It was midnight on the 10th of October. The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky. It was no colder than usual. The occasional barking of faraway dogs broke the silence of the night. Civilians were drifting to sleep as usual. But in the outskirts of Konoha, Yondaime was fighting for continuity of this peace. It was the moment when he had to stand firm on his title of Hokage and also as the father of quadruplet.
Minato Namikaze, The Fourth Hokage, gazed upon the three dead bodies of the Anbu. Between them stood a masked man who infiltrated the cave where Kushina Uzumaki, wife of Minato, was giving birth. Nobody in the Leaf Village was aware of this secret cave let alone an outsider. And the timing of the attack couldn't be any better. A Jinchuriki, which Kushina was, has the least control over its tailed beast after giving birth to a child. Due to this fact, they were supposed to spend the whole night in this cave. Does that mean somebody is after the Nine-Tailed Fox? But for what purpose? Why would someone want to toe with a literal God of destruction? But most importantly, how did the attacker get his hands on these details? Does Leaf Village have a mole? A lot of thoughts and questions were rising and falling inside Minato.
Deciding to push these thoughts to the back of his mind, Minato threw his Flying Thunder God Kunai at the invader. He disappeared in a swift second and reappeared in front of the masked man. Minato threw a roundhouse kick at him which he blocked with his two hands. The masked man got into a fighting stance and threw a side kick at Minato but in vain. Minato had already left the spot with several handsprings. "how my kunai didn't hit him?" Minato thought as he grabbed another kunai. The masked man did some hand signs and shouted, "Fire Style; Fire Ball Jutsu." "Fireball Jutsu? Could he be..." Minato thought as he crossed his two fingers to make 3 shadow clones.
All of the shadow clones, along with Minato, did the flying raijin and laid some hits on the masked man with their taijutsu. Minato didn't understand how a lot of his blows missed the target. It felt like the blows were passing right through him. Being left with no other alternatives, the masked man activated the Sharingan of his left eye. The moment Minato saw his Sharingan a series of flashbacks took over him. "You're him, aren't you?" Minato said with the venom on the tip of his tongue. The masked man raised an eyebrow. "And who is "him" exactly?" The masked man asked but seemed to have little to no interest in it.
Minato's blood was boiling at this moment. He and his shadow clones charged at him with a swirl of chakra taking a spherical shape in their palms. "Rasengan!" They all shouted. "tsk... I can't block all of them together." The masked man growled inside. He used his Sharingan to detect the real Minato. He turned his face towards him and said, "I shall deal with you later." Visible perplexity mapped onto the face of Minato as he saw the shape of his Sharingan changing. In the next minute, Minato was transferred to another dimension. "First I have to crumble the Leaf Village." The masked man soliloquised and started moving where Jinchuriki of the nine-tailed fox was situated.
Kushina was laying on a gatch bed, all tired after giving birth to four children at once. Nurses were trying to console her assuring her that Minato will return in one piece. But still, with every passing second, Kushina got tenser. "Minato, please be alright." Kushina prayed inside. Some minutes passed and Kushina and the medical crew started to hear footsteps. A nurse smiled ear to ear thinking that it was their Hokage. Kushina removed the blanket from her lap, indicating that she was trying to get up. The nurses prevented her from doing so because she needed rest more than anything. As time marched on the footsteps sounded clearer than ever.
"Minato, is that you?" Kushina asked with a worried expression. "Yondaime Hokage has been defeated I am afraid." The masked man said mockingly as he entered the range of their vision. As soon as those words escaped his mouth the medical crew and Kushina had a rush of adrenaline. "Defeated?" One of the nurses said incredulously. "No. It's not true" said the wide-eyed Kushina. "Unfortunately, it is. His body is lying lifeless outs..."
"You're lying!" roared Kushina with tears forming at the corner of her eyes.
"I don't have time to deal with your emotions. Surrender or else you will just suffer." The masked man threatened.
