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***
"Wah!"
In the cave, a clear, crisp cry of a baby echoed.
Kushina, lying on the delivery bed, and Minato, who was suppressing the Nine-Tails with all his might, suddenly shifted their expressions, their eyes gleaming with tears.
After a long wait, the fruit of their love had finally arrived.
It was a feeling that only parents could truly understand.
Biwako, the midwife, held the newborn.
The skin on the baby's face was still dry, and its tiny body trembled slightly.
The arrival of a new life is almost always accompanied by a cry.
No one could fathom the emotions they were feeling at that moment.
But Minato didn't have time to dwell on the feeling.
He reached out to wipe the tears from his eyes, his azure eyes darkening.
He had been distracted by suppressing the Nine-Tails, but he had sensed the chakra burst from Shisui's all-out attack just outside the cave.
That was the signal Shisui had launched, alerting Minato within.
Whoosh!
The space behind Biwako distorted, and a masked man in a large black robe suddenly appeared behind her.
Crimson pupils beneath the mask instantly locked onto Naruto in Biwako's arms, and he struck out suddenly.
Biwako, despite her strength, couldn't react quickly enough to the masked man's attack.
The masked man failed to notice that, besides the Minato couple and Biwako, there was another Konoha ninja in the cave.
As the masked man attacked, the Konoha ninja next to Biwako swiftly leaped in, grabbing Biwako's arm and pulling her away from Naruto.
Bang!
The man's body was instantly enveloped by the white mist of his transformation's release.
Within this mist, a brilliant blue chakra ball rapidly condensed in his other palm.
"Rasengan!? Jiraiya!?"
The masked man's pupils narrowed slightly upon seeing Jiraiya, now in his true form.
Immediately, his body passed through the jutsu in the latter's palm and part of Jiraiya's body.
Seeing that he could no longer seize Naruto, the masked man charged directly towards Kushina's delivery bed.
By then, Minato had already blocked the way.
His eyes widened as he observed the sudden exchange between the mysterious man and Jiraiya.
"He actually got through?"
A split second of judgment forced Minato to abandon his attack.
He spun abruptly, his figure seemingly shimmering, leaving a faint blonde afterimage in the air.
The masked man also darted to Kushina's delivery bed and extended his hand.
However, Minato had already reached Kushina's side.
He ignored her frail body and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet, his other arm snaking around her waist.
Swish!
Minato moved again, and in the blink of an eye, he was beside Jiraiya and the still-astonished Biwako.
"Just as Itachi said, there's an attack!"
Those azure eyes fixed on the black-clad figure's back, instantly brimming with murderous intent.
Had Itachi not given them advance warning, and had Jiraiya-sensei not set up an ambush, the latter would have been able to hold the newly born Naruto hostage and use it to threaten him.
The masked man whirled around, his expression filled with astonishment.
It was as if Minato and the others had known of his planned attack.
"Minato, who is he?"
Kushina, frail in Minato's arms, tilted her head to glance at the masked man, faintly catching sight of his crimson pupils beneath the mask.
"Roar!"
With a single glance, the Nine-Tails sealed within her abdomen erupted into a roar of struggle, its lines on the seal now on the verge of collapse.
Minato didn't answer. His usually gentle and handsome face was now shrouded in a shadowy gloom.
His eyes, brimming with murderous intent, met the masked man's.
At this time, Jiraiya reached out and grabbed Minato's arm.
The latter gently raised his foot and stomped lightly on the ground.
Swish!
In an instant, Minato, who was holding Kushina in his arms, and Jiraiya, who was holding Biwako's arm, disappeared from the cave.
Bang!
After they disappeared, many barrier patterns suddenly appeared on the wall of the cave, quickly forming a barrier cage.
These patterns extended to the outside of the cave, emitting bright light.
"Hokage-sama has activated the barrier, we can retreat!"
An Anbu outside immediately said when he saw the glowing barrier patterns.
This was a task that Minato had assigned to them long ago.
Swish!
