A hidden cavern beneath the Land of Rain.
Madara's fingers dug deep into the armrests of his stone throne, his decaying knuckles trembling with fury. The cavern was deathly silent after White Zetsu's report, the only sound being the steady drip of water echoing off the walls.
"Yahiko… was rescued by Konoha?" Madara's voice was low, like a whisper reverberating from the depths of an abyss.
From the shadows, Black Zetsu emerged, his tone cold and sharp.
"Yes. But we manipulated Danzō's Root to move against the Akatsuki. Nagato and Konan managed to escape… They're now heading toward the borders of the Land of Fire."
Madara's Sharingan narrowed, the tomoe rotating slowly in his crimson eye. A flaw in the plan—Yahiko was supposed to die in front of Nagato, a necessary sacrifice to awaken the true power of the Rinnegan.
"Useless fools!" Madara's voice roared as he raised his hand. Chakra surged outward, cracking the ceiling above. "Why would Konoha save a Rain shinobi?!"
White Zetsu giggled as he surfaced from the ground.
"Because it was that 'Hanabuchi Rin' who saved him~"
Madara's pupils contracted. That girl? He had once paid attention to her in White Zetsu's intelligence reports—her strange teleportation jutsu, her potent medical skills, her bloodline from the Senju clan…
Black Zetsu chuckled hoarsely.
"There's no need for anger, Lord Madara. Now that Nagato and Konan are fleeing into the Land of Fire… why not let Konoha be the one to 'kill' Yahiko?"
Madara's fury began to cool, his lips curling into a cold smile.
"You mean…"
"We'll have White Zetsu impersonate a Konoha shinobi and execute Yahiko in front of Nagato," Black Zetsu whispered with malice. "And as for Hanabuchi Rin—if she tries to interfere, we'll erase her as well."
Madara closed his eyes slowly, then reopened them, expression calm and godlike once more.
"Do it. This time, there will be no mistakes."
---
Rin absentmindedly brushed her fingers against the edge of her kunai. The chill of metal helped her stay focused. Outside the tent, the footsteps of the medical team bustled back and forth, sounding unbearably loud in the tense silence.
She looked down at the unconscious Yahiko—the man who, in the original timeline, was sacrificed as part of Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu's scheme. Now, he lay here, breathing steadily. His existence alone was a ticking time bomb.
"Black Zetsu won't let this opportunity slip by…" Rin murmured to herself, and at her fingertip, a small flower formed from chakra, its petals tinged faintly with crimson.
She had to act. And fast.
She pushed open the tent flap, her voice calm and commanding.
"All personnel, listen carefully. From this moment forward, the medical unit is under emergency lockdown. No one leaves the camp without my permission."
The med-nin exchanged uneasy glances. One chūnin couldn't help but ask:
"Rin-sama, what's going on?"
Rin didn't answer. Instead, she raised her hand, revealing a crimson six-petaled phantom flower pulsing in her palm. Chakra waves rippled softly from it.
"Is that… a genjutsu barrier?" someone whispered in surprise.
Rin replied briefly, "It will temporarily mask the presence of this camp, making it harder for the enemy to detect us."
She paused, sweeping her gaze across every shinobi present.
"Remember—no matter what happens, do not step outside the barrier."
Another voice spoke up hesitantly:
"What about the wounded villagers?"
"…I said lockdown," Rin said sharply.
Though many were confused and worried, the authority Rin had accumulated over the past few weeks gave them reason to trust her. And so, they obeyed.
---
Night deepened.
Rin slung Yahiko onto her back, chakra compressing at her feet.
"Gutsuei Shunpo."
Her figure dissolved like mist, reappearing a hundred meters away. "Gutsuei Shunpo" allowed short-range teleportation—draining to use repeatedly, but she had no choice.
She had to reach Hyūga Hiashi and hand Yahiko over to Konoha's upper command. Only then could she avoid getting caught in Black Zetsu's trap.
Wind howled past her ears as Rin opened her sensory perception to the maximum.
She remained acutely aware of every trace of chakra around her. She avoided main roads, weaving through dense forests, vanishing and reappearing under the cover of darkness.
