A secluded room on the outskirts of Konoha was brightly lit.
The pale yellow light spilling out of the delivery room seemed especially striking to Minato Namikaze.
Even someone as composed as him was filled with excitement at that moment. He was about to become a father.
Multiple barriers and security cordons surrounded the delivery room. Anbu squads patrolled the nearby rooftops and alleys, every footstep silent.
It was a tightly woven net.
Kushina Uzumaki lay on the delivery bed, her consciousness already growing hazy. She did all she could to restrain the loosening Nine-Tails seal while still struggling to give birth.
She could not remember ever having faced such a difficult moment.
But thinking of Naruto in her belly and Minato outside the door filled her with happy determination again.
Their family, her child...
She could feel another force being separated from within her. It was a strange sensation.
Biwako Sarutobi stood beside her, tightly holding her pale hand. "Keep going, Kushina. Push. It'll be over soon. You can do it!"
At that moment, no one noticed.
Using the Mayfly Technique, Black Zetsu had slowly emerged from the shadows of a ceiling beam, almost completely blending into the dim darkness.
He did not rush to act, first confirming the delivery room's location and the number of people inside.
The midwife was an experienced old woman dressed in white.
The other woman was Biwako Sarutobi, the Third Hokage's wife, presumably there to keep Kushina company.
With a loud, clear cry, the child of destiny, Naruto Uzumaki, came into the world.
An experienced midwife of the older generation, the old woman stood beside the delivery bed and lifted the baby, preparing to check his condition.
Biwako Sarutobi smiled in relief.
"You did very well, Kushina. It's over now..."
In a flash,