As the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails was already immensely powerful, especially in its prime with Yin and Yang joined as one. Yet, beneath the blade of the Reaper, it possessed not a shred of resistance. One stroke to sever, and severed it was.
From this, it was clear that the Reaper had indeed trended toward being a conceptual god. What it sought to do was not something one could resist simply through raw power; it felt more like a fundamental law. As long as you remained within those rules, he held total dominion.
With one cut, the Nine-Tails was split into two portions of Chakra, Yin and Yang.
Minato did not immediately end the Reaper Death Seal. Even though his Chakra was hemorrhaging at an alarming rate, he maintained the jutsu; the moment it ended would be the moment of his death. Now, he had to save Kushina!
Kushina was currently paralyzed. Minato took several steps toward her and said with a smile, "Make sure you raise our child well, Kushina."
Kushina was covered in tears, but she found herself at a loss for words. From the moment the Reaper appeared, everything became irreversible. If she refused his gift now, Minato's sacrifice would turn from a heroic act into a meaningless death. Even though she didn't want this chance bought with her husband's life, she could only endure the grief and accept it.
"I will!" Kushina nodded earnestly. Though her body was weak, her gaze was resolute.
Minato smiled and, with a sharp expression, began to weave hand signs. Once the sequence was complete, he barked, "Eight Trigrams Seal!!!"
He slammed his palm onto Kushina's stomach. Simultaneously, Kushina exerted her remaining strength, the Adamantine Sealing Chains dragging the Nine-Tails toward her.
The Eight Trigrams Seal seemed to resonate with the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Instead of the chains continuing to drain Kushina's Chakra to restrain the beast, they began to work in reverse under the seal's influence. They started forcibly seizing the Nine-Tails' Chakra and funneling it steadily into Kushina's body.
Almost visibly, Kushina's complexion began to recover. As the Nine-Tails' Chakra entered her, it was quickly assimilated and converted into powerful life force, beginning to "plug" Kushina's "leaks."
She had no actual physical wounds. The reason her life was in peril was that the forceful breaking of her internal seal had created a massive "void." This void was causing the Chakra and life force that should have stayed in her body to bleed out, leading her rapidly toward death. It was only thanks to her incredibly resilient Uzumaki constitution that she had survived this long to see this turning point.
The Nine-Tails' massive Chakra, even with half of it cut away, was not to be underestimated, especially since what remained was the pure Yang Kurama, the half possessing the most potent life force and Chakra. This was exactly what Minato had calculated.
Kushina's fading life force began to surge back. Everything seemed to be heading toward a happy ending. A smile finally touched Minato's face. It worked...
But just then, the Nine-Tails, fueled by the utter humiliation of being re-sealed into Kushina, saw its vision turn blood-red.
No!!! I'm not going back in there!!!
It didn't know Minato was dying, it couldn't see the Reaper, after all, so it instinctively recalled its past... If it went back now, what kind of life would it have? Its sanity would be tortured to the point of total collapse!
This desperate will erupted in a sudden explosion of power. The Adamantine Sealing Chains that were funneling the Chakra to fill the invisible void in Kushina's body suddenly shattered all at once!
In that moment, the Nine-Tails broke free!
Panic and horror filled Minato's face. He wasn't afraid of the beast itself, but he was still maintaining the Reaper Death Seal, and his Chakra was almost completely spent. In this instant, he had no way to protect his wife and child.
Kushina, having her chains forcibly shattered, suffered a backlash. Her recovering physical state immediately began to regress toward a critical condition.
The Nine-Tails roared at the sky, its eyes filled with hatred as it swiped a massive claw toward Minato. Minato was physically restrained by the seal and couldn't dodge in time, a cruel irony for the man known as the Yellow Flash.
Kushina, paralyzed by the backlash, collapsed to the ground. She tried to stand to shield Minato, but her body wouldn't obey. It seemed that in the next heartbeat, Minato would be impaled by the beast's claw.
But in that exact moment, Kushina saw a figure appear behind Minato. The figure wore a haori and hakama, standing with his back to them, revealing an embroidery of a "descending tiger" on his back. A blade hung at his waist, and he even held an exquisite tobacco pipe in his hand.
Kushina had only met Diarmuid once, but that was enough.
"Diarmuid!?" she cried out.
Minato was equally shocked, struggling to turn his head to see the man behind him. Then, he witnessed a sight that shook him to his core.
The Nine-Tails' claw lunged forward, the sharpest and longest nail arriving inches from Diarmuid's face. Then, Diarmuid simply raised the pipe in his hand. With a precise yet casual motion, he tapped it against the sharp tip of the claw. The Nine-Tails' ferocious strike was actually stopped in its tracks.
