Many months had passed since the day Danzō was exposed. Under the leadership of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, the Leaf Village gradually found its peace again. The relationship with the Uchiha clan, though still scarred, had significantly improved. Fugaku had kept his word, and Minato had also taken the first steps to restore the trust and status they deserved.
But for Kenji, the war had never ended. He was now "Ryū" (Dragon)—the codename for the special and sole Anbu who reported only to the Hokage. He was Minato's dagger in the dark, carrying out missions no one could ever know about.
His most important mission: to hunt down the mysterious masked man, the one he and Minato believed was connected to the Nine-Tails' attack in the past and was a potential threat even greater than Danzō.
And tonight, that threat became more real than ever.
The night Kushina gave birth to Naruto. The night of the full moon. The night the Nine-Tails' seal was at its weakest.
Minato had prepared for this. A secret base, protected by dozens of layers of barriers. Bi, Killer B's mother and an experienced Jinchuriki, along with the best medical-nin, were present to assist. The Third Hokage's wife, Biwako, was delivering the baby herself.
And on the outermost perimeter was an invisible layer of protection that no one knew about. Kenji and his fifty Shadow Clones had formed a surveillance network covering the entire area. He was the final, secret line of defense.
"Be vigilant for any abnormality, no matter how small," Minato had instructed him before going inside. "Our enemy possesses space-time abilities. He could appear anywhere."
Inside the barrier, Kushina's pained screams echoed. Kenji, despite being outside, could feel the Nine-Tails' chakra becoming chaotic.
And then, he felt it. A slight distortion in space. It wasn't a normal teleportation jutsu. It was as if space itself was twisting and opening.
Instantly, a man wearing an orange, spiral mask appeared right inside the barrier, bypassing all of the Anbu's defensive layers. He had slaughtered all the guards within, ruthlessly and quickly.
Kenji didn't hesitate. He ordered his clones to maintain their surveillance positions outside, while his real body charged straight into the danger zone. He was the final barrier between the stranger and the Hokage's family.
"Who are you?" Kenji growled, blocking the entrance to the room where Kushina was giving birth.
The masked man tilted his head. "You don't need to know. Step aside, if you want to live."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Kenji said, and immediately created ten Shadow Clones, surrounding the enemy.
The fight erupted. The masked man moved strangely. Every attack from Kenji and his clones passed right through his body as if he were a ghost.
"It's useless," the man said, and in the blink of an eye, he had grabbed the arm of a clone. "My power is beyond your comprehension."
But Kenji was no ordinary shinobi. He wasn't attacking to land a hit. He was attacking to gather information.
He has to materialize to attack, Kenji realized. And there seems to be a time limit for maintaining his intangible state.
Kenji changed his tactics. He ordered his clones to attack relentlessly, without pause, from all sides. A torrential wave of attacks, forcing the masked man to constantly switch between his two states.
It was an intense battle of wits. Kenji was trying to find an opening, a moment—even for a millisecond—when his enemy was tangible.
But the masked man was too powerful. He seemed to know everything in advance. He exploited a moment when Kenji was focused on controlling his clones, and teleported.
He vanished from before Kenji and appeared right inside the delivery room.
The horrified screams of Biwako and the medical-nin rang out, then fell silent.
The door to the room burst open. The masked man walked out, holding a crying newborn baby in his arms.
Uzumaki Naruto.
"Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato," the man said loudly, as if speaking to the air. "Come out of that place and step away from the Jinchuriki. Otherwise, your newborn son will die instantly."
Kenji was frozen in horror. He had failed. He had been unable to stop him.
A moment later, a yellow flash streaked through the air. Minato appeared, having rescued Naruto from the enemy's grasp, but he had been forced to leave Kushina's side.
That was exactly what the masked man wanted.
He rushed towards Kushina, his Sharingan blazing from behind the mask. "Now, Nine-Tails... come out!"
A roar tore the heavens asunder. The legendary beast had been freed.
Kenji watched the giant Nine-Tails appear, looked at the village in the distance, and saw his commander facing an unimaginable catastrophe. He knew that tonight, the history of the Leaf Village would be rewritten in blood. And his mission, now, was to survive and fight to protect the legacy of the hero who was preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice.