Yako knelt beside Senju Rinju, his gaze briefly flicking to the gaping hole torn through the man's abdomen. He pressed two fingers to his carotid artery, feigning a routine check for signs of life.
In truth, a flood of chakra flowed from Yako's hand directly into Rinju's body.
Yako's chakra had regenerative properties, and the effect was immediate—Rinju's once-clouded eyes sharpened with sudden clarity.
Above him stretched a dark sky, stained with streaks of ominous crimson—tainted chakra from the Nine-Tails swirling like a malignant storm.
It looked like the end of the world.
And then, a memory returned.
He was just a boy, playing in his father's office when Uncle Tobirama had come to visit.
Uncle Tobirama had spoken that day with rare passion. He said he wanted to bind the scattered shinobi clans together—not with force, but with shared purpose.
Changing the hearts of shinobi was nearly impossible. They'd lived too long in clan conflict. Many joined Konoha only because it was strong enough to crush any enemy in the Land of Fire.
So, Tobirama had declared, they would start fresh—with the children.
He would create an academy where clan heirs and commoners alike would grow up side by side.
And the first class of that academy would become the village's standard-bearers. If they succeeded, the other clans would follow.
That class produced Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, Akimichi Torikaze, and Mitokado Homura—all personally trained by Tobirama himself.
Every time Uncle Tobirama mentioned them, his eyes gleamed with pride.
They carried his hopes for the future of the village.
To give them the best, Tobirama had refused to take any younger Senju as disciples.
To set an example, he'd even put aside his grudge against the Uchiha and carefully mentored Uchiha Kagami.
After Tobirama's death, Kagami had come to Rinju.
He said: if the Senju and Uchiha truly stood together, Konoha would never fall.
The village had been founded on the reconciliation between the two great clans under the First Hokage.
Kagami believed that alliance could still ensure Konoha's prosperity.
After all, the Sharingan reflected the soul, and Kagami's Mangekyō had awakened a unique gift: it could augment the Nine-Tails with an Armored Susanoo.
In a future Shinobi World War, if the Senju wielded the Nine-Tails and the Uchiha cloaked it in Susanoo's armor, no nation could oppose Konoha.
To Kagami, that was how Konoha would fill the void left by the passing of the First and Second Hokage—a force to dominate the shinobi world once more.
But Kagami died before that war ever came.
And with his death, everything unraveled.
After Kagami's sudden death, Clan Head Uchiha Kagen wasted no time distancing himself from the Senju, as if their very shadow might bring ruin.
Now, Rinju understood the truth: Kagami hadn't died by chance.
Danzo had seized his Mangekyō—and tonight, he'd used it to devastate the Senju Clan.
Uncle Tobirama had entrusted the village to that first class of academy students.
Maybe, once, men like Danzo had truly believed in the Will of Fire.
But the years had warped them.
All except for Kagami.
The others—Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo—they were no longer the hopeful youths of Konoha's first class. They had become monsters, corrupted by power.
They'd come to kill him? Rinju could accept that. In their eyes, he was just another second-generation nobody—worthless beyond his surname.
But how could they kill her? The First Hokage's wife?
He thought of his father.
The village was his father's life's work, Tobirama's dream, his mother's unwavering devotion.
He couldn't give up now.
The Nine-Tails must be sealed. No matter what.
Yako's chakra flowed steadily through his neck, perfectly synchronized with his own. It felt like his own strength—his body revived by a power not his.
Rinju had long accepted his mediocrity. He'd never reach the heights of his father or uncle.
But perhaps… he could still die like them.
For Konoha.
To his sister Hanaki, his daughter Tsunade, and to Kushina… he entrusted everything.
With a clap of his hands, Rinju moved.
He had always admired the ease with which his father summoned jutsu—hands clapping, techniques flowing as if they were extensions of breath.
And now, just once, he felt the same.
"Ah—AHHH!"
A towering Water Dragon rose from the earth, massive and thundering, shooting toward the sky.
Yako stumbled back in alarm. He'd tried to keep Rinju alive—why was he still fighting?
The Water Dragon surged higher than the Nine-Tails, then plunged like a spear of judgment, smashing directly into the beast.
