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Days earlier, In an Akatsuki hideout.
The great statue loomed in silence. The sealing ritual had dragged on for days, and though the Two-Tails was now contained, the atmosphere was heavy. The Five-Tails was next no one dared relax.
Kisame glanced at the lifeless body of Yugito Nii. Like all the jinchūriki before her, she hadn't survived the extraction. Only Gaara had been revived through sacrifice. Every other host had ended the same way dead.
Pain's projection, ringed eyes cutting across the room, broke the quiet.
"The Two-Tails has been sealed. We rest one day. Then we begin the Four-Tails. Any objections?"
No one spoke. Akatsuki's ranks were thin now Hidan and Kakuzu gone, Sasori missing. Fewer hands meant longer rituals, heavier strain. Even with Tobi's addition, they were still two members short.
Deidara scoffed. "One day? Tch. That's enough time for me to go snatch the Six-Tails myself."
"Ne, ne, senpai," Tobi teased, voice singsong. "You sure you even know where to look?"
A vein popped on Deidara's forehead. He lunged, clamping Tobi into a headlock like a pro-wrestler. "Say that again, brat! Call me senpai properly!"
Tobi flailed, slapping the ground. "I give! I give up, senpai!"
"Too late!" Deidara snarled, tightening the lock.
"Ababababa—"
The others ignored the spectacle. They'd seen this dance too many times. If not for Pain's restraint, Deidara might have turned Tobi into modern art long ago.
Pain's gaze didn't waver. "Don't move rashly. Everyone is drained from the sealing. Save your strength."
Kisame frowned slightly. 'Everyone? He didn't see much fatigue in Deidara or Tobi. But Itachi… his partner's pallor had worsened. How much longer could his body endure?'
"Itachi," Kisame said softly.
"I'm fine," Itachi replied, eyes closing, voice quiet but firm.
Kisame nodded, though unease lingered. Then he gestured to Yugito's corpse. "In that case… what do we do with her?"
"Leave it to me," Zetsu volunteered.
Pain's Rinnegan shifted toward Kisame.
"No objections," Kisame replied. "As long as it doesn't stink up the place while we work."
"Then it's settled." Pain dismissed the statue with a hand seal, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path vanishing into nothing. Deidara and Tobi's bickering forms dissolved with the jutsu as well.
The hideout emptied. Only Kisame and Itachi remained, silence settling heavily around them. Itachi closed his eyes to rest. Kisame took watch, a silent vow etched into his shark-like grin to protect Itachi's dwindling time.
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Present.
Outside the base, Zetsu's spore-pod dragged Yugito's body into the earth. But another figure stepped out of the shadows.
Neji.
He knelt, pressing a glowing hand to the fallen jinchūriki's chest. Emerald light seeped into her broken frame.
"Seems your sealing times are stretching longer," he remarked calmly to Zetsu.
The "corpse" stirred. A heartbeat. Then another.
Zetsu's eyes widened. This should've been impossible. Hosts gutted of their tailed beasts were hollow vessels, leaking life like cracked jars. Survival was unheard of.
Yet under Neji's touch, Yugito's body stabilized, the gaping wound sealed as though it had never been.
Zetsu recovered, voice even. "Losing members slowed us, yes. But the Six-Tails is already marked. That leaves only eight and nine. We'll handle Eight. As for Nine…"
His gaze lingered on Neji. "That's what you promised, isn't it?"
Neji's smile flickered under the mask. "I told you not to worry. The preparations I set in motion are the key."
Zetsu tilted his head. "You mean… that defected Leaf medic? Kabuto?"
A nod. Nothing more. Neji didn't elaborate. He didn't need to. And Zetsu knew better than to press. Against this man, questions weren't rights they were privileges.
Yugito stirred. Her eyes fluttered open, cloudy at first, then clear. The first thing she saw was Neji's mask, and the steady warmth of his hand.
Her lips parted. A single word escaped, soft and reverent. "…Boss."
Neji didn't withdraw. His chakra flowed until her seal was whole again, her body no longer bleeding life away. Only then did he release her.
Zetsu slipped back into the earth, muttering about his endless errands Obito, Pain, Kabuto. Babysitting overlords was tiresome work.
Neji helped Yugito to her feet, then guided her away from the ruins. Back to Wave, back to his hidden stronghold. Research awaited, and his projects were far from done.
The Five Armors were nearly complete. Now came the vehicles. Sky Island's wind shells had given him inspiration, but the rarest of the extinct Jet Dial was the key. If he could decipher it, airspeed bikes would no longer be fantasy.
He glanced at Yugito beside him. Another life saved, another piece on the board.
The waves roared against the coast as they disappeared into the horizon.
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