The Wood Release: Wood Human Technique, when used by Hashirama Senju, could stand toe-to-toe with the Complete Body Susanoo.
But the one using it now wasn't Hashirama—it was Tobi (The white zetsu).
To say the least, this wood golem was much smaller in size than Hashirama's version—about the size of a typical tailed beast.
Moreover, Tobi, the controller, had already been taken down by Minato and Hyuga Asana.
At this point, the golem had become a mindless weapon that only knew destruction.
Minato threw a Flying Thunder God kunai at one of its legs and formed hand signs, using the Shadow Shuriken Clone Technique—turning the single kunai into hundreds.
He darted between the blades, striking the golem's leg repeatedly with Rasengan. In mere moments, the leg was shattered.
Seeing this, Shisui joined in the attack. Remembering Uchiha Yuan's instructions, he avoided exposing his Mangekyō Sharingan. Instead, he combined the Chidori Blade taught by Yuan with a wind-style technique of his own design.
In the blink of an eye, Shisui vanished from his original spot and appeared in front of the golem.
His chakra-conducting short sword radiated a blue-white glow, which intensified rapidly.
"Zzzzt—" came a sharp slicing sound. The golem's other leg started smoking, then was ravaged by countless fine blades resembling chakra scalpels.
That leg too, snapped at the midpoint.
Without support, the golem collapsed thunderously to the ground.
"Minato, get us and this thing out of the village!" shouted the Third Hokage.
Minato nodded and used Flying Thunder God to teleport the group—and the upper half of the golem—to the Forest of Death.
The Third Hokage formed hand signs. Wind and fire techniques combined into a massive combo attack that scorched the remains of the golem.
Hyuga Asana summoned Shadiao, leaping onto its back and gathering senjutsu chakra into her arms midair.
Then she struck downward at the golem from a distance.
"Sage Art: Super Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"
"Smack!" With a crisp sound, the already charred golem was shattered into pieces by Asana's strike.
But her assault didn't stop.
In Sage Mode, she could clearly sense that someone had been hiding underground since earlier, silently watching them. When Minato teleported them away, the presence had followed closely behind.
Asana formed hand seals, unleashing black lightning toward the area behind Minato to the right.
A shriek followed. "Ahhh—it hurts! It hurts!"
Now everyone realized someone had been underground all along.
The Third Hokage tried to use Earth Style to force the intruder out, but before he could act, the ground trembled. Small trees sprouted up rapidly, each with a blooming flower on top.
"Not good! This is Hashirama's Flower Tree World Coming Technique!" shouted the Third. "Once these flowers bloom, they release poisonous pollen that can knock out even Kage-level shinobi. Minato, get us out now!"
Minato acted instantly, teleporting them away. Asana also held her breath and had Shadiao fly her back to the village.
After they left, the ground writhed, and Black Zetsu and Tobi emerged.
"Tobi, can you really use Flower Tree World Coming?" asked Black Zetsu.
"Of course not! That was just a bluff. This technique is way harder than Wood Golem—it's the strongest Wood Style technique and can only be used by someone on Hashirama's level."
"But isn't the Wood Golem more destructive?" White Zetsu asked, puzzled.
"The golem without a controller lacks mobility. But this flower technique, once it blooms, covers an enormous area. The pollen can paralyze even Kage-level shinobi with a single breath."
"Back then, even Madara with his Eternal Mangekyō felt dizzy after inhaling just one breath of it. Calling it the strongest Wood Release jutsu isn't an exaggeration."
"Of course, if Hashirama entered Sage Mode and amplified it with senjutsu, there would be many Wood Style jutsu even stronger than this," added Black Zetsu.
White Zetsu nodded in realization. Tobi changed the topic, "Where's Obito?"
"He's injured from Minato's attack, and Minato left a Flying Thunder God mark on him. He's working on removing it," answered White Zetsu.
"Should we keep attacking Konoha?"
"No need. Too many strong shinobi are present—we're struggling. Let's leave it here," said Black Zetsu, then sank underground. Tobi followed.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yuan caught up to the Nine-Tails.
Without a jinchūriki, Yuan's current eye power gave him a chance at directly controlling the beast.
