Hiding the pain racking his body, Habara jogged to catch up with the Third Hokage and the ANBU squad. He found them, rather anticlimactically, "huddled against a wall"... or rather, a barrier. To prevent the Nine-Tails from rampaging through Konoha a second time, the Fourth Hokage had erected a large-scale barrier.
Honestly, every time something major happened in Konoha, whether actively or passively, there was always a barrier that ended up keeping their own forces out… It was practically another kind of curse.
"What's the situation?" Habara asked, coming to stand beside the Third Hokage and addressing the nearest ANBU operative. From his vantage point, he could only see the Nine-Tails' massive form, nothing else.
"The Fourth Hokage completely defeated the enemy just now, but for some reason, that person reappeared completely unharmed. The Fourth has already repelled him a second time, and now only the Nine-Tails remains to be dealt with…" the ANBU ninja reported.
Normally, they wouldn't be engaging in idle chatter during such a critical mission. However, because the question came from Habara, the ANBU ninja explained… While not everyone knew Habara's exact identity, practically everyone in Konoha had witnessed his "valiant" battle against the Nine-Tails.
The ANBU ninja even added, "The Fourth Hokage hit the enemy dead-on with your Rasenshuriken."
Habara nodded silently, wondering if he blushed slightly at the phrase "your Rasenshuriken"... Never mind that the Fourth Hokage had used a technique far more powerful than the Rasengan, Habara could infer from the ANBU's description that Obito Uchiha had likely used Izanagi.
The damage inflicted by the Rasenshuriken was incredibly unique, so even Obito's half-Wood Release-infused body probably couldn't withstand such an attack… This demonstrated that the Fourth Hokage, as Obito's teacher, had given his student more than one surprise.
Izanagi, the ultimate Uchiha genjutsu. It allowed the user to turn any unfavorable outcome, including death, into an illusion. The price? The Sharingan used to cast the technique would be permanently blinded… Madara Uchiha had extra Sharingan, and Obito had inherited Madara's…legacy.
In short, it was a forbidden Uchiha jutsu that everyone who used it raved about, and it could even be used with a three-tomoe Sharingan.
Habara was focused on the events within the barrier when another ANBU ninja's gaze suddenly shifted. "Lord Third, the enemy has emerged!"
About fifty meters away, swirling, spiral-shaped spatial distortions appeared. A figure stepped out… Obito Uchiha had escaped the barrier Minato Namikaze had erected. This, for him, was a trivial matter.
The Fourth Hokage might not know it yet, but Obito himself was well aware that after being marked with the Flying Thunder God technique, he no longer stood a chance against the Fourth in a continued battle.
Moreover, Obito looked utterly wretched. The White Zetsu "Tobi" covering him was severely damaged, and the left half of his body was coated in a layer of black… goop.
It was Black Zetsu.
The current "Masked Man" was a "trinity" of Obito Uchiha, Tobi, and Black Zetsu. The already not-so-bright Obito was now so beaten up that he was uncoordinated, so it was very possible that Black Zetsu was controlling his body.
Obito's appearance outside the barrier, in this bizarre state, actually made him look even more like a villain. However, just as the ANBU ninjas were about to charge him, he vanished again.
At this point, Obito, knowing he couldn't win, fled.
At this moment in time, the conditions for capturing the Nine-Tails were completely unripe, and even if he did capture it, he couldn't complete the sealing… Obito's intrusion into Konoha was entirely for personal revenge.
"He escaped?"
Before anyone could recover from the enemy's sudden appearance and escape, another incredibly powerful chakra reaction erupted from within the barrier. The Nine-Tails was suddenly bound by countless golden chakra chains… The Adamantine Sealing Chains. Outwardly, they restricted the Tailed Beast's movements; inwardly, they intensely suppressed its chakra. It was one of the Uzumaki clan's ultimate sealing techniques.
And if one were to look down from above, they would see that, in addition to the Adamantine Sealing Chains, another massive jutsu formula had appeared on the ground beneath the Nine-Tails, meaning it was now doubly restrained.
"Kushina… Kushina is inside the barrier, too?" the Third Hokage said, but immediately corrected himself, "No, I should say… Kushina is of course in there."
Compared to some half-blooded Uzumaki jinchuriki who disgracefully dropped dead immediately after having the Nine-Tails extracted, Kushina Uzumaki, the "former jinchuriki," was undeniably powerful. She had first exhausted her stamina during childbirth, then had the Nine-Tails ripped out of her, yet even after losing the Nine-Tails, she could still unleash a powerful technique like the Adamantine Sealing Chains… She perfectly embodied the Uzumaki clan's powerful life force. From this, it was clear that you really couldn't generalize about people's physical constitutions.
Seeing the ANBU ninjas looking at him, the Third Hokage continued, "Minato intends to reseal the Nine-Tails back into Kushina, but given Kushina's weakened state, even if the sealing is successful, there's no guarantee the Nine-Tails won't break free again."
Even in her "weakened state," Kushina Uzumaki still possessed far more chakra than an ordinary ninja like Habara.
"What is Lord Fourth planning to do?" an ANBU ninja couldn't help but ask.
"He probably intends to weaken the Nine-Tails' power first, but unfortunately, he doesn't have time to do it carefully. He has to act quickly, otherwise…" The Third Hokage couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
The jinchuriki had held on this long, it was already a miracle. She definitely didn't have much time left.
"Minato, are you really going to use that method?"
"What method?"
"Splitting the Nine-Tails in two, and sealing each half separately. One half will be suppressed by Kushina's chakra, and the other half will be suppressed by Minato's own chakra infused into the seal…"
If they could each suppress half of the Nine-Tails, why couldn't Kushina and Minato combine their power to suppress the entire Nine-Tails…? Habara thought for a moment, and realized that, actually, they probably couldn't.
When the force trying to break free doubled, simply doubling the suppressing force wouldn't be enough.
And if they had enough time, there would certainly be more than one way to handle the Nine-Tails, but the problem was, they didn't have time.
"Is…is such a thing even possible?" an ANBU ninja asked, doubt in his voice.
The Third Hokage nodded, and after a moment of silence, said:
"It's possible. With the Uzumaki clan's forbidden techniques, it's possible."