"Boom!"
A violent explosion shook the area as a battle erupted between the Konoha Military Police Force and a rampaging Kushina Uzumaki.
Despite their formidable strength—many of them Uchiha clan members with activated Sharingan and jōnin-level skills—the guards were clearly overwhelmed. Their coordinated attacks, particularly Fire Release jutsu like Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu and Phoenix Fire Jutsu, lit up the battlefield with one explosion after another.
But none of it mattered.
Kushina, in her berserk Jinchūriki state, was far beyond their league. Shrouded in the crimson, bubbling cloak of the Nine-Tails' chakra, she shrugged off their attacks effortlessly. Her chakra arms lashed out in all directions, sending attackers flying. With five tails formed, each swipe of the demonic chakra tails was powerful enough to break stone and toss seasoned shinobi like ragdolls.
"Damn it, Captain! The Jinchūriki is too strong!" one Uchiha guard yelled, landing hard against a cratered wall.
"Our attacks are useless!" another added, grimacing from the heat of their own rebounding flames.
"Keep attacking!" Uchiha En, the squad captain, commanded. "We cannot let her rampage further! Our duty is to protect Konoha—no matter what!"
"Yes, sir! Everyone, with me!" he shouted again, leading over a dozen Uchiha clan members into another wave of assault.
But it only made things worse.
With a feral roar, Kushina's chakra surged violently, her form distorting as a sixth tail erupted. The transformation deepened—the skeletal whisker marks on her face thickened, her hands turned into razor-sharp claws, and her eyes gleamed with a terrifying crimson light. Her humanity was vanishing fast.
The six-tailed form was a monstrous increase in power. With one devastating swipe of her tails, she repelled every guard in her path, sending bodies crashing into buildings and earth alike.
"She's evolving further...! We can't hold her!" a guard coughed, bloodied and stunned.
"Roaaaar!"
With a beast's howl, Kushina lunged at the retreating guards.
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!" several Uchiha shinobi cried out, raising barriers in desperation.
But it was futile. The chakra-cloaked Kushina tore through the barriers as if they were paper, continuing her charge toward the broken Uchiha line.
Just as her claws were about to strike—
"Susanoo!"
A thunderous voice rang out, followed by an eruption of dark blue chakra. A towering skeletal structure formed in an instant, its ribcage shielding the remaining guards like an indomitable fortress.
A colossal hand deflected Kushina's claws mid-strike.
"W-we're alive! What was that!?"
"It's Lord Byakuya! Lord Byakuya is here!"
"He saved us!"
The battered Uchiha shouted with relief.
"You! Fall back and secure the perimeter. Leave this to me," Uchiha Byakuya ordered, his voice calm but commanding.
Having rushed to the scene upon sensing the Nine-Tails' chakra, Byakuya activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and summoned his Susanoo without hesitation. The blue giant stood between Kushina and the wrecked district, shielding the fallen.
"Yes, Lord Byakuya!"
"Everyone, retreat now!"
The guards quickly evacuated, forming a perimeter while keeping their senses sharp for any new threats.
But Kushina was far from done.
"Roaaaaar!"
Snarling like a wild beast, the six-tailed Kushina lunged again, slashing furiously at Byakuya's Susanoo.
"Well then," Byakuya murmured, his eyes glowing with Mangekyō power. "Let's put you to sleep."
Under his control, Susanoo's massive skeletal arm swung downward.
"Be still!"
With immense force, the chakra-formed hand slammed down onto Kushina, pinning her to the shattered earth. The ground split open beneath her, quaking under the pressure.
Dust and debris exploded in all directions.
For a moment, all was still.
But this was not over.
With a pulse of dark red energy, the chakra around Kushina flared again, violently pushing back against Susanoo's hand.
"ROAAAR!"
The Nine-Tails' influence was far from fading.
The number of tails behind her surged from six to seven.
At the same time, Kushina's chakra flared violently, expanding in a shockwave that cracked the earth and distorted the air.
"Boom—!"
The explosion shook the battlefield. Uchiha Byakuya was forced to retreat, his Susanoo shielding him from the brunt of the blast. But even that defense was not absolute—fine cracks spread across the ribcage-like armor.
"So strong... This is only the Seven-Tails state?" Byakuya thought, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "This chakra... it's overwhelming. I never expected Kushina's partial Nine-Tails transformation to be this fierce."
Though incomplete, the Tailed Beast shroud had taken on the form of seven violently swaying tails, and the chakra surrounding Kushina had become a corrosive aura. Her cloak, rich with the malevolent will of Kurama, flared like molten lava, distorting reality around her.
Byakuya clenched his fists. "Susanoo's defense can repel most ninjutsu and physical strikes... but this is different. Her chakra isn't just pressure—it's alive."
"At this level, I can't hold back."
He dispelled his Susanoo, its fragmented remains dissipating into light, and with a flicker, he vanished from sight—entering the Kamui dimension.
Kushina's claws and tails whipped out at him like jagged spears, but they phased harmlessly through his form. Kamui had rendered his body intangible, his Mangekyō spinning silently in his eye.
In a blink, he reappeared before her, within striking range.
Kushina's eyes were pure crimson, her pupils slit like a beast's. The human consciousness within her was nearly erased by the Nine-Tails' will. She let out a feral roar and slashed toward Byakuya with her clawed hand.
But it was too late.
"Genjutsu—Tsukuyomi."
The moment their eyes met, the world froze.
Kushina's wild expression dulled, her body stiffening mid-attack. The chakra cloak flickered.
Inside her mindscape, Byakuya found himself standing in the familiar darkness of the Jinchūriki's seal space. Murky water lapped at his feet, and ahead stood the towering iron bars of the Nine-Tails' prison.
Behind them loomed Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, his malevolent red eyes narrowing.
There was no doubt—he had entered the depths of Kushina's subconscious. The seal space, a sewer-like realm bound by Kushina's will and the strength of the Uzumaki sealing arts.
Kurama growled lowly.
"So… another Uchiha invades my cage."
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