But he didn't want to. His Mangekyō wasn't illusion-based, and he wasn't sure his genjutsu would work 100%—especially on such a complete version of the Nine-Tails. It'd be safer to weaken it further.
Besides, now that he had reached the fourth stage of Susanoo, he deserved to enjoy it.
Then began a brutal hand-to-hand battle between man and beast.
The commotion was so massive that even from afar, people in Konoha could hear it.
Minato asked the Third to stabilize the village and rushed toward the battle with Asana.
When they arrived, they saw Yuan cleave apart a Tailed Beast Bomb and grab the Nine-Tails by the neck, tossing it like a sack.
"Looks like Yuan doesn't need our help," Minato said.
Asana nodded.
Yuan had completely overwhelmed the Nine-Tails.
"Boom!" One punch sent the beast crashing into a cliff wall.
Yuan gripped his horizontal blade. Purple-black lightning chakra surged along it.
Asana frowned—she could feel both yin and yang chakra from the blade.
"Slash—" With one horizontal strike, the mountain and the Nine-Tails were split in two. Then another cut—splitting the Nine-Tails into four.
It cost Yuan a huge amount of chakra, and he deactivated Susanoo, panting heavily.
The split Nine-Tails wasn't dead. The upper halves, containing the consciousness of Yin and Yang Kurama, quickly fused into a smaller, conscious Nine-Tails.
It immediately tried to attack Yuan.
But when their eyes met, the beast froze—entranced by Yuan's Mangekyō.
Yuan sealed the other two chakra-only halves and called out to Minato:"Bring Kushina here! She's an Uzumaki—she won't die even without the tailed beast inside her. Let's reseal it now."
Minato was overjoyed. He teleported away and returned with Kushina and baby Naruto in her arms.
"The seal's yours, Minato," Yuan said.
Minato nodded. The weakened, hypnotized Nine-Tails didn't resist. But Minato was at his limit—he'd used barrier techniques, fought Obito, and helped against the Wood Golem.
After completing the seal, he collapsed, gasping for breath.
Kushina, meanwhile, began recovering. The Uzumaki life force, now aided by the tailed beast's chakra, kicked in.
Seeing this, Yuan smiled. "This should do. Kurama will recover its lost chakra in a few years."
Minato nodded, then asked curiously, "Yuan, what are you planning with the Nine-Tails' chakra?"
Now that Yuan had chakra from all nine beasts and part of the Ten-Tails' body, he could start constructing a mini Ten-Tails.
But first, he wanted a trial run.
He remembered the future Naruto from Rōran, who hosted a version of Kurama infused with the other eight beasts' chakra—a beast close in power to the Ten-Tails.
If he could create a similar creature in Naruto now, he'd gain confidence to later construct the true mini Ten-Tails.
He shared part of his plan with Minato."I want to create a fully controllable tailed beast."
Minato paused, then replied, "Then, can you give one of those sealed chakra portions to Naruto?"
Yuan was surprised. He had just been thinking of doing that.
Minato, thinking Yuan was reluctant, explained,"Kushina's birth was fraught with danger. So many eyes are watching Konoha in the shadows. If you truly succeed in creating a controllable beast, it would be a boon for the village."
"But the process must carry risks—likely some level of human experimentation. So let Naruto bear that role. Both Kushina and I are masters of sealing—it won't be a problem."
"Besides," Minato added, "I have my reasons as a father too. If Naruto becomes a jinchūriki for your creation, he'll at least reach Kage-level one day and be able to protect himself."
Hearing this, Yuan sighed. Minato's love for the village ran deep.
Kushina initially disagreed, but after hearing the last part, she relented. She had also experienced tonight's terror—she knew their enemy wouldn't rest.
Thus, the couple reached an agreement.
Minato swallowed a food pill to recover some chakra, summoned a sealing altar, and placed Naruto on it.
Yuan retrieved one portion of Kurama's chakra.
Even though the chakra was vast, it lacked Kurama's consciousness. Still, out of caution, Minato used the Eight Trigrams Seal to contain it.
From this moment on, Naruto became the new jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
(To Be Continued...)