Robbed of reason and fighting on instinct, the Nine-Tails grew irritated by the tiny figure hopping about on its body. It swiped with its claws.
With the Byakugan's all-around vision and his own speed, Kageyama Kokugetsu slipped past every blow. He bounded up to the fox's face and drove a lightning-laced blade into its nose.
The nose was sensitive, but on something that large it was like a human getting a vaccination. Not much pain, just maddening.
Snarling, Kurama pummeled its own cheeks with both paws. The impacts boomed, but Kokugetsu had already leapt onto its head.
While the beast's attention was fixed, the Konoha shinobi who could still fight kept throwing out binding techniques to hamper it and buy time for more evacuations.
Seconds later, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane arrived with reinforcements.
They hadn't acted during the Konoha Crush or Pain's invasion. At their age and with their diminished power, it wouldn't have mattered much. During the Nine-Tails' rampage, though, they clearly stepped in and stood alongside Hiruzen.
They weren't weak. Each had a specialty. Homura excelled at space–time support, unsealing an arsenal of tools and implements from scrolls. Like Tenten in style but far stronger, he still had the stopping power of a goalkeeper at the Kage threshold when he truly opened up. Koharu was adept in medical ninjutsu, genjutsu, and Water Style; paired with Homura in the old days, she too could still reach near-Kage output when she emptied the tank.
Danzō, meanwhile, had blocked the Uchiha from joining the fight and then slunk off to conserve strength for the power struggle to come.
In the Third Great War, Konoha had stood four villages at once because it boasted more Kage-level or near-Kage fighters than any rival. Otherwise it never would have held.
Seeing Kokugetsu "at risk" while stalling Kurama, the old guard struck in unison. The reinforcing shinobi joined in. Together, they actually made the beast feel pain.
Kurama lost interest in swatting the gnat and turned to punish the larger crowd.
After a brief clash, it found that ordinary methods weren't gaining ground against this group. It opened wide.
The Tailed Beast Bomb it began forming was meant for the ground beneath it, but Uchiha Obito's will suddenly descended.
The Nine-Tails was forced to swing its aim to the Hokage Monument and ramp up the charge.
Namikaze Minato moved it with Flying Thunder God Barrier, and Obito, lying in wait, made his play. With only one eye, Kamui's intake was slow. Minato escaped at the last instant. With both eyes present, Minato would have fallen, and Konoha's fate would have been far worse.
Moments later, Minato used Contract Seal to sever Obito's hold on Kurama. The fox's eyes shifted and clarity returned.
That control had required Mangekyō Sharingan, Hashirama cells, and the Nine-Tails' summoning contract together. Mangekyō alone lacked the torque to seize Kurama for more than a flicker.
Uchiha Madara had Eternal Mangekyō. Uchiha Sasuke handled tailed beasts with Eternal Mangekyō alongside the six-tomoe Rinnegan. As for Uchiha Fugaku, he had no measure of himself; his so-called control was only an illusion display. He didn't even possess the Mangekyō in the original manga.
Regaining its mind did not make Kurama tame. Hating Konoha, it kept wrecking everything in reach. With reason, it was stronger than when it fought on instinct—faster, more precise, more destructive—casualties mounted.
Steel rang.
Kokugetsu flashed down from the beast's back, batting a razor-sharp masonry shard to powder with his blade.
"Thank you, Captain Kokugetsu." Iruka Umino's father glanced aside, full of gratitude. If not for Kokugetsu's timely cut, the shard would have torn into his wife Umino Kairi's back.
"Get the kid out. It's too dangerous here."
Kokugetsu's ANBU mask had been knocked off earlier. Eyes locked forward, he dipped his chin and urged them on.
"I'm not going. I won't abandon my parents and run. I'll protect them," Iruka shouted.
"Brat, staying here only makes them worry and lowers their chances to live," Kokugetsu said over his shoulder.
"But why are you—"
"Iruka, don't be rude to Captain Kokugetsu." His father's voice cracked like a whip. "Kairi, take him and come back."
"Yes. Thank you, Captain." Kairi bowed, scooped Iruka up, and sprang away.
Both parents were jōnin and both from civilian families, a rarity with good standing among peers. They knew Kokugetsu by name because ANBU had already pushed his identity so the village would follow his battlefield direction. ANBU are elite among shinobi; a division captain is elite among jōnin. Even so, the youth in his height, build, and voice surprised people.
By then, Sarutobi had jammed the transformed Enma, the Adamantine Nyoi Staff, into the Nine-Tails and, pouring out chakra, levered the beast out of the village. Whoever could still move rushed after to keep it from reentering.
As the fight wore on, more reinforcements arrived. Konoha's best ringed the fox and unleashed every technique they had. The results were meager. They were buying time with their lives.
Stones whistled like bullets. Kokugetsu's blade blurred, a waterfall of steel shredding every projectile.
At that size, every twitch of Kurama's body was lethal to a shinobi.
"Much obliged, Captain Kokugetsu," said Yūhi Shinku, heart still pounding. His genjutsu mastery meant little against a tailed beast; he felt weaker than an ordinary jōnin here.
"Be careful, Shinku. If we can't trouble the Nine-Tails, put your focus on our people. These are Konoha's core. If we lose too many, threats outside the walls will get ugly."
He flashed a one-handed seal. A wall of earth surged up, stones drumming it to dust.
"You're right. I understand," Shinku said gravely.
Kokugetsu nodded once and vanished again to pull others out of danger.
Having today's backbone of the village owe you or think well of you boosts reputation and pays long-term dividends. Politics is making the enemy fewer and the friends more. That's how you govern, and that's how you do most things. Maybe his political chops wouldn't impress in another world, but here, he stood alone.
A minute later, the Nine-Tails shoved everyone back and, in a lull, began condensing another Tailed Beast Bomb. The drain left Hiruzen and many others hollow and despairing.
Minato arrived in time, summoning Gamabunta to pin Kurama and then spending a torrent of chakra to teleport the beast away.
"Lord Third, you and the Fourth are the only ones here who truly threaten the Nine-Tails. Go to him. Use my summon."
Hiruzen said nothing, clapped Kokugetsu on the shoulder, and leapt onto the golden eagle, winging toward the blast.
Heh. Obito, looks like your ability is about to be exposed.
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