my fist will be smashing into your faces the next second. Try it if you don't believe me."

The Third paused, looking at the beast-like nature in the youth's eyes that didn't belong to a human, and slowly shook his head.

Behind him, the ninjas of the Sealing Squad looked at one another, none daring to take another half-step forward.

Lin Zi withdrew his gaze and slammed his hands onto the head of the rampaging Nine-Tails.

"Kurama!"

"I know!"

In mid-air, a giant claw condensed from pure chakra manifested out of thin air. It was golden-red, its sharp talons like hooks, and it clamped down fiercely onto the Nine-Tails' crown.

Two streams of homologous Tailed Beast energy collided with a roar, the golden and red torrents intertwining and emitting a thunderous boom.

"Now!"

Minato bellowed, and the sealing technique was fully activated.

The massive body of the rampaging Nine-Tails began to turn ethereal, transforming into an endless sea of cold, sinister chakra. It was grabbed and dragged violently by the giant golden-red claw, guided by the sealing formation, and poured back into Kushina's body in one go!

Kushina's body shuddered violently, and the sealing patterns on her abdomen lit up with a blinding red light.

But immediately after, that light began to turn warm.

The color returned to her pale cheeks at a speed visible to the naked eye, her shallow breathing gradually stabilized, and her chest began to rise and fall with strength.

The monstrous vitality of the Uzumaki Clan was frantically repairing the trauma caused by the Tailed Beast's extraction.

Lin Zi watched this scene and muttered, "The vitality of the Uzumaki Clan... it's truly goddamn unreasonable."

He jumped off the Nine-Tails and walked to the center of the formation.

Little Naruto lay in his mother's arms, surprisingly not crying at all. He opened those deep blue eyes inherited from his mother and stared straight at him.

Lin Zi crouched down, his palm hovering over the infant's head. He paused, then finally let it fall gently, ruffling the tuft of golden hair.

He spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear, though Naruto couldn't understand a word.

"Listen, kid. This big guy is still going to end up in your belly later, but it's not the time yet. At least for the next few years, no one will be able to mess with your classes using chakra interference."

He paused, his fingers pressing down slightly as if conveying a promise:

"Don't live like a loser... or I'll come and beat you up myself."

The sealing was complete.

The figure of the rampaging Nine-Tails had completely dissipated, leaving only a scene of devastation behind.

Minato's knees gave way and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, his Hokage haori soaked through with cold sweat.

Kushina had fallen into a deep coma.

Although the Tailed Beast's return had saved her life, the agony of having it forcibly extracted had far exceeded the limits of human endurance; her body required a long, deep sleep to recover.

In the short term, she would not be waking up.

Minato walked over to Lin Zi.

He looked at that face, the golden hair disheveled by the night wind, and those blue eyes that should have been so young, yet looked as if they had weathered countless years.

Minato's Adam's apple bobbed; a thousand words surged in his heart, but in the end, not a single one escaped his lips.

"Alright, stop staring at me." Lin Zi turned his face away, avoiding his gaze, and pushed Minato's chest with his palm, neither too hard nor too soft.

"If you have something to say, go say it to your wife and son who survived. Don't put on this sentimental act with me, it's disgusting."

Minato was pushed back half a step.

He had lived for over twenty years, from a genius ninja to the Fourth Hokage, having experienced life and death countless times, yet this was the first time he had tasted what it meant to be truly at a loss.

His hand hung in mid-air, wanting to pat Lin Zi on the shoulder, wanting to thank him on behalf of Kushina, wanting to ask what this child had truly endured, but in the end, the hand could neither be raised nor lowered.

"...Thank you." Minato suddenly smiled, not the perfect smile of a Hokage, but one tinged with bitterness and relief.

"Thank you for bringing... to us, to Kushina, to Naruto, and to me, a new hope."

He reached out again, and regardless of whether Lin Zi was willing, he landed a heavy pat on Lin Zi's shoulder.

"I may... not be a qualified father. There are many things I still don't understand, but I am truly grateful to you; I cannot find the words to say more."

Lin Zi frowned, his shoulder twitching as he tried to shake the hand off, but he did not succeed.

Minato's smile faded, his gaze falling upon the Leaf headband at Lin Zi's waist with a slash through it, his eyes darkening.

"Kushina's condition is critical, and the medical team is helpless." He said in a low voice, "Can I entrust you with one thing?"

"Ha?" Lin Zi sneered, "You really are a nuisance. And then? What is it?"

"Find Lady Tsunade and bring her back to the village." Minato looked him straight in the eyes, "This is a father's request, and..."

He paused, his voice softening, "Some things, even though they have already happened, I still hope... that you can see the beautiful parts of this world."

Lin Zi froze for a moment.

The night wind blew, and the rogue ninja headband at his waist swayed gently.

Lin Zi looked down at the sleeping Naruto in Minato's arms, and at the unconscious Kushina in the distance.

"...Fine." He lifted his eyes lazily, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking smirk.

"I accept your request, but don't get the wrong idea; I just don't want you lot causing more trouble after that old hag dies."

He waved his hand and turned to walk toward the edge of the ruins.

His strides were long, his black cloak fluttering in the night wind. As he stepped outside the Leaf barrier, the firelight behind him gradually faded, turning into a blurry red smudge on the horizon.

"Hey, brat, why did your shoulder twitch just now?" Kurama's voice rang out lazily in his mind.

"Twitch my ass, that was the wind." Lin Zi cursed back, kicked off the ground, leaped onto the branch of an old tree, and vanished into the deep mountains after a few bounds.

Finding a sheltered hollow, he sat on a rock, his back pressed against the cold cliff face.

The silhouette of the Leaf in the distance had shrunk to a tiny dot, and while the occasional shouts of ninjas could still be heard, it no longer had anything to do with him.