"Mmmph, mmmph!"
Yugito screamed, but the cloth stuffed in her mouth muffled the sound.
"Meow~ No one will come to save you no matter how loudly you shout," Takeshi said mockingly from the side..
Minato Namikaze said nothing, though something about Takeshi's tone still felt off.
Yugito stared at the cat, momentarily stunned into silence. She was strong, yes, but she couldn't handle it when her opponent was even stronger.
Takeshi's assistance had let Minato use his Flying Thunder God to close the distance. Within seconds, he'd applied two Fuinjutsu seals to the transformed jinchuriki.
First, seal her chakra. Then, seal the Tailed Beast...
Moments later, the Two-Tails transformation receded, leaving behind an twelve-year-old Yugito.
"Meow~ We didn't teleport directly back to camp?" Takeshi looked around. They were still on the border of the Land of Fire.
Minato scratched his head awkwardly. "I was worried my chakra wouldn't be enough to carry both of us, so I didn't go straight back to camp."
"..."
Alright, fair enough.
He had to remember that a jinchuriki, plus a creature comparable to one, would nearly double the chakra cost of Flying Thunder God.
And Minato's judgment was spot-on.
Carrying both was really difficult.
He now had less than a third of his chakra left, barely enough for minor emergencies. Had he teleported them directly back to camp, he'd likely be bedridden.
But that look... Minato sighed inwardly. He wasn't sure whose look hurt more, the cat's disappointment or his own feeling of inadequacy. Unconsciously, this black cat had grown so strong, while he felt like he was standing still...
In this moment, Minato had a lot in common with Kakashi.
After a moment's thought, Minato launched a signal flare.
This was a tailed beast jinchuriki, after all. Kumogakure wouldn't let that go easily.
Waving to Takeshi, Minato gestured for him to take Yugito away. He needed to stay and explain the situation to the Konoha reinforcements arriving.
"Meow~ Let's go, Yugito."
Yugito didn't cooperate, instead kept trying to kick Takeshi.
'Uncooperative? Guess I have to use force then.'
Takeshi sighed, ate a packet of special cat food to replenish his chakra, and then his tail rapidly swelled, scooping up Yugito and carrying her away.
If she'd cooperated, it would have saved him a points.
But he'd gained so much these past few days, especially tonight. He expected a massive influx of points later, so spending a mere hundred was nothing.
'It's just a drop in the bucket. I don't care!'
"Mmmph, mmmph!"
Her mouth still gagged, Yugito struggled and shouted, her muffled cries probably begging for mercy, or maybe just cursing him.
To avoid hearing content he wouldn't like, Takeshi decided it was better not to listen.
Let her struggle.
Anyway, he was strong enough to handle anything she could throw at him.
Takeshi hurried along the road, heading back towards camp.
He wanted to get word of Yugito's capture to Tsunade. Although the Third Raikage didn't seem to be in too much trouble, Takeshi knew the characteristics of the Rasengan Shuriken well. His enhanced version must have atleast injured him.
Even though the Third Raikage used his Lightning Chakra Mode to collide with the energy, avoiding a direct hit as much as possible, the follow-through was still considerable. The hand closest to the blast was likely crippled.
In this world, only Tsunade could probably save him.
But Tsunade... 'Didn't she still have hemophobia?' Takeshi thought. 'Hemophobia would make things very troublesome.'
Eventually, Yugito gave up struggling.
She couldn't beat this cat.
The thought itself was humiliating. The dignified Two-Tails jinchuriki, unable to beat a cat? It was truly embarrassing.
Inside her body, Matatabi roared constantly, anger filling his mind. Defeated by an ordinary cat? No, it couldn't be considered ordinary. That cat seemed to have mastered Sage Mode, otherwise its destructive power couldn't be so immense. 'How could there be such a cat...?'
It looked at the many iron bars that had appeared around it and roared in frustration, lashing out with its claws. But it was useless. This was a high-level sealing jutsu inherited from the Uzumaki clan, specializing in handling rebellious tailed beasts.
Unable to escape, Matatabi could only rage impotently within Yugito's body. But gradually, it calmed down. There was no use in being noisy. 'Anyway, I can't get out, so making a fuss is pointless...'
