Of course, all that talk about going to block Old Man Madara's door was just Uchiha Kei venting his annoyance—he wouldn't actually do it. Knowing about Uchiha Madara's existence was one of his trump cards. In a way, revealing that Madara was still hiding in the shadows turned him into someone more exposed.
Even if Kei wanted to confront Madara, it wasn't just a matter of whether he could win. The bigger problem was that he didn't even know exactly where Madara was hiding. The original work only gave vague hints, and even in his previous life, fan speculation online pointed to multiple possible locations.
To locate Madara, one would need to send out a huge number of people. If Madara was still within the Land of Fire, that was one thing. But if he was outside, a large-scale search would draw the attention of other nations. With the Third Great Ninja War about to break out, everyone was on edge. A massive mobilization from the Hidden Leaf would almost certainly become the spark that ignited the war.
So even if Kei wanted to move against Madara, there were too many risks. He could only act with a small team. And even though Madara was a shinobi with one foot in the grave, his strength couldn't be underestimated. Classic problem: too few people, too hard to win; too many, too easy to expose.
Basically, if Kei made a reckless move, he'd just be playing into the enemy's hands.
As someone who had seen the classic film "Crossing the Red Water Four Times" in his past corporate drone life, Kei deeply agreed with the Chairman's famous saying: Never dance to your enemy's rhythm. You must hold your own tempo and lead the enemy to follow it.
Thinking along those lines, Kei considered another possibility and immediately messaged Minato Namikaze on WeChat.
\[Kei: Minato, you left a Flying Thunder God mark on Obito, right?]
\[Minato: Yes. I left marks on all three of my students. While it's not ideal to mark comrades, after the Hidden Mist ambush incident, I insisted for their protection—and they agreed.]
Minato smiled faintly as he sent that message.
With his mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique, a mark would last for years unless purposefully removed. In the original series, the mark he left on Obito during the Nine-Tails attack still worked seventeen years later during the Fourth Great Ninja War when Edo Tensei Minato suddenly teleported in for a sneak attack.
However, Minato had always been uncomfortable leaving marks on his comrades. It felt like a violation of privacy and trust.
In the world of shinobi, privacy was vital—it was tied to the protection of personal intel. A jutsu like Flying Thunder God was essentially a breach of all that. So normally, even if he needed to teleport to someone, he'd hand them a marked kunai instead of tagging them directly.
While his three students would've been fine with it, everyone knew what Minato was like. He wouldn't make a unilateral decision like that.
The only reason he had done it now was because Kei had asked him to. Kei knew Madara and Black Zetsu were watching Obito. In the original story, they used Rin and Kakashi to push Obito over the edge. So Kei asked Minato to mark all three students with his Flying Thunder God mark.
Minato was reluctant, but under Kei's persuasion—and a very pointed line like, "You don't want to just watch your students die, do you?"—he agreed.
More than anything, Minato trusted Kei. He believed that if Kei was insisting this much, there had to be a reason.
Without asking too many questions, Minato gathered his students and explained the situation. He clearly stated the marks were meant for their protection.
None of the three had any objections. Rin and Obito were even happy about it. With their simple, innocent minds, they just saw it as their sensei caring about them.
Kakashi, though more thoughtful, also trusted Minato. And after the Mist ambush they barely survived, he knew how dangerous things were. Without Minato's strength, the team might not have made it out.
So the prematurely mature white-haired teen also agreed.
Their reactions touched Minato deeply. That trust—they had absolute faith in him.
That's why Minato silently vowed: he would never let them down.
Back to the present, Minato was anxious. He wanted to rush off to rescue Obito immediately.
But Kei urged him to stay calm. If Obito really had been taken by Tobi (White Zetsu in disguise), then trying to rescue him unprepared might lead to a battle so large, even the Hokage could fall.
His words carried immense weight, and Minato was visibly shaken.
But he didn't question it. Kei had never been wrong. He had access to unique intelligence, better even than Jiraiya—who prided himself on being a master of information gathering.
That said, letting Obito be taken wasn't ideal either. Kei directly reached out to the Nine-Tails, who quickly picked up on his meaning and gave a cold tsundere snort.
Kei then told Minato to find Kushina Uzumaki and enter the mindscape to try connecting with the Nine-Tails—and obtain its chakra.
