In the corner of the room, Naruto groggily opened his eyes, only to succumb to the lingering genjutsu and immediately fall back asleep.
Masahiko stood quietly nearby. The Naruto he was holding was the real body!
Earlier, at the exact moment he formed the hand signs for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Masahiko had executed the Body Flicker Jutsu to seamlessly swap positions. Relying on high-speed movement and a perfectly timed clone, he had successfully deceived Yakumo and the demon within her.
With the plan complete, there was no longer any need for Naruto to remain inside the barrier. Masahiko opened a small gap in the corner of the seal and carefully passed the boy through. Outside, Kakashi reached out and received him.
Outside the barrier, Sarutobi Hiruzen's hands flew through a sequence of hand seals. The sealing formulas within the room rapidly converged upon Ido. Simultaneously, Yamanaka Inoichi mobilized his spiritual energy from the outside, violently slamming it into Ido's mind. It was a crude, brute-force application of his clan's techniques—yielding limited results and rarely utilized in standard combat—but for the sole purpose of suppressing the malicious entity's mental faculties, it was more than sufficient.
Masahiko body-flickered directly to Ido's side. A massive surge of chakra erupted from him, temporarily freezing the demon in place.
In the next second, a dark, suffocating chakra exploded outward. Ido let out an ear-piercing shriek, unleashing a shockwave of raw power and hallucinatory energy that blasted Masahiko into the air. But mid-flight, Masahiko easily shattered the illusion. A violent burst of water erupted beneath his feet, anchoring him firmly to the ground and stabilizing his posture.
During that brief moment of entanglement, the sealing formulas had completely closed in.
Sensing the impending crisis, Ido was gripped by absolute terror. Its ethereal body turned pitch-black as it desperately tried to fuse back into Yakumo's consciousness, but Kurama Yakumo's spirit rejected it with extreme prejudice. At the exact same time, the chains manifested from the sealing jutsu converged from all four directions, locking the demon firmly in place.
It was the formula of the Four Symbols Seal!
Ido shrieked in a mixture of horror and fury. "Yakumo!! You cannot do this to me! I am you!"
As the chains tightened, its fury quickly gave way to desperate begging. "I am your other half! I am trying to help you! Let me go back! No! Let me back in! If you do, I will not..."
"I am me. I do not need another side like you," Yakumo stated, her voice icy and resolute.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Just as Masahiko had deduced, even though Ido had obtained the dark chakra, it was still fundamentally a part of Yakumo. To a significant extent, Ido was bound by the girl's will. It was a zero-sum game. As Yakumo's conviction grew firmer, bolstered by the power of the sealing jutsu, Ido found it completely impossible to break free from the formulas.
Wailing in agony, Ido was brutally compressed and suppressed by the Four Symbols Seal. Yet, the dark chakra continued to violently slam against the outer walls of the cage, with wisps of pitch-black mist leaking through the minute gaps in the seal.
At that moment, the barrier was dropped.
"Apply another layer to the seal!" Hiruzen commanded, body-flickering into the room.
"Hiruzen, I shall assist you!" In the very next second, Danzō also appeared.
The two elders formed hand signs in perfect synchronization, casting the sealing jutsu together. In the blink of an eye, the secondary Four Symbols Seal was completed. As the combined chakra of the Third Hokage and Danzō erupted, even the mutated Ido was forcefully suppressed, the black mist entirely retracting back into the confines of the seal.
Hiruzen thrust his palm forward, driving the seal directly into Kurama Yakumo's abdomen. Instantly, an intricate array of sealing formulas spread across her skin.
Danzō seamlessly stepped in to complete the final layer. He slammed his palm over the exact same spot, layering his Four Symbols Seal perfectly over Hiruzen's. The overlapping twin seals merged, forming a complex pattern that resembled the eight trigrams.
The Eight Trigrams Seal.
Hiruzen finally let out a heavy sigh of relief. "It is done!"
Danzō stood beside him, maintaining his usual cold, composed posture.
However, the newly sealed Kurama Yakumo remained thoroughly exhausted and deeply despondent. Dropping her head, she asked in a small, fragile voice, "Hokage-sama, Sensei... can I still be a ninja?"
"Hahaha, of course!" Hiruzen laughed kindly. He gently patted Yakumo's head. "Your sensei risked his life for you, precisely to fulfill your wish so that you may continue your path as a ninja."
Danzō cast a sideways glance at Hiruzen, then shifted his singular eye toward the profoundly respectful Yagyu Masahiko. The old hawk remained entirely silent.
"Sensei!" Yakumo looked up, her eyes rimmed with red as tears threatened to spill.
Masahiko offered a warm, reassuring smile. "In truth, it was not as dangerous as it appeared..."
"Rest now, Yakumo. Once you wake up, you will be able to attend the Academy again," Hiruzen said softly.
As he spoke, he subtly wove a gentle genjutsu into his words. Although Yakumo possessed extraordinary innate talent, she was completely drained of stamina and offered no resistance, instantly falling into a deep, hypnotic slumber.
