"You are... The Collector!"
Kushina's heart suddenly tightened, her pupils dilating slightly in shock.
Before her eyes, the figure known as "The Collector," who had previously only existed in intelligence reports, had appeared so abruptly and without any warning.
It was as if he had torn open a corner of space, or as if his figure had solidified directly out of the void.
The way he appeared subverted Kushina's understanding of Space-Time Ninjutsu.
She subconsciously compared it to her husband Minato's signature "Flying Thunder God Technique."
Minato required a special Flying Thunder God kunai to serve as coordinates.
Even the masked man in black, who had brought endless nightmares on the night she gave birth to Naruto, had a bizarre space-time traversal accompanied by distorted spatial fluctuations.
However, Takuno... was completely different!
His appearance came without the slightest warning.
One moment, the spot was completely empty;
The next instant, his figure stood there clearly.
There was no spreading spatial ripple, no residual energy dissipation, and not even a trace of any Jutsu Formula activation.
It was all so silent it was hair-raising, as if he had belonged to that space all along and had simply switched from a state of "non-existence" to "existence."
This method of arrival, which transcended common sense, was more mysterious and unfathomable than any Space-Time Ninjutsu she knew.
"It is I," Takuno's voice said calmly, breaking the dead silence.
He looked at the lingering shock on Kushina's face, the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly.
"Since you know my identity, then... I presume there is no need for me to waste words explaining my purpose for coming?"
Kushina's heart sank.
Of course she knew!
Rumors about The Collector Takuno were no secret among the high-ranking officials of the major ninja villages.
This mysterious and powerful existence had an almost obsessive craving for Tailed Beast chakra.
After he had forcibly taken the Tailed Beast chakra from Iwagakure, Konoha had been on high alert and heavily guarded against his threat, but he had seemed to vanish into thin air.
The higher-ups had once speculated that perhaps during the Nine-Tails Riot, he had already secretly seized the Nine-Tails chakra samples he wanted, which was why there were no further actions, leaving Konoha with a false alarm.
To her surprise... he had come after all!
And he chose this most unexpected moment.
A massive pressure instantly seized Kushina's heart, so heavy it almost made it impossible for her to breathe.
The terrifying feat of the opponent single-handedly crushing Iwagakure weighed heavily on her mind.
With just her, it was absolutely impossible to be a match for the monster before her!
But, she was Kushina! She was the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails! She was the wife of the Fourth Hokage!
Surrender without a fight? Absolutely impossible!
"Hah!!!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the chakra within Kushina's body erupted!
Dazzling, thick, blood-like crimson chakra instantly surged out from her body; it was no longer a gentle shroud, but had transformed into a violent cloak of energy with physical destructive power!
This power was so surging and magnificent that at the moment of her eruption, the sturdy walls of the surrounding houses were sliced like they were hit by invisible giant blades; wood chips and rubble shot out in all directions like shrapnel, and dust filled the air!
In just a single breath, she had forcibly entered a semi-Tailed Beast state, with several demon fox tails composed of pure chakra dancing wildly behind her, emitting a heart-palpitating, ferocious aura!
She wasn't trying to engage in a doomed life-and-death struggle with Takuno at this moment.
She exerted all her strength to release this massive and unique Nine-Tails chakra for only one purpose: a signal!
This violent Nine-Tails aura soared into the sky and would inevitably set off stormy waves within Konoha's sensory network.
She wanted to use this flame of chakra tearing through the sky to send the most urgent distress signal to Minato!
Takuno stood quietly in place, allowing the violent chakra storm to sweep past him and ruffle the hem of his clothes.
He watched Kushina's actions with deep eyes, seemingly seeing through her intentions.
He didn't stop her, nor did he act immediately.
Kushina's tense nerves had just relaxed a fraction due to The Collector's momentary "pause" when a lethal sense of crisis drenched her entire body like ice water!
No warning, no afterimage.
Takuno's figure seemed to directly tear through the distance of space, standing abruptly before her.
That slender hand, which contained terrifying power, had already silently pressed onto her shoulder like a steel clamp; the icy sensation penetrated the Tailed Beast cloak and reached her very marrow.
"Ugh!"
Kushina's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints, her survival instincts driving her body, yet an unprecedented sense of weakness flooded over her.
The chakra in her body was like a completely frozen river; no matter how hard she tried to drive it, she couldn't even stir a single ripple.
