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An unexpected guest arrived on the second night.
He was sitting on Qianyu's bed when he pushed open the bedroom door.
Masked, draped in a black cloak. Leaning back on the futon as if he owned the place. Anyone else would think Qianyu was the intruder.
"You're back," Qianyu said, closing the door. "What brings you?"
He had a guess.
"The Nine-Tails jinchūriki is pregnant," Obito stated, his voice flat behind the mask. "Our opportunity has arrived."
"Konoha will be on high alert when she gives birth," Qianyu replied, settling onto the tatami mat across from the bed.
"Exactly. That's why I need you to relay all relevant information about the timing and location of the birth."
Obito's single visible eye fixed on him.
"Why wasn't the news of her pregnancy passed along sooner?"
"I only learned about it yesterday. There was no time."
Qianyu frowned at the accusatory tone. "If not for gathering intelligence, I wouldn't have stepped foot in Konoha at all."
His voice carried a wounded edge, a mix of indignation and anger.
Obito's sharp gaze softened, just for a second. He glanced down. It sounded like an explanation, but felt more like a warning. "You don't belong to Konoha. Don't get too immersed."
Otherwise, when your cover is blown, you'll be the only one who gets hurt.
With that, his figure dissolved into a swirling vortex, leaving the room empty.
ā¦
Kushina's belly grew day by day.
The anxiety among Konoha's upper echelons grew with it.
When a jinchūriki gave birth, the Tailed Beast's seal weakened. Drastically. An attack during that moment of vulnerability would be catastrophic.
"Lord Hokage."
Qianyu stood in the Hokage's office, summoned by Minato.
"Qianyu! You're here." Minato offered a tense smile.
"Qianyu!"
Kushina, heavily pregnant, waved from a small sofa. Pregnancy had softened her. The usual fierce edge in her brow was gone, replaced by a gentle, cloud-like warmth.
"Qianyu, it's like this," Minato began, choosing his words carefully. "You know about theā¦ special circumstances of Kushina's delivery. I was hoping you could be present to help with the protection detailā¦"
He hesitated, watching Qianyu's face. "ā¦alongside Kakashi."
"ā¦"
I knew it.
Qianyu's eyes snapped to Kushina. She blinked back at him, a glint of innocent mischief in her eyes.
Of course. Of course she'd do this. Even now, at the eleventh hour, she hasn't given up on her matchmaking mission!
Yetā¦ this was also an immense show of trust from the couple. A trust that twisted his gut.
Am I really going to have to fight Obito?
His expression turned strange. The acting required was going to be supremely awkward.
Two Months Later
Steam rose from a warm meal on the dining table.
Qianyu's chopsticks paused mid-air. His head turned toward the window.
"What's wrong?" Takenouchi asked, following his gaze.
A cool, early-autumn breeze drifted through the open window.
Then came the feelingāa wrongness bleeding into the air, a chilling, malevolent chakra beginning to seep across the village.
Qianyu stood up, his face grim. He set his chopsticks down. "Uncle. An emergency mission. I have to go."
His distraction was palpable.
Takenouchi stared for a second, then nodded solemnly. "Go. Be careful."
Qianyu moved toward the window, then stopped. He turned back. "Uncleā¦ tonight might be dangerous. Please, for your safety, take Whitey and the others and get to the shelters in the rear."
Takenouchi was retired. His body couldn't handle a fight anymore. He was essentially a civilian now.
"Alright." Warmth filled Takenouchi's eyes as he gave a firm nod. He wouldn't gamble with his life.
Assured, Qianyu's form vanished from the spot.
Elsewhere, in a dark, hidden cave, sharp cries of pain echoed off stone walls.
"Kushina!"
"Push!"
"You can do it!"
Minato was drenched in sweat, hands pressed over Kushina's swollen belly, desperately reinforcing the weakening seal. Icy, red tendrils of the Nine-Tails' chakra leaked out regardless.
"Faster! I can see the head!" The midwife, Biwako, urged frantically.
"Aaaaahā!" Kushina's face was contorted with agony.
Outside the cave's protective barrier, a black shadow materialized without a sound.
"Youā!" The guard's eyes widened. A hand clamped around his throat. A sickening crunch. His struggles ceased in moments, his body discarded like trash.
The black figure passed through the powerful barrier as if it were mist. No ripple. No alarm.
Outside the secluded valley, the surface of a tranquil lake shivered. Ripples spread. The metallic scent of blood diffused into the water, a pink fog dissolving in the dark.
