As Gentō activated his dōjutsu, the enormous Nine-Tails instantly vanished.
"Whew... thank goodness I made it."
Seeing Kushina unharmed, Gentō let out a long breath.
Thud!
There was a soft thump.
Minato finally lost the strength to hold himself up and collapsed.
Blood poured from the wound through his chest, staining the earth beneath him red.
"Minato!"
Kushina let out a heart-rending cry and rushed to his side.
She tried to cover the gaping wound with her hands, but it did no good.
Minato weakly raised his eyes and looked at Gentō.
"Gentō... where's the Nine-Tails?"
"I've trapped it for now. Don't worry."
At those words, Minato finally breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Gentō crouched down and looked at the dying man, his heart a tangle of emotions.
Though he had coveted Kushina for a long time, he had never needed Minato to die.
On the contrary, he greatly admired Minato.
If possible, he would even have been willing to save him as well.
His earlier warning about the Masked Man's invasion had been an attempt to save the couple.
But the arrogant, stubborn Konoha High Command had refused to trust him.
Besides, he had people of his own to protect.
The Ninja World was far from peaceful.
The Uchiha Clan had left Konoha and settled outside the village. They needed a Kage Level fighter to watch over them.
By the time he received Shisui's message and returned using the Flying Thunder God Mark he had left in the village, Minato had already used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and been impaled by the Nine-Tails' claw.
All he could do was barely manage to save Kushina.
"Minato!"
A jumble of footsteps approached.
Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived late with the Anbu.
He rushed to Minato's side and lifted him up.
"Minato! You could have escaped... why?"
Minato looked weakly at the Lord Third, his voice halting.
"Lord Third... this was my duty... as Hokage... and as a father."
Then he turned his head with difficulty to look at Gentō, his eyes filled with guilt.
"I'm sorry... Gentō... I didn't listen to you before... otherwise, Konoha wouldn't have..."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly at those words.
Gentō merely shook his head in silence.
At that moment, Kushina's body began to give out as well.
Though the Uzumaki Clan possessed tenacious vitality, once a tailed beast had been forcibly extracted, death was only a matter of time.
Minato looked at her, his eyes filled with heartache and reluctance to part.
Mustering the last of his strength, he spoke softly.
"Kushina... we have to say goodbye... if there's anything you want to tell Naruto... say it now."
Tears streamed down Kushina's face as she looked at the baby in her arms, her voice gentle.
"Naruto... don't be a picky eater. Eat well and grow big and strong..."
"Bathe every day... don't stay up late... make good friends..."
"You must..."
She went on and on, as though she wanted to say everything she would ever tell her child in that single moment.
Gentō suddenly interrupted her.
"Um... Kushina doesn't actually have to die."
"Um, Kushina doesn't actually have to die..."
What?
Everyone present froze.
Hiruzen jerked his head up, his eyes filled with shock.
Even Minato, who was on the verge of death, immediately sat up in astonishment and looked at Gentō.
Meeting their gazes, Gentō slowly explained.
"As long as the extracted tailed beast is sealed back inside the Jinchūriki, the Jinchūriki can survive."
"And sealing a tailed beast requires two things: first, bringing it under control. Second, knowing sealing jutsu."
He paused.
"I may not be much, but I happen to meet both requirements."
Kushina stared for a moment, then lowered her head and spoke very softly.
"If Minato dies... I don't want to live either."
Gentō's heart tightened.
He knew Kushina was already considering following Minato into death.
But he certainly could not let her die.
Aside from coveting her beauty, he also needed to complete the system's mission.
So he immediately tried to reason with her.
"Kushina, calm down."
"Do you really want... Naruto to grow up without his mother?"
Kushina shuddered at his words.
With the last of his strength, Minato gripped her hand tightly.
"Kushina... you have to live."
He turned to Gentō, his eyes pleading.
"Gentō! Please... save Kushina!"
Gentō looked at Kushina.
Finally, she raised her head and looked at Naruto in her arms, her gaze softening.
She gave a small nod.
Gentō hesitated no longer.
"Yomi-no-Mikoto!"
Space warped.
Bang!
The Nine-Tails, which had only just been imprisoned in Yomi Space, was released again.
"ROAR!!!"
The Nine-Tails let out an earthshaking roar.
Its savage gaze swept over the tiny humans below before it raised its enormous claw and slammed it down!
Gentō rapidly formed hand seals.
"Yin Release: Heart Divergence!"
An invisible surge of mental power instantly flooded the Nine-Tails' mind.
Its descending claw stopped in midair.
Three tomoe slowly appeared in the pupils of its savage eyes.
Gentō glanced at Kushina's pale face and feeble breathing, not daring to waste any time.
He pressed one hand against the Nine-Tails and the other against Kushina's lower abdomen.
"Yin Seal: Slave Mark!"
The Nine-Tails' enormous body shuddered, then dissolved into streams of violent red chakra that surged through Gentō's body and into Kushina.
The chakra was unbearably wild, like countless beasts rampaging through his body.
Veins bulged on his forehead, his teeth clenched, and every muscle in his body trembled.
But he held firm.
Yin release chakra circulated through his body, suppressing the raging power bit by bit.
At last, the final stream of chakra flowed into Kushina.
Beneath her clothes, a heart-shaped pattern slowly appeared on her lower abdomen.
The Nine-Tails had been successfully sealed.
Seeing Gentō seal the Nine-Tails so easily, a flash of deep apprehension crossed Hiruzen's eyes.
Then, the instant the sealing was complete, Kushina's eyes closed and she fell straight into Gentō's arms.
"Kushina!"
Everyone cried out.
Gentō caught Kushina as she fell into his arms, then looked up at the others.
"Don't worry. She's just exhausted and passed out."
Hiruzen immediately turned and barked an order at the Anbu behind him.
"Take her to Konoha Hospital immediately! Gather the medical ninja!"
"Yes, sir!"
Two Anbu stepped forward and carefully carried Kushina away.
As Minato watched her being carried away, the last trace of worry in his eyes finally disappeared.
He turned to Gentō, a weak smile tugging at his lips.
"Thank you... Gentō."
Then he looked at Hiruzen, his voice growing fainter.
"Lord Third... I'm entrusting Naruto and Kushina... to your care..."
Hiruzen gripped his hand tightly.
"Don't worry... Minato... I'll take good care of them..."
Minato smiled.
It was the same smile he had worn in life, warm and bright.
Then he closed his eyes.
Hiruzen looked at Minato's body, his thoughts unreadable.
Gentō stood beside him, his heart filled with conflicting emotions.
He glanced in the direction Kushina had been carried away and silently prayed.
Please, hang in there...
After all, Kushina had been put through an entire night of suffering.
On top of that, the Nine-Tails had been repeatedly extracted from her body.
Even with the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan, Gentō worried she would not be able to endure it.
Fortunately, the system's voice sounded just in time.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the mission: Nine-Tails' Rampage! Reward: Lottery draws ×1]
Joy stirred in Gentō's heart.
But he kept his expression neutral as he turned and headed out of the village.
The Uchiha clansmen were still waiting for him outside.
The Nine-Tails' Rampage was over. It was time to bring them back.
"Gentō."
Hiruzen's cold voice came from behind him.
Gentō stopped.
Before you continue