Even more terrifyingly, the crimson Nine-Tails chakra wrapped around her body was now like a bursting flood, uncontrollably surging toward Takuno's palm!
The speed of the devouring was despairingly fast; she could clearly "hear" the wailing and draining of the Nine-Tails' power within her.
If this continued, it probably wouldn't even take half a cup of tea's time for the chakra of this half of the Nine-Tails to be completely drained!
"The Collector... he's actually... even stronger than the legends!"
An unbelievable thought exploded in the depths of Kushina's heart.
Just now, the moment she completed her semi-Tailed Beast transformation, she had felt some confidence.
With this power, even when facing her most trusted Minato, she was confident she could hold her own for a bit.
But reality had dealt her the heaviest blow.
She couldn't even begin to track the trajectory of Takuno's movements.
How did he cross space? And how did he completely subdue her in the instant before she could react?
Everything happened too fast, too bizarrely, completely subverting the boundaries of her understanding of power and dragging her into a bottomless abyss of fear.
At this moment, a sense of regret gripped her heart.
She almost ground her teeth to pieces; just a moment ago, she had actually sent a signal for help to Minato!
Yes, she loved Minato deeply and trusted his strength, but when she witnessed with her own eyes the almost god-like, demonic, and terrifying power displayed by The Collector in front of her...
That bit of trust was instantly crushed into powder, leaving only boundless despair.
"Don't come... Minato... I beg you, whatever you do, don't come!" she prayed frantically in her heart.
She even hoped that something sudden happening in Konoha right now would happen to trip up her husband's footsteps.
"One person dying is better than two people losing their lives together..."
She could only force herself to find comfort; according to past intelligence, The Collector seemed to only "collect" parts of Tailed Beast chakra as samples and would not completely strip the Jinchuriki of their life and the entire Tailed Beast.
In that case, she might... probably... still keep her life? As long as she could endure this time...
However, Kushina was completely unaware that the "past" she relied on was no longer true.
Takuno's purpose for this trip was precisely to seize the complete Nine-Tails for that mysterious Akatsuki!
Of course, he only needed this half sealed within her.
As for whether the Akatsuki knew the secret of the Nine-Tails being split into two? That was irrelevant.
Even if they realized it afterward, Takuno could use it as an excuse to brush it off.
Just at this critical moment, a golden flash tore through the spatial barrier and suddenly appeared by her side.
It was Minato, who had rushed to her aid after sensing his wife's signal of desperation!
As soon as Minato appeared, he didn't even have time to check Kushina's injuries; his battle instincts, etched into his very marrow, had already driven him to act.
Anxiety and fury burned in his azure eyes, and chakra compressed within his palm in a ten-thousandth of a second; a Rasengan emitting dazzling light and a high-frequency hum formed instantly!
Without the slightest hesitation, he directed this strike, which condensed his thunderous wrath and was accompanied by a scream that tore through the air, straight at the powerful enemy holding Kushina captive!
Minato knew well that his wife Kushina had a resilient personality; unless she encountered a lethal threat she couldn't resist alone, it was absolutely impossible for her to use the dangerous Nine-Tails power within her.
That sudden, highly directed eruption of violent Nine-Tails chakra was no different from a distress signal to his senses.
And as his wife, Kushina naturally always carried his Flying Thunder God kunai.
Therefore, the moment he captured that familiar and violent aura, he had activated the Flying Thunder God Technique without hesitation!
However, he was still a step too late, watching helplessly as Kushina had already fallen into the enemy's hands.
But was the name of the Yellow Flash just for show?
In the blink of an eye, Minato had transformed all his anger and worry into a precise strike.
The power and speed of this lightning-fast Rasengan ambush were such that even the powerful enemies with Six Paths Power in the Fourth Shinobi World War would find it extremely difficult to escape unscathed.
However...
A cold smile of complete control curled at the corner of Takuno's mouth.
He had not only predicted Minato's arrival, but even Kushina's "distress signal" of releasing Nine-Tails chakra was a result of his deliberate indulgence.
This was a trap he had meticulously set for the Yellow Flash!
Moreover, Takuno's body, modified by special secret techniques, had long since transcended the limits of mortality.
When he had directly inscribed the profound "Reaction Jutsu Formula" onto his bones, his neural transmission speed had climbed to a non-human realm, reaching a terrifying state of racing against time.
