The storm clouds over Kumogakure were thick enough to hide the mountain peaks. The air tasted metallic, the way it always did. The moment Young Ay and Killer Bee shot into view, the village guards reacted on instinct, dropping into formation, assuming pursuit, an ambush or something.
But there was no army behind them.
Ay's cloak flickered around his shoulders, dim and unstable, as he sprinted up the path toward the Raikage building. Killer Bee ran at his side, already slipping back from a partial-tailed state to conserve what he had left. Behind them, Gyūki's tails still lingered where the Raikage was being stabilized.
Aya was sitting on the couch near the Raikage's office when she heard the shouting. Renga was making final adjustments to troop readiness... five thousand shinobi ready to mobilize at a moment's notice if their situation escalated beyond repair at Land of frost. They did not receive any new information from the battle front. Kaien sat cross-legged near the window, concentrating intensely on the paper strip in front of him, trying to replicate the fundamentals of a basic sealing array. He was three years old, though he was trying hard he was not faring well. His body is still not developed to perform sealing techniques.
He wanted to learn sealing arts. Kushina had denied him, firmly and repeatedly. That refusal only made him more obsessed.
The shout from outside made him look up instantly.
"AYA! Where are you!?"
Her brother never sounded panicked. Not even when an entire battalion collapsed because of a single miscalculated explosion tag mix. Not even when Bee did something catastrophically stupid. So when that voice cracked across the courtyard, Kaien and Aya were already rushing out to meet him. Renga followed after them.
Young Ay and Bee skidded to a stop just outside the office steps. Young Ay didn't waste a second.
"Aya," he rasped, "Fath—Raikage-sama is injured. Badly. We need to get him to Mother now. I'll explain once we're there."
Aya felt her pulse drop. Her father wasn't supposed to be injured. Not when he had gone to face two jinchūriki and ten thousand Iwa shinobi with Bee at his back.
Kaien didn't hesitate. He turned toward Renga.
"Uncle Renga, Teleport us to Genbu Island."
Aya snapped her head toward him. "Kaien, no—"
He lifted his arms toward her, waiting for her to pick him up.
"I'll go," he said with the kind of certainty. "Grandfather needs healing. Granny is the only one who can fix this. I want to be there."
She hated using lightning cloak on a three-year-old. Her control was pretty good. But this was not a normal situation. She activated her cloak, scooped him up, and braced herself.
Young Ay's cloak ignited again.
Bee partially shifted into a hybrid five-tails state, carrying a cocoon formed around the Third Raikage... Gyūki had wrapped him in it to stabilize him during transit. The cocoon pulsed faintly, dripping a thin, clear liquid that hissed when it hit the ground.
Renga pressed his palms together. "Heavenly Transport Technique!"
~~
Genbu Island
Kushina's scream tore out of her throat before she could stop it.
Benihime didn't slow down. She moved like someone who didn't believe in restraint, using her naginata like a staff, a whip, a blade... anything she needed it to be... striking Kushina in precise bursts that rattled bone and disrupted chakra flow. Each hit was measured, controlled, but brutal enough to keep Kushina from gathering the strength she needed to break free.
Kushina fought back anyway. She always did but just as she felt the chains of exhaustion giving her a gap, she felt something else... chakra signatures, tearing across the boundaries of her range.
Someone had arrived.
And not just one. Several. Strong. Very Strong.
Benihime felt it too; her eyes sharpened, and her next blow cracked the stone behind Kushina's shoulder.
"We're not doing this," Benihime muttered. "Not today."
She snapped her fingers. "Genbu. Hold her down."
The ground trembled. Then, from beneath Kushina, pale bone-like pillars erupted upward... flexible, alive, bending into place around her arms and legs with a grinding hum. Kushina spat chakra into her chains, letting the Nine-Tails flare for a heartbeat.
Three tails' worth of raw force burst from her. The bones didn't budge. They absorbed the chakra. It shall be the nourishment to the forest.
Benihime clicked her tongue. She didn't want her to know what was happening. "Genbu. Put her to sleep. Don't be gentle."
The island obeyed. A faint mist rose from the surrounding forest... pale green, thicker than fog, laced with something that made Kushina's vision blur and her pulse slow. Stronger than the sedatives used on Uchiha troops to stop them from awakening Mangekyou.
Kushina fought it but her head dropped by the time her next breath escaped her lips.
Benihime sank into the ground as if the earth swallowed her willingly.
A heartbeat later, she emerged elsewhere on the island... far from her prisoner, closer to the arriving chakra signatures. She surfaced from the soil without a speck of dirt on her skin.
Young Ay hit the ground first, knees buckling from the teleport nausea. Bee dropped to one knee, shaking off the dizziness. Aya stumbled forward, clutching Kaien to her chest as he blinked around with wide, disoriented eyes.
Benihime registered all of them instantly. She also registered the cocoon.
Bee is carrying him. She moved fast enough to leave a trench behind her.
"Take him out," she ordered sharply.
"Yes master," Bee nodded and carefully peeled open the layered mass of chakra and organic armor of Gyuki.
Clear liquid poured out, pooling on the stone. The Third Raikage's body slid free, steam rising from the burn patterns etched into his skin. His breathing was shallow. His eyes were closed. Jagged black scars streaked across his arms, chest, and throat, like lightning trapped beneath skin.
Benihime's jaw clenched with fury. She slapped her palm over his chest.
"Yang Release: Life Force Pause."
A warm golden glow spread under her hand, stabilizing him instantly. His breathing steadied, but didn't strengthen. The leaking flow of life energy slowed to a near-stop. But, It would be for too long. This was a temporary measure.
"He's been draining life force nonstop," Benihime said quietly, voice tight. "At least fifteen years gone. He'll still age normally from here, but the leak won't kill him for a while."
Young Ay's fists trembled. Aya exhaled shakily, still holding Kaien close. Bee looked grim.
Benihime had never seen her husband like this. The strongest man in Kumo. The man who had outlasted armies. Her equal in every battle they fought side by side.
"I want to know who did this," she said.
Bee didn't hesitate. "Konoha."
The word made Benihime's pacifier crack between her teeth.
Bee kept going, he didn't dare to rap in front of her. "They're using a jutsu… something like reanimation. They brought back the First and Second Hokage. They don't bleed. They heal instantly. Their bodies aren't normal. Sealing is the only counter. Even though they weren't at full power, they were unstoppable."
Benihime's nails dug into her palm.
Reanimation. Forbidden Jutsu.
~~
A/N: Ay met Bee half-way as he was returning to kumo.
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