Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

The "little one" she spoke of was the Nine-Tails, the strongest of the tailed beasts. This seemingly casual title carried the weight of a woman's entire life.

A brief silence fell over the room.

Kushina Uzumaki stood not far away, her belly protruding high, her eyes red-rimmed, but her face full of determination.

Minato Namikaze, standing beside her, had golden hair that appeared somewhat dull in the dim light. He reached out and gently supported his wife's lower back.

"I'm ready, Grandma Mito."

Kushina sniffed, her voice loud and clear, "I will take your place and become the new vessel for the Nine-Tails."

Minato stepped forward and stood beside his wife, his azure eyes filled with an unyielding tenderness and resolve. "I will set up the most perfect Four Symbols Seal, and there will be no mistakes."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the young couple in front of him, his gaze lingering for a moment on their clasped hands.

That's a standard procedure, a perfect answer.

"Watergate,"

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke, breaking the somewhat somber atmosphere, "Have you thought of a name for the child?"

The sudden change of topic caught everyone present off guard.

Minato was a little confused, but he still subconsciously looked at Kushina, and the two smiled at each other.

"I've decided. Kushina named him. Regardless of gender, he'll be called... Naruto."

For a fleeting moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted slightly.

In his mind, fragments of memories from another world were like pebbles thrown into a lake: the Nine-Tailed Fox's rampage, the death of his parents, a lonely childhood...

But such tragedies will not happen in this world.

"Naruto...?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a gentle smile, a smile that reassured everyone present.

"Haha, that's a great name."

He stood up and paced back and forth a couple of times.

Everyone in the room was watching him.

Tobirama Senju leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his sharp red eyes gleaming with scrutiny, as if assessing his disciple's true intentions.

"I have an idea,"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped and looked around at everyone. His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears: "A... possibly a rather bold idea."

He paused, giving everyone time to process the information, before slowly dropping the bombshell.

"Why are we so fixated on sealing the entire Nine-Tails inside one person?"

Tsunade was the first to frown. As an authority in the medical field, she instinctively felt that this question was illogical: "Sensei, what do you mean? Tailed beasts are complete life forms, to divide them..."

"No."

Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted her abruptly, turning his gaze to another theoretical master present, "Teacher Tobirama, what do you think is the essence of the Tailed Beasts?"

Tobirama Senju's gaze shifted behind his glasses, and he said in a deep voice, "A high-density chakra aggregate with independent consciousness."

"That's right, a chakra aggregate."

Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped his fingers. "Since it's chakra, theoretically it can be divided. Just like how we split the water of a river into two canals."

He spread his hands, as if demonstrating a very simple truth.

"He split the Nine-Tails' chakra in two. One half was sealed inside Minato's body. He possesses the Flying Thunder God Technique, which is sufficient for him to control this power."

"The other half of the Nine-Tails was sealed into the soon-to-be-born Naruto. Well, it's just a power bank with huge potential."

This theory was groundbreaking.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Splitting a tailed beast in two? This is unprecedented in the history of the ninja world.

Minato and Kushina were completely stunned; their brains were unable to process this far-fetched information for a moment.

Tobirama Senju seemed to have a switch flipped, his red eyes shining with an astonishing brightness.

He began pacing in place, muttering to himself: "Splitting chakra consciousness...theoretically feasible...Yin-Yang Release...improvement of the Four Symbols Seal...the requirements for sealing techniques increase exponentially..."

Tsunade opened her mouth, as if to say something, but found that she couldn't find any theoretical basis to refute it.

From a life science perspective, this plan is even more humane than forcing a pregnant woman to endure the seal.

"Hahaha! Interesting! Really interesting!"

Hashirama Senju, his sorrow vanishing, slapped his thigh and stood up excitedly. "As expected of my disciple! This is a great idea! Let's do it! I'll personally teach that stinky fox a lesson and make it behave in its new home!"

He patted his chest and made a solemn promise, as if the Nine-Tailed Fox were just a disobedient pet.

With the First Hokage's endorsement, the atmosphere was instantly turned around.

Minato and Kushina exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and hope in each other's eyes.

In this era, the miracles created by Hiruzen Sarutobi have brought his prestige to an unprecedented peak.

The Hokage's decision is the right one, and since even the First and Second Hokage approve of it, it must be the best solution.

"We'll listen to the Hokage."

Minato took a deep breath and solemnly bowed to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Please, Hokage-sama!"

Kushina also bowed.

Tobirama, already impatient, pulled out a stack of blank drawings and pens from his robes, dragging Minato to a corner: "I've seen your Four Symbols Seal. The structure is too simple, not stable enough. To split the seal, you need a double-nested structure. Look here, the chakra flow must form a Möbius strip..."

Watching the two instantly switch into academic discussion mode, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a throbbing pain in his temples.

The way these tech geeks think is truly incomprehensible.

However, things finally started to go in the direction he wanted.