"Roar!"
The fully unsealed Nine-Tails stood before Kushina, its nine steel-like tails pounding the ground.
"Kushina."
Buzz!
"What's that?" Just as the Nine-Tails was about to catch up with its host, a constantly spinning scarlet eye met its gaze. The next moment, it lost consciousness.
"Damn Uchiha."
"Goodbye, sensei," Obito thought. Then he ordered the Nine-Tails to kill Kushina.
"Roar!"
With a furious roar, the Nine-Tails raised its enormous forepaw and thrust it toward Kushina, who was bound against the mountainside.
Whoosh!
At the last possible moment, a flash of yellow light streaked by, and Minato appeared beside Kushina. He didn't need to look; the savage energy permeating the area told him the Nine-Tails had been released.
With his extraordinary reflexes, Minato managed to rescue Kushina before the Nine-Tails' claws reached her.
"As expected of the legendary Yellow Flash. You made it in the end," Obito said, his voice hoarse and dripping with sarcasm.
"But it seems you were too late!"
Minato's heart jolted at those words. He turned and saw Kushina's battered state in his arms, and a murderous glint flashed across his face.
"Even if you are Madara Uchiha, I'll make you pay today!"
The space rippled, and Minato vanished once again.
"Go. Destroy everything over there," Obito ordered the Nine-Tails, commanding it to destroy Konoha after Minato had left.
At the same time, a massive figure appeared outside Konoha.
It was a huge monster covered in protruding horns, with what looked like a gray tortoise shell on its back. It also had three tails shaped like lobster claws.
The Three-Tails, Isobu.
To destroy Konoha once and for all, Obito had prepared thoroughly this time. No one would have expected the missing Fourth Mizukage to appear in Konoha and launch an attack in his Complete Tailed Beast Transformation.
"Roar!"
A furious roar sent a tremendous shock wave surging through the air.
"What is that?"
"Stay alert! Stay alert!"
The violent disturbance in the air immediately drew the attention of the Konoha Ninja. They froze at the sight of the Three-Tails, but the next moment, they sprang into action.
"Go inform Lord Hokage."
"Everyone else, come with me to evacuate the civilians! Move!" Hyuga Feiyu shouted.
He was a member of the Hyuga Branch Family and the leader of this patrol squad.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Everyone on the scene quickly sprang into action.
From the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage, dressed in a black combat uniform, raced toward the Three-Tails.
He didn't need anyone to warn him. The moment the Three-Tails' immense chakra appeared, he sensed it.
"Did Minato and the others fail?"
The Third Hokage wondered to himself. "No, wait, is that...?"
Though he hadn't yet reached the scene, he could already see the Three-Tails' enormous body. He had never seen it before, but its number of tails told him it wasn't the Nine-Tails.
"What on earth is going on?"
"Is that the Three-Tails?"
Jiraiya, who was about to take Naruto back to Konoha, had also spotted it.
His expression instantly darkened.
"Summoning Technique!"
Holding Naruto, Jiraiya pressed one hand to the ground. A huge cloud of white smoke erupted.
When the smoke cleared, a gigantic red toad stood there, a massive pipe clenched in its mouth, bandages wrapped around its waist, and a short sword strapped to its back.
It was Gamabunta, one of the three great ruffians of Mount Myoboku.
"That's the Three-Tails?" Even without Jiraiya telling him, Gamabunta had noticed it. The sheer amount of chakra it possessed was hard to miss.
"You sure know how to find trouble!" Without another word from Jiraiya, Gamabunta drew the short sword from his back. He and Jiraiya had known each other for years; they didn't need to say much to understand each other.
"Sorry for the trouble, Bunta," Jiraiya murmured. He was worried. If it was just the Three-Tails, they might manage—but if the Nine-Tails inside Kushina joined the fight, things would be hard to predict.
Holding Naruto in one arm, he climbed onto Gamabunta's back. The two men and the toad charged toward the Three-Tails.
At Minato's home, the special Kunai hanging in the room swayed slightly. A ripple of space followed, and Minato appeared, holding Kushina.
"You're back." Naraku hurried into the room as soon as he sensed the disturbance.
His pupils contracted. One look at Kushina told him they had failed.
"How could this be?"
Naraku could hardly believe it. He hurried to Kushina and began checking her condition.
"Naraku, I'm leaving Kushina in your hands." After laying her on the bed, Minato left those words with Naraku and vanished from the room with a Body Flicker Technique.
"Big Sis..." Seeing how weak Kushina was, Naraku's eyes filled with heartache, and hatred welled up inside him as well.
"I'm... fine, Naraku." Even now, Kushina was still trying to comfort him.
"Big Sis, don't talk." Naraku rolled up his sleeve and held his small arm out in front of her.
"Naraku, what are you doing?" Kushina's heart jolted at his actions.
Everyone knew the Uzumaki Clan possessed huge reserves of chakra and excelled at Sealing Jutsu. Few knew that their bodies had remarkable healing abilities. But there was one more thing almost no one knew: they could heal not only themselves, but others as well.
Kushina had this ability too, but she had never used it in front of anyone. As for her own powerful healing ability, anyone who witnessed it would assume it was because she had the Nine-Tails inside her.
The only people in all of Konoha who truly understood the Uzumaki Clan's abilities were their own family.
But Kushina didn't remember ever telling Naraku about this.
"Big Sis, don't hesitate. Don't you want to see Naruto?"
Seeing Kushina hesitate, Naraku couldn't help urging her.
At the mention of Naruto, Kushina's expression changed at once, and her heart clenched painfully.
She hadn't even seen her newborn son yet!
She wavered. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, she could clearly feel her life force slowly fading. Even she wouldn't last much longer.
But the fact that she had held on this long was proof of just how formidable the Uzumaki Clan was. Most Jinchuriki died immediately after their Tailed Beast was extracted.
Compared with them, Kushina—who had endured childbirth before having her Tailed Beast extracted—was a miracle simply for still being able to speak.
"Let me help you!"
Naraku put his arm directly into her mouth, then used his other hand to lift her jaw.
Almost instantly, he felt a certain energy within his body rapidly draining away, while Kushina's complexion slowly began to improve.