The great wheel of fate kept turning.
At last—
the day of Kushina's delivery arrived.
A few days earlier, Yue had clung stubbornly to Minato, insisting—no, demanding—that he be one of Kushina's guards during childbirth.
If Minato refused, Yue said he would simply camp outside and never leave.
"On a day this important, Brother Minato, how could you not take me along?
If anything happens and I'm not there, I'll never even get to see your face again—you and Kushina will both be gone!"
Minato didn't fully understand Yue's insistence,
but he was moved by Yue's resolve.
Besides, Wood Release did help suppress tailed beasts.
So Minato agreed.
On the day itself, Yue put on ANBU gear and a mask.
He ordered Yamato to stay home and absolutely not come out no matter what happened.
If Yamato showed up, Yue's identity would be blown.
Outside Kushina's birthing room—separated only by a thin door—Yue and Minato waited anxiously.
Then—
Waaaah!
A newborn cry pierced the air.
Minato rushed inside, overwhelmed with joy, tears streaming down his face as he held Naruto for the first time.
Even Yue felt his chest warm.
The Child of Prophecy… was born.
"First thing," Lady Biwako said sternly,
"show the child to his mother."
Minato scratched his head sheepishly.
He let Kushina see Naruto—
and then prepared to take him away.
Yue understood.
This was it.
Obito would appear any second.
His fists clenched, palms slick with sweat.
The moment to change fate—
had arrived.
Minato pressed his hands together.
"Now for the final sealing."
The air within the room suddenly thickened.
A suffocating crisis swept in—
Obito appeared out of thin air.
No one had time to react—
not even Yue, who had been on edge the entire time.
Lady Biwako and her assistant Taji were killed instantly.
Obito's kunai swept across the room, striking toward Yue.
Yue had anticipated the attack,but Obito's speed was monstrous—his space-time ability impossible to fully guard against.
Yue dodged purely on instinct,but his arm was sliced open, blood splattering across the floor.
Obito snatched Naruto up effortlessly.
"The Fourth Hokage," he said flatly,
"step away from the jinchūriki."
"Otherwise… this child will live only one minute more."
Minato was shocked—
How had this masked man even bypassed the layers of barrier seals?
Seeing Minato refuse to move from Kushina's side,Obito simply hurled Naruto into the air and lunged with a kunai.
Minato sprang upward, catching Naruto midair.
"Chzzz—!"
Hearing a strange sound, Minato opened the baby cloth—
A paper tag was burning.
An explosive tag.
Minato tore the blanket off Naruto and blurred out of the room.
Boom!
The explosion shook the entire chamber.
"Wood Release: Bark Wall!"
Yue shielded Kushina and himself with Wood Release.
Minato escaped with Naruto,while Obito phased through the wooden shield as if it wasn't there.
"So… Wood Release. Yamato, is it?"
Obito sneered.
"No time to waste."
He stepped toward Yue slowly,every step pressing heavily against Yue's psyche.
"Come on, Brother Obito… just give up now. It's not too late to stop. Don't go down this path…"
But Yue could only scream these words in his heart.
Saying them aloud would expose Obito's identity—
and kill Yue instantly.
Yue thrust out wooden spikes—
every one passed harmlessly through Obito's intangible form.
A kunai pierced Yue's chest a heartbeat later.
He had reacted—
but not fast enough.
His hand grabbed the kunai blade,forcing it to stop before it reached his heart—
but blood poured down his torso.
Against this speed…
Against this jutsu…
Defense was meaningless.
Only someone faster than Obito at the exact moment he materialized could fight him.
Yue collapsed, clutching the buried kunai.
He watched helplessly as Obito sucked Kushina into Kamui space and vanished.
The pain in Yue's chest was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
When Minato returned, Yue removed the wooden shield.
"I'm sorry, Brother Minato…"
Yue gasped, blood running through his fingers.
"Yue! Are you alright?" Minato asked urgently.
"Don't mind me… it's just a small wound." Yue forced his voice steady.
"That man… he uses advanced space-time ninjutsu. His real body appears only the instant he attacks."
"And beneath his mask… was a Sharingan.
My analysis suggests he may be Uchiha Madara—
he came for the Nine-Tails."
Minato's eyes sharpened with killing intent.
In such a short clash, Yue had managed to gather critical intel.
