Katsuko had only a second of relief. Movement out of the corner of her eye warned her in time to throw herself out of the way of the queen’s claws, skidding down the armored back in controlled freefall. Above her, the mountain trembled.

The trench around Ryouma slammed shut, crushing the demons it had caught in its maw. The soldier demon was the only one to escape, scrabbling out of the trench just as the ground sealed shut behind it. Mud ang yellow blood bubbled up from the repaired seam in the earth.

No sign of Kakashi or the lieutenant yet, but Kakashi’s bunshin was still alive. All Katsuko had to do was buy her teammates time to get out of the mines. She gritted her teeth and readied herself for another run up the queen’s back.

As if summoned, a flash of silver armor darted towards Ryouma. Kakashi’s clone drew its tanto, running white chakra down the blade just as the soldier demon leapt at Ryouma. Ryouma’s hands were glowing again, the bloodclot-red of the rot jutsu lighting up his fingers, but it was the clone that reached the soldier demon first. The bunshin’s aim was true; yellow ichor spray followed the demon’s dying screech.

The shudder of the black-shelled carapace underneath her reminded Katsuko that she had her own problems to deal with. “Right,” she muttered, and broke into a sprint.

A shout from down below; Katsuko reached out with her senses, unwilling to risk glancing back over her shoulder. Ryouma’s chakra and the muted presence of Kakashi’s clone, racing for the queen. Further back, Raidou’s signature still shone strong.

The queen howled when Katsuko darted up the back of her neck. The damn bug had learned from the last time, lurching and bucking and thrashing too hard for Katsuko to do anything more than dodge and hang on for dear life with her chakra. Yellow ichor seeped out from self-inflicted cracks in the queen’s armor, a slippery trap just waiting to happen.

Kakashi’s clone’s presence flickered, then disappeared. Hopefully its owner was receiving its memories and not lying in tiny demon-chewed pieces in the mine.

Three things happened at once. The first was Raidou flickering in from the side, moving to intercept a few straggler demons still scuttling after Ryouma.

The second was the sickening lurch as the queen’s head slewed around, her attention caught by Raidou’s sudden movement.

The third, Katsuko was in the perfect position to see. The queen reared back, opening her jaws. Faster than Katsuko could react, a stream of green liquid shot from the queen’s mouth, arrowing in on Raidou’s small figure. He tried to dodge a second too late; his startled yell when the liquid hit him in the mask made Katsuko grit her teeth.

She sunk her katana hilt-deep in another of the queen’s eyes, planting her feet and yanking it out. Yellow blood fountained as the queen screamed.