50 years since the founding of the village Hidden in the Leaves, Konohagakure (Konoha). October 10th.
Night spread coldly across the village, as if foreshadowing disaster. Those who were awake, and there were many of them, felt the night chill pierce their bones, as if smelling of death. Their intuition was right, but the mind doesn't always follow the heart.
That night, a fateful event occurred, albeit with some new twists of fate. When, as before, a child was to be born in this space and time—whether a savior or a destroyer of the world, certainly marked by the will of fate—this time, an unprecedented miracle occurred.
A soul descended, not belonging to this world. A soul not subject to fate, yet walking with it. A soul that would once again show everyone what they had seen in a new light.
And as if to confirm the sayings of the chronicle, that night a star lit up in the sky, eclipsing the light of the moon, like the birth of a new god and the fall of the old.
The longest day in the history of the Hidden Leaf Village begins...
And the nine-tailed fox demon arrived, and every swoop of its tails crushed mountains and raised a tsunami.
The Land of Fire, the territory of the Hidden Leaf Village. An unknown location, a hidden refuge.
In this hidden refuge, a momentous event was taking place: it was here, behind closed barriers and doors guarded by brave ANBU, that the descent of the mysterious soul of a man... for now, a man.
In the very center of the room, a red-haired woman was undergoing difficult labor. No ordinary woman, but one from the noble Uzumaki clan. Her name was Kushina.
— OH GOD, IT PAINS! KHAAAAH!
On the hospital bed, Kushina was wracked with pain, made doubly difficult by the fact that she was also the jinchuriki of the nine-tailed fox, which was determined to escape while its host was weakened by childbirth.
"I... uh... I've never heard Kushina scream like that. Are you... are you sure she'll be okay?"
Her husband, present at the ceremony, was not only a witness—he was also a very powerful ninja, the head of the military, known as the Hokage. At the moment, he was engaged in a difficult task: keeping the nine-tailed fox in check.
"She's fine! Just marks behind the seal!" Biwako, the one who delivered the baby and also the wife of the previous village head, the Third Hokage, shouted back.
"But... She..."
"Oh, my God, you're the Fourth Hokage! Stop panicking!" This is why women bear children: you men can't stand pain!
This reproach confused our brave Hokage Minato. He didn't have time for that: the fox doesn't tolerate weakness. And his wife's screams reminded him of that.
— WHOAAH!
— How hard! I can feel the fox trying to get out. Hold on, Kushina.
Meanwhile, outside the shelter, the smell of blood was already wafting: death had come unexpectedly. The bodies of the brave ANBU guardians fell and cooled one after another. Death came quickly and invisibly; before they could blink, they were already facing the Shinigami.
And all this was the work of one man in a long black cloak, like a Shinigami in the flesh. He hovered above the ground, rushing from one person to another, leaving only corpses in his wake. The face was hidden behind a dark mask, radiating cold, hatred, and anger. Only one bloodshot eye, piercing everything in its path, peered from beneath the hood.
But what that eye saw—apparently—was only pain, death, and destruction.
The birth was nearing completion.
"Mmmmm!"
"The head has emerged, almost there, Kushina!"
"Come on, Kushina-san!"
Biwako's assistant held Minato with all his might, sweat pouring down his face.
"Grooooo!" he heard the roar of the nine-tailed beast in his head, loud and angry, pounding his mind like church bells on Easter.
"Naruto, come on, come out! And you, Kyuubi, stay where you are," he encouraged himself, hoping... it's a shame, but it's not that easy to escape fate.
"Mmmmm..."
And then he came into this light.
"UAAaah! Waaah!"
"Everything was like a fog: thoughts, feelings—everything. It hurt. My lungs were burning, like I'd walked into a burning house. There was a haze before my eyes, a blur, spots flickering: yellow, red. I heard words, someone was saying something, but the sound was like underwater. At some point, it was as if my earplugs had been pulled out of my ears, and I heard everything very clearly. And I flew. No... more like someone suddenly snatched me away. Stop! Who snatched me away? Am I in a hospital, or where am I? I can't think straight, everything feels so strange."
"Fourth Hokage Minato. Step away from the Jinchuriki, or your son will die before he even lives."
"These words seemed to be slammed into my head. I heard them very clearly and loudly, and it must have been very eerie to be around. Then I realized I didn't understand anything. Who am I? Where am I? Why am I? And there are still so many questions with the 'I'. Okay. Who am I? That's clear—I am this 'I,' but where am I? That's a question."
The Fourth Hokage was in disarray, his thoughts racing at lightning speed.
"Who is he? How did he get through the barrier? Who is he?"
"NHHH! AHHH!"
"Kushina!" "I haven't finished the seal!"
There wasn't much time to think. I needed to act clearly and quickly. The enemy was right in front of me.
"Step away from the Jinchuriki, or don't you care about your son's fate?"
Mysteries
The man spoke coldly and calmly: he had a clear goal, he wasn't afraid to stain his hands with innocent blood.
"Calm down, calm down!"
"Better follow your own advice, Minato. I'm completely calm," the masked man said, already impatient, but with a cold calm.
And so the battle began.
Thanks to his world-famous speed, the Fourth Hokage took his son from the stranger in an instant, so fast he barely reacted. But he was prepared—it was all part of his plan.
"You're not called Yellow Lightning for nothing. But what now?"
Explosive tags... the enemy had implanted them on his son. But Minato wasn't just doing it: he knew a very powerful movement technique called the Flying Thunder God Technique, which not only gave him speed, but also allowed him to teleport. He quickly performed a series of teleportations and left the bombs somewhere. A powerful explosion occurred on the outskirts of the village. Someone unfortunate enough to have just blown up their warehouse, the Hokage.
Leaving his son in a safe place, the Fourth Hokage went into battle—his last fight as a mortal.
"Or follow me, nine-tailed fox!"
"GRRRAAAH!"
And the brave shinobi fought him until one of them managed to seal the demon, giving his life for it. That shinobi was called the Fourth Hokage.