Minato's eyes widened, his gaze darkening as he watched Kagero stand with a crazed smirk.
For Minato and everyone else, it was the same. They couldn't exactly see what was wrong, but they could feel a strong sense of unease.
A haunting sensation that couldn't be explained by just mere words.
But unlike the ANBU Blackopps, Minato, Kushina and Hiruzen knew exactly what was going on, hence their stupefied expressions.
Kagero had summoned the Death god.
"Do—n't tell me you did that?" Minato lowered his hands, walking over to Kagero in horror.
'It's a good thing I practiced its hand signs all those years ago.'
Kagero gritted his teeth with a grin, before turning his sights behind him to meet a ghostly presence.
A demon-like entity hovered above him with outstretched arms. It was clad in a loosely fitted white garment, and within its grasp laid two sacred relics.
A bunch of beads on its left, and a sharp dagger on its right.
Etched into the Shinigami's pale purple body were otherworldly tattoos, and it just levitated above Kagero, watching a silhouette of Kagero's soul with nonchalant eyes.
[Skill Reward: Fuijutsu master ~
[Grants the host mastery over all sealing techniques.]
The Shinigami's blackened eyes twitched, before the Death god turned its gaze towards the blue screen that floated below it.
An otherworldly presence was just a few feet away from the Shinigami, an enigmatic apparition, masked behind the demeanor of a simple system tab.
It stared at the bizarre screen invisible to the human eye for a moment, and not up to a second later, its once frigid face distorted into an ugly, yet elated grin.
One that only teased the amount of converse between the two anomalies.
However, this development was unknown to Kagero.
Kagero stared at the blue screen with a cunning grin, but the moment his eyes met the Shinigami's once more, his smile transformed into one of nervousness.
But for some reason, within his emotions of fright and worry, an ember of elation for his situation still strangely reflected off his gleaming blue eyes.
'Damn, I guess I really did summon a Shinigami.'
Kagero almost broke into an uncanny laugh.
'This hurts like hell— I really am going through with this huh?'
Kagero added, his body trembling from the strain of the jutsu.
But his pain was only to be expected. Because with every passing second, Kagero felt as though his soul was being ripped away from his body.
"Did you really summon it?" Minato's face twisted with worry as he took several more shaky steps.
"What other option was there?"
On hearing Kagero's response, Minato tightened his fist under the melancholic storm of emotions that currently rested around him, following his question with one more.
"Who exactly are you?"
How did Kagero know about such a jutsu? A forbidden one at that.
And how was he able to use it with such perfection?
These were the thoughts that were running through the minds of both Hokages and Kushina.
"Who am I?" Kagero reiterated his question before going silent.
He seemed to be lost in thought, but when he finally got his answer, he replied with a warm smile.
"I'm the one who will save this village."
Kushina shook her head in disbelief, her tears increasingly growing the more she saw Kagero quiver, the boy struggling to maintain his balance.
'That jutsu must be extremely torturing for him.' She watched him with despondency.
"You're going to die ya know!" Kushina warned, watching him with teary eyes.
"I know."
This single statement was so stunning, that everyone that stood there, including the ANBU couldn't help but stare at Kagero with wide eyes.
'I thought he was just a child Minato rescued.' Hiruzen swallowed hard.
His body trembled from the oppressive aura that seeped through Kagero's skin by virtue of the forbidden jutsu.
'But to think that he would be capable of such a jutsu.' The Third Hokage watched the boy approach the Ninetails, his eyes squinted to observe how things would unfold.
"Kurama!— Sorry but I'm taking you to the afterlife with me." Kagero pointed at the Ninetails, bending his neck with a cocky grin.
"Wouldn't want to be lonely there now, would I?"
WHOOSH!
The instant Kagero's last words escaped his lips, the Shinigami drove its hand right into Kagero's soul, causing a pattern of seals to burn into his belly.
"Tch." Kagero winced, but stood his ground.
The arm then went through his belly, before heading right for the bound Beast.
"Curse you— Human!" Kurama spat venom like words, fury burning through his vision as he watched the Death god sink its ghostly arm into his innards.