Minato hesitated. "Uh... Do you think the Nine-Tails will help us?"
Kei didn't answer directly. "Minato, do you still think the Nine-Tails is just a beast?"
Minato instantly understood. Without another word, he teleported home via Flying Thunder God.
He quickly explained the situation to Kushina. She sat on the bed, allowing Minato to place a hand on her stomach.
The next moment, both of them entered the seal space.
Upon seeing them, the Nine-Tails snorted, "Minato. Even now, Kushina hasn't managed to open her heart to me. Do you really think you can?"
Minato smiled brightly. "Yes. Because I believe in my friend, and I believe in you—someone he believes in."
The Nine-Tails was silent for a moment before smirking and raising its right paw into a fist.
"If you're not afraid of dying, then bring your fist over and open your heart. If you fail, my cursed chakra will devour you."
Kushina grew worried. "Minato…"
He smiled gently. "It's fine, Kushina. Just like I said, I trust Kei, and I trust the Nine-Tails he trusts."
He raised his fist and bumped it against the Nine-Tails' paw.
In that moment, both man and beast widened their eyes slightly. They had connected. Their memories flowed together. In that instant, they completely let down their guard—true, absolute trust.
The Nine-Tails laughed. Minato laughed too.
They had not let down Kei's hopes. And they had not betrayed each other's trust.
The next second, pure chakra flowed into Minato's body.
Golden flames erupted around him. His body turned golden, adorned with tomoe and sage markings. He had entered the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode—just like Naruto did in the future.
Minato was stunned. Kushina was speechless.
"Golden? What is this? Wait—is this the golden mode Kei mentioned before?"
The Nine-Tails snorted proudly. "This is how my chakra is supposed to look. Kushina, you're pathetic. Even now, you can't open your heart to me. You still resist me. You're far from true inner peace."
"Compared to you, your boyfriend is way better. He can face his own darkness and open his heart completely. He's far stronger than you."
"Now I get why Kei once said that if Minato were my jinchūriki, I'd have been free ages ago. Even without meeting Kei, I'd gladly open my heart to someone like Minato."
Kushina didn't know whether to be mad or proud. The Nine-Tails insulted her—but also praised the man she loved. She ended up pouting.
Minato quickly showered her with compliments. No way was he letting her feel upstaged.
Classic husband behavior.
Kushina blushed under the Nine-Tails' watchful eyes. Embarrassed, she dragged Minato out of the seal space.
The Nine-Tails snorted again and went back to playing its ancient board game.
Sure, a lot was going on. But as the self-proclaimed strongest Tailed Beast, the Nine-Tails wasn't worried. Its senses were always active. Kei would be fine.
And outside—the golden-mode Minato, years ahead of schedule, was ready.
Before the ANBU guarding Kushina could even respond to the surge of chakra, Minato vanished using Flying Thunder God.
Previously, Minato had been limited by his chakra. But now, with the Nine-Tails' power, his energy pool had expanded tremendously. For someone like Minato—already a chakra control master—it was like trading a kiddie pool for a small lake.
If there was any issue, it was that the physical boost from the golden mode made him slightly clumsy. Just like how Naruto struggled to control the power at first.
But this was Minato. He adapted quickly. Even while teleporting, he was adjusting to the power and checking messages on WeChat.
Though he was too far from the village to get a signal, he could still read cached messages.
Kei's final message to him was:
\[Kei: If you can save Obito, do it. But if not, fall back. We'll find another way. Your safety comes first.]
Minato smiled at the words.
That was his dear friend, worrying about him. And because of that, his resolve was firmer than ever.
As a teacher, giving everything to save a student was the essence of the Will of Fire.
And now, with his newfound power, he knew—he could save Obito.
Meanwhile, back in the Hidden Leaf, Kei could only sigh.
He hadn't expected it to work. He just told Minato to try talking to the Nine-Tails. But those two really pulled it off.
Maybe it was because they trusted him too much.
Or maybe Minato really was the destined protagonist, blessed with plot armor as thick as ever.
A guy who reconciled with the Nine-Tails *inside the Reaper's belly*, and came out swinging with full Nine-Tails Mode? Once you gave Minato a chance, his hacks really were unbeatable.