Menma's Side
"No, I have to tell Menma! The Nine-Tails is an incredibly dangerous beast with immense destructive power!"
"If it falls into the hands of a powerful ninja like Madara Uchiha, it will cause a terrifying catastrophe!"
"This must be avoided; the Nine-Tails must be sealed and guarded!"
Hearing that the Nine-Tails was stronger than eight other tailed beasts combined, Hashirama Senju immediately issued his judgment.
But Kurama was furious. It had just been a carefree fox running through the forest, yet Hashirama spread rumors everywhere, claiming it was too dangerous. It was mistaken for Susanoo by that red-eyed lunatic, and finally, he beat it up with a thousand hands and sealed it away!
The angrier Kurama became, the fox extended its claws, pointing them at Hashirama's head.
"You're the one who should be sealed! All the lunatics of your Senju clan should be sealed!"
"I am Menma's pet... the village's guardian beast! I'll tell Menma about you later!"
"Let him seal you into another ninja's body—or better yet, a cesspool! Make you a shit jinchūriki!!!"
Hashirama didn't back down, shouting with righteous conviction. "Even so, I will take you, this dangerous fellow, with me when we're sealed!"
"???"
Kurama felt a rush of blood to its head, as if its fox brain was about to explode.
Wait, is this guy crazy? He wouldn't say something like that if he was in his right mind.
Tobirama Senju analyzed the situation from Kurama's words. Turning to his brother, he advised, "Brother, shut up."
"The Nine-Tails just said it itself—it's become Menma's pet."
"If you actually suggest Menma seal Kurama, you'll only anger him, and in the end, the Nine-Tails' words will come true."
Tobirama knew very well that Menma completely disliked them. If they continued to act so arrogantly, refusing to acknowledge their own limitations, they might truly become the "shit jinchūriki."
"A village guardian beast, a village guardian beast, you bastard!"
Kurama slammed its fist on the floor twice before raising its head, looking haughty. "Hmph, if you're scared, apologize to this old man, and I might reluctantly forgive you two rude fellows!"
Hashirama ignored Kurama's words, instead stroking his chin thoughtfully. "So that 'pet village guardian beast' is just a pet village guardian beast."
With that, he laughed heartily and slapped Tobirama hard on the back. "Haha, my little brother is still as clever as ever! He was able to analyze the hidden information in Kurama's words so quickly!"
Tobirama nodded proudly. "It's just that I caught Kurama's slip of the tongue."
Hearing the two relentlessly pursuing its slip of the tongue, Kurama roared, "Not a pet!!!"
"A guardian beast of the village, a divine beast, a respected divine beast, understand?!"
"Understood, understood, a respected pet divine beast, hahaha..."
Kurama's feeble explanation caused Hashirama and the four ninjas watching the scene to chuckle softly. For a moment, the air filled with a joyful atmosphere.
---
Minato's Side
The cheerful atmosphere on Kurama's side also affected the conversation between the two Minatos on the other side. Seeing that Kurama was having such a good time, Chakra Minato sighed and stopped arguing.
"Stop, Kushina. I'll let my original body experience why I did this."
With that, Chakra Minato's body dissipated, turning back into chakra and returning to Edo Tensei Minato.
The next moment, Minato—whose ear was being grabbed by Kushina Uzumaki—was stunned. A flood of memories appeared in his mind, including a deeply etched, soul-deep, and painful dark version of Naruto Uzumaki's childhood.
Feeling the flood of memories, Minato's expression contorted with pain, as if he were undergoing torture. His hands clutched his chest unconsciously, and a piercing pain shot through his heart.
"So this is the childhood that Menma and Naruto experienced...?"
Although Minato had mentally prepared himself for the worst when Jiraiya recounted the story, the reality was ten times, a hundred times, more severe.
The feeling of being utterly helpless, cursed and scorned by everyone, rejected and abandoned by the world, brought tears to Minato's dark eyes.
Even Kushina as a child was merely disliked, not subjected to the most vicious curses and rejection, forced to eat garbage, expired food, and constant hunger!
Ultimately, it drove his own child to become a paranoid madman.
Thinking of this, Minato turned and glared fiercely at Jiraiya. The hatred and killing intent in his eyes made Jiraiya lower his head guiltily. Then, in a hoarse voice, the Fourth Hokage said, "They deserve to die!"
"Yes, they all deserve to die!" the Yin Nine-Tails within Minato chuckled. "No wonder my other half is fond of this kid; this hatred is absolutely amazing!"
To be honest, the Yin Nine-Tails really wanted to switch sides and join the master with this painful memory. They definitely had a lot in common!
Minato ignored the Yin Nine-Tails' words, instead pulling away from Kushina's hand and saying with a serious expression, "Kushina, I will no longer sympathize with those guys from Konoha."
"From now on, there will only be Minato Namikaze of the Four-Star Village, not the Fourth Hokage of Konoha!"
However, the declaration was completely useless. As soon as he finished speaking, Kushina, her red hair flowing, angrily grabbed his ear again.
"I'll make you the Fourth Hokage! I'll teach you to fight back!"
"I'm telling you, Minato, don't think you can get away with this with a few words. This isn't over!"
---
Konoha Entrance
Standing atop a treetop, Madara Uchiha stood with his arms crossed, expressionless, watching the battle below.
Below, the Fourth Raikage, A, and Darui's Raikage guards were all pinned to the ground by Nagato's black rods. The Third Raikage, known as the strongest spear and the strongest shield, was sealed in a paper doll by Konan's Dance of Paper. The Second Mizukage, who was fighting Sasori, was also imprisoned inside a puppet, its exterior covered with sealing strips.
The numerous puppet fragments scattered on the ground, and the fact that less than half of the remaining Edo Tensei puppets remained around him, were enough to demonstrate the ferocity of the battle.
Of course, these Edo Tensei puppets weren't killed by the Second Mizukage. They were destroyed because the Second Mizukage forced Sasori to switch bodies dozens of times. In other words, he was attacked by so many Impure World Reincarnation puppets, and his body was destroyed dozens of times!
After Sasori and Konan defeated their opponents, they began to support the others around them who didn't know sealing techniques. Meanwhile, paper figures and puppets sealed with sealing strips continued to appear on the battlefield.
Looking at the one-sided defeat below, Madara's expression was full of disdain.
"Is this what the Kage and powerful ninjas of the future are like?"
"Their dance is truly ugly."
---