"Have Tsunade or Nawaki already died?"
Kushina was startled. To prevent Mito's sealing from being affected, the village and the clan had kept much information isolated.
Unexpectedly, Great-Aunt Mito had guessed something.
Mito deduced from Kushina's expression that her guess was correct.
"Whether it's Tsunade or Nawaki… it doesn't matter. Tell me—I'm about to die too."
"Great-aunt, it's cousin Nawaki."
Mito nodded and looked at her tearful daughter-in-law, Rinmoku's wife.
"Don't be sad. Whoever dies, be it me or anyone else, don't grieve. The village is Hashirama's dream. This is a difficult, long path. I can only walk it this far.
The village still has you all. You must continue, uphold Hashirama's dream, and honor all the sacrifices made."
Behind Mito, the golden chains suddenly swung, lashing toward the Nine-Tails in midair.
All nine tails of the Nine-Tails extended, forming a translucent version in the air.
The golden chains pierced all nine tails, twisting in midair, flying toward Kushina.
Mito's immense chakra restrained the Nine-Tails, preventing it from fully materializing or rampaging; it remained semi-transparent.
Mito approached Kushina, guiding her left hand to align with Kushina's right hand, forming hand seals together.
Golden chains sprouted from Kushina's back, linking with Mito's chains.
The Nine-Tails' tails were pulled along the chains, gradually entering Kushina's body.
"Uzumaki Mito! You still won't let me go?"
The Nine-Tails roared through the night, pierced by the chains.
As the seal transferred, more and more chakra surged from Mito's body, and the Nine-Tails form solidified.
Senju Rinmoku shouted:
"The Nine-Tails is struggling! Senju ninjas! Use the Combined Sealing Technique!"
Over nine hundred Senju ninjas formed hand seals simultaneously, pressing onto the long scrolls on the ground.
Sealing runes, resembling those of the Cursed Binding Seal, shot out like chains, climbing onto the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails' body and joints were locked in place by the Combined Sealing Technique.
Yoru thought: The Senju clan's combined sealing is incredibly strong. To harness hundreds of ninjas' power to restrain the Nine-Tails… remarkable.
With the Senju clan's assistance, the Nine-Tails' chakra gradually flowed into Kushina's body.
All nine tails entered Kushina, along with its hind legs.
Just as everything seemed to proceed smoothly, Yoru saw a few figures rushing in.
It was Danzo and his two assistants!
More importantly, Danzo's right eye was wrapped in bandages!
Yoru suddenly recalled the body of the Shimizu clan youth, whose eyeball had been removed by Orochimaru and sewn into the brow, leaving two bloody sockets.
Had Danzo gone to Orochimaru to transplant an eye during his absence?
Danzo stood behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, hiding under Sarutobi's Hokage robe and hat.
The Senju could not see Danzo, but Yoru, positioned to the side, could.
Danzo lifted his hand, touching his eye patch.
Sealing runes appeared on the patch, blocking others from seeing his eye.
Quickly lifting the bandaged patch, Danzo used Sarutobi's hat as cover and briefly glanced at the Nine-Tails.
Uchiha Kagami had once said that the village needed help to neutralize the Nine-Tails' threat.
The Nine-Tails hung over Konoha like a sword, ready to strike at any moment.
The Sharingan reflects the soul. Kagami's deepest desire had manifested as his Mangekyo ability.
The Susanoo armor was Kagami's Mangekyo core technique.
According to Tobirama's notes, the pseudo-Susanoo was second only to Wood Release in controlling the Nine-Tails.
Such a method could not be entrusted to any Uchiha recklessly.
Danzo had possessed Kagami's Sharingan for years, never daring to use it casually.
With Orochimaru's help, Danzo finally felt confident using the eye.
The Nine-Tails, originally restrained by Mito and the Senju Combined Sealing Technique, hesitated.
Its gaze shifted toward the Valley of the End, toward Madara Uchiha's towering stone statue.
A powerful ocular genjutsu seemed to trigger a memory within the Nine-Tails.
It was as if it were reliving the battle at the Valley of the End.
Madara manipulated it with the Sharingan, imposing the Susanoo armor onto its body, colliding violently with Hashirama atop the Wood Release giant statue.
Though initially restrained by the golden chains and the Senju sealing, a new chakra surged from the Nine-Tails.
This chakra instantly formed a Susanoo armor, as if the Nine-Tails were clad in battle gear.
Rinmoku screamed in anguish: "No! How can there be Uchiha Susanoo here?!"
He looked around—besides the outer Anbu, no one else was present.
The Susanoo lasted only a second or two but was enough to shatter the Senju combined seal and Mito's chains.
The Nine-Tails regained full mobility.
It opened its mouth without hesitation, forming a Tailed Beast Ball.
"Break it!"
All Senju ninjas poured more chakra into the seal, desperately trying to contain it.
Yet the Tailed Beast Ball kept growing.
Mito lifted her head; her cloudy eyes cleared in an instant.
She scanned the surroundings.
A dense plume of white smoke stood out in the night—the smoke of Sarutobi summoning his monkey spirit.
Sarutobi, now without his Hokage robes or hat, wielded his Adamantine Staff, striking the surrounding forest as if an unseen enemy lurked within.
He shouted: "We must find the one who disrupted the seal!"
The Anbu scattered through the trees.
Yoru thought: Nice acting… isn't Danzo right in that smoke behind him?
Mito said:
"I will restrain the Nine-Tails. From here on, the rest of the seal depends on you."
Two more chains shot from Mito, locking around the Nine-Tails' neck and head, forcibly turning it.
The Nine-Tails thrashed violently; the chains clanged and rattled.
Blood trickled from Mito's mouth as, in a final moment, she successfully twisted the Nine-Tails' head.
The Tailed Beast Ball fired—not downward, but angled upward, away from the Senju ninjas.
The Nine-Tails' struggle pulled Mito's two chains free, tearing flesh from her back.
Blood gushed, revealing a gruesome wound on her spine.
Mito coughed up a mouthful of blood, kneeling forward on the ground.
With immense effort, she stabilized her torso, forming the final hand seal.
"Kushina… I'm leaving. Don't be afraid. You will find someone to fill your heart…"
The Nine-Tails' upper body hovered midair, struggling.
Without the pseudo-Susanoo, the seal might have succeeded smoothly.
But Mito collapsed first.
The highest-ranking elder of Konoha, frail as a withered branch, fell to the ground, dead.
An era ended. The last of the founding generation, Uzumaki Mito, had sacrificed herself for the village.