Kushina shook her head and channelled chakra into her body. "I only have 11 minutes before Minato returns from that dimension. It will be nearly impossible to extract Demon Fox in his presence. I have to end this as soon as possible." The masked man thought as he gazed upon the four beds, where the four newborn babies were sleeping. He walked towards those beds which were nearly 7 feet away from Kushina's bed. "The babies!" shouted a nurse as she ran to protect them, but only to get kicked on the head and getting slammed to the ground. Rivers of blood started spewing out of the head of that nurse. The other nurses panicked and paralysed.
The masked man looked at the endearing sleeping faces. "Such lovely creatures." said the invader. "Don't you dare touch them!" Kushina roared with uncontrollable fury. "Too bad that I am planning more than just touching them." The masked man said with an evil smile under his mask. Kushina flinched at his statement. The masked man grabbed a babby boy, with blonde hair and three whiskers on each cheek, and tossed him in the air. "My baby!!" Shouted Kushina in agony with her hands in the air. The masked man raised his right arm holding a kunai and yelled, "Surrender or I will slaughter your babies one by one." Tears started rolling down the cheeks of Kushina.
Kushina was about to surrender to his will when suddenly a member of Anbu black ops appeared and caught the baby in mid-air. He landed on the ground crouched and held the baby tightly in his embrace. The masked man looked at him in annoyance. Anbu turned his head and gave him a look filled with anger. His look demanded his speedy departure. The masked man lowered his arm not losing eye contact with the Anbu. "Thank Goodness," whispered Kushina with a vibration in her voice. "I sensed that Minato sensei was fighting someone. His chakra suddenly disappeared so I rushed here." The Anbu said while gesturing for a nurse to take the baby from him. "Did you see Yondaime's dead body outside?" A nurse asked that quickly grabbed Kushina's attention. The Anbu looked at the eyes of Kushina, the eyes that were pleading for an answer. The Anbu shook his head to which Kushina sighed.
"So you lied. What happened to my husband?" Kushina's killing intent was increasing. The masked man refused to answer and turned his head towards the other babies. "For to touch those babies you've to walk past me." The Anbu said while drawing his sword. "You're that Uchiha, right?" The Anbu continued as he gripped the sword in front of the invader. Kushina looked at the Anbu and then at the invader. The masked man looked at them in bewilderment. Yondaime Hokage also mentioned something similar. Stepping back a nurse asked, "Which Uchiha?" "Around two months after the third great shinobi war, someone from the Uchiha clan massacred Minato's 18 disciples. We don't know anything about the invader except that he had a Sharingan." Kushina said with sadness in her voice. She remembered how depressed Minato had gotten like it was yesterday. "Only three of his disciples have managed to survive." The Anbu added. "A tragic story indeed. But I am not that Uchiha." The masked man said with no emotions that made Anbu grind his teeth.
"I don't have time to engage in another fight. Minato will appear in some minutes. I will be forced to retreat if that happens." The masked man thought while reconciling his ideas to end this as quickly as possible. "My business is with the Jinchuriki. The rest must leave if they value their lives." The masked man said out loud. "Like hell, I will listen to you." The Anbu yelled before doing some hand signs and slamming his hands on the ground. A cube of walls appeared around the invader and caged him. The Anbu ran with the tip of his sword facing the cube. The Anbu channelled some chakra into his sword. The sword penetrated the cube and Anbu pulled it out and pushed it in eight times and every time a scream filled with pain was heard. "It's enough Toneri," Kushina said as she felt an ounce of mercy for the enemy. Toneri, The Anbu, followed her command and looked back.
