Bridge of Heaven and Earth
"Give me back my family!"
With a heart-wrenching roar, Kushina Uzumaki unleashed a surge of red chakra that swiftly took the form of a fox.
The ominous Nine-Tails chakra surged wildly above the forest, saturating the air with a foreboding and forbidden aura. A suffocating pressure radiated outward from Kushina, whose crimson, fox-shaped chakra began to manifest a single tail.
"The Tailed Beast Cloak is terrifying!"
Shirou was deeply shocked. Experiencing the oppressive chakra firsthand was far more overwhelming than he had imagined. His hair stood on end—a visceral reaction to the primal fear surging through his body.
"What is this?!"
"Why has Kushina turned into a monster?!"
The oppressive chakra left many Konoha shinobi in stunned disbelief, their horrified whispers inadvertently reaching Kushina's ears.
"Haha! So, it's Konoha's Jinchūriki!"
On the opposite side, rogue ninjas from the Land of Lightning, initially frozen in terror at the chakra's sheer power, erupted into gleeful excitement.
"Abandon all other objectives! Target the Jinchūriki!"
"At all costs, capture the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki from Konoha!"
With exhilarated shouts, countless rogue ninjas changed their tactics, charging directly at Kushina Uzumaki.
Shirou's pupils contracted sharply.
No! This isn't right!
Uzumaki Mito is still alive. Tsunade hasn't shown any signs of grief. If Kushina truly had the Nine-Tails sealed inside her, that would have happened during her last mission to return to the village. Would Konoha recklessly let a freshly sealed Jinchūriki out into the field?
"Kill them!"
Though Shirou couldn't fully grasp the situation, he knew something was off. Hearing the frantic cries of animals nearby, he deduced that a large number of shinobi were converging on their location.
While everyone, including Minato Namikaze, froze in shock at Kushina's transformation, Shirou quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a massive fireball toward the enemy ninjas charging at Kushina.
Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchūriki couldn't fall into enemy hands!
And beyond that...
Watching Kushina in her beast-like state, with elongated canines and an aura of feral rage, Shirou's expression grew resolute.
This was his chance—to gain the trust of the Senju clan and prove himself in front of so many Konoha shinobi. This was his moment to embody his ninja way—the true Will of Fire!
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball burst forth, its power amplified by Shirou's mastery of the C-rank jutsu. Yet in the next instant, a fiery red figure darted forward, moving with such ferocity that it ripped through the air with a deafening roar.
Boom!
"Give me back my family!"
Driven by anguish and fury, Kushina Uzumaki, clad in the Tailed Beast Cloak, charged forward. With one punch, she shattered a shinobi's spine; with another, she obliterated a fire-style jutsu.
"Kushina, it's dangerous!"
Minato snapped back to his senses. With a sharp command, he began unleashing precision shuriken techniques. At the same time, Konoha's Jonin shouted:
"Protect the Jinchūriki! Don't let the enemy capture her!"
"Haha, Jiraiya, you Konoha shinobi are truly audacious. This Jinchūriki will be ours!"
A Jonin from the Land of Lightning laughed maniacally. Capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki would be a monumental achievement, even if it cost them dearly. Konoha would have to pay heavily to reclaim her—far more than mere blood; it would require a pound of flesh.
"Even if it costs us everything today, we must capture the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki!"
"Block the other Konoha ninjas! Target the Jinchūriki!"
These rogue ninjas, secretly elites from the Hidden Cloud Village, carried the reputation of mercenaries but were willing to sacrifice their lives to achieve their mission.
As chaos erupted, explosions reverberated from both sides of the battlefield.
"You Hidden Cloud bastards! None of you will leave here alive today!"
With a thunderous crash, the ground shook violently as it cracked and split apart. A booming voice echoed as a golden figure descended from the sky.
"Tsunade!"
"It's Konoha's elite jonin, Tsunade! Aren't you supposed to be at the rear command?"
The rogue ninjas from the Land of Lightning were stunned. Behind Tsunade stood a dozen ANBU operatives wearing masks.
"Ahh! Snakes! It's snakes!"
Terrified screams rang out from the rear as countless venomous snakes slithered out from the woods on the far side of the bridge.
"Kukuku, it seems I've arrived just in time."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice resonated as over thirty Konoha shinobi with headbands emerged behind him, their expressions brimming with bloodlust.
"Haha! Reinforcements have arrived!"
While Konoha's ninjas cheered, the rogue mercenaries descended into chaos. Several jonins at the forefront turned pale.
"We've been tricked! This was a Konoha trap!"
"Retreat! Breakthrough immediately!"
The situation became clear—it had been a setup from the start. Konoha had used spies to feed false information to the Land of Lightning, luring these Hidden Cloud elite mercenaries to the Bridge of Heaven and Earth.
The Jiraiya-led squad was merely bait. The real goal was for Tsunade and Orochimaru's forces to form a pincer attack, wiping out the infamous mercenary brigade in one fell swoop.
Roar!
Suddenly, an earth-shaking roar erupted, followed by an overwhelming sense of dread.
All the shinobi present froze, struck with terror. Instinctively, they turned toward the figure radiating intense red chakra in the distance.
"Oh no! Kushina has lost control!"
Deep within the forest, Kushina Uzumaki, consumed by hatred for the enemies who had annihilated her clan, snapped upon seeing them attempting to flee. Her anger pushed her into a complete rampage.
Three crimson chakra tails flailed wildly as a fourth began to emerge rapidly.
Shirou's eyes widened in shock. He whispered, "Four tails…"
Kushina, consumed by the flames of vengeance, had gone berserk, her power spiraling out of control.
"A...a monster!"
The sinister and oppressive chakra triggered a primal fear in many shinobi. Their sharpened senses drove them to tremble and instinctively distance themselves from Kushina.
This fear of an unknown and apocalyptic force was a deeply ingrained human response.
"Haha! Konoha's Jinchūriki has gone berserk! Let's break through!"
For the mercenary brigade, this was a blessing in disguise—a stroke of fortune from the heavens.
However, Tsunade's expression darkened. Despite all her careful planning, she hadn't accounted for Kushina's berserk state.
"Orochimaru!"
Understanding Tsunade's unspoken command, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade exchanged a glance and acted decisively.
"All units, retreat to a safe distance!"
As Tsunade issued the command to abandon the plan, Kushina, her fourth tail halfway formed, let out a furious roar and vanished in a flash of blinding speed.
"No! Kushina is heading straight for the Hidden Cloud shinobi!"
Even in her uncontrollable rage, the primal instinct to eliminate her clan's killers remained strong.