Minato arrives! The opportunity is here!

"Roar!!!"

The Nine-Tails' tremendous roars echoed wildly within the deep crimson barrier as its massive body thrashed against it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Every impact from the Nine-Tails violently distorted the curtain of light.

The Uchiha ninja maintaining the barrier were deathly pale, blood streaming from the corners of their mouths.

"Hold on! We can't let this beast break out!"

"We are the Uchiha!!"

The Uchiha Clan's ninja gritted their teeth and held on. Not one of them retreated.

The other Uchiha Clan ninja were not idle either. They attacked the Nine-Tails inside the barrier, hindering its attempts to keep destroying it.

Gengetsu was not idle either, his hands rapidly forming hand seals.

"Fire Release-Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Towering flames like a sea of fire slammed into the Nine-Tails' head.

But despite the ferocity of the ninjutsu attack, it did no actual damage to the Nine-Tails beyond making it roar.

The Nine-Tails' power really is terrifying!

I really wonder how Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju managed to subdue it back then!

Watching the wildly roaring Nine-Tails, Gengetsu could not help thinking.

Meanwhile, in a dense forest outside Konoha.

Minato Namikaze panted heavily, staring at the enemy wearing the Tiger-Skin Mask before him.

The man wearing the Tiger-Skin Mask was none other than Obito Uchiha.

"Give up, Fourth Hokage."

"I've already unleashed the Nine-Tails. Konoha is destined to turn to ashes in its fury tonight... you can't save the village, or your wife and child."

Obito Uchiha spoke in a hoarse, mocking voice.

Minato stared fixedly at the Masked Man before him, frantic with worry.

Kushina had had her tailed beast extracted right after giving birth and was on the brink of death, while the Nine-Tails was rampaging through the village.

He had to deal with the enemy before him as quickly as possible and return to the village!

Just then, Minato's peripheral vision suddenly caught something in Konoha's direction.

A deep crimson curtain of barrier light soared into the sky, enclosing the roaring Nine-Tails.

"What's that?! The Uchiha Flame Formation?!"

"The Uchiha Clan has taken action!"

"It must have been Gengetsu!"

Minato's pupils abruptly contracted, and the heart that had been in his throat finally settled.

As far as Minato Namikaze was concerned, this had to be Gengetsu Uchiha's doing.

He truly lived up to Minato's judgment that he had inherited the Will of Fire.

Meanwhile, when Obito Uchiha, standing opposite him, saw that conspicuous red barrier, his expression immediately darkened.

"How is that possible?!"

"The Uchiha Clan... actually stepped in to stop the Nine-Tails?!"

Clearly, the Uchiha Clan ninja's intervention had not been part of Obito Uchiha's plan.

The instant Obito's shock at this tremendous change caused his movements to falter, Minato Namikaze seized the opportunity.

Whoosh!

A specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai shot straight toward Obito's face!

Faced with the attack, Obito instinctively activated Kamui, and the kunai passed through Obito Uchiha's head without any resistance.

But was that the end of Minato Namikaze's attack?

The very instant the kunai passed through Obito's head!

"Flying Thunder God Technique: Second Step!..."

Minato Namikaze vanished instantly and appeared above Obito Uchiha, holding a rapidly spinning Rasengan in his hand.

"Rasengan!!!"

Boom!!!

The raging Rasengan slammed into Obito's back. Its immense impact erupted instantly, smashing him into the ground like a cannonball and leaving a huge, deep crater!

"Urgh!"

Severely wounded, Obito coughed up a great mouthful of blood. The flesh on his back had been shredded into a mangled mess, and even the Hashirama cells inside him had suffered severe damage.

If not for the Hashirama cells' powerful regenerative ability, that blow would have killed him!

Obito struggled out of the crater and gave Minato a long look.

"Fourth Hokage, sooner or later, we'll settle this score!"

Before his words had faded, Obito activated Kamui.

The surrounding space began to warp, and Obito Uchiha's body was rapidly sucked into the Kamui Dimension, disappearing from the spot entirely.

Seeing his enemy flee, Minato did not give chase. Instead, he looked toward the Nine-Tails in the village.

"I have to get back immediately! I have to transport the Nine-Tails away!"

Konoha, at the barrier battlefield.

Rumble!

The Nine-Tails was still attacking and destroying everything wildly.

Although the Uchiha Clan had firmly trapped the Nine-Tails with the barrier, casualties continued to mount.

Several Uchiha ninja who had gotten too close failed to dodge in time and were sent flying by the Nine-Tails' enormous tail, slamming hard into walls, their fates unknown.

"Damn it! Does this monster's strength never run out?!"

"The barrier can't hold much longer!"

An Uchiha jonin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and roared.

Just as everyone felt the pressure mounting and the barrier was about to reach its limit.

Whoosh!

After a golden flash, Minato Namikaze appeared on the Nine-Tails' enormous head!

"It's Lord Fourth!"

"Lord Hokage is here!"

The surrounding Anbu and Uchiha Clan ninja instantly burst into cries of surprise.

Standing atop the Nine-Tails' head, Minato swept his gaze over the Uchiha clansmen struggling to hold on around him and shouted:

"Everyone from the Uchiha, you've done an excellent job!"

"Leave everything to me now!"

As Minato Namikaze finished speaking, he abruptly pressed his palms together, and an immense amount of chakra erupted.

"Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Whoosh!!!

The Nine-Tails, which had been roaring wildly a second earlier, vanished into thin air the next instant!

The previously cramped interior of the barrier became completely empty in an instant, leaving only rubble strewn across the ground and an acrid, scorched smell.

"Huh?! The Nine-Tails disappeared!"

"It's the Flying Thunder God Technique! Lord Fourth transported the Nine-Tails away!"

"So powerful! Is this the power of a Hokage?!"

The surrounding Anbu and Konoha ninja burst into exclamations.

Meanwhile, a startlingly intense gleam flared in the eyes of Gengetsu, who stood at the very front!

Minato transported the Nine-Tails away!

That means Minato is about to use that sealing jutsu that will kill both him and his target!

No! I have to follow him immediately!

This is my only chance to get my hands on the Hokage position! I absolutely can't miss it!

Gengetsu's mind raced at that moment, and he immediately turned and shouted.

"Police Force Third Squad! And all Anbu ninja present!"

"Follow me immediately! Support Lord Fourth!"

"Everyone else, dispel the barrier and stay in the village to treat the wounded!"

With that, Gengetsu rushed off into the distance.

"Yes! Captain Gengetsu!"

The dozen or so Uchiha ninja of the Third Squad did not hesitate either, immediately following behind Gengetsu.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Leading a dozen or so Uchiha elites and dozens of Anbu ninja, Gengetsu and his group became streaks of afterimages, racing frantically out of the village as they followed the Nine-Tails' terrifying chakra fluctuations.