Kushina's sharp warning rang out across the battlefield.
The Sand shinobi halted instinctively.
At that moment, an unbearable heaviness settled in their chests.
They had sacrificed hundreds of lives just to force Yagami to the brink—to drain his stamina until cracks finally began to show.
After everything they had paid, they had at last seen a faint glimmer of hope… a chance to bring him down.
And yet...
At the most critical moment of all, the rear of their formation had been attacked.
Lord Ebizō had been seized and hoisted into the air.
Suspended helplessly, bound tightly by Adamantine Sealing Chains.
"Huff… huff…"
"Kushina?"
Still lost in slaughter, Yagami regained a shred of clarity when he heard her voice.
He lifted his head and looked past the Sand shinobi.
There—Kushina stood with Ebizō captured, the glowing chains wrapped tightly around his body, holding him aloft. The killing intent radiating from her made it painfully clear—
If she wished, she could tear him apart on the spot.
Crack—!
Boom!
Yagami reached down and brushed his fingers across the bracelet on his wrist.
The gravity control activated instantly, adjusting his weight to the lowest limit—0.5g.
He pushed off the ground lightly.
The world shattered.
A sonic boom erupted as his body vanished from where he stood.
"Nani?!"
"Where did he go?!"
The Sand shinobi spun around in shock but there was nothing there.
He was gone.
"In the rear!!!"
A trembling voice cried out.
Everyone turned at once.
Yagami—who had been trapped within their encirclement only moments ago—now stood hundreds of meters away, directly behind the battlefield.
Silence fell.
"…This guy…"
"He was still holding back before!"
The Sand shinobi felt their blood run cold.
His speed had already been monstrous but now they understood.
That hadn't even been his limit.
The fragile hope they had clung to shattered completely.
Reality struck them down without mercy.
If he wished to leave, there was nothing—nothing—they could do to stop him.
Surrounded by the bloodied corpses of their fallen comrades, despair crept into every Sand shinobi's heart.
Boom!
Another sonic crack split the air.
In an instant, Yagami appeared before Kushina and the others.
The bracelet activated again, gravity still at its minimum. For a split second, even he nearly lost control of his speed, his body threatening to overshoot.
But he twisted sharply mid-motion, stabilizing himself as the weight reset.
"Huff…"
A full second after he stopped, the wind finally caught up.
A violent gale surged past him, thick with the stench of blood and death.
Several of Kikyo City's defenders nearly lost consciousness from the pressure alone.
"Lord Yagami!"
"Lord Yagami!!"
Only after regaining their senses did the Konoha defenders rush forward.
They stared at him in awe—at his speed, his presence.
It was obvious now.
There had never been any real danger for him at all.
"Huff… why are you all down here?"
Yagami asked, breathing heavily.
He tried to keep his voice steady, but the killing intent clinging to him still surged outward the moment he spoke, crashing into everyone around him.
"We saw you were in danger… so we came," Kushina replied, concern clear in her eyes.
She extended her hand, offering him the Senzu Bean he had given her earlier.
Yagami didn't take it.
With Ebizō captured, this battle was already decided.
There was no reason to waste the last precious bean.
"Now isn't the time to talk. Let's return to Kikyo Castle first," Shinku Yuhi said firmly.
Yagami had already broken out of the encirclement.
And Ebizō had been taken alive.
By any measure, the defense of Kikyo Castle had ended in a decisive victory.
"Return to Kikyo Castle."
Yagami nodded.
To prevent any sudden resistance, he ordered Kushina to bind Ebizō's eyes with additional chains.
"If you don't want Ebizō to die, don't try anything," Kushina warned coldly.
"If your actions make me nervous… my hand might slip."
"And I might tear your village elder in half."
Yagami and Kushina took the lead, clearing a path forward.
The Sand shinobi who rushed toward them froze after hearing her words.
Their gazes instinctively turned toward Pakura—eyes filled with despair.
Pakura clenched her fists at her sides.
Her chest burned with frustration.
But she had no choice.
"For Ebizō's sake…" she said hoarsely, raising her hand. "Make way."
"Mm—mmph!!"
Ebizō struggled violently in the air, furious at her order.
But age and frailty meant nothing before Kushina's strength.
With a single tightening thought, the chains locked him completely in place.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed.
Under Yagami and Kushina's lead, the defenders of Konoha and Kikyo City passed slowly through the Sand formation.
No one dared breathe too loudly.
One wrong move could mean catastrophe.
And yet—
Despite the solemn tension, Ebizō's constant struggling in midair made the scene strangely awkward.
Before long, under the helpless gazes of the Sand shinobi, Yagami and his group passed through the gates and entered Kikyo City.
"Lady Pakura…"
"Are we really just going to stand here and watch Lord Ebizō be taken?" someone asked bitterly.
Over seven hundred casualties.
And now, even their commander had been captured.
Pakura snapped, turning on them with fury in her eyes.
"Then what do you suggest?!"
"Should we ignore Ebizō's life and force them to stay?!"
"Are you confident you could stop them?!"
Her voice echoed across the field.
She was the angriest of them all.
But the truth was undeniable.
From this moment on, Ebizō was no longer just a prisoner—
He was Konoha's bargaining chip.
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