Two battlefields.
Four monsters.
One night that rewrites the Leaf.
The sky burned red.
Kurama's roar split the heavens as one of its tails erased an entire district. Shinobi scattered. Screams echoed.
On the Hokage Monument stood Hiruzen.
Behind him — Danzo.
"You hesitated," Danzo said coldly. "This is what sentiment brings."
Hiruzen's staff struck stone.
"This is what hatred brings."
Kurama gathered chakra — a Tailed Beast Bomb forming.
Before either elder could move—
A yellow flash streaked across the battlefield.
Minato.
He touched the Bomb.
Gone.
The explosion detonated miles beyond the village.
But when he returned—
The masked man was waiting.
Battlefield One — The Flash vs The Mask
Steel clashed mid-air.
The masked man phased through Minato's kunai, his hand reaching for Minato's throat.
Minato vanished.
Reappeared behind him.
Rasengan formed instantly.
The masked man barely phased in time, the sphere grazing his cloak and shredding stone behind him.
"So fast…" the masked man muttered.
Minato's voice was calm.
"You control the Nine-Tails."
"Yes."
"You're making it attack specific sectors."
The masked man's visible eye sharpened.
Minato understood.
This wasn't random destruction.
It was strategic.
The masked man lunged again, phasing forward to grab him—
Minato allowed it.
For half a second.
The instant the masked man materialized to absorb him
Minato teleported.
Reappearing above.
A Flying Raijin seal already placed earlier on the cloak.
Rasengan. Directly hit. The mask cracked.
A single eye widened in shock as he was blasted through the forest.
Minato landed silently.
But he did not pursue.
Because the Nine-Tails roared again.
And this time. The roar changed.
Battlefield Two
Kurama's claws crashed down.
Danzo leapt aside, wind blades slicing upward.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Pressure!"
Compressed air struck the fox's eye, drawing blood.
Hiruzen followed.
"Earth Style: Mud River!"
The ground liquefied, trapping Kurama's legs.
Enma transformed mid-swing — adamantine staff slamming into Kurama's jaw with enough force to shake the Monument.
But Kurama broke free.
A Tailed Beast Bomb began forming again.
Danzo looked at it — calculating.
"If that detonates, half the village is gone."
"Yes," Hiruzen said quietly.
Danzo's eyes shifted.
"Then we withdraw and let the Fourth handle sealing."
Hiruzen stared at him.
"And risk Minato dying?"
Danzo did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Kurama fired.
Minato flashed in — teleporting the Bomb again.
But this time, Kurama's rage intensified.
Its chakra surged violently.
Hiruzen felt it.
The masked man was losing control of the nine tails.
Minato reappeared beside Hiruzen.
"He's destabilizing the contract," Minato said quickly.
Danzo's eye narrowed.
"If the control breaks, the beast will rampage blindly."
"It already is," Hiruzen replied.
Another shockwave threw them apart.
Across the forest edge—
The masked man rose.
Cracked mask.
Bleeding.
His eye glowed with fury.
He lunged toward Kurama to reassert control—
Minato intercepted him mid-air.
Their clash detonated like thunder.
Below them, Kurama began forming its largest Tailed Beast Bomb yet.
Danzo looked upward.
"Hiruzen."
Hiruzen already knew.
If Minato was forced to use the Reaper Death Seal—
The Fourth Hokage would die.
The village would lose its future.
Hiruzen made his choice.
He grabbed Danzo's shoulder.
"We end this."
Danzo stiffened.
"You would use that here?"
"Yes."
The Shinigami manifested behind Hiruzen.
The air froze.
Even Kurama hesitated.
Minato's eyes widened mid-fight.
"Lord Third—!"
Too late.
Shadow arms seized Kurama's chakra—
And dragged.
The masked man screamed in frustration as the contract destabilized.
Minato exploited it.
Teleport.
Rasengan.
The mask shattered completely.
The masked man was blasted away — forced to retreat into the night.
Below—
The Reaper's blade descended.
Danzo realized too late.
"Hiruzen—!"
"You wanted decisive action."
The blade pierced both.
Danzo's soul was torn free first — dragged into the Shinigami's maw.
Then a massive portion of Kurama's chakra followed towards Naruto. Which Minato sealed using Eight tiagrams seal to seal away most of the chakra and the soul of the nine tsails inside of Naruto.
Kurama roared as its power was severed.
Minato landed beside the collapsing Third Hokage.
The remaining chakra is used to stabilized kushina.
Hiruzen's body crumbled in Minato's arms.
"No more shadows," he whispered.
Then he was gone.
When Dawn Came
Danzo was dead.
Hiruzen was dead.
The masked man had fled.
Kurama was sealed.
Minato stood in the ruins. Carrying his son and looked at the distruction caused by the Nine tails.