"But, Lord Madara, you just said... Minato's death was inevitable?"
Black Zetsu looked at Lin Feng, who had already stood up, his tone tinged with confusion. One second, he'd been lamenting the end of an era, and the next, the Chakra around this guy had started going berserk?
Lin Feng straightened his armor and raised a wicked smile.
"It was inevitable, yes. According to the usual script, the hero sacrifices himself and his orphaned child suffers. That's the pinnacle of tragic drama."
Good thing the system reward from taking over Kirigakure Village had been the Flying Raijin Technique. Before this, he'd already placed Flying Raijin Marks on the White Zetsu spies hiding in Konoha. There was still time—they were right by the battlefield.
He strode toward the edge of the rooftop and reached out to Black Zetsu. Together, their figures began to blur as space twisted around them.
"But, Black Zetsu, I've suddenly realized that kind of stale old script is so boring."
"The hero saves the world, then dies gloriously!"
"Compared to a dead, perfect Hokage, wouldn't it be more interesting to replace that stubborn old Third Hokage, who's clinging to a Hokage Position that never belonged to him, with fresh blood to open up a fresher future?"
"Besides, thanks to the two of us Hokage Assistants infiltrating the village, the real power in Konoha can end up in Uchiha hands!"
Black Zetsu froze.
This was... the devil's whisper.
If Namikaze Minato survived, only to discover that Danzo and Fugaku Uchiha had taken control of Konoha's High Command, the scene would be...
"And besides," Lin Feng's voice rang out one last time before he vanished, "I want to make that kid Obito's despair even more complete."
Outside Konoha, within the barrier.
The air was already thick with the scent of death.
Namikaze Minato formed Hand Seals, about to use the forbidden Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
Kushina hung in midair, suspended by the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Her face was as pale as paper, and her life force was rapidly draining away as the Nine-Tails struggled.
"Minato... don't..."
Kushina weakly shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks in great drops. "Don't do it for me... don't use that Jutsu..."
"Kushina, this is the only thing I can do." Minato's eyes were filled with resolve and tenderness. "For Naruto, and for the village. The Nine-Tails is too powerful. I have to take half of it with me..."
"Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"
Just as Minato was about to sacrifice his soul, at the crucial moment—
BOOM!
A torrent of purple repulsive force crashed down from above, like the Divine Giant Hand of a god, instantly interrupting Minato's Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
"Who said you could die, Namikaze Minato?"
A cold, arrogant voice, heavy with overwhelming authority, boomed across the center of the battlefield.
As the dust cleared, Lin Feng stood between Minato and his wife and the Nine-Tails, his armor-clad, long hair whipping wildly in the wind.
His purple Rinnegan gazed coldly at the tragic family of three.
"Uchiha... Madara?!"
Minato's pupils contracted sharply, and the Hand Seals he'd been forming were forcibly interrupted. He hadn't expected the legendary Asura of the Ninja World to appear at such a desperate moment!
"What? Surprised?"
Lin Feng glanced at the Nine-Tails, which was baring its teeth and trying to attack.
"Beast, quiet down."
The Rinnegan's power erupted!
The Nine-Tails' massive body abruptly stiffened, as if an invisible chain had cinched around its throat. It was suppressed so completely that it couldn't move, and could only let out an unwilling whimper.
That single move stunned everyone on the battlefield.
"W-what are you planning?" Minato shielded Kushina. His body had already reached its limit, but his gaze remained wary.
"I'm watching a foolish farce."
Lin Feng pointed at Kushina, then at Minato, his voice full of mockery.
"With the Uzumaki Clan's vitality and that so-called Yellow Flash brain of yours, all you could come up with was the worst possible plan: dying together?"
"How pathetic!"
"Do you know why a Jinchuriki dies after their Tailed Beast is extracted? It's because their Chakra is depleted and their life force is cut off."
Lin Feng walked toward them one step at a time, each footfall landing on Minato's heartbeat.
"But as long as the Tailed Beast is put back before their life force runs out, the Jinchuriki can survive. In theory, it's possible in the Ninja World."
Minato froze.
Kushina froze, too.
They'd never heard of such a theory. As far as they knew, Tailed Beast extraction meant certain death.
"But... the Nine-Tails is too powerful. Kushina can't suppress it in her current state..." Minato instinctively objected.
"The Nine-Tails? Is it really that strong? Isn't it easy as pie?"
"As the Fourth Hokage, you're still too weak. Who told you to put the whole thing inside her? Idiot."
Lin Feng impatiently cut him off.
"Weren't you going to split the Nine-Tails in two? Then seal the half with Yin Release Chakra—the part you were going to sacrifice to the Reaper—back inside this woman."
"The Uzumaki Clan's physique can easily hold half the Nine-Tails and quickly recover its vitality. As for the other half, the one with Yang Release Chakra..."
Lin Feng's gaze fell on the swaddled Naruto.
