The Nine-Tails had been sealed once more.
Uzumaki Kushina, pale but alive, gasped for breath as the pressure of the ceremony finally lifted. Her crimson hair clung to her skin, slick with sweat, but her voice—though faint—carried relief.
"…It really worked?"
She looked down at her own body, feeling the pulse of chakra where the Nine-Tails had been resealed. Her seal held. Her life force, though diminished, had stabilized.
Senju Hashirama, still in Sage Mode, stepped closer. His expression was calm, but his eyes shone with warm reassurance. He pressed two fingers gently to her pulse and gave a small nod.
"Your chakra is stabilizing. You'll live."
"Seriously…?" Kushina blinked, dazed. "I'm… not dying?"
She sounded more surprised than joyful. For the last hour, she had believed with full certainty that her life was coming to an end.
Minato dropped to his knees beside her, voice tight with emotion.
"You're alive, Kushina! You're really—"
Tears formed in his eyes.
He had been only seconds away from sealing the Nine-Tails inside himself using the Reaper Death Seal—ready to throw his life away, believing it was the only way to weaken the beast and delay its return.
Yet here she was.
Still with him.
Still with Naruto.
Still alive.
It felt like a miracle. Because it was.
And that miracle had arrived in the form of three figures—two of them long dead, and one who possessed Rinnegan eyes.
Tobirama, standing nearby with arms crossed, didn't bother hiding his satisfaction.
But along with that pride came irritation. Deep irritation.
Because the implications of what just happened reached far beyond one family's tragedy.
"How many lives…?" Tobirama muttered under his breath. "How many Jinchūriki were sacrificed over the years simply because no one thought to try sealing the tailed beast back?"
Hashirama gave him a side glance.
"Tobirama…"
"It's embarrassing!" he snapped, fists clenched. "Konoha—no, the entire shinobi world—has been treating Jinchūriki as disposable containers! Nobody even tried to research alternate methods. All those years, all that knowledge—and we never once questioned the assumption?"
His jaw tightened further.
"This is exactly what that Kai guy meant earlier—when the world becomes too comfortable, it stops growing."
Kai, standing just behind them, said nothing. He let them speak.
But in his heart, he noted Tobirama's reaction with quiet approval.
The man might have his flaws, but he was quick to grasp the broader implications. That made him valuable.
Minato, meanwhile, was still kneeling beside Kushina. He held her hand like a lifeline, then turned with solemn reverence toward Kai and the two Hokage.
"Thank you… all of you."
His voice trembled.
"I almost—if you hadn't shown up—I would've thrown both our lives away."
Hashirama smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Haha, don't mention it. You're an outstanding ninja. You deserve a future with your family."
"Seriously though, the Nine-Tails is a little too powerful, huh?" he added, chuckling lightly.
The others exchanged glances. Only Hashirama could say something like that after casually pinning the Nine-Tails to the ground like it was a misbehaving pet.
"But… Lord First, Lord Second… how did you come back?" Minato finally asked, eyes narrowing again. "No one has the power to summon you, and even if they did, this isn't Impure World Reincarnation. You're… alive."
Tobirama scoffed. "You think I'd let someone drag me back as a mindless puppet? Please."
He nodded toward Kai.
"We're here because of him."
Kai didn't elaborate. He didn't need to.
Minato looked between them once more, then bowed deeply. "Understood. I won't ask more than I need to."
"Good," Kai said. "Now take your wife and son home. They need rest. We'll speak again shortly."
Minato didn't waste time. With a final grateful nod, he scooped Kushina into his arms, tucked Naruto securely against his chest, and vanished in a golden flash.
With the family gone and the barrier weakening, Tobirama turned his gaze toward the treetops.
He could sense familiar chakra signatures approaching. He didn't wait for them to arrive.
Instead, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted—
"Monkey! Get over here and get scolded!"
From the forest clearing, several figures emerged—Anbu black ops in full gear, medical-nin tending to wounded, and at their center: the Third Hokage himself.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
His robes were slightly scorched from the battle. His hair, already gray, seemed whiter in the moonlight. The lines on his face were deeper.
But the instant his eyes landed on the two legendary Hokage standing before him, he froze.
"…No way."
Even before Tobirama spoke again, he knew it wasn't a genjutsu.
It couldn't be.
That voice. That energy. That presence.
"Lord First… Lord Second…"
He dropped to one knee instinctively, overwhelmed by emotion.
Tobirama frowned. "Stand up, Sarutobi. I didn't raise a Hokage to grovel."
Sarutobi rose quickly, eyes gleaming with disbelief.
"This—how are you both alive?"
"We'll explain later," Hashirama said kindly. "We don't have much time here."
Tobirama, however, had no patience for pleasantries.
"You've got a lot to answer for, Monkey."
"Sir?"
"I just watched two of Konoha's finest almost throw their lives away—needlessly—because nobody in this era knows that a Jinchūriki can survive a tailed beast extraction if it's sealed back in."
Sarutobi swallowed. "We believed it wasn't possible…"
"Exactly," Tobirama snapped. "You believed—but you never tested. Never pushed. Never studied."
Hashirama gently placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
But Tobirama wasn't finished.
"And where's Danzo? Koharu? Homura? What about Kagami?"
At that last name, Sarutobi's posture shifted.
A shadow passed over his face.
"Kagami… is gone."
"How?" Tobirama's voice was cold now. "He was supposed to be our bridge to the Uchiha."
"He died… covering our retreat in the First Great Ninja War," Sarutobi answered. His voice, though respectful, trembled with guilt.
Tobirama's eyes narrowed.
"And what happened to his Sharingan?"
Sarutobi didn't answer right away.
That silence was enough.
"…So it was Danzo," Tobirama said quietly.
Hashirama's expression darkened slightly. He didn't say it, but he was clearly thinking the same.
The theft of a comrade's eyes. The silence. The growing distrust of the Uchiha. It all fit too well.
Tobirama crossed his arms. "You kept the village together, Monkey. But at what cost?"
Sarutobi's head lowered.
Kai finally spoke again.
"This is why I brought you here. So you could see."
Tobirama's jaw tightened.
"Then I've seen enough."
He looked at Kai, eyes blazing with a new resolve.
"Send us back. We have work to do."
Kai nodded, then turned to Hashirama. "You?"
Hashirama smiled sadly. "I always knew peace wasn't something that lasted forever. But maybe we can plant better seeds this time."
Kai raised a hand.
The air shimmered once more.
And the world blurred to white.