"Seal it!"
Rinju had one goal before death: seal the Nine-Tails.
If he failed, every Senju would die here.
Either by the Nine-Tails… or by Danzo.
Despite the gaping wound in his abdomen, Rinju had summoned a jutsu of devastating scale.
The Nine-Tails reeled under the impact, paralyzed.
The broken Water Dragon scattered into cascading torrents—but the force remained.
A wall of water tore through the battlefield, crashing toward Kushina's position.
"Protect the Princess!" Yellow Dog barked.
The higher-ups had planned to weaken the Senju—but the Nine-Tails could not be allowed to go unchecked.
Yako funneled his last reserves of chakra.
Ducking under the collapsing torrents, he once again pretended to collide with Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Kushina felt it again—that familiar chakra. That unique quality only someone of the Uzumaki possessed.
Who was it?
She strained to lift her head. All she saw were ANBU.
Was he hiding among them?
Could it be… someone from the Uzumaki Clan, embedded within Konoha?
Whoever it was, they had poured a tremendous amount of chakra into her at the crucial moment.
And this chakra carried incredible sealing power.
With it, she pushed the strength of her sealing jutsu even further.
Above, Senju Rinju released the final burst of his life.
Below, Uzumaki Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains flared with explosive force.
With a defiant howl, the Nine-Tails vanished—sealed once again within Kushina.
The battlefield fell silent.
All around, ninja heard only the sound of their own ragged breath.
A flicker of regret crossed Hiruzen's face.
Over two hundred Senju had survived…
Far more than the plan allowed.
Hanaki, Rinju's sister, rushed to check on Kushina.
She found her unconscious, but the seal was complete. Strong and stable.
She sighed with relief and lifted Kushina onto her back.
Then she ordered two elite Senju to collect the two great sealing scrolls—one from the Senju, one from the Uzumaki.
The remaining Senju gathered slowly, weary, blood-soaked.
Uzumaki Mito, Senju Rinju, and more than six hundred Senju shinobi lay dead across the field.
Yako emerged from the muddy aftermath of the Water Release, shaken but alive.
Twice during the battle, he'd sent nearly all his chakra into Kushina.
And at last, the Nine-Tails was sealed.
Two hundred Senju lived.
The village wouldn't dare stage another "accident" to kill them all now.
The Senju were still standing. The sealing scrolls were still in Senju hands.
As long as Danzo hadn't obtained them, Yako still had room to maneuver within the ANBU.
While the Senju tended to their dead, Yako went looking for his squad.
He spotted Leaf Monkey and blinked in surprise. "You're alive?"
Purple Cat of the Yamanaka and White Ram of the Hyūga hadn't gone to the front lines—they were perimeter support. Their survival wasn't shocking.
But Leaf Monkey?
Leaf Monkey blinked, confused. Why did his squad captain sound so surprised?
He glanced down at himself. He wasn't a traitor or a spy. His conscience was clear.
Yako said dryly, "Three others who wore that mask died in the past six months. You? You've got luck. And luck… is a kind of strength too."
The Fox Squad had lost four. Acceptable casualties, all things considered.
After the battlefield was cleared, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo arrived.
All around them lay Senju and ANBU corpses.
Over seventy ANBU had died.
Hiruzen turned toward Senju Hanaki.
Her face twitched, but at last she bowed and spoke:
"We thank the village for sending ANBU to assist in sealing the Nine-Tails."
"And we're grateful to Lord Hokage and Lord Danzo for holding the rear, driving off the Uchiha who wielded the Mangekyō."
Hiruzen nodded, face softening just slightly.
"Tonight was perilous indeed.
At the critical moment, the Uchiha nearly turned the Nine-Tails against us.
I've been wary of that hidden enemy—he showed himself only briefly, then retreated.
We must bury the fallen swiftly.
The village will investigate. Someone tried to sabotage the seal.
Someone who left both the Senju and ANBU in ruin."
Hanaki kept her head bowed. Her eyes, red with fury, did not blink.
"Whatever else happens… the transfer seal on the Nine-Tails is complete."