Chapter 78 (Patreon)

Sarutobi Hiruzen roared.

“Root shinobi! With me! Kill these traitors!”

By now, he was nearly consumed by madness.

In the distance, Minato had arrived with reinforcements. He looked at Hiruzen, who had completely lost himself, and a trace of sorrow passed through his eyes.

In the end, it had come to this.

“Wipe out Root,” Minato said, raising his hand.

Then he swung it down without hesitation.

“Yes, Hokage-sama!”

Behind him, countless shinobi immediately accepted the order.

Night had fallen over Konoha.

Root’s shinobi had almost all moved out in full force.

Some would surrender and keep their lives.

Some would rather die than obey.

For those, there was only one answer.

Kill them.

This time, Minato would no longer be soft-hearted.

Meanwhile, in Root’s underground base, Shimura Danzō stared at the report delivered by one of his subordinates, his expression filled with disbelief.

For a moment, he could hardly accept what he had just read.

“The Nine-Tails, for unknown reasons, remained quiet and did not begin the plan to destroy Konoha.”

“Sarutobi Hiruzen is leading Root shinobi in an attack against Konoha’s Anbu.”

Danzō abruptly rose from his seat.

“That Sarutobi… what is he doing?! If the Nine-Tails did not riot, then he should have withdrawn at once!”

If Sarutobi Hiruzen was arrested this time, Danzō himself might be dragged into it as well.

Danzō took a deep breath, his voice heavy.

“Order every Root shinobi to return.”

“Yes, Danzō-sama.”

The Root shinobi accepted the order and immediately vanished from the room.

Danzō slowly sat back down, his single visible eye lowering slightly.

A plan had already formed in his mind.

At the same time, curiosity rose in his heart.

Since the Nine-Tails had appeared, that meant the masked man had succeeded.

But for some reason, Kurama had failed to launch the attack according to plan.

Inside Konoha Village, the Root shinobi quickly began retreating after receiving Danzō’s order.

Sarutobi Hiruzen noticed immediately.

He shouted furiously, “What are you doing?!”

“Why are you retreating?! We are about to win!”

But not a single Root shinobi answered him.

By then, squads of Anbu had already surrounded Sarutobi Hiruzen before he could withdraw.

“You dare arrest me?” Sarutobi Hiruzen’s face twisted with rage. “I am the Third Hokage!”

His hands immediately began forming seals.

“Five Release: Great Combo Technique!”

The maddened Sarutobi Hiruzen was already preparing to use one of his strongest ninjutsu.

Minato’s face darkened.

“Shisui,” he said to the young Uchiha beside him. “Do it.”

“Yes.”

Shisui accepted the order.

In the next instant, he activated the Body Flicker Technique and appeared directly in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The three tomoe in his Sharingan slowly turned.

“Sharingan—Genjutsu.”

In an instant, Sarutobi Hiruzen’s hands froze mid-seal.

His consciousness sank deep into the illusion.

With Sarutobi Hiruzen’s arrest, the chaos of the night finally came to an end.

Two hours later.

At Minato’s home.

Uzumaki Kushina looked at Yujiro with deep gratitude.

“Yujiro… thank you. If it weren’t for that mysterious thing you gave me, I…”

She could not bring herself to finish the sentence.

By now, Kushina had already fully recovered.

She did not even need the usual postpartum rest period. Her body was full of energy again.

The power of the Sage tag was simply absurd.

“It’s fine,” Yujiro said with a faint smile. “It was nothing.”

Kurama, who was lying on his shoulder, spoke calmly.

“Kushina, you really should thank Yujiro.”

Then Kurama turned his gaze toward Minato.

“And you too, Minato.”

“If it weren’t for Yujiro and me… well, what was it called again?”

Kurama tilted his head and looked at Yujiro.

“Partners,” Yujiro said with a grin.

“That’s right!” Kurama raised his head proudly. “If Yujiro and I hadn’t become partners, you would have been beaten down by me by now!”

After saying that, Kurama lifted one paw and calmly straightened the whisker-like markings on his face.

“Yes, yes. Thank you, Kurama-sama.”

Minato scratched his head, then sincerely bowed toward Kurama and Yujiro.

“Hm?” Kurama opened one eye and glanced at him. “What did you call me?”

“K-Kurama-sama?” Minato blinked.

Was that not right?

“Hahaha!”

Kurama suddenly burst into laughter.

“Not bad! Not bad at all! I like that title!”

“That’s good, then.” Minato smiled helplessly.

To be honest, he was still confused.

How had Kurama suddenly become Yujiro’s partner?

And more than that, Kurama seemed to be a little wary of Yujiro.

However, Minato was not foolish enough to ask.

This was Yujiro’s secret.

Minato had no intention of digging into it.

At this moment, quite a few people had gathered inside Minato’s home.

Yujiro, Minato, Kushina, Shisui, Kakashi, Itachi, and even Uchiha Fugaku were present.

Even Might Guy was there.

After all, he had also taken part in tonight’s Nine-Tails incident.

Although in the end, the Nine-Tails’ rampage had never truly broken out.

