The Kyūbi's massive claw, seething with malevolent chakra, halted mid-air.
Blocked.
By a single knife.
A blackened blade, gripped tightly by a grinning specter whose face was hidden behind a crimson Hollow mask.
"I didn't say you could move."
Kurozawa Ren stood firm, the edge of his Zanpakutō vibrating with a malicious hum of Reiatsu. The tailed beast's monstrous chakra twisted and roared, but it was Ren's oppressive spiritual pressure that made the atmosphere suffocating—thick with madness, drenched in bloodlust.
"So this is the Bijū's power… Not bad at all." His voice was amused, eerily pleased.
The fiery crimson Hollow mask contorted with a twisted grin as Ren's translucent soul form exploded with spiritual pressure. Black-red flames spiraled around him, thickening into something tangible—crushing even to the Kyūbi's senses.
He didn't look like a ghost.
He looked like a demon.
The mask clawed at his mind, pushing his Hollow instincts to the surface. Battle-lust surged in his chest, overwhelming rationality. Power flooded his limbs—tenfold, a hundredfold.
"Jie hahahaha! Go to hell!"
Kurozawa Ren cackled, pulling back his arm. A black-and-scarlet crescent of spiritual flame burst from his blade and raced toward the towering fox like a tsunami of hellfire.
"ROAR!!!"
The Kyūbi snarled. Even wounded, its instincts remained razor-sharp. It lunged, one functional claw swinging to meet the incoming slash.
"Kushina… now what?"
Minato Namikaze stood nearby, pale, baby Naruto in his arms. Beside him, Uzumaki Kushina's life ebbed away by the second.
The plan had been for her to restrain the Kyūbi using her Adamantine Sealing Chains and take it with her into death.
But Minato had intervened.
Now, that path was gone.
As was the other.
The Reaper Death Seal—Shiki Fūjin—had failed.
He had summoned the Shinigami once. But the spectral god, with its beaded hair and skeletal frame, was blocked—not by the Kyūbi, but by the soul-wielding intruder battling it.
The Shinigami had receded, disrupted by Kurozawa Ren's spiritual interference. The two forces—soul and spirit—clashed like discordant frequencies.
Now, the reaper was gone. No second summoning.
"I tested it just now…" Minato muttered bitterly. "Even with my chakra… I can't summon the Shinigami again. It's gone."
"Then…" Kushina coughed blood, her voice weak. "What now?"
Minato's eyes flicked down to Naruto. He couldn't curse their son with this burden—not without hope, not without protection.
"I'll seal your chakra into Naruto first. He'll need your strength… even if only in memory. As for the Nine Tails…"
Minato's jaw tightened.
"I'll seal it into myself."
"…Thank you, Minato." Kushina's voice was tender as her eyes lingered on their baby one last time.
"Kushina," he said, "Release the Adamantine Chains. Save your chakra. Just a little longer."
"…Alright."
The golden chains withdrew. The Kyūbi was freed.
It roared again—not at the dying couple, not at Naruto—but at Kurozawa Ren, the one who had wounded it.
"Hahahahaha! Imprisoned beast, let me free you!" Ren howled, releasing another slash. This one came in the shape of a flaming half-moon, its edge dripping with volatile spiritual energy.
It struck the Kyūbi's paw clean through.
"ROARRR!!!"
The beast shrieked. The wound sizzled with blackened flesh. For the first time, fear entered its eyes.
Its chakra surged violently, gathering into a dense sphere—its ultimate technique.
The Bijūdama.
Minato's eyes narrowed. In a flash of golden light, he vanished.
"Lord Third!"
He reappeared beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, Naruto safely in his arms. "Protect Naruto. I'll stop the Kyūbi."
"…Understood." Hiruzen's face was solemn as he accepted the child. "That masked intruder… Do you know what he is?"
"No," Minato said honestly. "He's not chakra-based. It's like his power comes from… the soul. Not of this world. But he's keeping the Kyūbi distracted. That's enough for now."
Then he vanished again.
Back at the battlefield, Kurozawa Ren roared with laughter, oblivious—or unconcerned—that the Tailed Beast Bomb neared completion.
"Jie jie jie! Slow beast. You thought I'd let you finish that?"
"Torch!"
A vortex of black-red flame burst from beneath the Kyūbi, wrapping it in a spiraling inferno. The flames spun into a vortex of hellfire, burning through the ground, the sky, and the beast's defenses alike.
"OWWWWWW!!!"
The Kyūbi shrieked. Its chakra collapsed, the Bijūdama dispersing into harmless particles.
Above, Konoha's remaining forces stood in awe and terror.
"Everyone fall back!" a golden blur raced across the battlefield. "Retreat! Leave it to me!"
Minato, now in Sage Mode, turned back to the battlefield—heart pounding, eyes sharp.
Ren turned his head slightly, acknowledging the arrival. But the instinct to fight had overridden all logic.
He laughed wildly, intoxicated with power.
The flaming vortex collapsed. The Kyūbi staggered out—burned, missing a claw, swaying from pain. But alive.
Barely.
It locked eyes with Ren—and trembled.
But Kurozawa Ren wasn't finished.
"One final strike!" he howled.
"Flame Hell – Infernal Pillars!!!"
Ten crimson-black fire pillars erupted around the Kyūbi. They arched high, then crashed down all at once.
The explosion was cataclysmic.
Minato's eyes widened.
If left unchecked—
"Konoha…!"
"Time-Space Barrier!!"
Hand seals blurred. A dimensional barrier shimmered into being, swallowing the blast in a golden ripple. The fire vanished—warped across space into a distant, empty forest.
Warning! Warning!
The system's voice rang out in Ren's mind.
> "Host's soul severely depleted! Spiritual pressure nearing collapse! Locate a compatible vessel immediately! Criteria: infant under one year of age!"
Kurozawa Ren stumbled. His flames flickered. His form dimmed.
He removed the Hollow mask. His spiritual body turned ghostly translucent once more.
The battle was over.
He hadn't come only to fight. He wanted to test the mask's limits… to push himself. And maybe, just maybe, tilt the balance.
If he was going to stay in this world… he preferred a future under Minato Namikaze's leadership—not the aging Sarutobi's.
Power and vision mattered.
"A baby, huh…"
He rubbed his chin. "Has to be good-looking. I've got standards."
Then his eyes lit up.
"You'll do."
And with that, Kurozawa Ren's fading soul drifted across the land, searching for the perfect host.
Meanwhile, back on the battlefield—
Minato, panting, let Sage Mode fade.
The smoke cleared.
A blackened creature writhed weakly in the center of the devastation.
Alive. But shattered.
"Lord Hokage!"
The sealing corps arrived, staring in disbelief at the ruined earth.
Minato stepped forward, resolve burning behind weary eyes.
"Prepare the sealing altar," he said. "We're sealing the Nine Tails…"
"…into me."