The immense pain of having his thigh pinned made Hokushin gasp in agony. He sucked in a cold breath and asked in disbelief, "Why is my chakra...?"
Fuguki Suikazan smirked triumphantly at that and said, "You think my Samehada is just an ordinary ninja blade? Hmph. You're not going to live long anyway, so I'll let you die knowing why. My Samehada's ability is to devour the enemy's chakra. As long as it touches you, even a Jinchūriki would be drained dry."
Watching Hokushin struggle, Jūzō Biwa added, "Don't bother trying to escape. I'll take pity and give you a warning: any enemy pinned by the Nuibari has a sealed fate. No matter how much you struggle, it's useless."
Faced with their encirclement, Hokushin slowly relaxed his struggle without a word.
Jinin Akebino, clutching his bloodied ear, charged forward yelling, "Enough fighting over him — I'll finish him! How dare he cut off my ear! I'll smash him into paste!"
Seeing his frenzied state, his teammates curled their lips in disdain. Though they inwardly cursed him for being useless, they still yielded Hokushin's life to him.
Jinin glared at the now-unmoving Hokushin with a savage smile, raising his Kabutowari. "You bastard, go straight to hell!"
Just as his Kabutowari was about to fall, a senbon shot over from afar, striking the back of Jinin's hand.
The sudden senbon halted Jinin's attack. He turned in fury toward its source and saw it came from none other than Shiranui Genma , who had been propped and controlled earlier by Chijin Hōzuki and Jinpachi Munashi.
Genma, who was shaking violently like chaff in a sieve after spitting the senbon, still mustered his courage and shouted, "Uncle Hokushin, we can't run anymore! You need to escape!"
Jinin, already humiliated by having lost an ear, was enraged at being interrupted by a Konoha brat. Bloodshot-eyed, he glared at Genma, shouting, "Once I hack him into pieces, you're next to die!"
While Jinin was busy threatening Genma, he didn't notice that Hokushin, who had been pinned to the ground, suddenly moved. Hokushin abruptly raised his head, and his three-tomoe Sharingan was reflected in the eyes of Fuguki Suikazan, who stood next to Jinin.
Fuguki froze instantly, and under the compulsion of the Genjutsu, he violently slammed into Jinin, shoving him away just as he was about to turn back and resume his attack.
Hokushin seized the opportunity. Gritting his teeth, he tensed his body and, with a final surge of brute force, literally tore the muscles around the Nuibari to rip himself free from its binding.
Though his face was slick with sweat from the pain, Hokushin desperately hurled his ninja blade at Kushimaru Kuriarare, then struggled to move in the direction of Genma and the others.
Kushimaru never expected anyone to have the fortitude to forcibly break free of the Nuibari in such a way. Stunned for a moment, he reacted a half-beat too late, and the thrown ninja blade pierced his shoulder.
Almost simultaneously, two figures arrived at high speed from a distance. They were Might Duy, who had abandoned his post immediately after seeing the signal flare, and Kuugetsu.
Might Duy, desperate to save his son, immediately activated the Sixth Gate and charged toward Jinpachi and Chijin. Kuugetsu's speed was slightly slower, but she sprinted full speed toward her father.
Seeing the horrific state her father was in, fury boiled in Kuugetsu's heart. She was determined that as soon as she reached her father, she would make these attackers pay dearly.
On the other side, the severely injured Hokushin relaxed slightly upon seeing his daughter rush toward him.
The distance between father and daughter quickly closed: one thousand meters, five hundred meters, three hundred meters, fifty meters, thirty meters.
Just as Kuugetsu was about to reach Hokushin, a voice came from behind him:
"How dare you injure me! Go to hell — Ninja Art: Earth Spider Sewing!"
The owner of the voice was none other than Kushimaru Kuriarare, who had been stabbed in the shoulder by Hokushin's sudden outburst.
For the first time, someone had escaped his binding — and his fury now surpassed even that of Jinin. He unleashed his trump card without hesitation.
As the Earth Spider Sewing activated, several razor-sharp steel wires shot rapidly out of the ground. They tightened with terrifying speed, centering on Hokushin, who was staggering toward Kuugetsu.
"Father, watch out!"
Warned by Kuugetsu, Hokushin finally noticed the change beneath his feet, but by the time he reacted, the wires had already severed his legs. At that same moment, Kushimaru's Nuibari sliced through the air and pierced Hokushin's heart with deadly accuracy.
Thirty meters. Only thirty meters!
Even though Kuugetsu pushed her speed to the limit, she could not prevent it. That tiny stretch of thirty meters became as vast and unreachable as a galaxy, separating father and daughter forever. She could not cross that gap in time, nor could she shield him from the strike. All she could do was watch, helpless, as her father died before her very eyes.
When Kuugetsu finally reached his side, it was already too late. His legs shredded, his back pierced, Hokushin had only one final breath left. Looking at his daughter, who clutched his hand, tears streaming down her face, he forced a trembling smile. With what little strength remained, he raised a quivering hand to touch her cheek.
"Sorry… your father can only walk with you this far. You must… live well…"
With those last words, all strength left him. The hand caressing her cheek fell limp. Panicked, Kuugetsu grabbed it, desperately trying to hold it in place — but no matter how she tried, her father's hand could no longer move to comfort her.
From a distance, Kushimaru watched the scene and clicked his tongue mockingly, feigning admiration. The sight of a father slain before his daughter's eyes seemed to satisfy his twisted heart.
"Oh my, what a touching scene. I almost want to shed a tear. Such a pitiful pair… Perhaps I should help you? Let's see… Ah, I know — I'll send you to join your father."
Hearing his casual words, Kuugetsu's trembling suddenly stopped. She kept her head lowered, staring at her father's rapidly cooling body, and murmured:
"That sword… is yours?"
"…What?"
Kushimaru scratched his ear, pretending not to have heard clearly, and stepped a little closer. With a pull of his wires, Nuibari snapped back into his hand, trailing Beichen's blood behind it.
The spray of blood splattered her face, but Kuugetsu did not wipe it away. She spoke again, flatly, mechanically:
"That sword is yours?"
Kushimaru toyed with the long needle in his hands, smirking. "Of course it's mine. What can you do about it?"
But before he could finish, his expression froze. The girl before him suddenly raised her head. In her eyes, the three-tomoe Sharingan spun — and began transforming, visibly, into something far more terrifying.
"Since it's yours," Kuugetsu said coldly, "I don't need to worry about killing the wrong person."