"Quite so," the demon fox hissed. "You could hasten the process and let me out, if you like."

Minato ignored the remark, being occupied with some rapid thinking. The seal had been designed such that it would fit itself to the chakra circulatory system of the host person – with a newborn baby, whose system was still developing, nothing more than a tiny trickle of the Kyūbi's power would slip through, and that only to help Naruto's chakra learn to assimilate the foreign energy. The yang half of the Kyūbi would be unable to even peek out until Naruto was old enough to mould and use chakra on a regular basis.

The yin half had less trouble, as its host was a fully-grown man and shinobi, with a chakra circulatory system to match. What this meant was that Minato would have to find a way to quell the Kyūbi's influence, or he would have to avoid being around Naruto. The latter option was simply not going to happen, if he had anything to say about it.

"Kyūbi, I should think it would be in your best interests to stop trying to get out for now."

The Nine-Tails glared at him, eyes narrowed. "Why should I concern myself with what you want?"

"You don't want to die. I don't either. If the others think you're getting out of my control, they'll kill me – along with you. So cooperating with me keeps you alive."

Its answering roar of rage shook the whole cavern.

The scene fragmented into darkness. Minato blinked, and found himself back in the hospital room. Not that he had left it in the first place, technically. Genma was crouched beside him, hands reaching for Naruto, while the Sandaime was on his other side, ready to make any move that might be required.

The Yondaime coughed to clear his throat. "Everything's fine," he assured them wearily. The tingling, burning pain that plagued him was back with a vengeance. "Crisis averted."