One Man Suppresses the Nine-Tails! The Masked Man Is Nothing! Kamizuki Yu Reshapes the Hidden Leaf's Future!

Amid the shattered walls and rubble, the golden chains of [Adamantine Sealing Chains] still tightly bound the Nine-Tails.

The massive demon fox lay prone on the ground. Its once ferocious crimson eyes now held a trace of exhaustion, and even something like... resignation.

Minato Namikaze supported Kushina Uzumaki as the couple stood a short distance behind Kamizuki Yu.

Minato looked at the tailed beast that had once driven the entire Hidden Leaf to the brink of destruction, now as docile as a tiger with its teeth pulled. Then he looked at the calm back of the young man before him, and the turmoil in his heart refused to settle.

"Yu..." Kushina's voice carried the weakness of childbirth, but even more than that, the relief and gratitude of having survived a disaster.

She tightly gripped Minato's hand, her knuckles whitening from the force.

Kamizuki Yu slowly turned around. The golden chakra had already faded, and the nine tails had vanished as well. He had returned to his usual somewhat lazy appearance.

"Senior Kushina, how are you feeling?" He made an inquiring gesture.

"Thanks to you, Yu... I, we..." Kushina was too overwhelmed to speak coherently, tears spilling out uncontrollably.

Minato spoke solemnly. "Yu, my wife and I do not know how we could ever repay this debt."

He knew that without Kamizuki Yu, tonight, the Hidden Leaf, himself, Kushina, and their newborn child would all have faced utter ruin.

Kamizuki Yu waved a hand, signaling that they need not be so formal.

"It was nothing. After all, I'm part of the Hidden Leaf too. I couldn't exactly stand by and watch the village get torn apart by a rampaging fox." His tone was relaxed, as if he had merely done something trivial.

That casualness only made Minato and Kushina feel his unfathomable depth even more keenly.

"As for this big fox..." Kamizuki Yu turned his gaze toward the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails seemed to sense something. Its enormous head lifted slightly, and two streams of thick breath burst from its nostrils.

Minato's heart tightened. "Yu, what do you plan to do with it? Seal it back into Kushina?"

That was the most conventional approach, but Kushina had just endured childbirth and the agony of having the tailed beast forcibly extracted. Her physical condition was deeply concerning.

Kushina looked at him nervously as well. She was not afraid of becoming a jinchuriki again, but she feared that her body would not hold up—and feared even more that her child would be affected because of it.

"No." Kamizuki Yu rejected the idea decisively.

"Senior Kushina's body is not suited to bearing the Nine-Tails' full power again. Besides, having one person carry such a burden forever is not a long-term solution."

He paused before adding, "And I don't intend to become a new jinchuriki either."

That answer left Minato and Kushina stunned.

He would not seal it back into Kushina, nor would he become its jinchuriki himself. Then what would happen to the Nine-Tails? Let it remain outside? That was impossible!

A trace of confusion flashed through the Nine-Tails' huge eyes as well. What exactly was this human trying to do?

"I'll separate a portion of its purest Yang-nature chakra and merge it into Naruto's body," Kamizuki Yu said, shocking them all.

"What?!" Kushina cried out.

Minato's expression changed drastically as well. "Yu! That's far too dangerous! Naruto was just born!"

Directly merging tailed beast chakra into an infant's body was simply unheard of!

"Relax. I'm not making him a jinchuriki in the traditional sense," Kamizuki Yu explained.

"It will only be a form of protection and blessing. This portion of chakra will ensure that Naruto possesses tremendous potential and vitality in the future, but the village will not regard him as a jinchuriki. That will spare him all those unnecessary prejudices and troubles."

His tone was calm, but it carried a decisiveness that allowed no argument.

"I trust my control."

That confidence came from power and knowledge that surpassed everyone else in this era.

Minato and Kushina exchanged a glance, seeing hesitation and struggle in each other's eyes.

Kamizuki Yu's proposal was incredibly bold, but they had to admit that it might be the best solution. Naruto would not become a jinchuriki, yet he could still benefit from the Nine-Tails' power.

"Then... what about the rest of the Nine-Tails?" Kushina asked carefully.

The Nine-Tails perked up its ears as well.

Kamizuki Yu smiled faintly. "As for its main consciousness and most of its power..."

He extended a hand. Complex golden sealing patterns appeared in his palm, carrying the faint aura of spatial fluctuations.

"I'll use an improved sealing technique to 'comfortably contain' it in an independent small space that I created. The environment there is quite nice—far more comfortable than being trapped in the endless darkness inside a jinchuriki."

"When the time is right in the future, I'll consider giving it true freedom."

The moment those words were spoken, not only Minato and Kushina, but even the Nine-Tails bound by [Adamantine Sealing Chains], were visibly stunned.

Freedom?

To a tailed beast, that word was too extravagant, too distant.

The Nine-Tails stared at Kamizuki Yu with its enormous pupils, trying to find any trace of mockery on his face.

But Kamizuki Yu's expression remained calm.

"What do you say, Kurama? Use that wisdom of yours and think it over. Would you rather continue being sealed as a weapon, or move somewhere more comfortable and look forward to the possibility of freedom someday?"

The Nine-Tails fell silent.

It could sense that this human was not lying. That unfathomable power was enough to let him accomplish anything he wished.

"You... what makes you think I'd believe you?" The Nine-Tails' deep voice carried a trace of hoarseness and suspicion.