"Give it to this kid. That's what you could call the 'refill and survive' method."
"The Eight Trigrams Sealing Style will do. There's no need for a losing bargain like the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. What, are you eager to go sightseeing in the Reaper's stomach?"
Minato was struck as if by lightning.
He stared at Lin Feng as his mind raced.
If he didn't die, if he didn't sacrifice his soul...
If he simply split the Nine-Tails in two with the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, giving half to Kushina to sustain her life and the other half to Naruto...
In theory... it really could work!
As long as they were fast enough! As long as someone could suppress the Nine-Tails!
And right now, the man before him with the Rinnegan was holding the Nine-Tails like a chick!
"Why..." Minato's voice trembled. "Why are you telling us this? Why save us?"
As far as he knew, "Uchiha Madara" was the mastermind behind the scenes, the one who'd brought destruction.
"Save you?"
Lin Feng scoffed, as if he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world.
He bent down, leaned close to Minato's ear, and whispered so quietly that only the two of them could hear:
"Because I want you alive to see Konoha flourish under my leadership. I want that fool Senju Tobirama to understand just how much of a threat the remnants of the naturally evil Senju Clan have become to our progress. Only my Uchiha Clan can make Konoha great again! You're indispensable to uniting the village!"
"Right now, Danzo and Fugaku Uchiha have only just become your 'assistants.' If you die, how could I realize my grand ambition?"
Minato's pupils shrank.
"Enough. I have limited patience."
Lin Feng straightened and kicked the Nine-Tails in the head, sending the strongest Tailed Beast tumbling over.
"Move quickly. I'll give you three minutes. If you can't do it, I'll personally send your family of three on your way. I'm tired of looking at you."
With that, Lin Feng folded his arms and stepped aside, genuinely taking on the role of a "foreman."
Minato didn't hesitate any longer.
He gave Lin Feng a long look, then turned to Kushina, hope blazing anew in his eyes.
"Kushina... we can survive!"
"Minato..." Kushina weakly opened her eyes, her vision already blurred by tears.
"Bear with it. It'll hurt!"
Minato's hands flew through Hand Seals, and golden Chakra burst forth.
This time, it wasn't the despairing Dead Demon Consuming Seal, but the life-giving Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!
"Sealing Jutsu: Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!"
Throughout those heart-stopping three minutes, Lin Feng watched coldly from the sidelines.
He watched Minato forcibly split the Nine-Tails' Chakra, watched the Yin Release Chakra flow into Kushina through the sealing formula, and watched the red-haired woman, once on the brink of death, gradually regain a trace of color in her face.
Then he watched as the remaining Yang Release Chakra was sealed inside little Naruto's stomach.
No Reaper.
No sacrifice.
Only a husband and wife, utterly exhausted, collapsed beside each other and gasped for breath, yet still held tightly to each other's hands.
"We did it..."
Minato slumped to the ground. Feeling Kushina's faint but steady pulse, the man who'd been the fastest in the Ninja World wept like a child. No—now the fastest in the Ninja World ought to be called Uchiha Madara.
As Lin Feng watched them, Obito's twisted face surfaced in his mind.
If Obito found out that the teacher and teacher's wife he'd gone to such lengths to kill had been casually saved by the "Lord Madara" he worshipped most...
That expression would be priceless.
"Enough. Stop putting on a tragic love scene."
Lin Feng's cold voice interrupted the tender moment.
He glanced at the Third Hokage and the large Anbu force rushing toward them in the distance.
"Your reinforcements are here. Remember this 'favor,' Fourth Hokage."
"Stay alive. Struggle to survive in this Ninja World that's about to become unrecognizable."
A spatial vortex appeared once more.
Lin Feng's figure slowly disappeared into it, leaving only a few words that made Minato's heart skip a beat, echoing through the night sky:
"Next time we meet, I hope your Konoha still hasn't taken the Uchiha name."
When Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived with a large group of ninja, he didn't find the gruesome corpses he'd expected.
Instead, he saw Namikaze Minato holding the baby and supporting his weakened wife.
"Minato?! Kushina?!"
The Third Hokage was so startled that his pipe fell to the ground. "You... you're alive? What happened to the Nine-Tails?"
"It's sealed."
Minato gave him a smile that was weak, yet filled with overwhelming relief.
"Third Lord... we survived."
In the crowd, Fugaku Uchiha, who had been among the Military Police Force, was delighted to see Minato and Kushina alive. He'd earned merit for coming to the rescue, after all.
The Fourth Hokage hadn't died? Thank goodness!
He'd finally kept his newly acquired position as "Hokage Assistant"!
Meanwhile, in the Kamui Dimension, tens of kilometers away.
Obito was preparing to hear the news that the "hero had fallen and Konoha was in chaos" when a sudden chill ran down his spine.
For some reason, the moon seemed unusually bright tonight.
It was as if the whole world was against him.
Before you continue