Age Sixteen (continued)
The cellblock was at the bottom of the prison, deep underground.
The air was cold and damp. The walls dripped with moisture. The only light came from flickering lanterns that cast long, dancing shadows.
My father's cell was at the end of the corridor. I could see him through the bars—a hunched figure in tattered clothes, his red hair matted with blood, his hands bound in sealing cuffs.
"Father," I said.
He looked up. His eyes—his Mangekyo eyes—were clouded, almost white. He was nearly blind.
"Ren?" His voice was a rasp. "Is that really you?"
"It's me. I've come to get you out."
"You shouldn't have come. It's a trap."
"I know."
"The jinchuriki—she's waiting for you. She knew you would come."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
I shattered the cell door with my chains and knelt beside him.
"Because you're my father. And I'm not leaving you here to die."
He stared at me with his clouded eyes. For a moment, I saw the man he used to be—the one who had held me on the roof, who had taught me to throw shuriken, who had loved my mother.
"I'm sorry," he said. "For everything."
"We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to go."
I helped him to his feet. He was lighter than I remembered, his body wasted from months of torture.
"Ren," he said. "There's something you need to know."
"What?"
"The jinchuriki. She's not the real threat. Kiri has something else. Something worse. A weapon they've been developing for years."
"What kind of weapon?"
"A bomb. A sealing bomb. It can destroy an entire village in an instant. They're planning to use it on Konoha."
My blood ran cold. "When?"
"Soon. I don't know exactly when. But soon."
"We need to warn them."
"Yes." He grabbed my arm. "But first, we need to get out of here."
---
We ran.
Tsunade was waiting at the corridor junction, her hands glowing green, her face pale.
"Is that him?"
"Yes. We need to go. Now."
We sprinted through the prison, up the stairs, past the cells and the guard rooms. The alarms were blaring. Guards were shouting. I could hear the jinchuriki's chakra building below us—she was breaking free of her restraints.
"Faster!" I shouted.
We burst through the main gate. Kushina was waiting outside, her chakra still blazing, her face streaked with soot.
"Go!" she shouted.
We ran for the cliff. The sea was below us—our boat was hidden in a cove a mile down the coast.
"Jump!" I shouted.
We jumped.
The water was cold and dark. I surfaced, gasping, and looked back at the prison. The jinchuriki was standing on the cliff, her purple chakra blazing like a second sun. She raised her hand.
A tailed beast bomb shot toward us.
I activated my Mangekyo and rewrote the consequence. The bomb veered left, struck the cliff, and exploded. The prison collapsed into the sea.
"Go!" I screamed.
We swam.