"Because I can knock you flat with one punch, and I can also make sure you never open your mouth again." Kamizuki Yu's tone did not change, but his words made the fox shudder.

"Besides, I don't need you to trust me completely. You only need to cooperate."

A blatant ultimatum.

The Nine-Tails fell silent once more. After a long while, it snorted heavily. "Hmph. I'll... watch and see what you do."

That counted as... consent?

Minato and Kushina could hardly believe their ears. The Nine-Tails, the legendary strongest and fiercest tailed beast, had actually... yielded just like that?

Kamizuki Yu nodded in satisfaction. "A wise choice."

He turned to Kushina. "Senior, I may need some of your blood as a medium to assist with the chakra extraction and conversion."

Then he looked at Minato. "Senior Minato, Naruto is in your care."

Kushina immediately nodded. "No problem! As long as Naruto will be safe!"

The Uzumaki bloodline within her possessed a natural affinity for sealing techniques and chakra control.

Kamizuki Yu walked over to Kushina, soft green light radiating from his palm. It was pure senjutsu chakra.

"This is senjutsu chakra. It can rapidly restore your body."

Warm energy flowed into her body. Color returned to Kushina's pale face at a visible rate, and her severely depleted strength began to recover.

Feeling the changes in her body, Kushina's gratitude toward Kamizuki Yu deepened once again.

This young man was not only unimaginably powerful—even his medical ninjutsu, though it was actually senjutsu, was so refined.

Once everything was ready, Kamizuki Yu began.

The process went far more smoothly than expected. Perhaps the Nine-Tails had truly been beaten into submission, or perhaps it held a sliver of hope for that "future freedom." Either way, it cooperated astonishingly well.

A small cluster of gentle, pure Yang-nature Nine-Tails chakra was successfully extracted. Under Kamizuki Yu's precise control, it slowly merged into the tiny body of Naruto Uzumaki in his swaddling clothes.

Naruto merely smacked his lips, as if he had sensed something warm, and slept even more sweetly.

Kushina held Naruto as tears slid down her cheeks again.

Her child had not become a jinchuriki, yet he had received the Nine-Tails' blessing. From the moment of his birth, his fate had been completely changed by the man before her.

Minato stepped forward and stood beside Kushina.

The couple exchanged a glance. Then, together, they deeply bowed to Kamizuki Yu, offering the highest salute of respect between shinobi.

"Yu! Kushina Uzumaki and I, Minato Namikaze, will never forget this debt and this kindness for as long as we live!"

"From this day onward, you are the friend for whom we would risk our lives! Naruto's lifelong benefactor! The Hidden Leaf's eternal guardian!"

Minato's voice was resolute and filled with sincere emotion.

Kamizuki Yu calmly accepted the grand gesture. He had saved them and rewritten Naruto's fate. He deserved that respect.

"Guardian is a bit much." He helped them up. "I only did what I believed was right."

He looked at the sleeping Naruto. "This child has a promising future."

Then Kamizuki Yu formed hand seals. The chains of [Adamantine Sealing Chains] began to shift in shape, resonating with the spatial sealing formula in his palm.

Wrapped in golden light, the Nine-Tails' enormous body gradually turned insubstantial. Finally, after a slight spatial distortion, it vanished from where it stood.

It had been "contained" within an independent small space that Kamizuki Yu had created by improving upon the Kamui Dimension.

There were mountains and water there, along with simulated sun, moon, and stars. It was thousands of times better than the dark space within a jinchuriki.

After entering its new home, the Nine-Tails did not roar for once. It merely silently surveyed its surroundings.

Perhaps a different way of living was not so bad? At the very least, it would no longer have to worry about some Uchiha controlling it with their eyes one day.

The crisis was completely over.

Though the Hidden Leaf had suffered devastating damage, its core strength remained intact. Pillars such as the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze were still alive. Reconstruction was only a matter of time.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood atop Hokage Rock, gazing at the devastated central district of the village and Kamizuki Yu standing with Minato and Kushina in the distance.

The young man's figure seemed especially dazzling in the faint light of dawn.

"Kamizuki Yu..." the Third Hokage murmured.

He had witnessed the entire process of Kamizuki Yu defeating the masked man and subduing the Nine-Tails. That kind of power had already surpassed his understanding of shinobi.

"The village owes him far too much."

How to reward this young man, whose achievements shook the ages, had become Hiruzen Sarutobi's greatest headache—and his most important task.

Ordinary rewards simply could not match such merit.

Meanwhile, after handling the Nine-Tails' chakra, Kamizuki Yu's understanding of the essence of tailed beast chakra quietly rose to another level.

His perfect Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, which he could use without becoming a jinchuriki, seemed to have become slightly more refined as a result.

Golden chakra circulated through his body, becoming more condensed and more responsive to his will.

"Hmm, an unexpected gain." He murmured softly, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

The villagers emerged from the shelters. Looking at their devastated homes, they felt sorrow—but even more gratitude toward the hero who had saved their village.

"It's Lord Kamizuki Yu!"

"The Hidden Leaf's golden barrier!"

"A god among the living!"

All kinds of praise arose spontaneously, converging into a mighty tide.

Kamizuki Yu neither accepted nor rejected it. He merely raised his head and looked toward the rising sun.

A new day had begun.

Minato walked over and patted his shoulder. "Yu, what are you planning to do next?"

Kushina, holding Naruto, also looked over with concern.