The massive Nine-Tails vanished without a trace. The Yellow Flash truly lived up to his name. Their Hokage was unmatched.
"Anbu, with me!"
"All others... rescue the wounded, search for survivors, and clear the field."
"The danger isn't over. Stay sharp!"
The Third Hokage, staff in hand, barked commands with grim authority.
"Yes, Sandaime-sama!"
The shinobi straightened, voices firm.
"Lord Third, wait!" Gen called out quickly.
"What is it?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone was clipped, his urgency clear.
"Take senior Uchiha with you. Our Sharingan can restrain the Nine-Tails for about a second and a half. It could make all the difference." Gen's voice was steady, resolute.
Fugaku, useless as ever, hadn't spoken. Too slow to seize the moment, too blind to see the opportunity. This was a chance to shift the village's perception of the Uchiha.
If word spread and if all Konoha saw the clan stand shoulder to shoulder with Hokage at the village's darkest hour then who would dare accuse the Uchiha of controlling the Nine-Tails?
As long as no traitor struck from within, no force could wipe them out. Not with him here.
Hiruzen's eyes flicked to Gen, surprise flickering across his weathered face.
He had always thought the boy bound by clan interests. Yet here, in the midst of crisis, he thought of Hokage and village first.
Knowing Fugaku, he never would have brought the Police Force's elite to the battlefield. Which meant this had been Gen's plan. Just as it had been his idea for Shisui and Itachi to study under the Fourth and under Sarutobi's grandson.
This one was different. Like Shisui, he might be worth trusting.
"…Are you all still able?" Hiruzen asked, his voice softer now.
Fugaku finally stirred, blurting, "Yes, we can fight. Isn't that right?"
"It is our duty to protect Konoha, Lord Third!" Shisui's voice rang clear, strong with conviction.
His clan's forebear once rode the Nine-Tails into battle against the First Hokage. For that legacy to twist into betrayal was unthinkable. Whoever controlled the beast tonight surely it was Madara's shadow.
The reasoning wasn't wrong. Obito bore Madara's name and will, his distant blood enough to call him an heir in spirit. Minato's suspicions were not misplaced.
Hiruzen gave a satisfied nod.
"I can still hold on."
An Uchiha jōnin wiped the blood and tears from his eyes, Sharingan dim but burning.
"Me too."
"And me."
One after another, they answered.
The shinobi around them were moved. The Uchiha were fierce and proud, yes—but here, at the brink, they were unwavering.
Hiruzen's chest tightened. Perhaps the clan still carried the village in their hearts.
"Very well. With me, move out!"
He led his Anbu and the Uchiha jōnin, racing toward the beast's last known position. Military ration pills were swallowed mid-stride, chakra replenished by sheer will.
Behind them, the remaining shinobi turned to the grim work of rescue and recovery.
High above, atop the ridge behind the village, Shimura Danzō stood frozen.
The Nine-Tails had vanished.
Without it… how was he to seize his moment? To take power back into his hands?
His jaw tightened. "Scatter. Find it!"
The Root moved at once. They were few and barely half the size of regular Anbu, but efficient. Perception-types spread out, searching. Yet Minato's teleportation had cast the beast far enough that even they struggled to pinpoint its location.
By the time Hiruzen and his force tracked the Nine-Tails, they found it already bound—Kushina's adamantine chains wrapped tight, a barrier of pure sealing chakra caging it in all directions.
Even restrained, the fox's fury battered against its prison, but Kushina's chakra held. To strike the barrier would be folly, every attack would drain her further, hastening disaster.
Hiruzen arrived first, followed by Gen, Fugaku, Shisui, and two Anbu. They froze as Minato began weaving the signs for a forbidden jutsu.
"That seal… no, it can't be…"
"The Dead Demon Consuming Seal!" Hiruzen's voice broke with recognition.
"Lord Third, what is that jutsu?" Fugaku asked, eyes wide.
Before them, a spectral figure loomed white robes flowing, prayer beads in hand, a blade clamped between its teeth, its chest a hollow abyss. The Shinigami itself.
"This… is an S-rank sealing technique of the Uzumaki," Hiruzen said heavily. "The user offers his life and soul to summon the god of death. In return, the target is sealed forever. The caster dies without fail."
Fugaku's face drained of color. "What? Then… the Fourth—"
The truth hit him like a blade. Minato would not survive.
No. This couldn't happen.
At last the Uchiha had a Hokage's ear, a chance to escape the confines of the Police Force, to bridge the rift with the village. A future was opening before them.
And now it was about to vanish in an instant.
Hokage-sama… why? Why so reckless?
If they had only arrived sooner, they might have found another way.
The weight crushed Fugaku's chest, heavier than the grief of losing his own father.
Around him, the Uchiha and Anbu alike stood pale, shaken.
Gen exhaled slowly. Minato had chosen the Dead Demon Seal after all. His fate was sealed.
And Kushina…
Would she be forced to take the other half of the beast into herself?
Gen's fists clenched. He had warned him.