At the same time, she utilized her sensory ninjutsu to link with surrounding plants and trees, borrowing their "eyes" to check for White Zetsu's surveillance.
---
But fate always has its cruel timing.
Just as Rin was slipping out of Uzuki Town with Yahiko on her back—
Nagato and Konan arrived at the same place—only to be ambushed by Danzō's Root operatives.
Nagato staggered forward, half-carrying the injured Konan along the muddy mountain path. Behind them, several Root shinobi wearing animal masks closed in swiftly. Their kunai and shuriken whistled through the air with deadly precision.
"Nagato… leave me," Konan whispered, her face pale as paper. Blood continued to seep from her wound.
"If you bring me with you… you'll never get away…"
"Shut up!" Nagato's voice was hoarse. His Rinnegan eyes were bloodshot.
He gritted his teeth, the images of his fallen comrades and the uncertainty of Yahiko's fate flashing through his mind.
"I… won't lose anyone ever again!"
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the forest ahead. Nagato skidded to a stop. His pupils shrank.
More Root shinobi were emerging from all directions. The leader among them… held a blood-soaked corpse that was unmistakably Yahiko.
"Found you…"
In that moment—Nagato's world collapsed.
BOOM—
---
Meanwhile, Rin had long since left Uzuki Town, unaware of what had just unfolded.
Her breath was becoming labored, and sweat soaked through her clothing. She darted through the dense forest with Yahiko still unconscious on her back. Every use of Gutsuei Shunpo consumed a massive amount of chakra.
She didn't dare stop.
She could feel it—something was tracking her.
The earth trembled slightly beneath her feet. She picked up faint sounds of slithering between the tree roots.
"White Zetsu…"
Rin's senses spread out like spider silk. The surrounding plants delivered her warning after warning—beneath the ground, behind tree trunks…
A trap.
"Tch… I'm surrounded?"
With another burst of chakra, she used Gutsuei Shunpo again to break out of the encirclement. But there were too many White Zetsu.
They had already begun flanking her from the front, forcing her to change direction again and again.
With no choice left, Rin stopped, gently set Yahiko down beneath a large tree, and swiftly formed hand seals.
Time to test out that newly mastered jutsu.
"Flower Release: Crimson Hex Domain"
In an instant, her chakra surged wildly. The ground trembled violently. Countless blood-red flowers erupted from the soil, their petals sharp as blades, and strange light flickered deep within their cores.
The flowers spread at an incredible rate, blanketing the surrounding land in a radius of nearly a kilometer. In seconds, a massive flower field bloomed, engulfing the forest in a sea of crimson.
Rustle… rustle…
White Zetsus slithered out from the ground and trees, their grotesque faces curled into eerie grins.
"Found you~ Found you~"
"Little Konoha shinobi, hand over the Rain boy~"
Rin didn't answer. She took a deep breath and slammed her hands together.
"Flower Release: Spirit Devouring Bloom!"
BOOM—!
The flower field exploded into motion. Flowers writhed like living beasts, petals slicing through the air, vines lashing out. They coiled around the White Zetsus, piercing skin with their glowing stamen, draining chakra and life force in a merciless frenzy.
"AAAAAHHH—!!"
The Zetsu screeched as their bodies withered at a terrifying speed, turning to husks, then to dust.
The stolen chakra rushed into Rin's body like a flood. In an instant, her depleted reserves were restored.
"Full recovery."
A sharp glint flashed in Rin's eyes. But before she could even breathe, her nerves tensed again.
"…More of them?!"
From the distance, even more White Zetsu were surging toward her—far more than she'd expected.
"I can't afford to be dragged into a prolonged fight…"
Gritting her teeth, Rin grabbed Yahiko once again. Thanks to the flower sea's devouring of the White Zetsu, her chakra had surged back to its peak. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, mentally tracing the terrain of the Land of Fire.
Then—
She leapt into motion, chakra gathering under her feet like rippling wind.
With one final burst of speed, she vanished into the night, a trail of crimson petals left fluttering behind her—fading quickly into silence, like a flower that blooms only once, then disappears.
The forest fell still.
But Rin was already gone.
---