Minato nodded gratefully, then vanished with Naruto.
Yue tore the kunai out of his chest—
a fountain of hot blood splashing out.
He sprinkled medicinal powder over his chest and arm wounds.
"Hsssss—!!"
"Obito," he snarled,
"You and I are done. You're not washing this clean in this lifetime!"
Staggering, Yue forced himself toward the village.
He might not have stopped Obito—
but Wood Release wasn't all he had trained.
---
A thunderous explosion shook the entire leaf village.
The Nine-Tails had begun its rampage.
From Kushina's abduction to the Nine-Tails' release,
only moments had passed.
The fastest man alive gave Yue no breathing room.
He sprinted harder.
Was he going to his death…
or would his Wood Release truly restrain the Nine-Tails?
When Yue arrived, the Nine-Tails had already broken free of Obito's control.
Minato and Obito's battle had reached its climax—
the First and Second Fastest Men in history clashing for the first time.
Meanwhile, the raging Nine-Tails fought Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the Third Hokage.
Tsunade's Katsuyu tended to the wounded.
Thanks to the two Sannin being present, the damage was far less severe than in canon history.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
Colossal trees burst from the earth, binding the Nine-Tails.
"That Wood Release—Yamato!"
"Lord Yamato!"
"He's restraining the Nine-Tails!"
The massive Wood Golem rose.
Yue flashed to its shoulder.
"Wood Release: Kōan Nyūten Suishō!"
A wood dragon roared forth,coiling around the Nine-Tails.
The beast broke through several trees—
only to be snared again by the dragon.
It bellowed furiously, charging a Tailed Beast Bomb.
But the Wood Golem's left palm glowed with a sealing mark.
It pressed down on the Nine-Tails' head.
The Tailed Beast Bomb dissipated.
The Nine-Tails was forced to crouch silently, fully suppressed.
"That," Yue muttered,"is what we call—
Great Holy Dragon Palm: Buddha's Mercy Headpat Combo."
A sequence he had practiced countless times—
and it actually worked.
Jiraiya and Tsunade appeared beside him.
Seeing Yue's bleeding chest wound, Tsunade called out,
"Yue—you're hurt!"
"Leave me!
Go support Minato now!
If you're late… it'll be too late!"
Understanding the urgency, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Hiruzen all sped toward Minato's location.
Behind them, villagers erupted into cheers.
Their hero, Yamato, had suppressed the Nine-Tails.
But Yue's wound tore open from the exertion—
blood soaking his chest.
Sweat poured down his face.
His vision blurred.
"Damn it… Pig Hero Obito…"
He gritted his teeth.
He was running on pure willpower now.
The Nine-Tails was not that easy to restrain.
He felt like he could collapse any second.
Thankfully—
Minato appeared.
In a flash, he teleported the suppressed Nine-Tails away.
The First Fastest Man alive had defeated the Second Fastest.
The title was indisputable.
Yue exhaled in relief.
The moment he let his guard down,the Wood Golem shattered.
His consciousness faded—
and he plummeted from its shoulder.
An ANBU agent flashed forward and caught him midair,
then rushed him to the hospital.
---
In his unconsciousness, Yue wandered endlessly in darkness.
Minato and Kushina's deaths reappeared again and again.
"No!"
He jolted awake.
Beside his bed sat Tsunade and Shizune.
Yue blinked—then suddenly panicked.
"Is—Is Brother Minato okay!?"
Tsunade shook her head softly.
Minato was gone.
Yue stared at her, frozen.
Tears streamed silently down his face.
Tsunade turned away, unable to watch.
The child she saw as strong, unshakeable—
was breaking.
Yue understood his own pain.
He thought he had prepared himself.
But all he had done…
was prepare to fail.
In front of Obito, he had jumped around like some performing clown—
changing nothing.
His weakness stabbed deeper than any kunai.
He had lived in this world long enough to witness two history-altering events:
the Third Great War
and now, the Nine-Tails Incident
He had survived both—
but changed nothing.
In the war, he had sacrificed his teammates and himself, gaining nothing but reputation points for Yamato.
And this time—
even after pulling Jiraiya and Tsunade back,
even after preparing everything he could…
Minato still died.
Scenes of his memories with Minato resurfaced.
Losing a good brother—
left his heart in shreds.
~------------------------------------
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