Inside, Kushina's cries grew more urgent.
Obito walked slowly into the cavern.
The familiar blond hair came into focus. His sensei. The sensei who was always, always one step too late.
Accumulated hatred erupted. A savage gleam flashed in Obito's eye.
"It's out! The baby's out!"
With Biwako's cry, a loud, healthy wail filled the cavern.
Kushina went limp on the sealing platform, utterly spent. Minato looked at her, heart aching, wanting to wipe the sweat from her brow, but not daring to move his seal-reinforcing hands.
"Ghkā!" Biwako's eyes shot open. Her aged face twisted in surprise and pain. Her mouth openedāno sound came out. She collapsed with a heavy thud. Lifeless.
The newborn, slipping from her slack hands, fell neatly into Obito's waiting arms.
"Naruto!" Kushina's lips, pale and trembling, formed the name. Her eyes blazed with a mother's fury.
"Lord Fourth Hokage," a deep, modulated voice rang out. "Let's see what you choose."
Without hesitation, Obito tossed the swaddled bundle high into the air.
"WAAAH! WAAAH!"
The infant's cries tore at Kushina and Minato's hearts.
"Don't mind me! Forget about me!" Kushina screamed, her voice raw. "Naruto! NARUTO!"
Bloodshot veins appeared instantly in her eyes. With a surge of desperate strength, she grabbed Minato's wrist, the one maintaining the seal.
Seeing the absolute plea in her eyes, Minato's expression hardened.
A yellow flash.
The falling baby was now cradled safely in his arms.
Fizzleā¦
A faint burning sound. The cloth wrapping Naruto was covered in explosive tags. Dozens of them.
Minato's fists clenched. In another flash, he and the baby were gone. The tagged bundle left behind exploded in a deafening roar, filling the cave with thick white smoke.
Through the dissipating haze, Minato's pupils widened in horror.
The masked man's hand was already on Kushina's shoulder.
"KUSHINA!"
He lunged forward instinctively.
"Naruto! Secure Naruto first!" Kushina's form began to warp, stretching into a spiraling vortex.
But the wails in his arms anchored him. The reality crashed down: Kushina was gone.
"Minato-senpai! Take care of Naruto!"
Another voice. Qianyu materialized out of nowhere. His hand shot out, grasping Kushina's wrist an instant before she fully vanished. Then, all threeāQianyu, Kushina, and the masked manādisappeared.
Cold sweat slicked Minato's palms, but his frantic heart steadied a fraction.
Qianyu's with her. That buys us time.
He had to get Naruto to safety. Then deal with the intruder.
A twisted landscape. Molten rock flowed like sluggish rivers. Kushina hung from heavy chains against a rough stone wall, consciousness fading in and out.
Two figures stood before her.
Obito observed the violently fluctuating, nearly shattered seal on her abdomen. "Why did you follow?"
He didn't wait for an answer. A low, humorless chuckle escaped him as he turned. His gaze, when it landed on Qianyu, was ice. "Don't tell me you've grown soft."
"ā¦"
You're overthinking this.
Qianyu shook his head. "Participating in quelling the Nine-Tails' rampage will elevate my standing in Konoha even further. A necessary step."
"Hehā¦" Obito's laugh was dry, almost impressed. "You seem even colder than I am, Qianyu."
"Coldness has nothing to do with it. These are necessary sacrifices on the road to success. They lay the foundation for a greater world."
Qianyu's tone was detached as he watched the last of Kushina's vitality ebb away.
BOOM!
Crimson chakra, violent and vast, erupted from Kushina's midsection.
"AAAAARGHā!"
The agony jerked her back to awareness. A broken, guttural scream tore from her throat.
The moment her eyes fluttered open, Qianyu vanished from her sight.
The next instant, the massive, fox-like form of the Nine-Tails materialized, roaring its fury into the unnatural sky. Kushina's life force plummeted.
When the spiral pattern of the MangekyÅ Sharingan flashed in the beast's furious eyes, Qianyu reappeared.
He moved as an enemy. ShinsÅ materialized in his hand, its blade a silver streak aimed straight for Obito's heart.
It passed through him. Through nothing but intangible shadow and air.
Qianyu's brow furrowed, his expression turning deeply grave.
"I don't have time to waste here with you," Obito said dismissively. His gaze swept over Qianyu one last time before he, too, dissolved into a swirling vortex.
The snarling Nine-Tails vanished with him.
"Kushina-senpai!"
