Upon hearing the voice, Minato immediately looked toward its source.
After focusing, Minato saw a figure hiding within the forest. This person was dressed in the uniform of the Anbu, wearing an animal mask, looking exactly like any other member of the Anbu.
What made Minato particularly wary was the fact that he couldn't sense this person's chakra.
This could mean two things: either this person had chakra levels similar to an ordinary civilian and was thus overlooked, or this individual had the ability to conceal their chakra far beyond Minato's ability to sense.
It was clear that the figure in front of him was the latter—a ninja whose strength was impossible to gauge.
After observing for a few moments, Minato narrowed his gaze. Suddenly, he recalled the moment half an hour ago when he transferred the Tailed Beast Bomb. This figure had appeared on the rooftop of the Hokage's office, but Minato had ignored them at the time.
Feeling his chakra fading, Minato tried to get up and confront the intruder, only to find he was no longer capable.
The mysterious figure appeared in an instant beside him and Kushina, cradling the infant Naruto in their arms. While soothing Naruto, the figure said, "What a truly adorable child. He should bear his mother's name—Uzumaki Naruto, right?"
The ninja holding Naruto was none other than Byakuya.
After witnessing Minato's use of the Reaper Death Seal, Byakuya knew he could no longer delay and appeared before Minato and Kushina.
Staring intently at Byakuya, Minato asked coldly, "Who are you, and what's your connection to the masked man from earlier?"
Byakuya glanced at Minato and replied indifferently,
"Why should I tell you? That masked man you mentioned is indeed a fool. I even warned him that your Flying Thunder God technique would be tricky, and yet he still lost to you."
Hearing these words, Minato felt as though he had plunged into an icy abyss.
So, they really were working together. What had these two been through, and why were they both targeting Konoha?
However, Minato no longer had the strength to stop them.
At this moment, Byakuya silently picked up the Grim Reaper mask from the ground and moved over to Kushina's side.
Due to excessive blood loss, Kushina had already passed out. Byakuya first stitched up her wounds and then took out a blood bag, administering it to her.
Seeing this, Minato was taken aback. He asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
Byakuya glanced at him and replied, "Obviously, I'm saving her. What, the Fourth Hokage doesn't even know how to dress wounds?"
Minato frowned and asked, "Why are you saving Kushina?"
Byakuya paused for a moment, his expression cold, "If you don't want me to, I can stop right now. After all, Konoha has already paid its price, so it makes no difference to me."
"Price?" Minato was puzzled. Then, recalling that Byakuya had appeared on the Hokage's rooftop earlier, he started to piece things together.
"Did you sneak into the Hokage office and steal something?"
Byakuya nodded slightly, "I took something, yes. But I prefer to think of it as a transaction. The life of the Hokage's wife should be worth more than a bunch of old scrolls, don't you think?"
Minato didn't know how to respond, but he couldn't let Byakuya abandon Kushina's rescue.
However, the chances of a Jinchuriki surviving after losing their Tailed Beast were slim. Did this man truly have the ability to save Kushina?
Reading Minato's thoughts, Byakuya said calmly, "A Jinchuriki dies after the Tailed Beast is extracted because they lose a massive amount of life force and soul energy all at once. But if life force is replenished in time, it can delay death. And it just so happens that I possess this ability, and I've been tasked by a certain someone to come and assist one of the Uzumaki clan's more disappointing members."
"Tasked by someone? Disappointing clan member?" Minato picked up on something strange and asked Byakuya, "Who sent you here? Was it Amegakure or the Akatsuki? Is your name Byakuya?"
As Minato Namikaze bombarded Byakuya with questions, Byakuya, growing impatient, said coldly, "You're a dying man. Stop asking so much and obediently stay inside the belly of the Reaper."
"You—"
Minato tried to speak, but before he could finish, Byakuya reached into Minato's body, forcibly extracting his soul and sealing it directly into the Reaper mask.
This mask, meticulously crafted by Byakuya, was different from the original version. Normally, the Reaper mask allowed one to summon the Shinigami during the 'Reaper Death Seal' casting, using the user's chakra and soul to trap both the caster and their target within the Shinigami's stomach.
However, Byakuya had modified this function. Having obtained some of the abilities of the Rinnegan, he replaced the Reaper's summoning ritual with a summoning of the King of Hell from the Path of Hell. This allowed him to redirect the sealing location of half of the Nine-Tails and Minato's soul into himself.
Of course, such a modification came at a cost.
To substitute the Reaper and seal half of the Nine-Tails, Byakuya had expended a massive amount of chakra. He had almost reached his limit. If Minato had tried to seal the entire Nine-Tails, the ritual might have failed altogether.
But in the end, Byakuya walked away with the best outcome.
Not only did he secure half of the Nine-Tails, but he also obtained the soul of the Fourth Hokage. This would allow him to potentially summon Minato later with the Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu), granting the Akatsuki a powerful warrior with mastery over space-time ninjutsu.
Shaking himself from these thoughts, Byakuya turned his gaze toward Kushina and Naruto.
Naruto, now the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the reincarnation of Asura, held tremendous potential. If Byakuya were to take Naruto and train him, his potential would far surpass that of Orochimaru's apprentice, Kabuto.
But after a moment of consideration, Byakuya discarded this impractical idea.
While he might have displayed an air of superiority in front of Minato, facing both Minato and Kushina in a direct battle would have been risky. If he kidnapped Naruto now, the Five Great Shinobi Nations would declare war on the Akatsuki much sooner. Byakuya had no desire to live a life constantly on the run from the entire shinobi world.
However, Kushina, who was still unconscious, and the body of the Fourth Hokage could be of use.
With that in mind, Byakuya quickly performed a series of hand seals, creating a Wood Clone. Together with his clone, they began moving Kushina and Minato's body, heading deep underground.
---
Not long after Byakuya left, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, finally arrived at the scene with a large contingent of Anbu.
Upon seeing the destruction wrought by the battle, Hiruzen's heart sank. He had a bad feeling about what had transpired. As he moved toward the center of the battlefield, he spotted Naruto, now soundly asleep in his swaddling clothes.
At that moment, the Anbu commander beside him asked,
"Lord Third, where are the Fourth Hokage, his wife, and the Nine-Tails? Why have they suddenly disappeared?"
Hiruzen glanced at the sleeping Naruto, sensing the immense chakra of the Nine-Tails within the infant. Coupled with the faint chakra residue in the area, a theory began to form in his mind.
After a deep sigh, Hiruzen said softly, "Minato and Kushina have likely sacrificed themselves. Before they died, they must have sealed the Nine-Tails into their child."