Nine-Tails Breaking the Seal

After the farce, the two sat on a large rock in the Training Ground to rest.

"Minato, I want a popsicle," Jiraiya said with a wink.

Minato nodded gently with a smile, agreeing to the request, and then vanished in an instant.

Toru, who had sensed Minato's aura disappear in a flash, turned his head in surprise toward the direction where Jiraiya was sitting. Only then did he confirm that Namikaze Minato had truly vanished into thin air, and was certainly not within a radius of several hundred meters.

At this moment, Jiraiya also looked over toward Toru's side. Toru didn't dare stare, so he quickly turned his head away.

Vanishing into thin air rather than moving at high speed meant that the ninjutsu Namikaze Minato used involved space.

It seems this world is even more interesting than I imagined.

Toru thought to himself.

Because Minato had disappeared in an instant, Toru's Six Eyes hadn't even had time to decipher the mystery behind it.

To see through this space-time ninjutsu, he would likely need Minato to perform a demonstration within Toru's field of vision.

Before the shock in Toru's heart had fully dissipated, Minato's figure reappeared in the Training Ground.

Minato held a bottle of water and two connected popsicles in his hands. He handed the popsicles to Jiraiya and sat down to take a big gulp of water.

Jiraiya took the popsicles, broke them apart, and asked, "Which side do you want?"

"Either side is..." Minato, who had initially thought it didn't matter, suddenly realized something.

"...If both sides are the same..." A flash of inspiration struck Minato. He immediately leaped up and shouted, "That's it, Jiraiya-sensei!"

"If both directions refine the same way..." Minato felt he had found the knack for his new technique.

Jiraiya, however, said distractedly, "Huh? What's wrong? Not eating? Then I'll eat both!"

Minato, focused on developing his new technique, left Jiraiya behind and returned to the center of the Training Ground to continue his attempts.

"Refining from two directions simultaneously, rotating, maintaining—this time it will definitely succeed!" Minato raised his right hand and began to condense his chakra.

Perhaps due to nerves, it took Minato a long time to condense his chakra this time, and only slowly did signs of chakra appear in his hand.

Two streams of chakra appeared in his palm simultaneously and began to rotate in different directions, quickly forming the shape of a chakra sphere.

This time was different from any previous attempt; the chakra sphere remained exceptionally stable. Although the two streams of chakra were rotating at high speed inside, it had no effect on the stability of the exterior.

"It's... it's taking shape!!" The powerful wind whipped up by the chakra sphere blew Minato's yellow hair back, and his handsome face beamed with a brilliant smile, "...I shall name it—"

Jiraiya, having finished his popsicle, walked over just in time to hear Minato shout the name: "Light Wheel Popsicle Inspired Swirl Hair Jiraiya Dual-Style Maru!!!"

"Long and ridiculous... he has no talent for naming things..." Jiraiya looked at Minato, who thought he had come up with something clever, and was left speechless.

Minato's voice even reached Toru and Kurenai, and both reached the same conclusion: "What a terrible name."

It must be said that the name was logical, it was just terrible.

Toru watched from afar at the azure chakra sphere in Minato's hand. While activating his Chakra Six Eyes to analyze the ninjutsu, he sighed, "If I were to name it, I'd call it the Azure Spiral."

A moment later, Minato put away his Light Wheel Popsicle Inspired Swirl Hair Jiraiya Dual-Style Maru, and Toru finished his analysis of the long-winded ninjutsu.

Jiraiya said to Minato, "Anyway, let's put the development of the new technique on hold for now! I have other mission applications to attend to, so I'll be leaving for a while. Take this time to get some rest, understand?"

Minato, still immersed in his successful new technique, replied offhandedly, "Yes..."

And just like that, Jiraiya left the Training Ground.

Minato leaned against a rock by the edge of the woods and continued to ponder and refine his new technique; it seemed that resting was not in the cards for him for the time being.

On the other side, Toru was in a great mood after copying such a powerful technique and happily continued teaching Yuhi Kurenai how to use the Illusion Clone Technique.

Kurenai thought Toru was making fun of the terrible name Minato had just come up with, and thought to herself, I never expected Toru to have such a childish side.

Time passed, and Toru and Kurenai had nearly finished their training for the day. Namikaze Minato had also grown familiar with his new technique, and all three prepared to leave the Training Ground.

Just then, a figure suddenly emerged from the woods—it was Uzumaki Kushina.

Come to think of it, Toru had been the first to notice Kushina hiding in the trees. Minato only looked up in surprise once Kushina poked her head out: "Huh?! Why are you here, Kushina... Is everything alright?"

Kushina explained with a slightly guilty, raised tone: "Ah! No! The... the Third Hokage gave me special permission... saying it was okay to step outside the barrier...!"

"I see, no wonder the usual guard isn't here." Minato easily believed Kushina's story.

Toru, who was just about to leave, looked as if he had seen a ghost. He actually believed that?! Is the intelligence of a Konoha jonin really this low?

Toru's Six Eyes hadn't seen a single Anbu guard, and the seal within Kushina seemed to have loosened significantly; it was obvious that Kushina had snuck out on her own.

This is no place to linger. Toru raised his guard in his heart while pulling Yuhi Kurenai along as he walked away.

Kurenai was caught off guard by having her hand held and felt shy.

"More than that... I was wrong earlier! For getting angry at you..." Kushina bowed sincerely to apologize.

Minato was stunned for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said, "No... I'm the one who should apologize... I failed to keep my promise to you..."

"..." Minato remained silent for a while after speaking, then decided to reveal his true feelings: "Actually... the reason I risked breaking my promise to you to finish that ninjutsu was because... this technique was created to protect you."

"Eh?" This was the first time Kushina had heard the original intention behind Minato developing the new technique.

"...Because we are currently in a war, and who knows when you might be sent to the battlefield. Therefore, I specifically developed this technique to deal with Tailed Beasts... and to fight against the jinchuriki of the enemy side. It can also resonate with your own chakra, and I intend to pass it on to you..."

Minato spoke his innermost thoughts, then looked at Kushina with a gentle expression.

"Because I—don't want to lose you."

Minato's words were like a gentle yet powerful shell, causing a flower called "heartbeat" to bloom in Kushina's chest.

But just as Kushina's heart fluttered, the Tailed Beast within her suddenly acted, instantly seizing control of her body.

Kushina's pupils turned into ferocious, vertical fox slits.

In Kushina's mental world, the Nine-Tails, which had been bound by the seal, had already broken through most of its restraints and was whispering to bewitch her: "I should have told you not to trust anyone. This guy is just using you!"

Yet Kushina was focused entirely on Minato's safety and screamed his name.

Minato noticed Kushina clutching her head and bending over in agony, and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Kushina?!"

Kushina let out a roar, and an astonishing, violent chakra erupted from her entire body.

"This is!! Tailed Beast transformation!!" Minato was shocked, and was immediately struck and sent flying by a close-range blow from the rampaging Kushina.