Pakura's hand flew to her sword hilt.
"Not from around here?!"
Her exclamation snapped everyone to attention. They had all been briefed by Yuto back in the Land of Waves about the Ōtsutsuki—space-faring aliens who treated the planet like their personal compost heap.
Most of the Espada were out scouting for precisely this kind of threat.
And now this… thing sitting before them might be connected.
"Relax," Yuto said, reading the alarm on her face. "The chakra is strange, but it's not from the God Tree."
"Uh, doesn't that make it weirder?" Kushina blurted out, eyes wide. "I thought all chakra came from the God tree. That's, like, Day One stuff."
And it was. The God Tree was the source, the start of the chakra river. This thing was like a creek that had sprung from the ground on its own, completely disconnected from that river. It defied logic.
"That's the interesting part," Yuto replied, a curious glint in his eye. "It's pure chakra, but on a completely different wavelength. Like it's running on a different operating system."
Mikoto leaned in. "Like spiritual energy?"
"No, spiritual energy is its own thing. This is still chakra," Yuto clarified. "The same fundamental essence, but with a totally different makeup."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, the lenses flashing.
"So, could an external source have fundamentally altered its structure?"
"Possibly," Yuto mused, tapping his chin.
"Alright, enough science talk," Kushina declared, her hand gripping her zanpakutō hilt. "Let's just cut it open and see what's inside! My curiosity is killing me."
"Put the sword away; we're not performing surgery," Yuto said, waving her off. "I'm fairly certain it's a door."
A beat of confused silence filled the room.
"…A door?" someone finally asked.
"A door to what?"
Yuto simply spread his hands.
"The chakra is screaming space-time jutsu. It's a passage."
"Whoa, hang on!" Kushina squinted at the dark sphere. "I think… I think there's someone in there!"
"She's right, it's a girl" Mikoto confirmed, peering closer with her Sharingan. A faint, human face—a woman's—was visible behind a murky, black film.
"I think she's trying to talk to us," Pakura said, frowning as she moved right up to the surface.
"She's trapped! We have to get her out!" Never one for patience, Kushina's blade was already free of its sheath in a flash of steel.
"No, wait!" Pakura cried, finally making out the muffled words. "I think she's saying 'don't—'"
SHHHINK.
Too late. Kushina's blade traced a clean, swift line through the sphere. Immediately, a wave of inky, black chakra mist poured from the gash.
"My, my," Kabuto remarked, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Leave it to the first Espada. Our best technology couldn't scratch it, and you just… slice it open."
"What can I say?" Kushina grinned, resting the blade on her shoulder. "I'm just that good."
"Is this really the time for gloating?!" Pakura's eye twitched in frustration at the woman's smug expression. "She said not to open it! Why are you so impulsive?!"
"Her audio was lagging! My swing was already committed by the time you yelled," Kushina retorted, then pointed an accusatory finger. "Actually, your warning was late. So technically, this is your fault."
"My fault?!"
"Don't sweat it, Pakura-chan! I forgive you!"
"You—!" Pakura looked ready to strangle her, if only she thought she could win the fight.
A weak cough from the floor cut their argument short.
A young woman with long, dark hair lay collapsed on the ground, wreathed in fading black mist.
"Hey there," Kushina said, her tone softening as she reached out. "You okay? What happened?"
The girl's head snapped up, revealing pale, pupil-less eyes.
"Huh?" Kushina leaned back, surprised. "A Hyūga?"
"You… you're Lady Kushina?" the girl whispered, her voice dazed and full of disbelief.
"You know me?"
"You're the Fourth Hokage's wife? Pretty much everyone in Konoha knows you," Pakura remarked, a hint of sarcastic bite in her tone.
"She's a kid, Pakura," Kushina said, ignoring the jab. "She can't be much older than Hinata."
At the mention of the name, the girl flinched.
"Perhaps you could tell us what happened?" Kabuto stepped forward, his smile gentle and professional. "How did you end up in there?"
The girl's eyes widened further.
"Director Kabuto?"
Kabuto's smile tightened almost imperceptibly. "Director?"
"Since when are you a director?" Pakura asked, turning to him. "Of what?"
"The orphanage, I'd imagine," Yuto said calmly, cutting through the confusion. His voice was quiet but firm. "You're safe now, Miss Hanabi. You can lower your guard."
"Hanabi?" Kushina's head whipped around.
"Hyūga Hanabi? But she's just a little girl… oh. Oh." Understanding dawned on her face. "Is it another world?" She shot a questioning look at Yuto, who gave a slight, confirming nod.
"Well, this just got a whole lot more interesting," Kushina breathed, turning her full attention back to the shaken girl. "How'd you get here? I thought the Dragon Vein was sealed shut."
"I… I…" Hanabi stammered, looking wildly between the faces of the legendary—and in some cases, should-be-dead—shinobi surrounding her. Director Kabuto? Lady Kushina? Pakura? This was all wrong. It had to be a trap, a genjutsu she couldn't break.
A sudden, violent feeling of dread erupted from her chest.
"No—!" she gasped, the words tearing out of her. "It's not safe! You have to run! They're coming!"
Even if this was a nightmare, she couldn't let them get hurt.
"What's coming?" Kushina asked, leaning in.
The answer came not in words but in action.
The air itself tore open with a sound like ripping metal.
A monstrous, purplish-black claw, large enough to crush them all, shot out of the newly formed rift, aiming to smash them into paste.
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