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On the western flank, the battlefield thundered with a different rhythm. Kushina, wrapped in the crimson cloak of the Nine-Tails' chakra, her two tails lashing like whips, clashed with Killer Bee's steady flow.
Her chains erupted from the ground in bursts of golden light, forcing Bee to twist away, blades flashing as he slashed through one before another whipped toward him. His mind hummed with rhythm, but his thoughts were sharp.
She's raw. Powerful. But her control's sloppy. Those chains… they drain her. She can't hold that cloak steady while using them.
Kushina snarled, her voice carrying across the field. "Why does the Eight-Tails' host fight so… cleanly? As if it's a dance! You mock me?!"
Bee grunted as a chain grazed his arm, sizzling against his cloak of chakra. "Nah, girl, ain't mockin'. Just livin', just flowin'. But you—" he ducked as another chain slammed down, gouging the earth—"you're fightin' the fox more than me."
Kushina's fury deepened, her cloak flaring, her hair lifting as if caught in a storm. She lunged, chains whipping like serpents. Bee blocked, dodged, countered with a chakra-empowered strike that rattled her ribs through the cloak.
The battlefield shifted subtly, each exchange carrying them further from the center, further from Minato's flank. Step by step, clash by clash, Bee maneuvered her away, careful not to reveal his intent too clearly.
Inside, Bee's thoughts were grim. The Yellow Flash… he's too sharp, too calm. Tricking him head-on is suicide. But her? She's reckless. Burnin' too hot. If I drag her far enough, she's mine.
Kushina's breath came heavier, the chains flickering weaker between bursts. She felt it—her body straining, her chakra bleeding too fast. But pride refused to let her relent. She would not fail again, not to another jinchuriki.
Her eyes burned red as she launched herself at Bee once more, the chains spiraling outward in a desperate attempt to bind him fully.
Bee's eyes narrowed. Now's my moment.
--
Around them, shinobi clashed in violent waves. Konoha's traps slowed Kumo but could not halt them entirely. Explosions lit the ridges, screams mixed with war cries, steel met steel.
But the heart of the battle was clear: Ay hammering Minato with unrelenting speed while Dodai stripped him of his advantage, and Bee pulling Kushina into isolation where her chakra would burn itself out. Konoha's leaders were being separated. Their greatest weapons were being neutralized.
--
Hiruzen pushed his unit hard, every stride fueled by the gnawing weight in his chest. Twenty kilometers was nothing for a shinobi of his caliber, but in war, distance could stretch into disaster if even a single hour was lost. Reports of Kumo's movements had reached him, and he knew the clash was inevitable.
Every heartbeat that passed while he was still on the road meant his comrades at the Konoha base were holding the line without him. His mind raced with possibilities—an ambush, a breakthrough, the camp already aflame—but he shoved them aside. Hesitation was death. The only thing that mattered was closing the distance and standing where he was needed most.
--
The forest shook with every strike. Kushina's chains tore up the ground, wrapping trees, gouging trenches. Bee slipped between them, his swords flashing in rhythm, his movements deceptively relaxed. To an outsider, it might have looked like a duel between equals, but Bee knew better.
He could see it in her eyes, the red glow of the Nine-Tails burning hotter. Every insult, every failed attempt to bind him, every graze of his counterattacks—it was piling up, feeding the fox's rage inside her. She wasn't just fighting him. She was fighting herself.
Kushina snarled, her breath ragged. "Stand still, you damn clown! Face me properly!"
Bee's lips curved into a smirk, though his eyes flickered serious. She's close. Too close. Another few exchanges and she'll stop thinking, stop listening. That's when it has to happen.
He flicked his wrist, and a scroll slipped into his palm. Renga's earlier words echoed in his head: Keep it hidden until the exact moment. Don't risk it too early.
Bee unrolled the parchment in a swift, practiced motion. Black seals shimmered across the surface, pulsing with ominous chakra. The forest's air grew heavy.
Kushina froze, her chains pausing mid-lash, her crimson eyes narrowing. "What is that?"
Bee's voice dropped, his usual rap-like cadence replaced with deliberate cruelty. "You know what this is, girl. A mirror for monsters. A coffin for failures. And that's all you are. A failure of a jinchūriki. You can't control your fox, you can't chain your rage. You're the reason Konoha will lose."
He tilted his head, mocking. "Tomato-haired brat. Kushina Uzumaki"
The words struck harder than his blades ever could. Rage flooded her veins. Memories of years of whispers, taunts, being called tomato in her academy days, the shame of losing control in her first battles, the disappointment after her last clash with Bee—it all burned together.
"I am not a failure! I am not weak! I am Kushina Uzuma—"
She didn't finish.
The scroll flared open, the symbols twisting, and the Kohaku no Jōhei materialized in a burst of smoke and black chains. Its mouth gaped wide, its sealing chakra pulling at her like a whirlpool.
Kushina's body bent unnaturally, dragged mid-sentence toward the artifact. Her cloak flared in panic, chains lashing in all directions, but the pull was absolute.
Her eyes widened in shock, the realization too late. "No—!"
The last syllable of her name sealed the command. Her body was yanked inside, her chains vanishing with a snap of golden light.
Bee slammed the lid shut.
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