Therefore, the very instant Minato tore through space and appeared using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Takuno was not only prepared and waiting, But even in an unprepared, sudden encounter, his beyond-limit neural reactions would be enough for him to clearly capture spatial fluctuations and make the most fierce counterattack in the blink of an eye!
"Shinra Tensei!"
Deep within Takuno's left eye, the hidden Six-Tomoe Rinnegan suddenly lit up with an eerie purple glow!
An invisible and formless yet overwhelmingly powerful terrifying repulsive force instantly erupted!
Bang!
In a dull and shocking boom, Minato, who had been thrusting forward like a golden meteor just a moment ago, had his body suddenly frozen in mid-air!
The Rasengan containing destructive power didn't even touch the target in the slightest.
In the next instant, he was as if struck hard by an invisible giant hammer, and his entire person was violently blasted away by this unimaginable repulsive force at a terrifying speed far exceeding that of a cannonball, with no power to resist!
"Minato!!"
It was unknown where Kushina found the extra strength.
Her cry tore through the heavy air, carrying heart-wrenching worry.
In her field of vision, her husband Minato was violently sent flying by an overwhelmingly powerful force.
His body drew a hurried and wretched trajectory in the air, his speed so fast it was suffocating; he was about to crash into the building wall made of solid rock behind him.
The terrible sound of bones shattering seemed to already be playing in her ears.
At this critical moment, Minato reached into the tool pouch at his waist with speed beyond his limits.
A Flying Thunder God kunai inscribed with a special Jutsu Formula was precisely pulled out by him.
He didn't hesitate for a second, his wrist flicking with all his might!
However, the trajectory of this Kunai, which carried hope and tactics, was not aimed at Takuno.
At this moment, it was extremely difficult for Minato even to maintain stability for the throw, let alone precisely counterattack that powerful enemy.
The moment the Kunai left his hand, Minato himself was already inches away from that lethal stone wall!
Just as Kushina's pupils contracted sharply from fear and she was almost about to close her eyes, Whoosh!
Minato's figure vanished from that spot into thin air!
Flying Thunder God Technique!
The divine speed of Space-Time Ninjutsu saved him at this moment.
But Kushina's tense heartstrings didn't dare to relax in the slightest.
While the Flying Thunder God Technique could change his position, it couldn't eliminate that terrible inertial impact force.
Minato must have chosen a sufficiently open area to transfer to, in order to gain buffer time to dissipate that inertia.
And at this moment, Takuno seemed indifferent to Minato's whereabouts.
His gaze fell on Kushina, or more precisely, on her bosom.
Kushina felt the Flying Thunder God kunai in her bosom suddenly vibrate uncontrollably.
Following that, it actually floated up lightly from her bosom and fell directly into that hand with distinct knuckles.
In the next second, under Kushina's horrified gaze, that sturdy metal Kunai actually disintegrated silently in Takuno's palm!
It didn't break; instead, like a weathered sand sculpture, it instantly collapsed into countless tiny metal sand grains, rustling as they fell, leaving no trace.
"He... he knows about the Flying Thunder God kunai?!" This realization was like an ice pick stabbing into Kushina's mind, making her instantly cold all over.
An even more terrifying thought followed.
"Could it be... could it be that he was doing it before to... lure Minato to my side?!"
Thinking of this, Kushina's tense nerves actually relaxed a fraction in a bizarre way.
The destruction of the Kunai meant that Minato had lost the coordinates to instantly teleport back here.
Although the situation was still dangerous, at least... at least Minato wouldn't directly appear in the most dangerous place.
He should be safe for the time being...
The next moment, Her eyes suddenly widened to the limit!
Her brownish-red pupils reflected Takuno's actions, filled with unparalleled horror and disbelief.
She saw Takuno's hand, which had just annihilated the Flying Thunder God kunai, now covered with a layer of dark chakra; ignoring the Uzumaki Clan's powerful Sealing Jutsu, it directly penetrated the fabric and skin of her abdomen!
That hand didn't stop at the surface, but... reached into the pocket dimension inside her body constructed by the powerful seal.
The Nine-Tails Demon Fox's sealing space!
"Nine... Nine-Tails..."
At this moment, she finally understood.
What the opponent was targeting wasn't just a portion of the Nine-Tails' Chakra, but... the complete Nine-Tails within her!