Genya crouched at the edge of the crater, looking at Kaguya embedded in the rock.
Her white robes were torn, her long hair disheveled, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. At last, emotion had entered her eyes.
Not fear, but bewilderment, like a child overwhelmed by a feeling she had never experienced before.
Genya reached out and pulled her from the rock.
Kaguya did not resist, letting him hold her wrist.
"Why wouldn't you listen?"
Genya's voice was soft, as though he were speaking to a child who had misbehaved.
"Now you'll behave, won't you?"
Kaguya looked at him. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
He still held her wrist. His palm was warm, so warm that it made her a little uncomfortable.
She did not pull away.
Hashirama approached from a distance, stopped at the edge of the crater, and looked down at the two of them.
His expression was complicated: relief, resignation, and a hint of amusement he could not quite explain.
He suddenly remembered something from many years ago.
He had pulled Madara out of a crater in the Valley of the End in just the same way.
Madara had refused to submit back then, too. He had only quieted down after Hashirama gave him a beating.
History always bore a striking resemblance to itself, even if the people being beaten and the reasons were entirely different.
Black Zetsu poked his head over the edge of the crater. Looking at Genya and Kaguya below, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his nonexistent heart-which had never pounded in a thousand years-hammer wildly.
That was close. Thank goodness I was clever enough to put in a good word.
*Otherwise, that punch might have