He had known it would turn out like this.
Watching the Nine-Tails incident unfold after Obito slipped through their defenses after all, Byakuya let out a heavy sigh.
"Everyone retreat."
"But...!"
"Everyone retreat."
The other ANBU stationed around Kushina had already been wiped out.
Kushina had vanished. Minato had chased after her. Not long after, the Nine-Tails appeared right in the center of the village.
At this point, there was nothing the ANBU or the other shinobi could do.
Byakuya gave the final order, telling the ANBU to escort any villagers who had not yet evacuated to the shelters. After that, he prepared to head for the shelters himself.
"Byakuya!"
"Lord Third?"
The Nine-Tails was tearing through the village, and Byakuya was just about to hide in the shelter when the Third appeared in front of him with several other shinobi.
He lowered the man and woman he had been carrying on his back, then grabbed Byakuya by the shoulder.
"Get to the shelter. This is no longer a battle you can interfere in."
"Yes, understood."
I was already going there. Who's delaying who here?
Byakuya nodded awkwardly. The Third pointed at the two shinobi he had just put down and asked him to take them to the shelter for treatment as well.
"Understood."
That much was easy.
Byakuya hoisted the man and woman over each shoulder and quickly started running.
In any case, there was nothing he could do during the Nine-Tails incident.
And more importantly, there was absolutely nothing he should do.
He knew the future, but since he had already decided to become a villain, he had no business trying to change anything. He had no business wavering.
"Ah... no..."
The woman on his shoulder woke up. Byakuya could feel her body shifting faintly.
Even so, Byakuya did not stop. He only glanced back at the Nine-Tails, which was still rampaging.
"The Nine-Tails... the village..."
She was dressed in shinobi gear, so she was clearly a ninja as well.
Watching the Nine-Tails destroy half the village with a single sweep of its tails, the woman could not stop tears from falling.
But even if they went back, they could not do anything. So Byakuya did not stop.
"Byakuya! What are you doing here?"
Who now?
Why do so many people know me?
Byakuya silently cursed himself for not wearing his mask as he ran straight into a group of shinobi coming toward him.
The man looked familiar. After a second, Byakuya remembered him as the jōnin he had once saved on the battlefield, the one who used genjutsu.
Shinku, maybe?
"Get to the shelter immediately. Leave this to us."
"...Understood..."
I was already leaving.
Byakuya prayed silently that no one else would delay him. He was just about to move again when a terrible premonition swept through his entire body.
With a thunderous roar, he saw the Nine-Tails open its jaws. A black sphere was forming in its mouth, aimed straight at the heart of the village where they stood.
The attack's range was absurdly large.
Even if they ran for their lives now, they would barely make it past the edge.
Byakuya hurriedly looked toward Yūhi Shinku, only to see his face go as hard as iron.
"Raise the barrier now! The shelter is behind us! We have to stop it!"
No, seriously, can that even be stopped?
There was no way it could be stopped, right?
Byakuya watched everyone throw up a barrier, desperately trying to block the Nine-Tails' attack, and still decided that running first was the better option.
"Go, Byakuya. And... tell my daughter I'm sorry."
No, has this guy lost his mind?
Byakuya's feet stopped against his will, and he could not say a word.
What are you doing?
Even if we run right now, there's no guarantee we'll survive, is there?
He had only met this man once. There was no reason for him to gamble his life for him.
So why...
Why did this feel so awful?
"Our son... is in the shelter... We'll help too. Put us down. We'll help."
The man and woman who had woken at some point slid down from Byakuya's shoulders. Dragging injured legs beneath them, they limped over and stood beside Shinku.
Wait...
Don't all of you have families?
Byakuya could understand risking everything for family, but that did not mean they had to die.
Why were all of them so willing to bet their lives?
"...What a bunch of idiots. You obviously can't stop it."
"What did you say?"
Shinku heard the voice behind him and whipped his head around.
He saw Byakuya's eyes trembling with unease.
The black sphere roaring toward them was enormous and pitch-dark, as if it would swallow the entire village in the next second.
At this point, even running would not save them.
With a sharp rustle, Byakuya pulled a scroll from inside his clothes and unfurled it. He stepped past the shinobi maintaining the barrier and stood at the very front, summoning countless blades into the air.
Every single blade had the exact same formula carved into it.
He had never imagined he would use this here.
After all, this jutsu was not complete yet.
"No! Byakuya! Run...!!!"
Shinku shouted at Byakuya as he stepped forward.
He wanted Byakuya to run, even now.
But it was already too late.
No matter what Byakuya intended to do, there was no way he could deal with that enormous attack.
That was what Shinku must have been thinking.
"That's... impossible..."
The blades Byakuya had summoned spread out in the air, forming a massive circle. The black sphere was being steadily drawn into the space between the sword formation.
Space-time ninjutsu?
Shinku stared in shock as the sphere vanished before his eyes, too stunned to close his mouth. The other shinobi around him wore the same expressions of disbelief.
"This is...!"
So it's still too much after all?
Did I stick my nose where it didn't belong?
Byakuya felt blood seep from the corner of his mouth and clenched his teeth hard.
Of course a few months of studying space-time ninjutsu was not enough to redirect a full-power attack from the Nine-Tails.
His chakra was draining away at a terrifying rate. He felt like he might lose consciousness at any second.
This really was sticking his nose where it didn't belong.
He had sworn long ago that he would never do this sort of thing again.
So why?
Why was he doing it again?
Even when Byakuya asked himself that, he could not find an answer.
The one thing he knew for certain was that he was hopelessly weak against the word family.
At last, Byakuya watched the black sphere disappear completely into space. Forcing his fading mind back into focus, he spread one hand and formed a seal toward the Nine-Tails.
With a thunderous roar, the black sphere that had just vanished appeared again between the circular formation of blades, then shot straight back toward the Nine-Tails.
"Awooo——!!!"
The Nine-Tails took its own attack head-on and let out a piercing scream.
Watching it happen, Byakuya's mouth curved into a faint smile.
Reflect that, you bastard.