Spring, Year 33 of Konoha.
A gentle spring breeze swept across Konoha's rows of houses, dispersing the lingering winter chill. New leaves adorned the branches, and fresh greenery sprouted everywhere.
Yet within a secluded, sealed-off barrier inside Konoha, there was not a trace of spring's warmth.
This was a top-secret site for sealing Tailed Beasts and passing on the role of jinchūriki. Sensory Ninjas and elite Anbu surrounded it, with stern-faced elite shinobi standing ready everywhere the eye could see.
Not a sound was permitted throughout the entire area. The oppressive atmosphere was suffocating.
At the barrier's entrance, Kagami Uchiha stood quietly in his Hokage robes.
He stood tall, his expression calm, his gaze fixed on the tightly closed entrance as thoughts churned within him.
A year earlier, sensing that her life was nearing its end, Mito Uzumaki had summoned him to the Senju Clan Compound to make arrangements for after her death.
At the time, he had posed a question to Mito Uzumaki that he had been considering for a long while.
Could they extract the Nine-Tails completely and have Konoha's leadership seal him away permanently, rather than leave descendants of the Uzumaki Clan to inherit the fate of a jinchūriki, so that the clan would never again have to suffer the torment of confinement and loneliness?
After all, with him around, the Nine-Tails was little more than a plaything.
But the elderly woman whose life had been consumed by the Nine-Tails had gently yet firmly refused his proposal.
Mito's answer still echoed in Kagami Uchiha's mind to this day.
She had said that before Hashirama sealed the Tailed Beast inside her all those years ago, he had asked for her consent. His intention had been for Mito to protect Konoha in his place should the day come when