Bee reached the northwestern training basin... a hollowed region encircled by rising bone pillars and thick moss. A quiet place and a dangerous place filled with wildlife. He trained here for Gyuki's approval.
He set down kushina on a slab of stone. She was still unconscious with sweat beaded on her neck and her hair stuck to her cheek.
Gyūki spoke from within him. "She suffered a life-force drain. Be careful. The nine-tails inside her can use this opportunity while she is weak. Her emotions can weaken the seal."
Bee cracked his knuckles. "Fear makes the brain go click-clack, Lessons hit hard, ain't no coming back."
Gyūki sighed. "Just don't push her too far. Uzumaki or not, losing her life here will bring the nine-tails out."
He looked down at Kushina and sighed. "Redhead, no dread, put the grumpiness to bed, I'm learnin' your seals, yeah, I said what I said."
She frowned in her sleep. Bee sat cross-legged and waited as he has a long way ahead with her. He had both patience and time.
--
Benihime's voice cut clean through the humid air.
"I will personally train you both later. Now I have to attend to my husband." Her eyes slid to Kaien. "Kaien, you're with me."
Aya exhaled a long, uneven breath. Now that the crisis had shifted direction, her body finally allowed her to feel the fear. She thought, Kaien… my son… I hope you can keep up with mother's training.
Kaien turned to her. His tone was soft. "Don't worry, Mother. I'll grow stronger. But Grandfather is still sick that alone will draw vultures. I will train with granny for awhile."
He continued, "Konoha should already be aware of what has happened from the snake sannin, from what Uncle Bee said. They won't strike immediately. If they're smart, they'll try forming a temporary pact with Iwa and have them be the front. But Iwa lost too many in Land of frost. Their forces can't move."
Aya and Young Ay were used to this, but Benihime was surprised. She knew that her grandson was helping but this is basically ordering. Heh.
The boy didn't stop.
"Maintaining five thousand shinobi at the Second Base wastes resources. We should spread them as scouting cadres... five hundred to expand a perimeter sweep."
He looked at both his mother and uncle. "And… we need information. Takigakure is already drowning in deserters, orphans, and shinobi without clans. That belt around Konoha... Hot water, Taki, Grass, Rice Fields... is going to be full of drifting bloodlines. We can pull kekkei genkai before Konoha or Iwa catches the scent. They should still be recovering from their losses. We should move first and compensate for our losses."
Aya's lips parted. She wasn't sure whether she was proud or unnerved.
Kaien pressed on, "And our spies in Takigakure should listen for clans fleeing the war. Konoha's internal situation is unstable. Some will run. Some will defect."
Young Ay crossed his arms. "Recruiting is one thing. Controlling them is another."
Benihime's voice followed, low and pragmatic. "They will attempt to infiltrate as spies mixing along with our kekkei genkai clan recruits. We have to tighten the security and strict protocol for recuirting."
Kaien didn't deny it. "We target the young. Those who haven't awakened their kekkei genkai yet. Less loyalty to their birthplace and are easier to mold. If their bloodline never awakens, we lose a little. If it does, we gain a weapon."
Benihime nodded in approval. It made sense it is difficult to control the one who is already strong. "We will go with Kaien's plan."
Aya and Ay exchanged a quick look. Their mother didn't praise anyone easily.
Benihime turned fully to her daughter. "Aya. Speak with the Lightning Daimyō. Secure funding for training programs for children... food, shelter, instructors. We need long-term assets, not soldiers who last one battle. "
Aya straightened. "Understood."
"And increase pensions for our war veterans," Benihime added, surprisingly gentle for a moment. "Their trust anchors the village. R&D will also need a larger budget. New medical facilities. New sealing laboratories. New combat protocols... especially dealing with the reanimated shinobi. And to maintain the new influx of shinobi."
Ay tapped his wristband, already forming the calculation. "It can be done."
Benihime finished, "And battle rewards must be issued immediately. Returning shinobi need morale, not uncertainty."
Aya and Ay both bowed sharply, lightning flickering at their ankles.
"We'll begin immediately."
They sprinted toward Genbu's tail. At the water's edge, both kicked off in perfect synchrony, running over the water toward the Hidden Cloud... two streaks of pale-blue lightning cutting across the sea, completely ignoring the Genbu's guardian, The Giant Squid.
--
Without a word, Benihime placed her hand on Kaien's shoulder, then on her husband's chest. "Genbu," she murmured, "take us to the stomach."
Benihime led the way as the floor of Genbu's outer shell softened, lowered, and reshaped into a descending path. Kaien followed, his tiny hand bracing against the shifting bone-flesh underfoot. The unconscious Raikage hovered beside them, carried gently in the grasp of Genbu's internal tendrils... living tissue.
The descent opened into a space Kaien was not prepared for. The chamber below wasn't a stomach. It wasn't even close to anything anatomical or natural in the human sense. It was a world in itself.
The ceiling curved high above like the sky at dusk, washed in muted gold. Massive stone pillars... each wide enough to hold the Raikage's tower... stretched upward and spiraled with vines glowing faint green. Waterfalls poured from cracks in the "walls," cascading into lakes filled with silver fish. Herds of strange animals roamed freely: some shaped like horned deer with crystalline fur, others resembling oversized moles burrowing through chakra-rich soil, others still flying with wings that resembled leaves.
Kaien's jaw fell open. "This… is the stomach?"
Benihime almost laughed. A small, proud smile tugged the corner of her mouth.
"This," she corrected gently, "is Genbu, a Island Turtle's inner dimension. The island is alive, yes, but it's anatomy defies human logic."
Kaien rotated slowly, absorbing the impossible landscape. It reminded him of descriptions of Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave.
Benihime continued, "Genbu absorbs natural energy every second. Animals living here bathe in it. They learn, instinctively, to control it."
Kaien's eyes widened. "So this… this is a separate dimension."
~~
A/N: I spent more time figuring out Killer Bee's rap than writing the entire chapter.
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