This time, however, things were going to be a little more difficult.
Before Mina had been able to analyse the beams; check their speed and how they span, when they might cross and what not. Now, though, they were utterly out of control. With the explosions and the way the building was completely falling in on itself, they were going to be flying around the place, and there was no telling where they’d go. Mina had told herself she’d have to make sure she was aware of her surroundings at all times before…but that was ever more true now. It was the only way she was going to be getting out of this place alive, that’s for sure.
But why was the building doing this? She hadn’t expected it. True, she might have thought there’d be some sparks, some fireworks…but nothing like this. It was like the generator had been holding the building up. Only that was a completely irrational idea considering that was an electrical generator—so why? Was it some sort of morbid joke done by these guys; that if someone ever did manage to take them down that they’d at least try to take them down with them? Or was it just a shoddy manufacturing job? The building hadn’t been built sturdy enough to begin with, so with those explosions causing those tremors, it simply couldn’t hold itself up. Or maybe Mina had used too much power in destroying the core—that when she had hit it with her chakra, it had caused a chain reaction, sending waves of it throughout all the smaller machines in the building.
If it had been her, Mina was definitely paying for her stupidity now.
But shaking off her theories as to why it was happening for now, not exactly needing to care at the moment, Mina jumped forward, heading for the exit, dodging past falling debris in order to reach it. If she just kept up her speed and remained alert, then she should be able to do it. Sure, the room was big, but she’d only taken her time to get across it before because of the beams. Now there were no rules, no need for hesitation, no nothing. The building didn’t seem to be collapsing too fast; just bit by bit, and so she should be alright. Just a little further, and then—
Then suddenly one of the metal beams slumped down, like it was falling to its knees, having given up the ghost, and Mina screeched to a halt, pulling back in a millisecond—the beam falling in that spot a moment after. If she had waited only slightly longer, she would have been crushed. Torn between being thankful for her quick reactions and pissed off at having possibly started this in the first place and at not having noticed it happening to begin with, Mina pushed them aside and began to climb over the beam, being careful of its movements as she did so. It wasn’t easy, though, as it constantly shuddered and tilted, forcing her to use chakra to keep her balance—though she only used as much as she dared. If there was anything big that she might need her chakra for, she didn’t want to waste it on something like this.
Then another noise came—something different. This time it was a huge rumble and a crash, and looking round, Mina saw a massive section of the ceiling fall through, being pushed down by machines and rubble from the floors above. But it only acted like the starting force in a line of dominos; with that one slam, Mina clinging on to the beam as it swung round, causing her to jump and dodge the debris that either slid towards her or that the beam tried to slam her into, all the beams started to get going. Everything was going down now, and sensing how bad this was getting, Mina attempted to pick up the pace, gritting her teeth and scowling at the whole situation as she put on a burst of speed for the exit.
But it wasn’t quite what she was hoping for. Even if the beams weren’t faster than her, they could create enough damage to affect everything. And in doing so, they were sending tremors around the whole room. It seemed like no matter how fast Mina ran or how much rubble she dodged she got no closer to her goal. And there was definitely no point in even trying a moment later as two beams, having made their way across the room, swung round and clashed into each other with more Jashin awful screeching. The force was enough to bring them both to the ground, and though Mina tried to reach it in time, she soon slowed to a halt, only able to watch as her exit was covered up by the beams, knowing if she had gone any closer she would have been snapped in half. Not that things were any better this way. With how the building was falling apart, and now that was covered up—
Mina was trapped.
Pausing for only a moment to think over what to do, she immediately looked upwards. The building was collapsing inwards, the ceilings were falling down—so there were holes up there somewhere. She’d just have to reach them. Clenching her fists, determination taking over her once more, Mina set off, climbing up another beam and running across a section of the wall, before launching herself into the air. This time she used the falling rubble to her advantage; the smaller pieces were still a nuisance, yes, but the large pieces were perfect for her to use as a booster to push herself up further to find a way out. She used her kunai to get rid of anything in her way, searching desperately for an exit.
She could see light coming from places, but could never seem to find the source. Her hearing was affected by the explosions and crashing, and the dust was getting irritating as well. Mina hadn’t been searching long, but it felt like she’d been there for hours, going round and round in circles and getting nowhere. Simply blasting a hole in a wall and escaping was becoming more and more of a temptation—but she couldn’t do it. The building wasn’t stable enough; if she did, the entire thing could instantly just collapse and come down on top of her. But if she didn’t find an exit soon, rubble falling on her or an explosion was going to kill her. The dust kept getting in her eyes and making things difficult, and she was using up her chakra. Mina had to do something—but what should she do?
Though neither became a choice.
As Mina landed on a niche in a wall, pausing to look around once again, another rumble sounded out. But this time—this time it was different. It started soft, but rapidly began to get louder and louder, and soon everything was shaking. The rubble in the air was falling apart from the tremors, and looking up as always, Mina saw that even without blasting a hole in a wall the worst had happened. The building had just given out; the walls couldn’t take any more abuse. One by one they were disintegrating, meaning that the entire weight of the building was coming down on top of her; and Mina wasn’t sure where she had to go. She’d wasted enough chakra, the dust was swirling around so much she could barely see or breathe and she could barely hear from the rumbling. But she had to get out somehow, so she began to build up chakra, wondering if it would be enough to make an exit—let alone get herself out of it.
But she found she didn’t have to, as a moment later fire exploded out of nowhere, and the sound of metal clashing with rock—though before Mina could figure out where it was coming from, something wrapped around her waist and pulled her away rapidly, moving backwards and away from all the action, so much speeding past her eyes. But within a few seconds light burst over her and she was staring up at the sky. They remained moving however, the familiar sensation of falling and landing as they got closer to the ground in the back of Mina’s mind as she could finally see the building from the outside as it collapsed to the ground. She had no idea who was carrying her or what had truly happened, but she couldn’t help but be glad she hadn’t had to go through that.
She was carried a little further, until eventually they halted behind a group of trees in the forest and she was slowly lowered to the ground. Now things were starting to catch up with her; she looked down and realised that although there were hands, there was also a metal cable wrapped around her waist—that had been what had yanked her away so quickly. But all of this slowly coming together in her mind, Mina turned and faced him, blurting in confusion,
“S-Sasori-sama?”
