Bring Hyuga Wuye Here!

"This is bad! Kushina has lost control of her mind!"

The four, including Hiruzen Sarutobi, saw the demonic fox cloak emerging from Kushina's body and immediately understood the situation.

"With Lady Mito's abilities, sealing the Nine-Tails should have been effortless, shouldn't it?" Koharu Utatane frowned. "Why has this happened?"

The Third Hokage looked worried. "Because Lady Mito intends to let Kushina complete the final sealing herself. Only then might she be able to control the Nine-Tails in the future."

"She's only seven. Even if she can use Adamantine Sealing Chains, she's still far from being able to seal the Nine-Tails. It's too dangerous," Homura Mitokado said anxiously.

"The Adamantine Sealing Chains are too powerful. Without a key to unlock them, Kushina won't be able to use the Nine-Tails' power," Danzo Shimura said in a low voice. "For the village's future deterrence through the tailed beasts, the risk is worth taking."

For the village!

Those four words plunged the worried group into silence.

"Hiruzen!"

At that moment, Mito Uzumaki suddenly opened her eyes. "Bring Hyuga Wuye here!"

"What? Who?"

Danzo and the other two were startled.

The Third Hokage frowned. "Lady Mito, how can someone from the Hyuga Clan branch family be involved in this matter?"

Danzo cast him an inscrutable glance.

For someone from the Hyuga Clan branch family to be mentioned at a time like this—and for the Third Hokage to clearly know him—now that was interesting...

"He can fill the emptiness in Kushina's heart," Mito Uzumaki shouted. "Would you rather have a puppet you can completely control but who cannot use the Nine-Tails' power, or a jinchuriki you cannot control but who can protect the village?"

The Third Hokage's expression changed. After only a brief pause, he vanished from where he stood.

Konoha could not afford to lose the deterrence of a tailed beast, even if she could not be fully controlled...

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Like a monkey, the Third Hokage leaped out of the cave. After several uses of the Body Flicker Technique, he appeared high above Konoha.

"Secret Sensory Technique!"

He suddenly drew a deep breath and searched all of Konoha for Hyuga Wuye's presence.

"His scent should be... Found him!"

Hyuga Wuye barely had time to react before Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had suddenly appeared, grabbed him by the shoulder. Then they moved at high speed, and the world spun around him.

When they stopped, he found himself standing inside a cave, with Danzo's unsettling gaze sweeping up and down his body.

"This place..."

Before Wuye could speak, the Adamantine Sealing Chains before him suddenly split open on their own, revealing a gap.

"Wuye, come in. Kushina needs you!" Mito Uzumaki called urgently.

"Kushina?!"

Before Hyuga Wuye could even figure out what was happening, he darted through the gap and crouched beside Kushina. "Grandma Mito, what do you need me to do?"

"Wake her... Tell her you won't leave... Tell her you'll always stay by her side and protect her..."

Mito Uzumaki said, "Fill the emptiness in her heart, and she can break free from the influence of the Nine-Tails' malicious will."

Wuye could now clearly see Kushina. The terrifying sight of scarlet chakra continuously pouring from her body filled his vision.

Has she been corroded by the Nine-Tails' chakra? The emptiness in her heart... was it because of our breakup?

"Kushina..."

Hyuga Wuye gently took her soft, delicate hand and whispered by her ear, "Kushina, I'm here. I... will always stay by your side..."

"Who..."

"Who is calling me..."

Inside Kushina, within the sealing space.

The tiny figure wrapped in Nine-Tails chakra slowly opened her eyes. Confusion showed in those frightening scarlet eyes.

"I think I heard... Wuye's voice..."

Mito Uzumaki rejoiced. "He's here. He's by your side right now!"

"Really...?"

The Nine-Tails chakra on Kushina's body dispersed at a visible rate, and the four outside the Adamantine Sealing Chains wore different expressions.

The Third Hokage was delighted. "It really works!"

"This child's relationship with the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki..." Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were pleased, but their delight carried concern.

Danzo remained expressionless. "The Nine-Tails' jinchuriki cannot fall into the hands of the Hyuga Clan."

"Roar—!"

The Nine-Tails inside Kushina sensed its influence being forced away and roared furiously. "You little brat! You're courting death!"

The remaining Nine-Tails chakra on Kushina's body suddenly gathered in her eyes. She abruptly opened them.

"Kushina... Urgh..."

Hyuga Wuye had only just cried out in delight when the foxlike eyes shooting toward him filled his vision.

Evil spiritual power instantly invaded his mind. It felt as if a massive hammer had struck his head, causing his spiritual power to collapse at an incredible speed.

"This is bad! The Nine-Tails' spiritual power is backlashing! That child will become an idiot from the impact!"

The Third Hokage frowned and called out, "Lady Mito, let me save him."

Seeing Hyuga Wuye's blank face and chaotic expression, Mito Uzumaki could not help sighing softly.

The sealing chains before the Third Hokage gradually opened. Just as he was about to step inside, someone suddenly seized his wrist.

"Wait."

Danzo's gaze was deep. "If this child dies here, wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone?"

The Third Hokage's brows drew together. "You want to use his death to provoke Kushina?"

"That kind of pain will surely awaken her greatest potential," Danzo said calmly. "And it will also keep her away from the Hyuga Clan."

For a time, the cave fell deathly silent.

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane struggled briefly before their expressions gradually became indifferent. "Danzo... has a point..."

Noticing their reactions, Mito Uzumaki's eyes showed obvious disappointment.

Hashirama... Tobirama... Is this what your inherited will has become...?

"No."

The Third Hokage suddenly shouted, "He did nothing wrong. The village cannot abandon him!"

Danzo frowned. "Hiruzen, this is not the time for your indecision."

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then said, "He is first and foremost a member of the village. Only after that is he a member of the Hyuga Clan branch family."

"To burn oneself and protect the budding green leaves—that is the Hokage's duty, that is the Will of Fire!"

As he walked inside, Danzo sneered. "Pedantic! Foolish!"

Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stopped again.

"What? Changed your mind again?"

Danzo was about to mock him when he noticed that Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane's expressions were off.

Their eyes were fixed wide open, as though they had suddenly seen the Third Hokage running naked.

Danzo immediately turned around. His eyes widened slightly. "Sha... rin... gan..."

When the evil spiritual power crushed into his mind, Hyuga Wuye's own spiritual power instinctively resisted, only to be rapidly overwhelmed.

Under that pressure, the Sharingan almost activated on its own, feeding a cool, strange spiritual power back into his mind.

Not only did it swiftly calm the turmoil in his spiritual power, it even rebounded the Nine-Tails' malicious will in an instant.

The Uchiha Clan's power had always been the nemesis of tailed beasts!

"Huff... huff..."

Hyuga Wuye panted rapidly, his scarlet Sharingan meeting Kushina's foxlike eyes.

Gradually, the tomoe began to spin.

"Give my Kushina back!"