Reaper Death Seal and the Final Abacus

Hiruzen Sarutobi hurried as fast as he could to the outer perimeter of that grove.

The Adamantine Sealing Chains unleashed by Kushina blocked him absolutely, making it impossible to take even a single step forward.

With an iron-gray face, he drew out the Golden Cudgel of the Enma Transformation and poked at the barrier a couple of times.

It was completely useless.

The Hokage hailed as the strongest in history was utterly powerless in the face of a barrier set up by a dying person.

Damnable bastards, are they planning to deal with the Nine-Tails on their own?!

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared fixedly at the two people ahead, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets.

The abacus in his mind clicked and clacked loudly—the Nine-Tails belonged to Konoha, and even more so to the Sarutobi Clan; it was a massive trump card he had deliberately reserved for his own son to eventually claim the seat of Hokage.

The Jinchuriki wanted to handle things without authorization?

Don't even think about it.

"Lord Third?"

Several ANBU members arrived behind him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi put away his previous murderous expression, a look of sorrow hanging on his face.

"A terrible disaster has occurred. The Fourth Hokage has used the Reaper Death Seal and intends to perish together with the Nine-Tails."

He sighed, casting his gaze toward Minato inside the barrier.

A look of deep admiration instantly filled the faces of the several ANBU members.

Hiruzen Sarutobi swept a calm and unruffled glance across one of the ANBU.

"It's all the fault of this beast, the Nine-Tails. If it hadn't gone on a rampage, things wouldn't have come to this. Since it has been stuffed back into that child's body once more, this matter must never leak out. If the villagers ever find out that the Nine-Tails might strike again, the village will surely explode in panic."

The several ANBU members were completely stunned.

"Lord Third, can the Nine-Tails still go on a rampage after being sealed?!"

To speak from the very beginning, the Nine-Tails was originally the pet of the First Hokage.

Whether it was Mito Uzumaki or Kushina Uzumaki, suppressing the Nine-Tails was like child's play.

If Kushina hadn't been pregnant, Obito never would have dared to run over and court death.

Jinchuriki in other ninja villages might meet with disaster at any moment, and it was entirely normal for them to be hated and feared.

But Konoha was different; they had the Uzumaki Clan affiliated with them, bringing along complete sealing jutsus.

An incident like a Nine-Tails rampage had simply never happened in Konoha's history.

Past Jinchuriki hadn't gotten along too poorly with the Nine-Tails either, even if they hadn't reached the status of a Perfect Jinchuriki.

Yet, the strength of Mito Uzumaki and Kushina Uzumaki was plain to see. Whenever they wanted to "borrow" the Nine-Tails' chakra, they could do so at any moment, and the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode was opened at will.

The Tailed Beasts held far too much strategic value, so the higher-ups rarely let them go to the front lines, but even so, Kushina was still called the Battlefield Red Hot Chili Pepper by everyone.

Therefore, before the Nine-Tails Night, no one would have ever imagined that the Nine-Tails could go berserk—that was a master whom the First had patted on the head and pressed down at the front gate.

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and sighed, saying:

"Who can say for sure about such things? It's just better to be prepared for eventualities."

Among the several ANBU members, someone lowered his head.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded happily in his heart—having such an easily fooled Hokage advisor was truly comfortable, as someone else always shouldered all the dirty and exhausting work.

At the exact same time, Danzo, who was keeping a close eye on the Uchiha Clan, sneezed a massive sneeze.

He always felt someone behind his back was scheming against him.

Danzo looked at the Uchiha people huddled inside their clan grounds who stubbornly refused to come out, and let out a cold snort.

The Mangekyō Sharingan inside the Nine-Tails' eyes had been seen by anyone with eyes.

It would be a miracle if the Uchiha Clan didn't get tainted by this mess.

Other thoughts began to spin in his mind again—with such a massive upheaval occurring in Konoha, shouldn't the Fourth Hokage also follow the Third's example and resign in disgrace?

I said it long ago: sending the Jinchuriki to the Root to be raised was the right move, but Hiruzen Sarutobi stubbornly refused to listen.

Now take a look, didn't disaster strike?

This seat of the Hokage should finally be passed on to me.

The more Danzo thought about it, the more comfortable he felt, the corners of his mouth lifting upward on their own.

Even those Uchiha people up ahead looked a lot more pleasing to his eyes.

He still had no idea that he would soon be cooped up at home, with a black pot flying straight at him from beyond the heavens.

On the other side, having successfully persuaded Kushina, Minato finally began to make his move.

Reaper Death Seal.

The Death God's arm thrust straight out from his chest, lunging directly toward the Nine-Tails to grab it.

A translucent soul was forcibly dragged out from inside the Nine-Tails and sank into Minato's body.

The Nine-Tails roared to shake the heavens, but Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains wrapped it tightly, leaving it utterly helpless.

The entire Nine-Tails visibly shrank by a large circle.

Outside the barrier, Hiruzen Sarutobi's fists clenched with a cracking sound.

Bastard, it really is the Reaper Death Seal, he actually had the heart to pull it off! All for a woman!

The successor of the "Will of Fire" that he had spent so much thought cultivating was about to vanish right before his eyes.

Where on earth was he going to find another grand-disciple with a clean background, rock-solid skills, and absolute obedience to him?

Back then, in order to push Minato up, he had driven Konoha's White Fang to his death and chased away his beloved disciple Orochimaru.

If he had to die, so be it, but why drag the Nine-Tails along with him? Didn't he know this was Konoha's most precious asset?

A ninja behind him looked at the Nine-Tails, which had yet to disappear, and frowned.

"Why is the Nine-Tails still here? Wasn't it sealed away completely? It's just a whole lot smaller than before."

Inside the barrier, Minato summoned another sealing altar.

He placed Naruto on top of it.

"Alright, the next step is the Eight Trigrams Seal."

Minato Namikaze wanted to leave together with his wife, but he could become Hokage, so his brain certainly wasn't completely foolish.

Sealing the Nine-Tails into Naruto's body had another layer of consideration—the identity of Jinchuriki would absolutely protect Naruto's life.

Whether it was Hiruzen Sarutobi or that bunch of higher-ups in Konoha, no one would let anything happen to Jinchuriki Naruto.

Because the Uzumaki bloodline flowing through Naruto's body was the lifeline to suppress the Tailed Beasts.

That group from the Council of Elders knew best that the Nine-Tails wasn't like the Tailed Beasts of other ninja villages, which caused a ruckus every few days.

Across the entire world, the only thing that could keep the Nine-Tails suppressed was the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan.

Therefore, the most fundamental trump card of Minato playing this move was that Naruto's life could be preserved.

Seeing that it was about to be shoved into Naruto's body again, the Nine-Tails wore a look of utter defiance.

It seized the moment when Kushina's injuries flared up and let out a great shout: "Waiting right for this!"

Swinging its giant claw, it stabbed straight down toward Naruto.

If it killed the next Jinchuriki, it would be completely unbound.

Minato and Kushina threw themselves in front of Naruto in unison, blocking it with all their might.

The key to the sealing jutsu was handed to the toad of Mount Myoboku.

The two of them sealed the remaining sliver of Nine-Tails Chakra all at once into Naruto's body.

This transmigrated body was slammed by that surge of chakra, and his head hurt as if it were splitting open.

Naruto gritted his teeth to endure it, used his very last bit of strength, and flashed a middle finger at Minato Namikaze.

Then he cleanly and neatly passed out.

Minato and Kushina's chakra also vanished into the seal along with the Nine-Tails.