October 10th, Year 48 of the Hidden Leaf.
What began as a peaceful night like any other was shattered by a sudden, catastrophic arrival.
"Run! Get out of here!"
"Dammit! We have to hold the Nine-Tails back!"
"Why is this happening?! Why is the Nine-Tails attacking now?!"
"Someone tell the Fourth and the Third, hurry!"
"We have to hold the line until Lord Hokage gets here!"
"Protect the village!"
"Evacuate the civilians! Go, go!"
Appearing out of nowhere in the dead center of the village, the Nine-Tails instantly unleashed hell upon the Hidden Leaf. Its colossal frame and unmatched power were far beyond anything an ordinary ninja could handle. This was power that eclipsed even the Kage themselves.
A mere brush of its fur, a simple shockwave from its movement—that was all it took to wipe out lives in droves.
In the brief moments following its appearance, the death toll of Leaf shinobi climbed into the hundreds.
"Fall back! Immediately!"
It was only the arrival of the aging Third Hokage—wielding his Adamantine Staff, transformed from his personal summon, the Monkey King Enma—that managed to momentarily stem the tide of slaughter. He arrived with his closest war buddies and the village's elite forces, preventing the casualty count from spiraling further out of control.
But the gap in power was obvious.
Even in his prime, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have struggled to stand toe-to-toe with the Nine-Tails. Now, well past his peak and sliding into old age, the task was nearly impossible.
After just a few minutes of combat, Hiruzen was already buckling under the immense pressure. His comrades, including Torifu Akimichi, were already wounded.
Every attack the Nine-Tails launched was devastating. Even a simple tail whip wasn't something a standard ninja could just block and walk away from.
"Oh no... It's a Tailed Beast Bomb! Everyone, scatter!"
The Nine-Tails threw its head back. In the gaping maw of the beast, a massive sphere of dense, black chakra began to coalesce.
Hiruzen's face went pale.
The Tailed Beast Bomb. It was the ultimate weapon of a Tailed Beast, and this one was being fired by the strongest of them all. The sheer destructive power contained in that sphere was enough to vaporize more than half the village in a single shot.
Hiruzen, the "God of Shinobi," had no way to stop it. He gritted his teeth, expanding his Adamantine Staff to its limit. He planned to get up close and try to physically bat the beast aside or disrupt the attack—a desperate, likely suicidal move.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, a streak of brilliant yellow light tore across the sky.
"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder!"
In a flash, the Tailed Beast Bomb—which Hiruzen had been powerless to stop—was warped away, detonating harmlessly in the wastelands far beyond the village borders.
Then, with another flash, the massive form of the Nine-Tails vanished from the village center entirely.
"...!?"
The scene went from chaos to empty silence in a split second.
Hiruzen and the surviving defenders stood frozen, their brains struggling to catch up. For a moment, the average ninja on the ground wondered if they had all been trapped in a massive Genjutsu.
---
The shock didn't last long, though. The defenders reacted quickly.
"It's the Fourth!"
"It's Minato!"
"Oh, thank god! It's Lord Fourth!"
That flash of gold couldn't be anyone else. It was the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf: Minato Namikaze.
"Koharu, Homura, Torifu—you three take charge of the situation here."
Hiruzen Sarutobi barked the order to his three oldest friends before immediately signaling a squad of his personal ANBU guard. Together, they sprinted toward the outskirts of the village at full speed.
Just how strong is the Nine-Tails?
Before tonight, Hiruzen might have only guessed. But after that brief skirmish, he had a terrifyingly clear understanding.
He honestly didn't believe the young Fourth Hokage could hold the beast off alone—especially considering the Sharingan visible in the fox's eyes during the attack. This was no natural disaster; it was orchestrated. Someone was pulling the strings from the shadows.
Hiruzen's internal alarm bells were ringing at maximum volume.
Tragically, for all his speed, the Third Hokage was too late. By the time he arrived at the scene, he witnessed the final moment: the colossal form of the Nine-Tails, bound tight by golden chains, dissolving into a stream of red light and plunging into a tiny, infant body below.
"Minato! Kushina!"
As the barrier surrounding the area shattered, Hiruzen leaped into the center.
Seeing the lifeless bodies of the couple, a look of deep, genuine grief washed over his aged face.
Whatever selfish mistakes or foolish political moves the old man might have made in his twilight years, his core sense of duty remained. The young Fourth Hokage was the village's future. Watching Minato die in his twenties... how could Hiruzen not feel the tragedy of it?
Rest easy, Minato, Kushina. I promise I will look after your two sons.
As the bodies of the heroes began to grow cold and stiff, Hiruzen gently lifted the two infants from beneath them.
One baby had golden hair and blue eyes; the other had red hair and grey eyes. Ironically, the blond boy looked more like Kushina in the face, while the redhead bore a striking resemblance to Minato.
However, on the redhead's smooth, white stomach, a complex, mystical seal formula was etched. The immense sealing power radiating from it, mixed with the faint residue of the Nine-Tails' chakra, made it obvious: the beast had been sealed inside this child.
Red hair... he must have inherited Kushina's bloodline strongly, Hiruzen thought. No wonder Minato chose him as the vessel.
From this day on, you shall be known as Menma Uzumaki. And you... you will be Naruto Namikaze.
Hiruzen's mind raced as he looked at the twins in his arms. After a long moment of hesitation and conflicting thoughts, he finally steeled his resolve.
He gave the twin brothers different surnames.
Menma, I hope you don't blame me when you grow up. This is the burden and destiny you must carry. As Minato and Kushina's son, I believe you will understand.
Hiruzen sighed internally. He ordered the ANBU waiting at the perimeter to retrieve the bodies of the Fourth and his wife, while he turned back toward the village, cradling the infants.
What Hiruzen didn't know was that beneath the dazed expression of the red-haired baby, a mental storm was raging.
Huh?
Who am I?
Who is this guy?
And where the hell am I?!
The red-haired infant was mentally screaming the classic "amnesiac trifecta."