When the Nine-Tails collapsed, many people had already begun to leave the shelters—so most of Sora's actions had been witnessed firsthand.
Before long, news of Sora saving the Hidden Leaf spread like wildfire.
"Sora-sama is still so young! He's sure to become the next First Hokage!"
"I'll grow strong like Sora-sama and help protect the village too!"
"Konoha… Konoha is finally rising again!"
...
Young and old, everyone had Sora's name on their lips. Just like Naruto after defeating Pain, Sora's name became legendary overnight.
His prestige in the village had reached its peak—no one could utter a bad word about him and hope to live through the day.
///
Soon after, Minato reappeared carrying the exhausted Kushina. Naruto had already been taken somewhere safe earlier.
Kushina's condition had visibly worsened. Her once vibrant features were now pale and worn, fatigue heavy on her face.
Without wasting words, Sora gently helped her lie down and dragged the unconscious Nine-Tails over by hand.
This action alone left everyone speechless. Aside from Might Guy, no one else in the village could've pulled something like that off!
But Sora didn't have time to explain. Resealing the Nine-Tails was the top priority.
"Eight Trigrams Seal!"
Two Four-Symbol Seals, one upright and one inverted, layered together to form a complete circular seal on Kushina's abdomen.
The massive form of the Nine-Tails was drawn into her body, vanishing completely within moments.
"Whew… if it weren't truly knocked out, this wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
Sora wiped the sweat from his brow with a sigh of relief.
Kushina couldn't take any more strain—any more and the consequences could be deadly.
An ordinary person would've died the moment the tailed beast was extracted. Gaara would one day experience that very fate.
Kushina only survived this long because of her Uzumaki lineage.
After the resealing was complete, everyone stared tensely at her, including Sora.
This was uncharted territory—no one had ever resealed a tailed beast into the same person. No one knew what the outcome would be.
Sora was fairly confident… but until he saw it with his own eyes, the worry remained.
Thankfully, he had succeeded. Kushina's pale lips gradually regained color, and the exhaustion on her face slowly eased.
She wasn't fully recovered yet, of course, but given what she had just been through, that was to be expected. She needed time to rest.
Seeing her recover little by little, everyone finally let out a long breath of relief.
It wasn't just concern for Kushina—everyone had also been terrified that Sora might go berserk if something happened to her.
If that had happened… none of them would've been able to stop him.
They couldn't help glancing cautiously at Sora.
In truth, they were overthinking it. Even though Sora's chakra reserves had skyrocketed—turning into what could be called "chakra tons"—his overall combat power hadn't gone up.
All he had gained was incredible stamina. His raw offensive power hadn't changed.
He was now a monster in prolonged battles—but against someone like Minato, who was incredibly fast and elusive, the outcome would still be uncertain.
Fortunately, the Uzumaki clan's vitality was terrifying, and things were moving in a good direction.
After Minato took Kushina back to the hospital, the incident was finally brought to a close.
The Nine-Tails had never even set foot inside the village. Konoha suffered no losses at all.
///
Back home alone, Sora brewed a pot of tea and sat down to reflect.
Minato had gone to the hospital to stay with Kushina and Naruto.
"Obito died at my hands. He never even stepped foot inside the barrier. The Nine-Tails didn't seem to be under anyone's control either…
So how did it still break free from the seal?
Minato personally reinforced the seal—this kind of thing shouldn't have happened. And yet, it did."
He took a sip of tea and continued analyzing.
"The Nine-Tails shouldn't be capable of that by itself. But Minato said the pressure it exerted suddenly skyrocketed.
Not only did it break free, it even injured Minato in the process!
So… what caused that sudden surge in power?"
He swirled the tea in his cup slowly as his heart grew heavier.
In the Shinobi World, there was nothing that could randomly boost the Nine-Tails' power—and not so suddenly, either.
But from another angle—wasn't the Nine-Tails a creature created by the Sage of Six Paths?
And the Sage… he was the only one who could've made something like that happen.
But the Sage had supposedly died a thousand years ago. That kind of thing… shouldn't be possible, right?
Suddenly, Sora's hand clenched. Crack! The teacup shattered in his grip, tea spilling everywhere.
Yet he didn't even flinch. Lost in thought, he let the tea flow across the floor.
"In the original story, the Sage of Six Paths did appear near the end. He even gave Naruto and Sasuke power.
Not only that, but his sons' chakra has been passed down through generations—and now resides in Naruto and Sasuke.
If that's true… then it all makes sense. The Sage must still be alive—probably in some spiritual form.
He's been silently watching everything unfold in the shinobi world, intervening from time to time."
The more he thought, the clearer it all became. Countless thoughts surged through his mind.
"If he's still alive… then why? What's he planning?
In the original story, he and his brother sealed Kaguya. Then his brother moved to the moon to watch over her.
But the Sage himself stayed behind, founded the Shinobi religion, and ruled the world.
He wasn't some benevolent old monk. He was an ambitious, emotionally detached ruler. He definitely had a greater agenda."
Bit by bit, Sora felt like he was peeling back the edge of a thousand-year-old conspiracy.
Even if he couldn't be sure of his theory, a sense of urgency began to rise within him.
If he was right… why would the Sage of Six Paths need to manipulate events behind the scenes?
He was the strongest being in the world. What could possibly threaten him?
Whatever it was—it must be something truly terrifying. Sora needed to prepare.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he cleaned up the shattered teacup and quietly compared his theory with everything he remembered.
He realized that the Sage of Six Paths was starting to resemble the kind of mastermind gamers in his past life had speculated about.
This wasn't just a behind-the-scenes manipulator—this guy made Black Zetsu look like an amateur.
In fact, it was entirely possible Black Zetsu was just one of his pawns—manipulated all along.
If the Sage had been monitoring the world from the beginning, how could Black Zetsu have operated in secret for a thousand years?
Sora wasn't buying it.
"Whatever. With my current strength, I'm not qualified to dig any deeper. I'll leave this for later."
He rubbed his temples, forcing himself to push down the growing headache, then laid down to sleep.
Though Sora slept peacefully, the village was alive with celebration that night.
The Nine-Tails hadn't even managed to destroy a single blade of grass—everyone was thrilled. Sora, the hero of the night, became a household name.
Whether ninja or civilian, everyone was talking about him.
The only difference was—civilians and children idolized him, while the ninja were scared stiff.
That image of him pounding the Nine-Tails like it was a misbehaving child had been permanently burned into their minds.
Even the proud Uchiha clan had no complaints.
They warned every one of their members—do not cross this man. And if you do, do NOT drag the Uchiha name into it.
///
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