Making a choice is painful.
It's never about choosing between good and bad — it's about choosing the lesser evil between two terrible outcomes.
The Senju Clan now faced exactly that.
They had two options.
One, hand over the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki custody to the village and lose their last trump card.
Two, complete the Nine-Tails' sealing on their own, risking a potential rampage during the process.
Senju Rinki had once witnessed the clan's glory. Even knowing the risk, he would never surrender their trump card or their influence.
After the Senju ninja left their compound, Hiruzen Sarutobi led four ANBU squads to follow them.
Yagami found it strange. He hadn't seen Danzo for some time — it was odd for him to miss such an important event.
As they moved through the Hidden Leaf Village, Yagami noticed many jonin watching silently from the rooftops —
members of the Uchiha Clan, the Ino–Shika–Cho trio clans, the Inuzuka Clan, the Hyuga Clan, and others.
They had all sensed something unusual and came to witness the Senju Clan's departure.
The Senju group carried a faint yet solemn air of tragedy.
At the village gate, the guards silently opened the doors in the middle of the night. No one bothered asking for departure permits. The entire Senju Clan marched out of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Far beyond the village, they arrived at the Valley of the End —
where the statues of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha stood tall on opposite sides of the waterfall.
It was a place of pride for the Senju Clan, a symbol of the peace their founder once forged.
Uzumaki Mito slowly stepped down from her carriage.
Her once-bright red hair had long turned as white as snow.
She looked toward the massive statue of Hashirama by the waterfall, her expression soft and nostalgic.
At that moment, she was no longer the jinchūriki who had carried the Nine-Tails for decades, nor the highest-ranking elder of the village, nor the matriarch of the Senju Clan.
In her heart, she was once again that young girl from sixty years ago, the day she first met Hashirama Senju — looking up at him in awe.
Back then, Hashirama had been a proud and spirited youth, leading the Senju younglings to visit the Uzumaki homeland.
The entire Uzumaki Clan had been ecstatic at the young Senju heir's arrival — the whole village felt like it was celebrating a festival.
During that visit, the Uzumaki hosted a Chunin Exam, and Hashirama led a Senju team to participate.
In that exam, he displayed overwhelming strength and an utterly unorthodox way of thinking.
Standing at the center of the arena, he declared confidently:
"Each Senju genin will team up with an Uzumaki genin. You have thirty minutes to learn to cooperate and plan your tactics.
Let's make this quick — I'm in a hurry to go fight Madara."
The Uzumaki Clan Head, Mito's father, didn't find this outrageous at all. Laughing, he ordered everyone to pair up.
Mito remembered how angry she'd been — she teamed up with Senju Touma, another kunoichi, vowing to humble Hashirama's arrogance.
But the two of them didn't even last five seconds against him.
Three or four seconds, perhaps — and only because they were both girls.
How could anyone be that strong?
By the end of that exam, Hashirama had become a hero among the Uzumaki youths — and Mito, the one he defeated, became his fiancée at the closing ceremony.
She remembered lowering her head, face burning red, unable to look at him.
Now, seeing his statue again, Mito thought quietly to herself —
after a lifetime together, she had never truly reached the depths of his heart.
One last time, she thought. Let me do something for you, Hashirama.
Taking Kushina's hand, she smiled gently.
"Kushina, I hope someday you'll meet a hero — a true ninja who fills your heart, clears your doubts, and eases all your fears."
Kushina clenched her small fists and said stubbornly,
"Grand-aunt, I'll be that kind of ninja myself. I don't need some man to do it for me."
Mito laughed softly. "Good. With the Nine-Tails' power, you'll surely become a great ninja one day."
Holding Kushina's hand, Mito walked toward the center of the Senju formation.
Over nine hundred Senju ninja stood in three concentric circles. The ground between them was covered with sealing scrolls arranged into a massive circular formation.
Every Senju stood before a scroll inscribed densely with sealing symbols — the combined array spanned more than three hundred meters.
At the center stood Senju Rinki and his wife, both pressing their palms against two large scrolls — the sealing texts of the Senju and Uzumaki Clans.
Rinki's wife, also from the Uzumaki Clan, whispered sadly, "Cousin…"
Mito took their hands. "From here on, the Senju Clan and Kushina will be in your care."
They both nodded firmly, promising to protect the clan and the girl.
Mito then released Kushina's hand and stepped three meters away from her.
The two stood facing each other — old and young — both forming hand seals at the same time.
The Nine-Tails Transfer Seal began.
At the center stood Mito and Kushina.
On their sides were Rinmu and his wife.
Beyond them, three rings of over nine hundred Senju ninja.
Outside that — four ANBU divisions commanded by Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing silently with hands behind their backs.
As Mito's hands formed the seals, phantom chains of golden chakra appeared around her body — Adamantine Sealing Chains, tightly coiled like threads of light.
As the seal weakened, those chains slowly loosened and spread outward. Cracks widened within the glowing coils, and from them seeped a dark red chakra.
In the next instant, a pair of monstrous eyes opened within the gaps.
Yagami's body went cold. Even from such a distance, it felt as though the beast's gaze had locked onto him.
The Nine-Tails' chakra overflowed with hatred, pressing against every mind in the area.
Around Mito, chakra ripples spread outward like waves in water.
The cold aura made everyone's faces stiffen.
Yagami lifted his mask slightly to breathe — his face had gone numb.
The seal weakened further. The golden chains fully unraveled, spreading outward like a peacock's tail.
Mito's robe tore at the back as the Nine-Tails' chakra burst forth, gathering in the night sky, forming the enormous head of a fox.
It lowered its head and roared toward Mito:
"Uzumaki Mito! You sealed me for more than thirty years! Thirty years!"
With every word, waves of chakra exploded outward, shaking the ground.
Mito's hair bun came loose, her white hair whipping in the wind.
Amidst the storm, she turned to Kushina and said,
"Kushina… the rest is up to you.
Restrain the Nine-Tails, protect the Hidden Leaf, and carry on the Uzumaki name.
All my life, everyone dear to me has died for the Leaf.
No one told me — but I can guess.
Tsunade… or Nawaki… they're gone, aren't they?"
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