"Father..."
The Third Raikage, though his body throbbed with pain, remained conscious and even retained some combat capability.
Yet the Wind Release technique had dealt him a crippling blow.
His strength was greatly diminished, and he could no longer use the Four-Finger Spear Hand with that hand.
Soon after, he was taken for medical treatment.
However, the healers reported: "Lord Third, we can treat some of your injuries, but your hand..."
"Only Tsunade of Konoha might have the skill to heal it."
'Tsunade? Wasn't she the commander of Konoha's eastern forces?'
"Mmmph! Mmmph!" Yugito screamed, but her mouth was gagged, rendering her cries muffled and useless.
"Meow~ Scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you," Raj taunted from the sidelines.
Minato remained silent. Though the cat's words sounded reasonable, there was something unsettling about its tone.
Yugito flinched, staring blankly at Raj, momentarily speechless.
She was strong, but her opponent was stronger.
Raj activated a technique, allowing Minato to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to approach.
In the brief seconds after closing the distance, Raj swiftly applied two Sealing Techniques to Yugito, who was still in her Tailed Beast Transformation.
First, he sealed her Chakra, then the Tailed Beast itself.
Moments later, Matatabi's transformed form regressed, leaving behind Yugito, now a small girl of eleven or twelve.
"Meow~ Why haven't we returned to camp yet?"
Raj glanced around, realizing they were still near the Land of Fire's border.
Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
"I was worried I wouldn't have enough Chakra to bring both of you back to camp directly, so I didn't."
'Fine. It made sense.'
Carrying a Jinchuriki and a creature nearly as powerful as one with the Flying Thunder God Technique would almost double the Chakra cost.
Minato's judgment proved correct.
Transporting two people was truly difficult.
He now had less than a third of his Chakra remaining, barely enough to handle ordinary emergencies.
If he had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to bring them directly to camp, Minato estimated he would have collapsed.
'Still, that look in their eyes... it really tugged at his heartstrings.'
Minato sighed inwardly.
'Unnoticed, this Black Cat has grown so strong, while I seem to be standing still...'
At that moment, Minato and Kakashi shared a silent understanding.
After a moment's thought, Minato fired a signal flare.
This was a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.
The Kumo Ninja wouldn't give up easily.
With the signal flare fired, Minato waved Raj over, signaling him to take Yugito away first.
He needed to stay behind and explain the situation to the Konoha reinforcements arriving.
"Meow~ Let's go."
"Waaah!" Yugito refused to cooperate, even trying to kick Raj.
Not cooperating? Then they'd have to use force.
Raj sighed, ate a packet of special cat food to replenish its Chakra, and after a moment, its tail rapidly expanded, coiling around Yugito and carrying her away.
'If she cooperated, I could have saved 100 points. But I've been racking up points these past few days, especially tonight. I should be able to earn a hefty sum, so a mere 100 points is nothing. Small change, I don't care!'
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
Yugito struggled and shouted through the cloth gag, her words unintelligible.
She might have been begging for mercy or cursing him.
To avoid hearing anything unpleasant, Raj decided to ignore her completely.
'Struggle all you want. I'm strong enough to handle you. You can't cause any trouble.'
Raj sprinted toward the main camp from the border.
It needed to deliver the news of Yugito's capture to Tsunade.
Although the Third Raikage had appeared relatively unscathed, Raj, well-versed in the Rasenshuriken's properties, knew its enhanced version had definitely injured him.
Even though the Raikage had minimized direct impact by colliding energy with energy, the residual damage would still be significant.
His closest hand was almost certainly ruined.
In this world, only Tsunade could likely save him.
'But Tsunade... does she have hemophobia?'
Raj wondered inwardly.
Hemophobia would be a real problem.
Yugito eventually gave up struggling.
She couldn't defeat this cat.
It was humiliating to think that the Two-Tailed Jinchuriki couldn't even beat a cat.
What a disgrace!
Inside her body, Matatabi roared incessantly, its mind consumed by fury.
'Defeated by a mere cat? No, not just any cat. This creature seemed to possess the power of an Immortal; otherwise, its destructive force couldn't possibly be so immense. How could such a cat exist...?'
Matatabi glanced at the newly reinforced iron bars surrounding it and roared in renewed fury, clawing at the bars in vain.
This was a high-level Sealing Technique inherited from the Uzumaki Clan, specifically designed to subdue rebellious Tailed Beasts.
Unable to escape, Matatabi could only rage helplessly within Yugito's body.
Gradually, however, it quieted down, its earlier frenzy subsiding.
'There's no point in struggling if I can't escape anyway...'
Besides, Matatabi was generally more docile than other Tailed Beasts, only becoming unusually aggressive when provoked by its kin.
Raj escorted Yugito back to the camp.
He and Minato hadn't returned for several days.
During this time, they were either outside or back at Fugaku's camp, spending the rest of their time sweeping and deterring Kumogakure to prevent a large-scale southern advance.
On the way back, Raj encountered several reinforcement teams.
Though unfamiliar with each other, they exchanged greetings and inquired about the situation.
Raj simply replied, "The Kumo Ninja might be desperate," before hurrying back to the main camp.
As it rushed onward, it encountered a special six-person team: Kakashi and his group.
"Meow!"
"Raj?" Obito's eyes lit up, and he darted forward, but Guy suddenly used the Body Flicker Technique to block his path, warning, "Wait, it could be an enemy in disguise."
"Don't worry, they can't fake this."
Others might mimic appearances, but no one could replicate this unique brand of arrogance.
Kakashi glanced at the little girl wrapped around Raj's tail and couldn't help but marvel.
'This cat's playing for keeps, kidnapping a Kumogakure girl. Is Rin stepping down to make way for a successor?'
He glanced at Rin, but Rin's attention wasn't on this at all.
Instead, she asked anxiously, "Are you hurt? Where's the Third Raikage?
What exactly happened up ahead?"
"Meow~ Nothing serious. She's the Two-Tailed Jinchuriki. We captured her and injured the Third Raikage, so we're setting up defenses early to prevent the Kumo Ninja from launching a desperate attack."
Raj offered a brief explanation before continuing his sprint toward the camp.
Rin hesitated for a moment, choosing not to pursue him.
Instead, she glanced at the others.
Their mission had been authorized by Tsunade because the camp had few available teams left.