The ninjutsu Obito used was Izanagi. Its hand seals—Ox, Boar, and Ram—were obscure enough that Minato Namikaze had never seen them documented.
Although the Uchiha clan hadn't suffered their infamous massacre in this worldline, Obito still possessed a three-tomoe Sharingan.
After transplanting his Rinnegan into Nagato, Madara had installed a three-tomoe Sharingan into Obito's socket asan insurance policy.
That eye had saved him tonight.
Without it, Obito would have been forced to burn his own Sharingan to cast Izanagi. He might have survived for a moment, but against the precision of the Flying Thunder God, he wouldn't have escaped.
The Flying Thunder God couldn't breach the Kamui dimension. In the entire shinobi world, only a pair of Mangekyō with Kamui could cross that threshold.
ROAR!
The Nine-Tails' bellow dragged Minato out of his thoughts. He steeled himself and vanished in a golden flash.
Back on the battlefield, Obito's bond with the beast had been severed by Minato's contract seal. Mangekyō alone was no longer enough to control it.
The fox's eyes shifted, round pupils gave way to tomoe, then contracted into slitted irises.
Not every shinobi caught the change, but enough did. And among them, the Uchiha saw it most clearly.
Their faces tightened.
Whoever had seized the Nine-Tails wasn't one of their clansmen in Konoha, but he carried Uchiha blood. To the rest of the village, though, the distinction would hardly matter.
Hiruzen had seen it too. And with Biwako wounded, his suspicion toward the Uchiha flared like an old ember catching fire.
Thanks to Gen's warning, Hiruzen had insisted Biwako wear chakra-threaded armor under her robes that night. That precaution had kept her alive. Another healer, had done the same. Both were now being treated in secret, still clinging to life.
Had they died, the Hokage's fury would have had a clear target.
The freed Nine-Tails wasted no time. No longer dulled by external control, its hatred sharpened, its blows more vicious.
The fox surged toward Konoha.
Sarutobi tried once more to bar its path with the Enma staff, but against the beast's awakened instincts, he was pushed aside.
The creature wanted blood. It wanted the village of Hashirama and Madara reduced to rubble.
Konoha shinobi threw themselves in its way, and their numbers fell fast.
Even with the Uchiha unleashing genjutsu through their Sharingan, the fox resisted. Two-tomoe users wept blood. Even some three-tomoe jonin did. Only the strongest, Fugaku, Shisui, Gen, held steady.
Gen, though nearly at Mangekyō's threshold, feigned strain. To stand out now would only bring suspicion.
The fox's anger boiled. Tired of the Uchiha's attempts to bind it, it coiled its tails, swept aside attackers, and began molding Yin–Yang chakra in its jaws.
Another Tailed Beast Ball. This one aimed straight at the Uchiha.
Jonin scattered in panic, straining every shred of chakra to escape. Even Gen felt the brush of death and readied himself to burn his lifespan for speed.
And then..
BOOM.
A giant toad crashed from the sky, slamming onto the Nine-Tails' neck and driving its head into the dirt. Gamabunta.
The shockwave flattened the ground. Smoke and dust surged outward. Even Gamabunta's massive body barely covered half of the fox's skull.
In the next heartbeat, Minato appeared, standing tall on the ruins.
"Everyone buy me a moment!" he commanded.
"Hokage-sama!" Gen's voice cut above the chaos. "Who is attacking our Konoha?"
A perfectly timed question. The eyes of every shinobi snapped to Minato, searching for answers. Among them were dozens of Sharingan—bleeding, weary, desperate.
For a moment, Minato's chest tightened. This clan… this wasn't the same as that man.
"The exact identity is unknown," Minato declared, "but he's tied to Uchiha Madara. Perhaps even his descendant."
Shock rippled through the ranks. Most only blinked in confusion. A handful clenched their fists in rage. They remembered the night Madara once marched the Nine-Tails against this very village.
That his bloodline might strike again? Believable. Too believable.
ROAR!
The Nine-Tails reared, hurling Gamabunta from its back. A thunderclap shook the night as it lashed out with claw and tail. Shinobi scattered; some didn't make it.
"Hold him!" Minato barked, flashing forward.
Ninjutsu lit the field, explosions hammering the fox from every angle. In that split second of pain, the Uchiha forced their Sharingan again, bending the monster's will for a single breath.
It was enough.
Minato blurred onto the Nine-Tails' skull, palm slamming against fur. Chakra poured out in golden waves. A seal ignited, space folded—
And the Nine-Tails vanished.
Only ruins remained to prove it had ever been there.