Rather than a Nine-Tails rebellion, it had become Root’s rebellion.

“Yujiro, there is one thing I still do not understand.”

Minato looked at Yujiro and finally voiced the doubt in his heart.

“What is it?”

“Tonight, we already had all of Shimura Danzō’s crimes in our hands. Why didn’t we take down Root directly?”

Yujiro smiled mysteriously.

“Because I have my own decision to make.”

“Shimura Danzō keeps saying everything he does is for Konoha’s sake.”

His smile became faintly cold.

“Unfortunately for him, that might deceive others, but if he thinks he can deceive me, he is still far from capable.”

Yujiro continued calmly, “There will be a good show tomorrow. When the time comes, Minato-sensei, please summon every clan head in Konoha to watch.”

“Understood.” Minato nodded.

Kurama, lying on Yujiro’s shoulder, seemed to smell something dangerous in those words.

“Yujiro,” Kurama whispered into his ear, “you’re planning something, aren’t you?”

“When the time comes, I’ll assist you properly.”

Yujiro grinned.

It seemed this Nine-Tails was not exactly an honest fellow either.

After Minato and Kushina thanked him again, Yujiro finally left.

“This time, it was truly thanks to Yujiro.”

Minato looked at Kushina, joy still lingering on his face.

If the Third Hokage had tried to take Yujiro away back then, and Yujiro had not acted…

By now, their souls might have already returned to the Pure Land.

Uzumaki Kushina looked down at Naruto in her arms, a gentle and happy smile appearing on her face.

This outcome could not have been better.

Yujiro had tamed Kurama.

She had survived.

And she could remain by Naruto’s side.

Because of that, Minato and Kushina were truly grateful to Yujiro.

The next morning.

Yujiro arrived early at the top of the Hokage office building.

In front of the rooftop, he used Earth Style to create a massive platform.

From below, everyone would be able to see it clearly.

Today, Yujiro planned to hold a grand trial.

At the same time, inside Shimura Danzō’s Root base.

“Danzō.”

Uchiha Fugaku had brought Shisui with him. He looked deeply at Shimura Danzō, who sat before him.

“There will be a trial today regarding Sarutobi Hiruzen’s crimes. Hokage-sama wants you to attend.”

“A trial…”

Danzō’s exposed eye narrowed slightly.

“Very well. I will be there shortly.”

Uchiha Fugaku’s voice remained calm.

“Not shortly. Now.”

Danzō frowned.

After a brief silence, he stood from his seat and followed Fugaku out of the Root base.

At the small courtyard where Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura lived, Kakashi stood in front of the two Konoha elders with an expressionless face.

“Koharu-sama. Homura-sama. Please come with me to the judgment platform.”

Utatane Koharu frowned.

“Mind your attitude.”

Kakashi gave a cold, quiet laugh.

Perhaps in the past, he would never have used this tone toward two of Konoha’s highest-ranking advisers.

But after finding Root’s records, he had learned the truth.

For all these years, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had known about Danzō’s actions.

There had even been times when they had stepped forward to protect him.

After learning that, Kakashi’s anger was only natural.

Now that he had received Yujiro’s order to bring these two elders in, how could he possibly show them a pleasant expression?

“Maybe I did not make myself clear.”

Kakashi’s voice turned colder.

“I said, come with me now.”

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura froze for a moment.

In the end, they could only follow Kakashi while muttering under their breath.

At the same time, the heads of Konoha’s major clans gathered atop the Hokage office building.

Yujiro stood quietly on the platform, his eyes closed as if he were resting.

“Yujiro, are you planning to corner that old man, the Third Hokage, to death this time?”

Kurama crouched on Yujiro’s shoulder, clearly enjoying the situation.

“Would I need to go through this much trouble just to deal with the Third Hokage?”

Yujiro shook his head.

“Then who are you dealing with?” Kurama asked, curiosity rising.

Yujiro grinned.

“The entire upper leadership of Konoha.”

“After today, Konoha will no longer have those so-called elders standing above everyone.”

Kurama could not help drawing in a breath.

“They say humans are sinister and cunning. Now I see that really is true…”

Then, noticing Yujiro’s gaze, Kurama quickly lowered his head.

“Ahem… Yujiro, I was talking in my sleep just now. I… I was wrong.”

Looking at Kurama, who had honestly lowered his head to admit his mistake, Yujiro lightly flicked him on the forehead.

“Actually, getting along with humans is not as pleasant as getting along with you tailed beasts,” Yujiro said softly.

“At the very least, there is no scheming. If you like someone, you like them. If you dislike someone, you dislike them.”

“Oh?”

Kurama raised his head, his expression becoming proud again.

“Yujiro, are you praising me?”

“You can take it that way,” Yujiro said with a shrug.

“Now then…”

Yujiro opened his eyes and looked ahead.

“It is time to watch the show.”

“The last performance had Sarutobi Hiruzen as the lead, but unfortunately, his acting was terrible.”

A faint smile appeared on Yujiro’s face.

“This time, I will be the one taking center stage.”