Minato couldn't see clearly from his angle, but if he had looked closer, he would have realized Diarmuid wasn't using brute force. The pipe and the claw hadn't actually touched; there was a gap about the width of a finger between them. An invisible repulsive force, seemingly small yet incredibly potent, had blocked the strike.
"Who?" the Nine-Tails snarled, its eyes fixed on Diarmuid.
Diarmuid ignored it. A massive amount of black smoke suddenly billowed from beneath his feet, spreading across the ground. In an instant, it covered the area beneath the Nine-Tails. Then, as if dark energy and gravity had fused, the ground "pulled" downward. The Nine-Tails' colossal frame was sucked in by this invisible force, pinned ruthlessly to the ground. It roared and struggled, but could not move.
Only then did Diarmuid look behind Minato, his gaze filled with a mix of delight and curiosity. "So... is this the Reaper?"
He had some understanding of the Reaper thanks to Orochimaru and Black Zetsu, but he had never seen it. At this stage, Orochimaru hadn't learned the Reaper Death Seal yet; he would only seek it out much later to fix his arms after Hiruzen crippled them. Even if Orochimaru knew it, Diarmuid couldn't exactly ask him for a demonstration, as summoning the Reaper cost a life, and Orochimaru wasn't into that kind of "show" just yet.
Thus, Diarmuid had long heard of the Reaper, but this was his first true encounter. He even felt that the emotionless, demon-like specter noticed his gaze and was looking back at him?
Minato, initially shocked by Diarmuid's timely rescue, was now even more surprised. "You can see the Reaper too? Do you also know the Uzumaki clan's Reaper Death Seal?"
Diarmuid snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Minato. "Looks like your time is short, Minato."
Minato didn't seem to care, offering a small smile. "Life only has meaning because it is finite. The death I face now is the meaning I seek. To protect one's family is a glorious sacrifice, is it not?"
Life only has meaning because it is finite...
Hearing this, a light flickered in Diarmuid's eyes. To be honest, he hadn't pondered such philosophical questions regarding the meaning of life. But he couldn't deny the impact Minato's words had on him. In a way, he began to understand Imulia... Was it because her life was infinite that she felt the world had lost its meaning? Was that why she risked traveling across worlds, to find a new meaning that could sustain her eternal existence?
And what about his own future? Though he had gained eternal life, he wasn't yet bored of living, but Minato's words made him consider those far-off concerns.
"Well said. Truly worthy of Konoha's Fourth Hokage," Diarmuid smiled at Minato.
Perhaps it was because he was close to death that his senses were heightened, or perhaps for some other reason, but Minato felt no malice from this "outsider" Diarmuid.
"I've always been interested in the Reaper Death Seal. I've also trained in powers related to the soul, so I can see the specter..." Diarmuid explained briefly.
Then, Diarmuid ignored Minato and turned his gaze toward Kushina and Naruto. "Your wife is leaking... she's about to die."
Minato: ???
Kushina: ???
You call this 'leaking'?!
Minato didn't have the energy to critique this bastard's choice of words. Feeling his strength fading, he asked urgently, "Diarmuid-sama, can you save Kushina?"
"If I recall correctly, you've never called me 'sama' before..." Diarmuid smirked, looking at Minato with interest.
Since Minato was practically a dead man, he threw away his pride. "You're of the same generation as my Sensei, Jiraiya. It's only right I address you as 'sama'..."
"Hahahahaha! Enough. For that sentence alone, I'll help you once..." Diarmuid laughed and walked toward Kushina. He glanced at her and said, "In her current state, she can't handle a third Jinchuriki sealing. Even if you put the Nine-Tails back in, she'll die."
"Then what do we do?" Minato asked desperately.
Kushina spoke up directly, "I beg you, Senpai... after we are gone, please help us deliver our son to the Lord Third..."
"You're not dying," Diarmuid cut her off. He slammed his hand onto Kushina's stomach, pinning her back down onto the altar.
Minato: ???
Before he could speak, a massive surge of life force erupted from Diarmuid's hand. The moment it entered Kushina's body, it became incredibly gentle.
With one hand on Kushina and the other holding his pipe, Diarmuid took a puff and exhaled. "It's just a lack of life force and a constant 'leak.' I'll refill the tank and plug the hole. Simple."
Minato was stunned. He knew better than anyone how vast Kushina's life force was. A normal person couldn't even compare to her. Could it really be replenished that easily? Yet, looking at the life force in Diarmuid's hand that was so dense it was nearly physical, Minato felt that the man's logic was... strangely sound.