And before long, drag out a Fox shaped chakra figure from the beast, and retract it back into Kagero in quick succession.
'Darn!"
Kagero felt as though his body was doused in lava the moment Kurama's Soul entered his body.
His stance became shaky, and his eyes started to grow blurry as intolerable pain seared through his body.
But he wasn't yet done. There was one final step.
He had to divide the chakra.
"May I?" Kagero walked up to Naruto, seeking permission from the boy's parents for his next move.
"Huh?" Minato flinched. He was startled by Kagero's question, and even more than that, Kagero's next words.
"I'm going to seal half of the beast inside your Kid."
Kagero took in a pained breath, before forcing out his next words. He was dying, meaning he would have to finish things swiftly.
"Completely eliminating the tailed beast from the village isn't ideal is it?" Kagero shifted his eyes to Kushina, before planting them on Minato once more with a tired smirk.
"Isn't this what you were going to do earlier?"
Minato took Naruto from atop the stunned toad, and held him in his arms, hesitantly giving Kagero the go ahead.
'I hope I still remember this one's hand signs.' Kagero pondered.
His fingers danced with each other to achieve the perfect sequence of hand signs, thanks to his muscle memory.
And when he was done, a little alter-like elevation appeared on the grass with a burst of smoke.
With his lips completely shut, Minato handed his son over to Kagero.
The moment the child rested in Kagero's arms, his wails ceased, causing Kagero to stare in both confusion, and a sense of satisfaction.
'No more sad swings for you, Naruto.' Kagero mused with a smile, placing him atop the altar.
"Eight Trigrams Seal!"
In all five of Kagero's fingers rested blue flames of chakra.
He then gently placed it on Naruto's belly, prompting the Shinigami to lick its blade, then drive it into half of Kurama's chakra, which Kagero then transferred to the Child.
Watching the tattooed seals on Naruto's belly, Kagero's face rested with relief.
'I'm finally don—'
'Huh?'
He tried to relish in a job well done, however, his body had other plans. It had been stressed to its limit.
Kagero fell over, but right before his head could hit the ground, he felt something warm cushion his fall.
He watched with blurry eyes as Kushina knelt down, resting his head atop her lap.
It wasn't just her, even Minato was crouched on the floor, his hands positioned below Kagero back to break his fall.
Both parents stared at him with teary eyes.
"Look— you were quick enough this time." Kagero laboured to mock the yellow flash, coughing in between his words.
"Why." Minato started, leaving Kushina to complete his question. "Why did you sacrifice yourself?"
That was a question that even Kagero didn't fully know the answers to. Why did he come to Minato's rescue in the first place?
Why did he place his life on the line against Obito?
Why did he push forward through all his fears and discomfort?
Why did he save Kushina?
And why did he sacrifice himself for them?
Kagero turned his vision towards the stars, for the first time appreciating its beauty.
It was finally kicking in for him.
This was it.
He then drew his shaky vision back to Minato and Kushina. And for a slither of a second, their faces morphed in his sight, being replaced by a black haired man and a brown haired woman.
The images that flashed before Kagero's vision were people that stood the closest to his heart. But they had been gone for almost a decade.
'I guess— this stuff happens when you're about— to die.' Kagero drifted back to reality, facing Minato's earlier question.
"Maybe— I didn't want to see another broken family."
Minato and Kushina's faces immediately lightened up at Kagero's response, before floods of tears began escaping their eyes.
Sure, they didn't know him for a long time. And it was for that very reason that his sacrifice was much more weighty.
'Huh?' Kagero's eyes shook uncontrollably, and before long, his vision became bathed in black spots.
'So I'm dying already?'
Kagero questioned as his mind became clouded in an obstructive haze.
In just a few seconds, his heart would give up.
Armed with this knowledge, Kagero used the last of his strength to cast a wide grin at both Minato and Kushina.
He then painstakingly raised his trembling thumb at them.
Sending them a gesture which translated to one statement:
It's alright.
Immediately after this, his hand fell into a teary Kushina's hold, and his body grew limp, all the energy from it leaving his being.
And then— everything went black.