The invader was screaming in agony inside the cube. "Rot in hell, scum," Toneri commented. "I don't want to die!" The masked man cried in the cube. Out of the blue, Toneri felt a rumble in the ground. He jumped backwards following an explosion that crumbled the cube into pieces. "Just kidding." The masked man said mockingly as he appeared in the hazy dust. Everyone was shocked at what they saw while the invader just grinned under his mask. Babies started to cry because of the loud explosion they heard. Toneri grabbed four shurikens and threw them at the invader. All of the shurikens went right through him, inflicting no damage on him. Everyone blinked in disbelief. "is this a genjutsu?" Toneri asked himself and tried to dispel it, but it was no genjutsu. It was the reality! "I have to end it right now. Only some minutes are left for Minato's reappearance." The masked man growled inside. "I will repeat it. My business is with the Jinchuriki. If you guys don't step back I will kill everybody including the babies." The masked man said deepening his voice on his last sentence.
"As I said, like hell, I w..."
"No, Toneri. You might not win. Take the medical crew and my children away. They must live." Kushina said interrupting Toneri.
"But.."
"No buts! Please, I am asking you to save my children. I can't hear their screams." Kushina said pleading.
Toneri looked at her with saddened eyes. "What you say, Lady Kushina."
"I admire your intellect, Kushina." The masked man said that earned a hiss from Toneri.
Despite his reluctance, Toneri ordered the medical crew to hold one baby each. He picked up a baby girl that resembled Kushina. Before exiting the cave, Toneri looked at Kushina. He saw the eyes that said, "thank you." Toneri then looked at the child he was holding and started to walk away. The masked man stared at the opening of the cave to make sure that they had left. The moment he turned to see Kushina, he was welcomed with a punch so powerful that he was sent flying several feet away. The masked man coughed some blood. The moment his vision cleared, he saw Kushina wrapped up in red chakra. "Damn it. One problem after another. There's just no other way. I have to do this right now." The masked man thought as he placed his right hand on his mask. He removed it and revealed his right Sharingan. The pattern of his right Sharingan was different from the pattern of his left Sharingan.
The moment he removed his mask, Kushina felt a stab of familiarity in her gut. The feeling soon disappeared as the fourth tail slowly grew out of her. The masked man quickly used the genjutsu of his right eye and paralysed the beast. Then he moved forward and pushed the fingers of his right hand into the stomach of the Jinchuriki, right where the seal was. The Uchiha wore his mask again. "At last, Konoha will crumble into pieces." The masked man soliloquised and disappeared with his teleportation Ninjutsu, leaving the unconscious body of Kushina behind.
The invader teleported, with a swirl of black colour, to what seemed to be a graveyard. "I still have time before Yondaime Hokage comes back." The masked man thought as he started to wander around the cemetry. He came across a grave. He read the words on the stone tablet, "the deceased martyred in the third great shinobi war." The masked man took a pause for some minutes. A tear rolled down his cheek as he recalled some memories. "This suffering is about to end. I will see you soon, Rin." The masked man said inside and strolled his way out of the graveyard.
Toneri and the medical crew were halfway into the Leaf Village without realising that a black figure was following them from the shadows. As they were walking, a nurse stopped to check her back. "What happened? Why did you stop?", The nurse asked. "It's just... Take the baby from me and reach the Leaf Village. I am going back to check on Lady Kushina." Toneri replied to which other nurses noded without any protest. The medical crew weren't expert in defence. They can just pray that nothing happens on their way. The nurse took the baby from him and Toneri rushed to the cave. The black figure saw it all and waited till Toneri had gone far, to avoid any reckless action. He heard nurses arguing whether sending Toneri was a good decision as Kushina's last wish was to protect her babies.
The black figure saw this as an opportunity to act. As the three nurses were arguing, the mysterious man unveiled himself from the shadows. Nurses panicked as they saw a man in his mid-20s approaching them from the trees. On a close look, they saw a handsome man with spiky black hair, a v-shaped face, and a long nose. He was covered in plain black robes and had a serious look on his face. The nurses tried to hide the newborns from the stranger. The man smiled at their nervousness, and of course, he was the first to speak up. "I hope I haven't caused any distress." The man said. "You didn't. But is there something you want from us?" One of the nurses asked. "Hmm. I just wanted to ask if I can accompany you to the Leaf Village." The man replied.
