The world became a screaming vortex of wind, gravity, and panic. Tenjin's agonized scream was a physical blow to Renjiro's soul, reverberating through their bond like a shattered bell.
His own heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the roar of the wind as the giant eagle plummeted, wing shattered, spiralling towards the unforgiving earth.
'Tenjin! No!' The thought was pure, undiluted terror. The ground rushed up, a mosaic of jagged rock and dust-choked craters growing horrifyingly large with terrifying speed.
Instinct, honed by desperation and fuelled by sheer, protective rage, overrode pain and exhaustion. The Adamantine Chains tormenting the enraged pseudo-Gyuki/Killer B vanished with a thought, their purpose instantly rendered obsolete.
Renjiro's hands flashed, not in seals, but in a gesture born of primal need. From his torso, thick chains erupted anew, not seeking an enemy, but coiling with desperate tenderness around Tenjin's massive, falling form. "SCHLINK-WHUMP!"
They wrapped around the eagle's neck, torso, and uninjured wing, pulling Renjiro tight against the blood-slicked feathers. He buried his face in the storm-grey plumage, smelling ozone, burnt flesh, and fear.
'Barrier! Need a barrier!'
His mind raced, a frantic spark in the face of annihilation. The chains could form shields, powerful ones. He'd used them defensively countless times, deflecting jutsu, and containing explosions.
'If they can hold against force… maybe… maybe they can absorb the impact… cushion us… but I don't have chakra for that kind of barrier...'
It was a gamble born of sheer necessity, a hope against the crushing laws of physics. Pouring every ounce of his remaining chakra into the chains, Renjiro focused. Instead of the usual near-invincible barrier, the chains wrapped around them began to glow with intense blue-white light, vibrating with power.
They thickened, multiplied, weaving into a dense, cocooning lattice around Renjiro and the core of Tenjin's body – a desperate, shining chrysalis hurtling towards the ground.
"CRUNCH-BOOM-SHATTER-KLANG!"
The impact wasn't a landing; it was a cataclysm. The chain barrier hit first, flaring blindingly bright as it compressed violently, absorbing a titanic fraction of the kinetic energy.
The sound was a sickening symphony of shrieking, stressed metal and splintering rock. The barrier held, miraculously, for a crucial fraction of a second, its adamantine structure groaning under impossible strain. Then, overwhelmed, it buckled.
"SNAP-CRACKLE!"
Chains shattered, dissolving into shimmering motes. The remaining force slammed into Tenjin's massive body.
"THUD-WHUMP-CRACK!"
More bones broke, not just the shattered wing, but ribs, the great keel bone. Rock pulverized beneath them, throwing up a colossal plume of dust and debris that blotted out the sky.
Renjiro, shielded by Tenjin's body and the remnants of the chains, was still thrown clear, tumbling across the shattered ground like a discarded doll, skidding to a stop amidst a rain of pebbles and feathers. Pain exploded through his shoulder and ribs, but it was secondary, drowned by the overwhelming dread for his summon.
The dust hung thick, acrid, and choking. Renjiro pushed himself up, coughing, his vision swimming. He scrambled, ignoring his own screaming muscles, towards the enormous, feathered mound lying motionless in the centre of the newly formed crater.
"Tenjin!" His voice was raw, ragged. "Tenjin, talk to me!"
A low, pained groan rumbled from the eagle. One massive, eye cracked open, glazed with agony.
"Ren...jiro..." The voice, usually resonant and proud, was a broken whisper, thick with pain. Tenjin tried to lift his head, but it slumped back with a pitiful thud. His gaze flickered towards the ruin of his left wing, a mess of twisted bone, scorched flesh, and tattered feathers, still faintly smoking where Ayy's lightning spear had struck. Blood, dark and viscous, pooled beneath him, soaking into the shattered earth.
"Wing... broken... inside..." Each word was a struggle, punctuated by shallow, pained breaths. "Can't... fly... can't fight..." The eye fixed on Renjiro, filled with a profound apology. "Failed... you..."
Renjiro's heart clenched. He placed a trembling hand on Tenjin's massive beak, the smooth surface cold beneath his fingers. "You didn't fail," he choked out, the words thick with emotion.
"You've never failed me. You helped me. Again." He took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing command into his voice, though his eyes burned. "Go home, old friend. Go back to the Floating Islands. Heal. Rest. This fight... it's mine now."
Tenjin's eye held his for a long moment. Understanding, gratitude, and deep weariness warred within its golden depths. Slowly, painfully, the giant eagle gave the avian equivalent of a nod, a slight dip of his massive head.
A faint, almost imperceptible sigh escaped him.
"POOF-WHUMPH!"
Then, with a sound like thunder collapsing inwards, Tenjin vanished in an immense cloud of thick, grey smoke. The sudden absence of his massive presence left a void, both physical and emotional. The crater felt colder, emptier filled only with settling dust and the lingering scent of ozone, blood, and burnt feathers.
Renjiro stood alone in the swirling smoke. The silence after the crash, after Tenjin's departure, was deafening. He didn't move. He barely breathed. The seething began low in his gut, a cold, dark vortex swirling amidst the exhaustion and pain. It wasn't just anger; it was a white-hot forge of rage, grief, betrayal, and a terrifying, directionless fury.
Images flashed: Tenjin's trusting gaze, the horrifying rip of the lightning attack, the agonized scream, the sickening crunch of impact, the blood pooling on stone.
His hands clenched into fists so tight his knuckles turned white, nails biting into his palms, drawing blood that mingled with the dust coating his skin. His jaw locked, teeth grinding. The air around him seemed to crackle with suppressed violence.
'Ayy…' The name was a curse, a vow, etched in acid on his soul. He couldn't even articulate why it burned so deeply – the loss of a tactical asset? The violation of the bond with his oldest companion? The sheer audacity of harming something under his protection? It all fused into an inferno that threatened to consume reason.
====
Ayy, momentarily frozen by the sheer destructive power of his own jutsu, watched the colossal eagle vanish in smoke. Relief warred with grim satisfaction.
'That will buy us time, but it won't keep them down'
He wasted no time, turning his focus instantly to his brother. Killer Bee was still a terrifying spectacle, the monstrous pseudo-Gyuki head form had receded slightly under the torment of the green burning flames, but the chakra was still violently unstable, a seething mass of blood-black and corrosive orange.
Bee writhed within it, trapped, his form indistinct, but his screams had subsided into low, animalistic whimpers of agony. The chains were gone, but the eerie green fire still clung to patches of the chakra cloak, burning silently, relentlessly, devouring the very energy it touched.
"Bee!" Ayy shouted, rushing forward, ignoring the palpable heat and malevolence radiating from the unstable form. He saw the patches of flickering green fire eating into the chakra like acid.
"Hold on!" He reached out, instinct driving him to try and physically pull the corrosive energy off his brother.
His fingers brushed the edge of a smouldering green patch.
"HISSSS-SCREEEEEEEEE!
Agony, pure and absolute, lanced up Ayy's arm. It wasn't just heat; it was an unnatural fire that seared through his chakra pathways and flesh simultaneously.
He jerked his hand back with a choked gasp, staring in horror at his fingertips. The skin was blackened, cracked, and still burning with tiny, persistent green embers that resisted his attempts to smother them with his own Raiton chakra. The pain was excruciating, deeper than any burn he'd ever felt.
'What in the Sage's name IS this?! It burns chakra itself!'
A profound sense of danger radiated from the flames – an ancient, hungry, unquenchable malice. This wasn't a ninjutsu; it felt like a curse.