"Quickly! Barrier Team, is everything in place?"
"The barrier around Lady Mito is ready. We're setting up the sensory barrier now."
"Quickly! Sealing Squad, are you ready?"
"Yes! Minato Namikaze, our designated Jinchūriki, is ready! Lady Kushina and Uchiha Yin are also in position."
"Good! Medical teams, have you set up every treatment station?"
"Well... sorry..."
"Get it done. Now."
"Yes!"
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the kindly man who usually wore a smile, had become as cold and sharp as a winter wind.
One glare from him sent a chill through anyone in his sights, leaving them trembling.
He stood ramrod straight, issuing one stern order after another.
And under his command, no one objected. No one disobeyed.
So this is the real Shinobi Hero. That everyday kindness must be a mask, Uchiha Yin thought as he watched Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Hiruzen Sarutobi before him seemed like a different person from the kindly middle-aged man he knew, and further still from the good-natured old man in the original story.
Mito Uzumaki was nearing the end of her life. Their task was to extract the Nine-Tails from her and seal it again.
It was Hiruzen Sarutobi's first time attempting anything like this. In fact, it was Konoha's first time.
When the Nine-Tails was first sealed inside Mito Uzumaki, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had both been there. Against the two of them, the Nine-Tails had been as helpless as a newborn and was sealed with ease. But neither Hashirama nor Madara was here now.
That was why Hiruzen Sarutobi was so grave. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong.
Even with enough people assembled, he still felt short-handed, underprepared, and pressed for time...
Looking back at the various Jinchūriki transfers in the original story, it was clear that passing a Tailed