To Save Minato Namikaze, You'll Have to Rely on Yourself

Uchiha Ensei's words suddenly sparked a glimmer of hope in Kushina Uzumaki's heart.

As the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze falling unconscious was a major matter. Yet neither Konoha's full strength, the Land of Fire, nor even Tsunade, who had come to examine him, had found any solution.

Kushina Uzumaki had originally fallen into despair.

But upon seeing the boy who had helped her and her husband years ago, allowing them to survive, Kushina Uzumaki could not help but become emotional.

"R-Really? If you can help Minato, that would be wonderful."

Traces of Kushina's once lively and curious personality could still be seen, but at this moment, she had become gentle and quiet.

How should he put it? Perhaps because the future had been changed, the Kushina Uzumaki before him was completely different from the woman Uchiha Ensei remembered.

"Though I hate to dampen your hopes, I still need to say this... I'm not completely certain. I'm only going to try."

"But since Minato Namikaze isn't dead yet, there should always be a day when he wakes up."

As Uchiha Ensei spoke, he stepped forward and opened his pair of exceedingly strange Sharingan.

By now, Uchiha Ensei's eyes had long ceased to have much to do with the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyō.

After being washed over by vast amounts of Byakugan ocular power, Uchiha Ensei's eyes had undergone an unknown transformation. For now, it was a good thing for him.

But Uchiha Ensei did not know where they would ultimately lead.

Still, it seemed the Mangekyō Sharingan was no longer fated for him.

As Uchiha Ensei opened his eyes, waves of pressure began to spread through the air, startling the Nine-Tails within Kushina Uzumaki into agitation.

But Kushina was not Naruto Uzumaki. As a member of the most orthodox branch of the Uzumaki Clan, her Sealing Jutsu was exceptionally advanced.

Not to mention that she only had half of the Nine-Tails at the moment—even the Nine-Tails at full strength could be sealed by Kushina so thoroughly that it could not move.

If the Nine-Tails inside Naruto was merely in prison, then inside Kushina, it was like it had been bound up at all times, utterly unable to move.

"Calm down... Kurama!"

Uchiha Ensei seemed to notice the Nine-Tails' disturbance. Though it was suppressed by Kushina in an instant, he still caught it.

But Uchiha Ensei had no time to concern himself with the Nine-Tails. Instead, he used his ocular power to examine Minato Namikaze on the bed.

Uchiha Ensei's medical skills were not particularly high, but he could still tell that Minato Namikaze's body bore no injuries. There were not even the minor ailments caused by being bedridden for years.

"Looks like the problem is with his soul."

As Uchiha Ensei spoke, his hands began forming seals. Soon, an illusory figure emerged from his body and plunged directly into Minato Namikaze's body.

"Spirit Transformation Technique!"

Kushina Uzumaki's eyes widened as she watched in disbelief.

The Spirit Transformation Technique was a forbidden technique recorded in the Book of Seals, and it was extremely difficult to learn.

In all of Konoha, only Dan Katō had originally mastered this forbidden technique. After Dan Katō died, no one in Konoha had ever learned it again.

That alone showed how difficult this jutsu was to learn.

Meanwhile, after entering Minato Namikaze's body, Uchiha Ensei felt as though he had stepped into a muddy abyss. All kinds of negative emotions surged toward him, nearly crushing him.

Fortunately, Uchiha Ensei had brought a massive amount of ocular power with him before entering. Under the crushing force of that power, he fled in panic.

Outside, Kushina Uzumaki saw Uchiha Ensei's soul enter Minato Namikaze's body, only to immediately withdraw and rapidly return to his own body.

For a moment, Kushina Uzumaki looked anxiously at Minato Namikaze. Only after seeing that nothing had changed did she turn her concern toward Uchiha Ensei.

At that moment, Uchiha Ensei was gasping heavily, with a trace of fear still lingering in his eyes.

"Ensei, how did it go? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Looking at this child, who was only a few years older than her son, Kushina Uzumaki suddenly felt regret.

Perhaps she should not have been so selfish.

Uchiha Ensei did not notice Kushina Uzumaki's gaze. Instead, he spoke thoughtfully. "I'm fine. This is a kind of Yin–Yang Release, something extremely advanced."

"I'm still too young. Mastering Yin–Yang Release will take a long time."

"So, if you want to save Minato Namikaze, you'll have to rely on yourself."

Kushina Uzumaki had initially been on the verge of despair, but upon suddenly hearing this, her whole person seemed to brighten.

Though she only had a superficial understanding of Yin–Yang Release, she knew of Yin Release and Yang Release. But wasn't the combination of those two powers something only the Sage of Six Paths was capable of?

It was something out of legend...

Though it would be difficult, as long as there was even the slightest hope, she would not give up.

"What do I need to do to save Minato?"

Unable to care about anything else, Kushina Uzumaki immediately asked impatiently.

"It's simple. Choose to reconcile with the Nine-Tails. Once you enter the true Nine-Tails Mode, you'll be qualified to learn Yin–Yang Release."

"And a reminder: all Tailed Beasts were separated from the Divine Tree by the Sage of Six Paths. They originally inherited the will of his Ninshu."

"But people have always been driven by greed, hoping to control the Tailed Beasts' immense power."

"So after witnessing far too much darkness in human hearts, the Tailed Beasts began avoiding people."

"You should have felt the Nine-Tails' malice before. That malice is merely what the Nine-Tails experienced in the years gone by."

Uchiha Ensei did not hide anything and stated it directly.

By Uchiha Ensei's estimation, once these "good people" from the story learned the Nine-Tails' true nature, they should be able to reconcile with the Tailed Beasts easily as long as they opened their hearts.

And the so-called Nine-Tails Mode could be achieved effortlessly once one reconciled with the Nine-Tails.

That was why Naruto had gone through countless hardships before reaching a partnership with the Nine-Tails in the original story, while Minato Namikaze could activate Nine-Tails Mode as soon as he appeared.

To put it bluntly, Minato Namikaze in the original story had benefited from Naruto. Otherwise, the half of the Nine-Tails inside him would not have been so easy to command.

"What? Is what you said true?"

After hearing this, Kushina Uzumaki could not help reaching out to touch her stomach.

Then Kushina Uzumaki went blank for a moment before speaking to Uchiha Ensei with a complicated expression. "Kurama says he wants to see you."

Clearly, in that brief moment just now, Kushina Uzumaki had spoken with him for a long time within the Nine-Tails' sealing space.