Naruto: The Rise of Kurama

Chapter 94 94: Desperation

Kushina's chains shattered against Madara's palm.

The golden links broke apart into fading light the moment they touched his skin. She barely had time to register the failure before his counterattack came- a casual backhand that caught her across the chest and sent her spinning through the air.

She hit the trunk of the God Tree hard enough to crack the pale wood. Before she could fall, roots erupted around her, trying to cocoon her in their grip. She burned through them with Kurama's chakra, tore herself free, and landed in a crouch twenty meters away.

That's the fourth time, Kurama said. He's not even trying.

She knew. Every exchange made it clearer how vast the gap between them had become. The Ten-Tails Jinchūriki moved through their attacks as if they were children sparring with wooden swords.

Yellow light flashed- Minato appearing at her side, his hand already on her shoulder. "You need healing. Nagato-"

"Save it." Kushina pushed herself upright, ignoring the sharp pain in her ribs. "He's already exerting himself too much with healing and his future sight. Save it only for life-threatening injuries."

Across the battlefield, Madara waited. He hadn't pursued. He hadn't needed to. The God Tree's roots spread in every direction, pale tendrils that reached toward them with mindless hunger. The red sky cast everything in shades of blood.

"You're still standing," Madara observed. "Impressive. Most would have broken by now."

Kushina spat blood onto the dead earth. "Most aren't Uzumaki."

"No. They're not." He tilted his head, studying her with those terrible eyes. "Your clan always did have more stubbornness than sense. Mito was the same way. She sealed the Nine-Tails inside herself rather than let Hashirama kill it, and spent the rest of her life as its jailer. A prison sentence she chose for herself."

"She wasted decades containing a power she could have used." Madara's tone held a trace of pity. "You've made the same mistake. All that potential, all that strength, and you've shackled yourself to a beast that will never truly be yours."

Ignore him, Kurama said. He's trying to distract you.

She didn't need the warning. She could feel Kurama working through their bond, pulling threads of Ten-Tails chakra from the saturated air. Every second Madara spent talking was another second of power flowing into them.

It was the only chance they had.

"Nagato," she said through the communication seal. "Status."

His response came weak, threaded with pain. "I can see him. Three seconds ahead, maybe four. It's... harder to focus now."

Three seconds were hardly enough when he could cross the battlefield in 1, but it was better than nothing.

"Minato. On my signal, take me behind him."

"Kushina, your injuries-"

"On my signal."

She charged.

Her chains erupted around her in a spiral pattern, spreading wide to create a cage of golden light rather than striking at Madara directly. He could break through them easily, but breaking required a fraction of attention.

Madara's hand came up, Truth-Seeking Ball forming in his palm.

"Two on your left," Nagato called through the seal.

Kushina's wings unfurled from her back- iridescent constructs of red and gold chakra, a gift from the Seven-Tails she'd absorbed. She shot upward, letting two Limbo clones pass through the space where she'd been.

"Now."

Yellow light swallowed her. The world blurred- and she was above Madara, scythe already descending toward his skull. The blade blazed with Nine-Tails chakra, hot enough to distort the air around it.

He caught it on his forearm. The impact cratered the ground beneath him, but his skin didn't break.

"Better," he said.

She released the scythe and drove a Rasengan into his chest- the massive variant, swirling with Kurama's crimson chakra. The technique detonated against his body with enough force to level a village.

Madara slid back three meters. His robes were singed.

"Impressive force," he acknowledged. "But force alone won't-"

Three shadow clones hit him from behind, each carrying their own Rasengan. The combined detonation lit up the battlefield, sent shockwaves rippling through the God Tree's roots.

When the light faded, Madara stood in the center of a smoking crater, utterly untouched. The Truth-Seeking Balls had formed a barrier around him, nullifying her techniques before they could land.

"You've grown creative," he said. "Mito never learned to use the Nine-Tails like this. She was too afraid of what it might cost her."