Several Anbu quickly set off, rushing towards the village.
Shisui glanced at the barrier and followed suit.
In the cave, the masked man, trapped in the barrier's cage, also had an extremely gloomy look in his eyes.
"Minato-sensei..."
"No, Fourth Hokage, you win this round for now, but things won't end so easily!"
A ferocious growl echoed in his heart, and the space in front of him twisted, sucking his body in.
This kind of physical barrier used to block movement was completely meaningless in the face of his ability.
In a room somewhere in Konoha.
Ding!
The special kunai hanging on the wall of the room trembled slightly, and the rope began to sway.
The figures of Minato and others emerged.
Minato took a few steps forward and placed the weak Kushina on the bamboo bed.
Kushina looked at the child in Biwako's arms with a worried look on her face.
"Is Naruto alright?"
Biwako regained consciousness, glanced down, and said, "He's fine."
Jiraiya's expression was also grim, but Minato looked over and said, "Jiraiya-sensei, please assist me. I need to suppress the Nine-Tails within Kushina and repair the seal."
He began to form hand seals.
Jiraiya nodded.
Minato formed hand seals, overlapping his palms and pressing them against the seal on Kushina's abdomen.
Jiraiya gathered powerful chakra and placed his palm on Minato's.
"Damn human, Fourth Hokage, I will tear you to pieces!"
The Nine-Tails' voice was filled with resentment and hatred, but the combined power of Minato's seal and Jiraiya's chakra suppression quickly withered its strength.
On the bamboo bed, Kushina, looking frail, also mobilized her chakra, harmonizing with the power of Minato and Jiraiya.
The Nine-Tails' power was indeed formidable, but it was no match for the combined might of these three.
Under Minato's palm, the broken seal on Kushina's abdomen spun violently, then shrank abruptly, forming a more complex seal pattern.
"Done."
Minato breathed a sigh of relief. Suppressing and resealing the Nine-Tails in succession was no easy feat, even for him.
The next moment, his tense face turned serious again.
...
Konoha Village, under the night sky, was as peaceful and tranquil as usual.
On the streets and in the houses, civilians went about their ordinary nights as usual.
Few noticed, but at a certain moment, the air began to thicken and grow colder.
In the Uchiha clan, at the patriarch's home, Itachi, holding Sasuke in his arms, suddenly raised his eyes.
At that moment, a layer of mist gradually enveloped the bright moon in the sky.
"Why is this happening?"
Itachi suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart, a feeling he hadn't experienced the night the Nine-Tails attacked the village.
He slowly clenched his hands, a look of horror crossing his young face.
"Did the Fourth Hokage fail?"
Waaah!
Sasuke, swaddled and sleeping in his arms, suddenly burst into tears.
Buzz!
On a deserted street in Konoha, space suddenly distorted, revealing a figure.
It was a masked man.
He reached out and pulled back the hood of his black robe, a voice echoing within him.
"Spiral Zetsu (Tobi), use all the power you've drawn from the golem!"
As the words fell, a series of white, branch-like objects gradually extended from within his robe.
These white objects gradually curved and closed, enveloping the masked man's head, which was already covered by a mask.
"Hehe, interesting, interesting!"
A new white mask formed on his head, accompanied by a slightly excited voice.
The masked man's hands formed hand seals, and his body beneath the vast black robe suddenly expanded, then suddenly contracted.
"Even without the power of the Nine-Tails, I can destroy this village now!"
Crimson eyes scanned the village indifferently.
Long ago, a hurried young man ran breathlessly down this street.
At his destination, a young woman with a warm smile on her face waited for him.
However, both the young man and the girl were no longer alive.
Boom!
A hand seal formed, and the ground beneath the masked man's feet suddenly shattered.
"Wood Release: Kanzeon Renge-Å!"
Thud!
The ground crumbled and shattered, the street and surrounding buildings instantly disintegrating.
A massive giant burst through the ground, appearing in the village with a slight tremor throughout.
A violent blast of air swept across, sending debris and rocks flying everywhere.