A heavy silence fell over the room.
It was only after they watched the medical team carry Yakumo and Naruto away that Danzō finally spoke. "You did well."
"It was the unwavering support of Hokage-sama and the esteemed Councilor that granted me such confidence," Masahiko replied with a perfect, deferential bow.
"Your plan succeeded, which is excellent," Danzō noted, his eye narrowing slightly. "But what if the deception had failed?"
"Then we would have had no choice but to completely isolate Yakumo, allowing her the time to slowly conquer the entity herself," Masahiko answered smoothly.
'As if I actually knew what would happen,' Masahiko thought pragmatically.
He had no idea if substituting the Nine-Tails' chakra for Ido to devour would actually work. What if Ido had simply absorbed a fraction of the Nine-Tails' chakra and grown exponentially stronger? His grand speech earlier had been nothing but a bluff to force Ido into a panic. The elaborate setup and theatrical display were orchestrated purely to make the demon believe it was truly cornered, forcing it into a desperate, reckless move.
Hearing this, a flicker of genuine admiration passed through Danzō's eye. Hiruzen simply sighed softly. "Fortunately, it was a success!"
The Hokage looked at Masahiko, hesitating as if debating whether to speak further.
Reading the room perfectly, Masahiko immediately took the hint. "Hokage-sama, I shall go check on the hospital."
"Very well. Go on," Hiruzen smiled.
The moment the door closed behind Masahiko, the warmth vanished from Hiruzen's face, replaced by a glacial sternness. He stared intently at Danzō. "This chakra... do you recall it?"
"While I have not seen those specific symbols before, the chakra itself feels familiar," Danzō sneered coldly. "It appears an old friend of ours did not die completely, and has leaped out from the shadows to oppose us once again!"
"Investigate it!"
Outside the compound.
Kakashi was leaning against the wall, a familiar orange book in hand. Seeing Masahiko emerge, he snapped the book shut and stared at him, his visible eye clouded with a quiet melancholy.
After several seconds, Kakashi finally spoke. "Congratulations on saving your student. However... only you would dare propose such a reckless plan."
"There was simply no other way," Masahiko sighed, playing the part of the weary but devoted teacher. He then looked at Kakashi. "And Naruto's condition...?"
Kakashi fell silent for a moment. "Hokage-sama's intention is to keep it sealed for the time being. Naruto is far too young; he is not yet suited to wield such a massive amount of that chakra."
"Understood." Masahiko nodded.
He knew the true nature of the Eight Trigrams Seal. Its defining characteristic was its ability to allow the chakra leaking from the seal to slowly merge with the host, nourishing them. This was the exact reason Hiruzen and Danzō had employed the same seal on Yakumo—they hoped to use this method to gradually convert Ido's dark chakra into Yakumo's own, using it to fortify and improve her frail constitution over time.
"Then, I will be heading to the hospital," Masahiko said. "Kurenai and Murakumo-senpai are likely still waiting."
"Mm." Kakashi nodded, watching Masahiko's retreating back until he disappeared from sight.
Slowly, Kakashi pulled out his book again and began walking heavily toward the Memorial Stone. The past would never return. Back then, he lacked Masahiko's profound capabilities, nor did he possess such unwavering composure under immense pressure. There were no 'ifs' in life.
Yet, as he walked, his heart felt undeniably heavier.
Konoha Hospital.
Yūhi Kurenai was doing her best to comfort Kurama Murakumo and his wife. The moment she saw Masahiko enter the waiting area, she practically shot out of her seat, her underlying anxiety bleeding through before she quickly reeled it in.
"Masahiko, Yakumo...?"
"There is no need to worry. Yakumo simply needs a night of rest, and she can attend the Academy as usual tomorrow," Masahiko's voice was remarkably steady, instantly grounding the panicked room.
"Masahiko-sensei... truly... thank you so much!" Kurama Murakumo bowed at a sharp ninety-degree angle, his voice entirely choked with emotion.
As the former clan head of the Kurama and a Jōnin of the village, he naturally had access to certain channels of information. He knew exactly how dire Yakumo's situation had been. To keep his wife from breaking down, he had hidden his own terror. Now, hearing that Yakumo was completely safe, he didn't need to guess who had orchestrated the miracle.
It was an absolute certainty—Masahiko had saved Yakumo!
Kurenai's crimson eyes sparkled as she looked at him. She understood better than anyone the sheer depth of Yakumo's obsession. Had the girl truly been stripped of her right to become a ninja, Kurenai shuddered to imagine the mental collapse that would have followed. For her to be able to continue attending the Academy was the absolute best outcome imaginable.
Masahiko gracefully stepped aside, refusing to accept the deep bow. "I am her teacher. I was the one who initially proposed she attend the Academy; naturally, it is my duty to take responsibility to the very end."
He offered them a warm, charismatic smile. "As for her schooling going forward... she is in my class. You two have absolutely nothing to worry about."
"Thank you...!" The husband and wife could only bow repeatedly, entirely speechless, their loyalty and gratitude utterly cemented.