Nurses were taken aback as he mentioned the "Leaf Village." The man raised an eyebrow at their reactions. A nurse gathered the courage and asked, "Who are you? And how do you know that we are going to the Leaf Village?" The man sighed and replied, "I am a traveller and I heard you all discussing how your safety was at risk on your way to the Leaf Village." The nurses blushed at getting that answer. They didn't realize that they were being loud in the middle of the road. Out of embarrassment, the nurses shilly-shally accepted his invitation. The man's body language seemed to be friendly. No bad intentions were evident from his way of talking either. The four of them continued their journey. Upon the request of a nurse, the stranger started telling about his background.
He told the nurses that it was his second visit to the Leaf and that most of his time has been spent alone. He didn't know about his mother and he rarely met his father. The nurses felt sorry after hearing his side of the story, which he ignored by saying, "Ah well, don't worry about that. I had friends so I wasn't all alone." The nurses smiled after hearing that. "By the way what is your name?" A nurse asked. "Oh, my name is Madoka Uch... It's just Madoka." The man replied. They continued their journey with no significant talk until they reached the gates of the Leaf Village. Nurses rushed to enter the village while Madoka just smirked looking at the magnificent walls. "So the nine tails haven't appeared, yet." Madoka thought. The guards allowed nurses to enter but stopped Madoka.
Nurses tried to convince the guards but to no use. They were given orders by Yondaime Hokage that no one, other than Leaf's citizens, must enter the Leaf until he returns. "It's fine. A hotel is nearby I will stay there." Madoka said that earned a nod from the guards and a frown from the nurses. Madoka waved at the guards and the nurses while plastering a smile on his face. "I have to stay nearby. He's here and I know it." Madoka thought as he turned around. The moment he took his first step away from them, he felt a spike of chakra in the atmosphere. His eyes widened as he turned his head. "So it has begun," the words slipped from Madoka's mouth unintentionally. "Huh? What has? Look you have to leav..." the guard didn't get to complete himself as Madoka quickly ran past him. "Wait," shouted another guard with a failed attempt to pull him.
Soon the chakra in the atmosphere turned evil. Almost every Chunin and Jonin of the leaf village felt it. Fear dominated their hearts and the powerless went numb. In the Sarutobi compartment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, dropped a cup of water in his hand. He gazed out of the window with shocked eyes. A lot of thoughts of concern for Minato and Kushina started rising in his head. Biwako Sarutobi, wife of Hiruzen Sarutobi, panting came to see Hiruzen. "Honey, what is going on?" Biwako asked. "Looks like... The nine tails have escaped," replied the retired Hokage. Fear took over the expressions of shock on Biwako's face. "Gather as many shinobi as you can we've to fight," Hiruzen said. Biwako nodded and took off.
The sleep of the Uchiha clan was disturbed due to ongoing crises. In Fugaku's household, Mikoto Uchiha had just fed her newborn, Sasuke Uchiha. She was in her ninja gear and so was her husband, Fugaku Uchiha. When all of the Uchiha gathered in front of Fugaku's house, Mikoto handed over Sasuke to his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, and took off. Itachi did feel the thirst for blood in the atmosphere but he couldn't wrap his head around to what was going on. How could he? He was just five, too young to know about the Nine-tailed fox! Sasuke started to cry and grabbed the attention of Itachi. "Oh don't cry your brother is here for you," Itachi said while swinging Sasuke in his arms.
The masked Uchiha was standing on the Hokage mountain adjusting the mask to hide his right Sharingan. He looked at the Nine tails rampaging the houses. With time, the screams were increasing. Some were crying for their deceased while others were shouting for help. Complete mayhem broke out. People were running here and there. Mothers were trying to protect their children. Some toddlers were crying about being left alone on the streets. Blood was splashing its way into the streets with every step of the Demon Fox. Cold breezes became more frequent. Bats flew from the invader's back and continued towards the sky. The robes of the invader were swaying due to the wind. He looked at the catastrophe with an ounce of mercy in his eyes. And with that, he turned around and headed towards the forest.