Pedestrians on the nearby streets looked over, their eyes filled with deep horror.
Before them stood a wooden man over a hundred meters tall, its back sprouting countless arms.
Atop the wooden man, the masked man's gaze swept across the village below, and a deep voice suddenly rang out from his throat.
"Everything, all of it, vanish!"
As his words sank, five heads appeared on the massive wooden man's forehead.
Each opened its mouth, and chakra of different properties instantly condensed within.
"Fwooosh!"
"Splash"
"Crackle!"
The next moment, from five mouths, erupted Ninjutsu of five different attributes: blazing flames, a torrent of water, and a column of lightning.
Distinct from each other, yet all possessed immense destructive power, sweeping across the area.
BOOOM!
The five Ninjutsu descended simultaneously, engulfing everything within a radius of several hundred meters, instantly annihilating all civilians within. Numerous screams followed.
But the cries were short-lived, fading into the intertwined area of light.
Only then did the village's ninja, already on high alert, react.
They gazed with horror at the village engulfed in surging flames, a torrent of blue water, and the five attributes of Ninjutsu.
The aged face of the Third Hokage, clad in combat gear, trembled violently.
"Wood Release. How is this possible?!"
Just as Minato had sealed the Nine-Tails within Kushina, he sensed the sudden surge of powerful chakra from the village.
Rumble!
The tremors instantly reached the area, shaking the room.
Waaah!
Naruto, in Biwako's arms, suddenly burst into tears.
"What's going on?" Jiraiya exclaimed in shock.
"It's the guy who just attacked Kushina!"
Minato, his expression grave, clenched his fists and looked at Kushina lying on the bamboo bed.
"I have to leave now!"
He turned to Biwako and said respectfully, "Biwako-sama, please take care of them for me for a while."
Minato quickly walked to the cabinet in the room and took out the white sacred robe embroidered with the words "Fourth Hokage."
"Be careful!"
Kushina said softly, gazing at the man with blonde hair in the white sacred robe.
But she also sensed the sudden surge of powerful chakra in the village.
This was the enemy Minato was about to face.
How could Kushina not be worried?
"I'll be back soon!"
Minato turned and gave Kushina and Naruto, who was in Biwako's arms, a reassuring smile.
"Jiraiya-sensei, let's go!"
He walked over to Jiraiya and placed his hand on his shoulder.
Swish!
The two figures suddenly vanished.
Biwako walked over to Kushina and placed Naruto next to his mother.
"Don't worry, he's the Fourth Hokage, and with Jiraiya and the others in the village, there's nothing wrong."
Biwako comforted the tense Kushina and smiled at Naruto.
"Hm."
Kushina nodded, and Naruto's sobs faded, and he babbled.
He seemed to be saying, "Come on, Dad!"
"What was that?"
As a loud commotion erupted in the village, Itachi leaped, landing on the rooftop, his eyes instantly turning blood red.
Then, the intertwined light of the five Ninjutsu filled his eyes, instantly engulfing a large area of the village.
"This isn't the power of the Nine-Tails!"
Itachi's pupils shrank, but as he gazed at the devastated area, a heavy expression filled his eyes.
In his blood-red eyes, a single black Magatama slowly spun, surprisingly able to peer through the complex Ninjutsu shimmer and the chaotic smoke and dust, and discern the figure standing still atop the wooden man.
"Madara!!"
Itachi gritted his teeth, his face trembling.
"He even knows Wood Release Ninjutsu?"
Then, he focused his attention on the giant radiating destructive force.
Back in Akatsuki, Itachi had never known that the masked man, Madara, could harbor such power!
Buzz!
Within the devastated Konoha region, Madara, perched atop the wooden man, suddenly sensed something, and the space before him warped and vanished.
Swish!
As the warped space cleared, two figures suddenly appeared, facing the stone faces of the previous Hokages, directly in front of the wooden man.
When Minato and Jiraiya saw the Wood Release Giant towering over the village, expressions of shock crossed their faces.
....
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