Meanwhile, back where the hunters had just stepped, the forest suddenly rippled.
Out of thin air, one of Ryusei's shadow clones appeared, its suppressed presence detonating to life. It didn't waste a moment.
With a sharp seal, it helped create a few more clones, all of them snapping into position deliberately, forming in a circle right around where Yoji stood. Their target was clear.
"Yoji!" Tatsuma Aburame's eyes widened. His face flushed purple as his rinkaichū surged, flooding through his arms in a writhing wave.
He lunged forward immediately, trying to touch the clones before they could reach Yoji.
Beside him, Gakuya Mushin's teeth bared, his ninken growling low.
He slammed his palm to the ground, releasing a flurry of Inuzuka techniques, claws, and chakra bursts, shredding the air as he tried to intercept.
The three mid-jōnin at their flank didn't hesitate either. Weapons flashed, hands blurred into seals. A storm of counterattacks erupted promptly.
But two of Ryusei's clones were already ahead of them.
They flared violently, spewing chakra into form, and launched two A-rank techniques at once, the Flame Fist and the Thunder Serpent.
The firestorm swallowed branches in front, while the crackling serpent of lightning cut across the clearing, driving the three mid-jōnin and Tatsuma back for just a few seconds. Enough.
The rest of the clones moved in perfect sequence, bodies flowing together as if rehearsed. They closed in on Yoji from every angle.
Shock Steps cut off his escape routes further, the unpredictable Wolf Fang Style strikes blended into Coiling Serpent Fist, Shatter Palm tore through his guard, and Flowing Willow Guard redirected his desperate counters.
The names of Ryusei's taijutsu rang silent in their fists and feet as they drowned Yoji under the weight of coordinated assault.
He barely had time to register the panic in his eyes before the last strike crushed into his chest, and the clones detonated into smoke due to the rest of Root's scrambled attacks, but too late at this point.
Yoji fell, lifeless, his swarm scattering uselessly into the air.
In that chaos, Mushin's ninken had previously also been caught in the same storm of blows.
The body collapsed, twitching once before going still.
"No—!" Gakuya's voice cracked, disbelief choking into rage.
He stared at the bodies, his partner, his comrade of years, gone in an instant.
His chakra flared wild, a howl tearing out of him as his eyes burned red. "You damn brat! I'll rip you apart!"
Far ahead, Ryusei felt it all.
The death, the fury, the sudden emptiness where Yoji's chakra had been.
He exhaled hard, a huge sigh of relief escaping him. His gamble had worked.
The sword above his neck was gone. But there was no time for joy.
His chest rose and fell, ragged, and he knew he had only scraps of chakra left.
Enough to keep running. Nothing more.
He pushed himself forward, sprinting again, even as he sensed the Root exerting themselves to the limit now.
Before, they had paced the hunt, confident the net would close.
Now they unleashed their full speed. They were already here.
Ryusei's eyes flicked ahead.
Relief hit him again, sharper this time.
Tsunade.
She was moving now at full force, her chakra flaring, probably using her peak medical chakra enhancement already, her speed undeniable.
She had seen the clash. She had committed.
"Just a while longer," he thought, teeth gritted, legs pounding.
His hand dipped into his pouch, pulling free the two strongest seals he had.
Talismans given to him by Takumi, the seal master who had shown him favor when Minato and Kushina had rejected him.
That carefully cultivated relationship by Ryusei, since then, had paid off.
Ryusei understated no relationship for his current position, and he was right again.
Even in the scarcity of such a war for Konoha, with everyone desperate for life-saving trumps, Takumi had parted with these rare treasures.
Ryusei had spent a fortune of his inheritance to secure them.
But it was not something only money could buy.
He slapped the seals onto the ground ahead, feeding them his chakra.
At once, a barrier dome surged up, translucent and humming with power. It didn't just block, it absorbed.
Enemy chakra fed it, strengthened it in the short term. Against jōnin, even that could hold.
And it came not a moment too soon.
The three mid-jōnin combined their elements in a synchronized blast, while Tatsuma unleashed his poisonous purple cloud, smoke laced with his nano-insects.
Inhaling it even faintly was death, just like his touch.
The barrier held, the dome drinking in their fury, glowing brighter as their attacks poured against it.
