Chapter 222: A Cascade of Catastrophe
The Root agent had barely vanished into the tunnel's gloom when a new, terrifying pressure washed over the sanctuary. It was a chakra so dense with malice and raw power that it felt like a physical weight, causing the lanterns to flicker and the civilians to huddle closer together in instinctive dread.
Koharu Utatane froze, her head snapping up as if she'd been struck. "This chakra... it's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! Has Tsunade lost her mind? Unleashing the boy in a situation like this!" Her voice was a sharp, panicked whisper. The news of Danzo's death was a devastating blow, but this—this was a potential extinction-level event. "If the Jinchuriki is compromised, if the seal breaks completely..."
The strategic nightmare unfolded in her mind's eye. She spun back towards the retreating Root agent, her command slicing through the heavy air. "You! Change of plans! Your primary objective is to secure and extract the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! Contain him at all costs! His safety, and more importantly, his containment, is now your absolute priority! The Uchiha can be dealt with later!"
The Root agent gave a curt nod and disappeared, his mission parameters rewritten in an instant.
Before the echoes of her order had faded, a new commotion erupted at the sanctuary's entrance. Two figures stumbled in, supported by a masked Anbu. One was clearly an Anbu guard, his armor scuffed and cracked. The other...
"Medical-nin! Now! Attend to the Hokage!"
Gasps rippled through the chamber. It was Tsunade. The Godaime Hokage, the legendary Sannin, was being half-carried, her face ashen, her famous strength utterly gone. She was a shell, drained and broken.
"Tsunade!" Koharu rushed forward, her earlier fury replaced by a cold, gripping fear. "What has that Uchiha demon done to you? To the village? How can the Hokage be brought to such a state?"
Tsunade's lips moved, but only a faint, rasping breath escaped. She lacked even the strength to form words.
"The Hokage-sama exhausted nearly all her chakra maintaining the Katsuyu network to heal the villagers," the accompanying Anbu explained, his voice heavy with exhaustion and grief. "She was protecting thousands simultaneously. And Uchiha Ren..." He hesitated, the name itself tasting of ash. "He has laid waste to the village. The central district is gone. And... Captain Yamato... fell in battle."
"Yamato? The Wood Style user?" Homura Mitokado finally spoke, his voice trembling. The pillars of Konoha were not just falling; they were being pulverized.
"Precisely!" Koharu seized on the point, her fear manifesting as rage. "And what of the Jinchuriki? Why is he on the battlefield? Pull him back immediately! If we lose our Jinchuriki to that monster, Konoha is finished! Utterly finished!"
The Anbu shook his head helplessly. "Uzumaki Naruto engaged Uchiha Ren before we could retrieve the Hokage. The chakra you felt... he has already lost control. He's likely transformed. Forcing a retreat in his current state is impossible."
Koharu's hands clenched into fists, her knuckles white. The situation was spiraling beyond any semblance of control. Her mind, trained for decades on contingency and hierarchy, scrambled for a solution. "Jiraiya! Where is that fool Jiraiya? At a time like this, he's never where he needs to be!"
"Master Jiraiya was on a long-term intelligence mission to Amegakure, under the Hokage's orders. We have had no contact..."
"REPORT!" A new Anbu, his mask askew and his uniform torn, burst into the chamber, collapsing to one knee. "Advisors! The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has lost all control! He has manifested eight tails! With Yamato dead, there is no one to suppress the transformation! If he reaches nine tails... there will be two of those monsters on the battlefield!"
The air left Koharu's lungs. This was the worst-case scenario, unfolding in real-time. She began to pace the small alcove, her steps frantic, a caged animal surrounded by fire. "Disaster... A complete and utter disaster... If only Danzo were..." She cut herself off, but the thought hung in the air. Danzo's ruthless efficiency would have never allowed this chaos.
Just as despair threatened to consume her, the oppressive, beastly chakra from the battlefield... vanished.
It didn't fade or retreat. It simply ceased to be, snuffed out like a candle.
Koharu rushed to the small, reinforced window that looked out towards the village, her heart thundering in her chest. "What happened? What does this mean?" She knew of the failsafes, the Fourth Hokage's final gift embedded within the seal. Had it triggered? Had Naruto been pulled back from the brink, or had something far worse occurred?
Minutes stretched into an eternity before another messenger arrived. Koharu whirled on him. "Speak! What is the situation?"
"Advisor! The Nine-Tails chakra has been suppressed! The Jinchuriki has reverted to his human form!"
"Do you think I couldn't feel that, you fool?" Koharu shrieked, her composure shattered. "I need a battle report! What is happening out there?!"
"The Jinchuriki... he was utterly outmatched. Even at eight tails, he could not prevail against Uchiha Ren. After he reverted, he was defenseless. But... Master Jiraiya! He has returned! He intervened at the last second and saved Naruto! He is on the battlefield now, facing Uchiha Ren, with two sage toads upon his shoulders! The fight is intense, but he seems to be holding his own!"
A wave of profound, dizzying relief washed over Koharu Utatane. She actually sagged against the wall, a hand pressed to her chest. Jiraiya. The Toad Sage. In full Sage Mode. He was the one variable strong enough to counter the Uchiha anomaly. There was hope. There was still...
"REPORT!"
A fourth messenger, the one she had sent out earlier, stumbled through the entrance. His face was pale, his eyes wide with a horror that transcended anything they had seen that night.
Koharu straightened, a cold knot tightening in her stomach. "Tell me! What is it now?"
The messenger fell to his knees, his voice breaking. "Lord Jiraiya... Master Jiraiya... he has... he has fallen in battle!"
The words did not simply land; they detonated in the silence.
Koharu Utatane stared, uncomprehending. The hope that had been a fleeting candle flame was extinguished in an instant. The strength fled her body. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the cold, stone floor, the world dissolving into a silent, crushing void around her. The last pillar had crumbled. Konoha was truly, and irrevocably, alone.
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