The First Hokage's vitality could refill an entire village. Compared to him, even the Uzumaki were candles beside a bonfire.
Kaien continued, his tone said as a matter-of-fact despite the tremble in his hands. "Grandfather's stable now. Don't take more from her, we can use this chance. We can get a stronger source later."
Benihime felt her stomach twist. Kaien wasn't wrong. Hashirama Senju's life force could fully restore the Raikage without having to kill their hostage.
Benihime shut her eyes. "True," she whispered.
The technique halted instantly.
Kushina collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. Her skin became dull and lips went pale. She looked like she'd aged three or four years in minutes. Her chakra flickered weakly, but she was alive... and stable.
Benihime removed her hands and let her breath out in one long, shaking exhale. She had taken herself to the edge. The Raikage's face looked less gaunt, color had returned to his skin. His chakra, though faint, no longer leaked wildly.
Aya rushed forward and knelt beside him, her hands hovering nervously over his chest. "Mother… is he truly stable?"
Benihime nodded. "Yes. For now. His life force is no longer leaking but he's expended years. He'll wake weakened. And if we don't secure a replacement source…" She looked toward the horizon. "He may never recover what he had expended and his strength will drop drastically."
Young Ay clenched his jaw. "Konoha will pay."
"No," Benihime said. "Not yet."
She stood, steadying herself. Her expression returned to cold calculation.
"There's something more important than revenge right now. We need the First Hokage's vitality and we need to understand how Konoha pulled those dead Hokage back. Reanimation on that scale is no trivial technique. We don't know if they can summon of army of undead. Without knowing the full extent of their capabilities we lose too much."
A silence settled over them.
Kaien tugged gently at Benihime's sleeve. "Granny… you'll teach me sealing now, right? You have heard what uncle Bee said sealing is the only way put an end to this. We should put our efforts into learning sealing technique. We learned it the hard way."
He never imagined Konoha would summon hashirama and tobirama this early, It seems we have pushed them too far. He never wanted to send Kushina away for the trade instead he wanted her to start a uzumaki clan here in kumo but the times have changed.
Benihime blinked, surprised he asked now of all times. "Kaien—"
"I need it," he said biting his lips. "To help. To stop things like this from happening again."
Benihime exhaled. "We'll discuss it later."
Kaien nodded, though he clearly wasn't satisfied.
Bee finally spoke. "What's our next move?"
Benihime looked down at her husband... still unconscious, but breathing steadily.
"Secure Genbu Island and increase the sealing barriers. No one enters without my approval," she said. "Then we gather information."
Ay's fists tightened. "You think they'll use that technique again?"
Benihime didn't answer immediately. She looked at Kushina... pale, unconscious, breathing weakly.
"They've already shown they'll cross any boundary," she said quietly. "So we need to be ready for anything."
Killer Bee interrupted, "Master, Raikage-sama... has sealed the souls of both the first and second hokage. So, they should not be able to summon them. However, they can always summon others. The undead army though of a weaker shinobi is dangerous for our shinobi."
Benihime nodded at her student. She looked at the unconscious kushina. "It seems you still have some usefulness to prove. You will teach sealing techniques. I will monitor it myself."
She looked back at Bee, "Brief me the details of the war."
Killer Bee finished his report in one long breath. He kept it crisp... the chakra ore mine, the state of 10k Iwa's forces, sealing of four tails jinchuriki, escape of five tails jinchuuriki and the scattered collapse of kumo front along the Land of rice fields and the 2nd base at Land of Frost. The death of the third hokage. Yellow flash and his powers. His tone never wavered, but even he felt the heaviness as he remembered the incidents.
Benihime listened with her arms folded. Each detail tightened her expression further. When he finished, she simply nodded.
"Good," she said. "Now you handle Kushina. You're more than strong enough to keep her contained and learn all the sealing techniques from her. Don't break her. But fear is necessary. She will resist unless made to understand."
Bee glanced at the unconscious jinchuriki, still pale from the forced life-force exchange. Her breathing was shallow. Her chakra coil sluggish.
Benihime quickly wrote and handed him a folded slip of paper. Bee opened it. One line written in sharp ink which looked more like a seal than a message:
He read on:
"I've applied my own seal and resealed the Nine-Tails on top of Eight Trigrams Seal. Prepare for the Yellow Flash. The mark on her will let him teleport if she's not underground. Genbu will pull her under the moment an intruder enters the domain. I will teleport to you immediately if necessary. The Eight Trigrams Seal on her is more solid than the Iron Armor Seal you have, I will replace your seal later."
Bee exhaled slowly as he used a lightning technique to crumble the paper. "Understood, Master."
He lifted Kushina... and slung her over his shoulder. He turned toward the northwest region of Genbu. He didn't look back and flicked away.
--
Benihime shifted her gaze to her children: Aya and Ay. Both stood stiff, trying to understand the weight of the sudden power shift.
"Aya. Ay." Her tone was flat, but decisive. "You two are handling the aftermath. And send spies and find kekkei genkai clans and have them join into kumo. Any envoy Konoha or Iwa sends... no matter how trivial... comes through me first."
"Yes, Mother, we have 5000 shinobi we were supposed to send to the front line... on standby. " Aya said. Benihime nodded.
"Yes, Mother," Young Ay repeated.
Benihime stepped closer. "And Ay… don't fool yourself."
Young Ay blinked. "Bee has surpassed you. Not by a little. By a margin large enough to shame you if you ever fight seriously. You should have realised what you are lacking in. To fall into genjutsu twice... being helpless."
Ay swallowed hard. He knew Bee was stronger but hearing it from his mother made him feel his lack of strength.
"And Aya," Benihime continued, turning to her daughter, "don't let pride grow just because you landed a strike on your father during training. He went easy on you. Both of you have far more potential than you realize, but you waste it by assuming victory before the battle begins."
Aya lowered her head. Her knuckles whitened at her sides as shame and frustration tangled inside her.
Benihime let the silence stretch for a full breath.
"I will personally train you both," she said finally. "But now is not the time. It seems Renga also showed quite a potential and was a huge asset. Call him in later."
Young Ay and Aya nodded. Both understood what that meant. Their mother rarely trained anyone personally. Only Bee had received that privilege because he was loved by the animals of the forest and genbu. They were trained by their father for most of the times. The next era of cloud would be terrifying if she molded all four. Killer Bee. Aya. Young Ay. Renga.
Benihime was thinking what to do with the four tails they have captured.
--
A/N: who do you think Konoha would summon if at all they did? Would Danzo agree to the sudden summoning of powerful figures which could threaten his position? Would other clans agree, if yes, under what conditions?
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