Chương 138: The Night of the Nine-Tails, Part III

The heart of the Hidden Leaf had become a crucible. Fire stormed toward the heavens, and the air thrummed with the ceaseless concussions of war. A deluge of kunai, laden with explosive tags, rained upon the beast. Yet, the bombardment was futile—mere pinpricks against the mountain of hatred that was the Nine-Tails. The tags detonated against its fur in a blinding strobe of orange light, but the Fox didn't so much as blink. It was a creature of primordial chakra; petty smoke and fire could not mar its gaze.

Any shinobi bold enough to breach the inner circle was swatted aside like a common fly, their bodies sent skipping across the shattered cobblestones. On a nearby thoroughfare, Kakashi and Guy lunged forward to join the fray, only to be intercepted by a firm hand. Shinku Yuhi stood before them, his expression grim.

"Stand down," the veteran Jonin commanded.

"This is no place for children. Your fight is elsewhere." At the vanguard, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived, his presence a stabilizing weight amidst the chaos.

"Contain the devastation!" he bellowed, his voice cutting through the roar of the flames.

"Drive it beyond the walls! Buy me the time I need to manifest my jutsu. Do not let up the assault!"

"Sir!" The response was a fresh wave of attacks, but the "sting" of the village's collective effort only served to stoke the Fox's ire. Among the defenders, Jiro Dongye and Yuwa Uzuki fought with a desperation born of helplessness. For all their years on the front lines, they had never felt so utterly outmatched. Against a Bijuu, conventional tactics were a death sentence. The Fox roared, slamming its massive paws into the earth.

The impact sent tremors through the village, launching jagged chunks of bedrock and debris into the air like ballistic shells. Jiro and Yuwa blurred through the wreckage, their blades flashing as they cleaved through falling masonry to save those less agile. Just as a particularly massive slab of stone threatened to crush a cluster of retreating Chunin, a familiar silhouette flickered into existence before Jiro. Zhen had arrived. He offered no greeting. His hands slammed together, grounding himself in the chaos.

Sage Art: Earth Style—Super One-Horned Great Wall. A colossal rampart of earthen chakra erupted from the ground, curving outward from Zhen's position. The barrier was translucent yet iron-clad, a hemispherical shield that intercepted the hail of debris. With his comrades shielded, Zhen took to the sky. He ascended above the Fox's towering crown, his shadow momentarily eclipsing the moon. Sage Art: Wind Style—Duality Wind King Barrier.

He had refined the technique, weaving the principles of the Duality Seal into the very fabric of the gale. A massive cage of swirling black and white winds descended, enveloping the Fox in a monochromatic vortex. It looked like a living sumi-e painting—ink and paper brought to life to bind a god. The Fox thrashed within the wind, its claws tearing at the vacuum.

Zhen knew the clock was ticking; if the beast unleashed a Tailed Beast Bomb within the cage, the barrier would turn into a shaped charge, vaporizing the village center. Without a moment's hesitation, Zhen activated the Flying Thunder God. In a flash of golden light and howling wind, the Fox, the barrier, and the boy vanished. The silence that followed was deafening.

"The Fox... it's gone?" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Did we win?"

"Who cares? We're alive!" Amidst the gasping defenders, a frantic cry broke out.

"Medical ninja! Someone, help my wife!" Ikkaku Umino, a veteran Jonin, knelt in the ruins. He ignored his own bleeding wounds, his hands trembling as he cradled Kohari Umino. She was pale, her breath coming in shallow, ragged hitches. Medics swarmed them, lifting her onto a stretcher and racing toward the hospital. Yuwa Uzuki leaned against her sword, nudging Jiro.

"Hey... Zhen just took the Fox and left. Our son just... handled it." Jiro stared at the empty crater where the beast had stood. He had always known Zhen was a prodigy, but this was a different league entirely. This was a level of power that rendered his own rank as a Jonin obsolete. Is that really my son? Jiro wondered. Maybe we should try for another one. This one's clearly a bug in the system. Nearby, the Monkey King, Enma, stood in his summoned form, blinking at the empty street. He turned to Hiruzen.

