Chapter 68: The Custody Battle
The morning sun filtered through the shattered windows of the Hokage’s office, but it did nothing to cut the suffocating tension in the room. The air still smelled heavily of ash and burnt pine, a grim reminder of the Nine-Tails’ rampage the night before.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat heavily behind his desk, still wearing his soot-stained battle armor. A massive, pulsing headache throbbed behind his temples. Minato was dead. The village was in ruins. And the political vultures were already circling.
Standing before his desk were the three village elders: Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado.
"Minato’s final wish is a sentimental luxury we cannot afford," Danzo stated, his single visible eye cold and uncompromising. "The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki is Konoha’s ultimate deterrent. The child must be secured immediately. Hiruzen, place him into Root custody for prioritized conditioning."
Koharu nodded slowly, adjusting her glasses. "Danzo is right, Hiruzen. The other Hidden Villages will test our borders the moment they confirm the Fourth is gone. We need that power stabilized and controlled."
"He is a newborn baby," Hiruzen snapped, his voice rough from inhaling smoke. He took a slow drag from his pipe, glaring at his old teammates. "My successor gave his life to seal that beast away so the boy could have a future, not so he could become a weaponized puppet in your underground cages, Danzo."
Danzo didn’t flinch. He leaned heavily on his cane. "His future is as a weapon. Either we control him, or we are all at risk. The Uchiha cannot be trusted, and the boy is vulnerable."
CRASH.
The heavy oak doors to the Hokage’s office didn’t just swing open—they were violently kicked off their hinges, splintering into the stone walls.
The Konoha elders jumped, spinning around in shock.
Tsunade Senju stormed into the office, radiating a golden, murderous chakra that made the air in the room physically heavy. Her amber eyes were blazing with absolute fury.
Walking calmly right behind her was Nawaki Senju, wearing the standard flak jacket of a Konoha Jonin.
"If any of you mummies lay a single finger on that baby," Tsunade snarled, stepping right up to Danzo, "I will personally shatter your skulls and scatter the pieces across the village."
Danzo’s eye narrowed. "Tsunade. This is a high-level meeting. This matter is not of your concern."
"I don’t care," Tsunade shot back, slamming her fist onto Hiruzen’s desk with enough force to crack the polished wood. "Mito Uzumaki was my grandmother. Kushina is family. The Senju are taking custody of the Jinchūriki."
Homura frowned. "Tsunade, this is a village matter, not a clan dispute."
Nawaki stepped forward, crossing his arms. "It is a family matter, Elder Homura. The Senju compound is secure. We will protect Minato’s son. Root will not have him."
Before Danzo could argue, a new voice echoed from the ruined doorway.
"Neither will the Senju."
The room went dead silent.
Kushina Uzumaki stepped into the office. She was holding a sleeping baby Naruto tightly to her chest. Her violet eyes were heavily swollen from a night of endless tears.
But physically, she was flawless.
Koharu gasped, taking a step back. Homura’s jaw dropped. A Jinchūriki whose Tailed Beast had been extracted was supposed to die. Yet Kushina stood before them, her vibrant red hair fanned out behind her, fueled by a roaring Uzumaki chakra. The fatal extraction wound was completely gone.
"Kushina..." Hiruzen breathed, standing up from his desk.
Kushina ignored the Hokage. She walked past Tsunade and Nawaki, marching straight up to Danzo.
"I heard you, Danzo," Kushina growled, her voice a low, lethal hum. "You want to lock my son in a cage."
Danzo’s face hardened into a cold, dismissive sneer. "You survived, which is a miracle. But you are emotionally compromised. Your kid is the Jinchūriki. Before being your son, he is the weapon of the village. Hand over the weapon, Kushina. The village’s security supersedes a widow’s grief."
The air in the office violently snapped.
Before anyone could even blink, a blinding flash of golden light erupted from Kushina’s back.
CRACK!
Four thick, glowing Adamantine Sealing Chains shot across the room like lightning. They slammed into Danzo’s chest and limbs with the force of a battering ram, launching the old warmonger backward. He hit the stone wall so hard the masonry spider-webbed, his feet dangling six inches off the floor as the chains pinned him completely in place.
The razor-sharp, vibrating tip of a fifth chain stopped exactly half an inch from Danzo’s throat.
Danzo went deathly pale, his single eye widening in sheer, unadulterated terror. He could feel the suffocating heat of the chain against his skin, realizing he was a fraction of a second away from being decapitated. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead, his bravado entirely evaporating as he came face-to-face with an Uzumaki matriarch pushed to the brink.
"Kushina!" Homura shouted, his voice cracking in shock. "You dare rebel?! How dare you attack a Konoha elder!"
"Speak one more word, you old toad," Tsunade snarled, stepping right into Homura’s personal space, her fists glowing with chakra, "and I will show you what a real rebellion looks like."
Koharu backed up against the wall, utterly terrified by the sheer violence radiating from the two women.
"Enough!"
Hiruzen’s voice echoed through the room like thunder, backed by the heavy, suffocating pressure of his Hokage-level chakra. The sheer force of his presence forced the tension in the room to break.
Hiruzen let out a long, ragged exhale. The commanding aura faded, leaving him looking like nothing more than an exhausted, grieving old man. He looked at Kushina, offering her a deeply apologetic and gentle smile.
"You have every right to raise your son in peace, Kushina," Hiruzen said softly, ignoring Danzo entirely. "The village will not force you into ANBU custody. You are free to find a home and live on your own terms."
Kushina glared at Danzo for another long second before the golden chains dissolved into sparks of light. Danzo collapsed onto the floor in a heap, gasping for air and clutching his chest.
"You will continue to receive the Hokage’s pension," Hiruzen added, sitting back down. "And you are permanently excused from active shinobi missions. You won’t have to work. Just focus on raising Naruto."
Kushina let out a slow, shaky breath, her defensive posture relaxing just a fraction. She adjusted the sleeping baby in her arms and offered Hiruzen a shallow nod of respect.
Without another word, Kushina turned on her heel and walked out of the office. Tsunade cast one last, venomous glare at Danzo and the elders before following her out, with Nawaki silently closing the door behind them.
As the room fell quiet, the remaining elders scrambled to regain their composure.
"Hiruzen!" Homura yelled, dusting off his robes. "Your student is so reckless! She does not know how to respect her elders! You just let them walk all over this office!"
"And you just handed the Nine-Tails to an unstable woman!" Danzo clamored, struggling to his feet and leaning heavily on his cane, his pride severely wounded. "Mark my words, Hiruzen, leaving that beast unguarded is a fatal mistake!"
"You are too extreme, Danzo," Hiruzen corrected coldly, turning his attention to the massive stack of reconstruction paperwork on his desk. He didn’t even look up at them. "Let her be. Don’t try anything foolish behind my back. Otherwise, that adamantine chain won’t pause next time."
Enjoying the story? 🔥
You can find advanced Chapters, image references, bonus scenes, polls, and extra updates on my Patreon:
👉 https://www.patreon.com/LewdScribe
Thanks for reading and supporting the journey! ❤️
Comments