Deep in the forest, The masked Uchiha stood alone until Minato Namikaze appeared out of nowhere. "Now we can fight with no distractions." The Uchiha said while Minato tried to contemplate what is happening. His suspicion was right, the invader was after the nine-tailed fox. But to use it to destroy Leaf Village, he considered it the least possibility. Minato tried to connect the dots. The person in front of him is Uchiha, who can control Demon Fox, and has some kind of grudge against the Leaf. Only one person was capable of inflicting this damage for that purpose. "Are you Madara Uchiha? No, it's impossible. He died long ago." Minato said. "I doubt that." The masked Uchiha replied while turning his head to the right. Connecting his fingers Minato made 3 shadow clones and sent them towards where kyubi was crumbling the innocent.
"And now let the battle begin." The masked Uchiha said while adjusting some chains to his wrists.
Hiruzen Sarutobi entered the front lines with quite a handful of Jonins. They made the evacuation of innocent citizens to be their utmost priority. Later, the Uchiha clan arrived. Because of their Sharingan, they were tasked to handle the Kyubi and buy some time for people to evacuate. Genins wanted to participate as well, but elders declined their wish. Ninjas were jumping from roofs to roofs around the Kyubi, doing everything they can in their power. Just half an hour into the battlefield and twenty-seven shinobis were already down. The hospital was filled with injured. Konoha was running low on Medic-nins. The death toll was increasing extremely fast and there seemed no escape from this.
The three shadow clones of Minato appeared. The two of them, with the help of the flying thunder god technique, saved a lot of lives. One of the shadow clones was standing on the head of Yondaime on Hokage mountain keeping a close look on Kyubi. It dispelled a lot of tailed beast bombs with the help of his expertise in fuinjutsu. Shinobi gained some courage upon seeing their Hokage and citizens were delighted to know that their Hokage hadn't left their side, especially now.
One shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke to give the intel to the original Minato who had just gained an upper hand against the Masked Uchiha.
Toneri reached the gates with Kushina in his arms, unconscious and barely breathing. The nurses were still there and the babies were protected, something that relieved Toneri. He felt powerless and useless in front of the massive chakra in the atmosphere. Upon seeing Kushina in critical condition, nurses came to heal her, but Toneri stopped them. Nurses looked at him in perplexity. He wanted to protect her badly but now he's rejecting it. "Don't sweat it. She will die soon enough." Toneri said with a saddened voice. Nurses looked at him in shock. "You can try if you want. But mark my words, you will fail " Said Toneri as he saw their desperation to heal Kushina. "Once the tailed beast is extracted, there's no way for the jinchuriki to survive. Only people who have close ties with Jinchuriki are aware of it. It is done to cover up the weaknesses of Jinchuriki in every way possible." Toneri continued in his thoughts.
As he saw the nine tails faltering the Konoha, Toneri was engulfed by memories. How his parents were killed in the war and how Yondaime and his wife did their best to give him and other victims a life they won't regret having. Aside from his friends and family, he was focused on something more important. His mission! And possibly his last one. Before Minato's marriage, Minato entrusted Toneri with the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. Minato had anticipated that something like this might happen. So if something was to happen to Minato, Toneri would sacrifice his life for the leaf. Minato just couldn't find anybody else he could entrust it with. Kakashi Hatake, Minato's leading disciple, was extremely skilled, but Minato wanted to respect the last wish of his other student, Obito Uchiha, who wanted Kakashi to live a normal life in his last moments.
Toneri gazed upon the newborns. A tear rolled down his cheek. It was the moment when he had to decide between his life and the village. Toneri was on the verge of choosing his life over the village. He was just too young to die! He had dreamt of how he would start a family, but now all of it was at the stake. Toneri right foot was facing out of the village while the other was pointed towards the Kyubi. His right knee folded as he tried to move out of the village. "I entrust you to save the village" Toneri closed his eyes tightly and raised his left foot. "You're the only one I can trust," Minato's voice echoed inside his head. "This village is our family. We're blessed with the opportunity to stand for something - for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for." That memory was the last kindle to blaze the will of fire inside Toneri. Toneri stopped in his tracks and said out loud, "Shinobi must manage the flourishment of new dreams!"
Nurses looked at Toneri with amazement and confusion. Toneri blushed at that before continuing, "I am taking the three babies." "For what purpose?" A nurse asked as it piqued her curiosity. Toneri was an interesting guy. You don't know what's going on inside his head at any interval of time. His emotions and ideas would change faster than the speed of light regardless of what was going on in his surroundings. But this time, it was different. It looked like Toneri was solely focused on the ongoing crisis. "It is crucial for this village," Toneri replied to which Nurses just frowned as they didn't get a satisfactory answer.
But without any further ado Nurses handed him two girls and one boy. The boy that was targeted, by the masked Uchiha, was left behind. Toneri did some hand signs to make a muddy box. He placed the babies inside the box, looked at them with a smile and took off. The two nurses looked until Toneri disappeared. They turned as they heard the panting of the Nurse who was trying to heal Kushina. "There's no use! Her pulse is reducing no matter what I do." The nurse cried out. The other nurses hurriedly rushed to give her a hand. But it didn't help in the slightest. She was dying! One of the nurses removed her hands, the green glow disappeared and she looked down in despair. The other nurses were on the verge of despair as well. "At least we tried," a nurse said. After a while in despair nurses started to hear footsteps approaching them from outside the Leaf Village. They turned their heads to see a woman in white Kimono approaching them. Their eyes widened. "It's you!" The three nurses said in conjunction.
Toneri was jumping roof to roof enclosing his distance from the Nine-tailed fox. He was gathering courage with his every step. He has to do it! To make things easier for him, the beast had now become less furious, in fact, it seemed like it wasn't enraged at all. The Shinobi who were already close witnessed that the pattern of Kyubi's eyes had changed. Minato had successfully saved the Demon Fox from the Masked Uchiha's genjutsu. The masked Uchiha was panting after losing to the Fourth Hokage. "I must give it to you, Fourth Hokage. But I will return wi.." The masked Uchiha couldn't complete his sentence as Minato charged at him with Rasengan. The masked Uchiha thought it was the end for him. He was out of chakra and there wasn't any way for him to hide as Minato was really fast.
Just as Minato's Rasengan was about to hit the Masked Uchiha, Minato felt a grip on his left arm. Someone yanked him hard and tried to hit Minato with a drop kick of his left leg. Minato used flying Raijin to protect himself and teleported to a nearby tree. Minato looked back and felt a wave of surprise rush through his body the moment he looked at the new opponent. "Another Uchiha?" Minato thought while looking at the pattern of his Sharingan. The Masked Uchiha was surprised as well. He hadn't expected that. He never met him either. "Who are you?" The Masked Uchiha asked him. "It doesn't matter. You've Madara's Genjutsu, right?" Madoka asked making sure that his voice won't reach Minato. The masked Uchiha nodded anxiously. "How do you know that?" The masked Uchiha asked. "We can exchange words after clearing this mess. Go and put the Kyubi in your Genjutsu again," said Madoka that earned a nod from the Masked Uchiha.
The Masked Uchiha got up and ran in the opposite direction, towards the Konoha. Madoka looked at Minato while activating his Mangekyou Sharingan. Minato's eyes widened at this new piece of information. His two opponents have Mangekyou Sharingan, meaning they know how to activate Uchiha's true power, something that remained an urban legend among the Uchiha clan for almost half a century. In the next moment, Madoka charged at Minato. Minato easily dodged his attack and Madoka landed some feet away. After a second or two, Minato's left arm started bleeding. "What the!?" Minato said while applying pressure on his deep wound. Madoka charged at Minato the second time and something similar happened again. Minato easily dodged his attack but felt a stab on his right shoulder after Madoka landed on the ground. "I have to stay focused," Minato told himself. "My Sharingan can control the flow of time. I can go to the past for 5 seconds and there's no way you can dodge it." Madoka said while plastering a grin on his face while Minato tried to contemplate if it was a bluff or reality.