"Was that Minato's teleportation?"

"It was the Flying Thunder God," Hiruzen confirmed, his voice thick with awe.

"But it wasn't Minato. It was the Dongye boy. To master that technique at his age... it's unprecedented."

"If the crisis is over, I'm heading back," Enma grunted.

"No," Hiruzen said, tightening his grip on the Adamantine Staff.

"The battle has only shifted. Enma—Transform!" The Monkey King shifted into the Adamantine Staff, and Hiruzen vaulted toward the southern forest. The roar of the Fox had returned, echoing from the distant treeline. Beyond the walls, Zhen had dropped the Wind King Barrier. It had served its purpose as a transport vessel, but it was failing under the Fox's assault. As the winds dissipated, he transitioned into a pure Duality Seal, manifesting chakra chains that coiled around the beast's limbs like iron pythons.

He was anchoring the beast with pure polarity, disrupting the Fox's internal chakra flow. It was an exhausting feat, requiring him to fight the beast's raw, physical strength with every ounce of his Sage-enhanced will. Suddenly, the Fox ceased its struggling. The chaotic, red haze in its eyes cleared, the spinning tomoe of the Sharingan dissolving into the familiar, vertical slits of a predator. The control had been broken. Kurama was sane again, but his fury remained unabated.

The Great Fox snarled, looking down at the Anbu brat pinning him to the forest floor. He recognized the boy's scent—vaguely—but the audacity was new.

"Listen, whelp," Kurama boomed, his voice a low vibration that shook Zhen's marrow.

"You smell pleasant enough, but unbind me this instant. Move, and I might only take a limb before I erase that village."

"That's a generous offer," Zhen shouted back, his teeth gritted against the strain.

"Give me a minute to wash up first. I'd hate to be an unpalatable snack."

"Little brat... you dare mock me?"

"Mock you? I'm trembling in my boots. Can't you see the shaking?" Zhen was shaking, but from the sheer effort of maintaining the seal. He was stalling. He felt the ripple in space a split-second before Minato appeared.

"Report, Lord Minato," Zhen gasped.

"Is the masked man dead?"

"I failed," Minato admitted, his expression grim.

"I severed the contract and broke his control over the Fox, but a strange creature emerged from the earth and snatched him away before I could finish it." Black Zetsu, Zhen thought. Of course. The manager had to save his star employee.

"We'll deal with him later," Zhen said.

"Focus on the Fox. I can't hold this forever." Kurama glared at Minato. He knew this man—the one who slept beside his vessel every night. Another jailer. Another human parasite.

"So, the Fourth arrives to put me back in the box? I'll kill you both!" Minato looked at the beast.

"The only option is to reseal it. The question is... where?"

"No time for a debate," Zhen cut in.

"Get Kushina here. We need the extra weight to keep him down while we figure out the vessel." Minato nodded and flickered away, returning a moment later with Kushina. The sight was absurd. Kushina, pale and exhausted, was clutching newborn Naruto to her chest as if her life depended on it. She looked like she had just stepped out of a war zone—which she had—but she was refusing to let her son out of her sight for even a second.

"Really, Senpai?" Zhen muttered.

"Bringing a newborn to a Bijuu fight? That's a bold parenting choice." Kushina didn't answer. Five translucent golden chains erupted from her back—the Adamantine Attacking Chains—and lashed around the Fox, doubling the strength of Zhen's bindings. Kurama let out a muffled roar as a chain cinched around his snout, silencing his protests. The Great Fox looked positively indignant. Minato sensed the Third Hokage and the village vanguards approaching the forest. He looked at Kushina.

"Kushina, the barrier. Keep them out." Without a word, Kushina expanded her chakra, erecting a massive, shimmering dome that cut the forest off from the world. She was revitalized by Zhen's seal, her strength far beyond what it should have been. Minato stood between his wife and the beast, his eyes scanning the horizon. He didn't want the elders interfering—not until this was settled. Now came the impossible choice. Where did they put the Fox?