Qianyu was at her side in an instant. Kushina crumpled to the ground like a discarded parchment, her breath shallow.
"Theā¦ Nine-Tailsā¦ is looseā¦" she gasped, each word a struggle. "Don'tā¦ mind meā¦! Warnā¦ the villageā¦! Don't let itā¦! Don't let itā¦"
Tears, unbidden, welled in her eyes. She had lived with the beast inside her since childhood. Containing it was her duty, her burden. The devastation a free Nine-Tails would wreak on the villageā¦ she couldn't bear to imagine it.
Qianyu gritted his teeth. His own eyes grew moist. "Kushina-senpai, let me get you to safety first!"
"I said DON'T MIND ME!"
She put every shred of her remaining strength into the shout. It came out sharp, frayed by pain and desperation.
"Goā¦! Stop the Nine-Tails!"
Qianyu looked down, tears threatening to spill. Stubbornly, he tried to lift her. "Kushina-sama, please, let me move you!"
Kushina squeezed her eyes shut. Then her fingers dug into the flesh of Qianyu's wrist with shocking force. "I TOLD YOU TO FORGET ABOUT ME! The priority is the NINE-TAILS! Do you understand?!"
Her eyes were blazing red, veins prominent at her temples. Her furious glare held something akin to hatredāhatred for the situation, for her own weakness, for his hesitation.
Qianyu's hands stilled. Under the weight of that stare, he finally lowered his trembling arms.
"ā¦Fine."
He looked at her one last time, forcing back his tears. His gaze hardened with resolve. Then, he was gone.
Only when he disappeared did Kushina allow herself to sag, a sob finally breaking free.
I'm sorry, Qianyu. But there are more people who need you right now than just me.
[Ding! Affection of target 'Kushina Uzumaki' has reached 90!]
The system's chime was drowned out by a world-shaking roar.
"ROOOOAR!"
The Nine-Tails' cry of fury split the night. Its nine massive tails swept sideways. Buildings crumbled. Ancient trees were ripped from the earth.
Screams. Wails. They wove together into a tapestry of pure terror that smothered Konoha.
"We're going to dieā¦"
"We're definitely going to die!"
"Howā¦ how can we fight something like that?"
A group of genin stood frozen, tears and cold sweat mixing on their faces. Their mouths were stretched into grotesque, fear-induced grimaces.
"What a pathetic way to go," one chuunin muttered, swallowing hard, his whole body shaking.
Above them, the kitsune's blood-red eyes locked onto their tiny forms. A single, clawed finger rose, poised to swipe down and erase them all.
"MOM, I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
"IT'LL HURT! I'M SCARED OF IT HURTING!"
Behind the few chuunin was a group of civilians. They were supposed to have been evacuated to the safe rear mountains. Instead, they'd become the most unlucky stragglers, caught in the open and now directly in the beast's line of sight.
"Don't be afraid, baby. Mommy's here. Mommy will protect you." A woman crushed her child to her chest, her grip so tight she wished she could absorb the small body back into her own, to shield it completely.
The cloud of despair settled over them all. The desperate mother. The young chuunin standing as a frail shield. The elderly who stared with vacant acceptance. The weeping men thinking of their families.
In the face of such absolute destruction, everyone was powerless.
"Why aren't we helping them?! GO HELP THEM!" In another evacuation column, several younger ninja yelled, eyes bloodshot, turning on their squad leader.
The captain, in contrast, was eerily calm. "If you want to add to the pointless casualty count, then go."
He met the furious ninja's gaze. "But you leave, and the hundred civilians behind us have one less layer of protection."
The ninja stiffened. He couldn't bring himself to look back. He knew. Behind him were faces filled with hope, clinging to their presence for survival.
"Even if we wentā¦ we couldn't change a thing," the captain said, a deep sorrow in his voice. That monstrosity was beyond them. They weren't heroes. They weren't protagonists with world-saving power. They could only do their job: protect who they could.
The young ninja's head finally dropped. The weight of reality was a crushing blow.
High atop the Hokage Monument, Qianyu watched the chaos unfold below.
Xiao Qing coiled around his shoulders, unusually silent. Ever since it learned it was a dragon, it had diligently shed all its old snake-like habits. No more tongue-flicking.
"Go on," Qianyu said, giving the dragon's violet-gold scales an affectionate rub. "It's your cue."
Xiao Qing gave a majestic, proud shake of its horned head.
Then.
A sound that was not a roar, but a DRAGON'S CRY erupted, tearing through the cacophony of destruction and shooting straight into the heavens.
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