Toneri reached the circle where the Uchiha clan was keeping Kyuubi at bay. He handed the babies to Mikoto Uchiha. "Toneri!" Hiruzen Sarutobi called out gaining his attention. "What happened to Minato and Kushina?" Hiruzen asked. With a heavy heart, Toneri replied, "Minato sensei is fighting someone in the forest while Kush..ina..." Hiruzen's eyes widened and his heart sank. Kushina was a skilled Jonin and was on par with Minato. Losing her is a great blow to the Leaf Village. Mikoto's face got aggrieved upon hearing the news about her once good friend. She wanted to cry but it was not the right time. After some moments of silence Toneri presented his plan and a little backstory about how he learned the eight trigram sealing style. Hiruzen frowned after hearing that. He wanted to sacrifice himself as the elder but within him resided fear. Fear of losing his life. The fear soon turned into embarrassment as how a young shinobi was ready to sacrifice his life, and he was there standing as a bystander.
Toneri went on to do the sealing. He jumped roof to roof circling the kyuubi trying to capture its chakra. Uchiha clan joined to assist him. Kyuubi roared as he tried to protect himself. When Toneri got the upper hand the shinigami appeared. Kyuubi looked at the scary figure with a knife in his mouth. With no other alternative, Kyuubi turned towards the babies, its new containers. The Demon Fox pushed his claw towards the babies. The ground under the feet of every shinobi slipped. They all ran to protect the new containers but some were far and some were slow. Two made it there and presented their body as a barrier that successfully blocked its claw from inflicting any damage on the babies. They were Biwako Sarutobi and Mai Miyano, a member of Anbu Black Ops.
Hiruzen yelled his wife's name as he rushed toward her. "Continue the sealing, Toneri," Biwako said to the paralysed Toneri. Toneri shook his head and took himself out of conflicting thoughts and continued the sealing. The Masked Uchiha saw how the Nine-Tails disappeared and were sealed into the two girls, one blond and one red-headed. The Masked Uchiha slammed his fist hard on the ground while simultaneously shouting, "Damn it!" "The more I try to get closer to you, the more you distance yourself from me." The Masked Uchiha continued in his thoughts.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Minato was bleeding from several places. But he was getting a grip on Madoka's trick. He was now to test his hypothesis. When Madoka charged at him, instead of dodging he made a sign to dispel Genjutsu. And it worked. Madoka who charged at him was, in reality, standing still. But his body position gave a hint that he had the motive to charge. With this information, Minato enclosed his secret ability. "So that was a bluff. You're not controlling time," Minato said while Madoka was all ears. "You can put someone in a Genjutsu for some minutes which is equivalent to a fraction of a second in the real world. In that Genjutsu your opponent thinks he dodged your move easily while in reality, you charge at him while he had already confused the Genjutsu with reality," Minato continued making Madoka flinch. "But still, this level of Genjutsu requires a lot of practice and concentration. You're mimicking reality. To think that he can do all of this while also anticipating my moves is quite impressive." Minato thought before holding a kunai in front of his face. The Uchiha could do nothing but admire Minato's expertise.
Madoka couldn't feel Fox's chakra anymore. There's only one possibility, it was sealed! "Consider this a stalemate, Hokage. I will return but powerful. Mark my words, Konoha will crumble one way or the other." Madoka said and disappeared into the shadows. Minato took a sigh and gathered all his remaining strength to go back. His body left a trail of blood throughout the forest. With time, his pulse rate decreased to normal. With him being captived by the destruction bestowed in front of him, Yondaime Hokage permitted himself to grieve. The light of dawn reached the homes of Konoha. The eyes of the deceased showed no reflex. Cold winds continued nonetheless making Yondaime Hokage cloak sway back and forth. Was this a victory or a stalemate? Maybe time can tell.