Furthermore, Matatabi was generally easy-going, only becoming irritable when provoked by its own kind.
Takeshi carried Yugito all the way to camp.
He and Minato hadn't returned for days.
Basically, they were either out patrolling or reporting to the Fugaku-led forward camp. Otherwise, they were sweeping and deterring Kumogakure to prevent a large-scale southward push.
On the way back, Takeshi encountered several teams coming to provide support.
Although they weren't well-acquainted, everyone exchanged greetings, asking what had happened. Takeshi simply said, "The Kumogakure ninjas might be getting desperate." and hurried on towards camp.
Along the way, he ran into a certain six-person team. Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Guy, Ebisu and Genma.
"Meow!"
"Takeshi?" Obito's eyes lit up. He started to run over, but Guy used the Body Flicker Technique, appearing right in front of him and blocking the way.
"Wait," Guy said, "it could be an enemy disguise."
"Don't worry. no one can imitate him." Kakashi said.
Others might be able to imitate the appearance, but that aura of cheapness and that punchable face wasn't something anyone could simulate. Kakashi looked up at the girl wrapped in Takeshi's tail, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
'This cat was playing for keeps, kidnapping a Kumogakure girl.'
'Was Rin about to be replaced?' He couldn't help but glance at Rin, but found she wasn't paying attention to the captive, instead asking with concern, "Are you injured? Where's Sensei? What exactly happened up ahead?"
"Meow~ Nothing much. She's the Two-Tails jinchuriki. We captured her and injured the Third Raikage. We're setting up defenses in case Kumogakure tries to retaliate." Takeshi offered a quick explanation and continued towards camp.
Rin hesitated for a moment but didn't chase. She looked at her teammates.
Tsunade had authorized this mission, mainly because the camp didn't have many teams left to mobilize. That's why Kakashi's team had to go out.
After all, Kakashi was a Jonin, and Obito and Guy strength wise were atleast Elite Chunin. Although Rin was a medical ninja, she had recently learned some poison skills from Tsunade, and her strength wasn't negligible either.
Their overall power was no weaker than an ordinary team. Of course, if it hadn't been absolutely necessary, Tsunade truly wouldn't have sent them out.
Takeshi hurried towards the camp. If he wasn't trying to save chakra, he'd have used Flying Thunder God to return ages ago. But seeing even Kakashi's team sent out showed how few people the camp had left after this long war.
This was no time to be lazy.
Finally, he returned to camp...
"Meow~ Where is Tsunade Sensei?"
"Main tent." The ninja guarding the gate pointed, then watched the black cat shoot off with a *whoosh*, a figure dangling from his tail.
Inside the main camp, Tsunade stared at a plate of blood. Her whole body trembled, but she forced herself to look, forcing herself to recall those painful memories.
She couldn't slack off anymore. 'I am Tsunade! Hemophobia is just a psychological illness. I know I can overcome it if I want to.'
In the current situation, further hesitation would be detrimental to Konoha and the children. 'But knowing all that... it's not so easy to overcome it all at once.'
While she could now face blood and still have some combat power, blood and the actual battlefield were different. 'It's not that simple!'
*Bang!*
A figure burst into the tent.
Startled, Tsunade instinctively slapped the plate away. It hit the Yugito, still held aloft by Takeshi's tail. The plate struck her directly, splashing blood all over her.
Yugito was expressionless. 'Sure enough. Even Konoha doesn't give prisoners preferential treatment. I get beaten the moment I arrive at camp.'
'Third Raikage-sama, please come and save me...'
'The people of Konoha are too scary!'
Little did she know, the Third Raikage was just as crippled, and now he was struggling with what to do.
The medical-ninjas had been very clear.
Kumogakure's medical standards couldn't handle that level of injury. Only Konoha's Tsunade-hime could, but she was the leader of the enemy.
Asking the enemy for help... what was the difference between that and surrendering?
===============
Dear Readers and Fans,
For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further.
https://www.pat reon.com/8Ashes8
(no space)
You can read upto 7 Chapters in advance.