Kushina recalled her scythe to her hand and shot toward him again, wings carrying her faster than any ground-based movement could. She could sense his intentions through her Kamigami no Gigan- a combination of Kurama's malice detection and her Uzumaki Mind's Eye of Kagura. But sensing and reacting were different things. He moved faster than she could counter, even when she knew what was coming.

His fist drove into her stomach and folded her in half around it.

The world went white with pain.

When her vision cleared, she was lying in a crater thirty meters from where she'd been standing. Her body refused to respond. She could taste blood, feel the grinding of broken bones, sense the damage spreading through her with every heartbeat.

She felt Kurama's power flood through her- his chakra combined with her Uzumaki vitality and the regeneration they'd gained from the Seven-Tails. Bones knit and organs mended faster than any normal healing. The pain didn't disappear, but it receded enough for her to move. She pushed herself up on arms that shook, forced her legs beneath her.

Madara hadn't pursued. He stood where she'd left him, watching her rise with an expression of mild curiosity.

"Remarkable healing factor," he said. "You might actually survive long enough to bore me."

Yellow light- Minato beside her again, face pale with exhaustion. "I can't keep teleporting you out. My reserves are nearly gone."

"Then stop teleporting me out." Kushina wiped blood from her mouth. "Start teleporting me in."

"That's suicide."

"It's the only chance we have."

She could feel the futility of their position. Every attack she landed, Madara shrugged off. Every wound she inflicted, the Ten-Tails' chakra healed instantly. They were wearing themselves down against an enemy who only grew stronger. Madara adjusted to his new power more and more each second.

But she couldn't stop. Stopping meant her clan died, her son died, ands everything she'd built and fought for died.

The chakra absorption, she said to Kurama. How much have you gathered?

More than before. The Ten-Tails energy is everywhere- I can't help but draw it in. Kurama hesitated before continuing. It's still not enough.

Madara moved.

She saw him coming this time- a blur of white against the red sky. Nagato's warning came through the seal: "Straight ahead."

Kushina created four shadow clones and sent them to intercept while she circled wide on her wings. The clones engaged with chains and scythes, buying fractions of seconds as Madara destroyed them one by one. She came at him from above, Rasengan blazing in each hand, malice-sense screaming warnings about the Limbo clones converging on her position.

She twisted past the first invisible strike, ducked under the second, drove both Rasengan toward Madara's back-

He turned and caught her wrists.

"Predictable," he said.

The Rasengan detonated uselessly against his Truth-Seeking Ball barrier. Then his forehead connected with hers and she was flying again, tumbling end over end until she crashed into the base of the God Tree.

This time, she couldn't get up.

Her body had limits. Even Uzumaki vitality, even Kurama's healing, couldn't repair damage faster than Madara could inflict it. She lay in the crater of her own impact, staring up at the red sky, and felt her consciousness beginning to fade.

Kushina! Kurama's voice was distant, desperate. Stay awake. I'm healing you, but you need to stay conscious-

"Nagato!"

Minato's voice, sharp with alarm. Through dimming vision, Kushina saw her cousin collapse- blood streaming from his eyes, from his nose, and from his ears. The strain of maintaining his future sight against the Ten-Tails' overwhelming chakra had pushed him past his limits.

They were all broken and losing.

And Madara hadn't even drawn his weapon.

He walked toward her with unhurried steps, Truth-Seeking Balls orbiting his shoulders. The Rinne-Sharingan on his forehead pulsed with each beat of the world's stolen heart.

"You fought well," he said, and he sounded sincere. "Better than anyone- even Hashirama. But this was always going to be the outcome. You must have known that when you came here."

She tried to speak. Blood filled her mouth instead of words.

"The dream awaits," Madara said, kneeling beside her. "Let go. Accept the peace you've earned. In the Infinite Tsukuyomi, you can have everything you ever wanted- your clan restored, your village unburned, your son growing up in a world without war."

His hand reached toward her forehead.

"All you have to do is sleep."