Ryusei sprinted away, lungs burning, buying distance while the dome held.
He already felt his chakra still clawing back into him, his body recovering even now, fast through willpower and training.
He prayed it would be enough.
Far behind him, the dome finally cracked, shattering under their pressure.
The Root hunters burst free, five still standing.
Their faces were masks of fury, their speed now absolute.
They couldn't afford another mishap, not after losing Yoji, perhaps the Root's most important asset, right before their eyes.
Ryusei's vision narrowed.
Ahead, Tsunade's chakra flared like the sun at this point.
He sensed her chakra, probably from her seal, fully unleashed, her body surging with even more raw strength.
It surprised him, but he knew the truth: if she hadn't activated that, he would surely be dead.
Now he had a chance, at least, for them to meet on time. A thin, fragile chance.
And he would cling to it with everything left in him.
***
The enemy was closing in again.
Their speed had doubled after Yoji and the ninken were gone, desperation sharpening every step. But Tsunade was closing in too.
Ryusei felt both presences behind him, one like a blade at his throat, the other like a shield rushing to meet him.
The problem was obvious.
His jaw tightened. "So close, yet so far."
He grimly understood the reality.
Even with his monstrous willpower and his abnormal recovery, the temporary chakra deficit couldn't be bridged fast enough.
He was running on fumes.
His legs moved, but his reserves lagged behind.
The Root still had momentum.
In a few minutes, they would catch him again.
A bitter smile cracked his lips. "After all that… even this won't be enough."
His senses flickered, shutting down one by one.
First, the clarity of chakra perception dulled, then the crisp edges of his vision blurred.
He forced his body forward anyway, nothing but autopilot now, his will dragging deadweight muscles.
If he collapsed, it would not be at their hands.
"Better to die burning out than be butchered," he thought coldly. "That's my 'shinobi way,' I guess."
And then—
A small, wet sound near his ear.
At first, he thought it was a hallucination.
His eyes, half-lidded, caught a flicker of pale slime on the ground.
Then a tiny, fast slug shot across the dirt and clung to him.
Its voice came softly, almost soothing.
"Please, quickly accept my chakra. Hold on until you meet my mistress."
For a moment, Ryusei thought he was hearing an angel.
His body staggered, almost collapsing, before a laugh tore out of his throat, wild and dry.
'Hah… right. How could I forget… portable batteries.'
He scooped the little slug from the ground with almost comical desperation, hugging it against his chest like a child clutching treasure.
The warmth hit him immediately.
Chakra poured in, majestic yet soft, flowing like a current of sunlight through his veins.
It was warm, refreshing, and strangely delicate. Almost… female.
His mouth twisted into a smirk. 'Figures. Even her chakra feels like that. Leave it to Tsunade.'
Strength trickled back into his limbs.
His pace picked up, little by little, every breath steadier than the last.
He murmured down at the slug clinging to him. "You saved my life. Thank you."
But the miracle didn't stop there.
More slugs began crawling across his path, tiny forms darting out from under leaves, from tree trunks.
Each one latched onto him as he ran, and soon they were dotting his arms, his shoulders, even his neck.
He blinked, puzzled, almost comically bewildered to see them crawling all over his body while he sprinted.
'What the hell… am I running a relay race?'
The slugs' voices chimed softly, polite but firm. "We must remain in this size. It is the fastest way to reach you ahead of Lady Tsunade."
Another one added, almost teasing, "You are special. She is interested... in asking you some questions. So this is why we were sent to save you."
Ryusei almost stumbled at that, then chuckled under his breath, dry and sharp. "Interested, huh? Now you're just trying to flatter me into running harder."
But his chest felt lighter, almost elated.
He had chakra again; he had allies, however strange.
The slugs explained simply as they crawled over him, their tone always gentle.
"We are Katsuyu, Lady Tsunade's personal summons. Each of us is a clone of one main body. We exist and were sent by her to carry her chakra to you, to sustain you, until you reach her."
Ryusei's grin sharpened, his legs pounding the earth stronger than before.
"Katsuyu, huh… Then let's make sure your 'mistress' and I actually meet today."
And with the slugs clinging all over him, pumping warmth into his body constantly, he surged forward once more, but this time feeling quite 'reinvigorated' and in more ways than one, too.