Roshi stood in the distance with his arms crossed, silently watching the two Konoha shinobi before him. His eyes narrowed with disdain.
"Have you finished talking?" Roshi's deep voice echoed through the rain-soaked field, carrying an edge of arrogance.
Only the weak needed to huddle together. True powerhouses fought alone.
As a Jinchūriki, Roshi had long been isolated and shunned by his own village. He had learned to rely on no one but himself. To him, solitude was proof of strength.
A loner was always at odds with the world—unbound by laws, feared by the masses, and driven by raw power.
Yes, the power of the tailed beast that raged inside him.
He knew its might better than anyone else. That burning, molten chakra—terrifying, boundless, and alive. In his mind, if he unleashed his full power, even the Third Tsuchikage might struggle to contain him.
And yet, moments ago, these two dared to treat him as prey.
Hunting a Jinchūriki?
What a ridiculous thought. A tailed beast was not some weapon to be captured. Humans had simply forgotten their fear.
He would remind them.
The order to support the main battlefield was long forgotten. What mattered now was the fight before him. After years of restraint within the village, his chakra burned for release. He craved battle—one that could make his blood boil again.
Hatake Sakumo stepped forward, his expression calm and focused. On his flank stood Uchiha Hayashi, the Sharingan spinning faintly in his eyes. Together, they formed a tight defense, perfectly complementing one another.
The rain poured harder, drumming endlessly against the flooded ground. The gray sky hung low over the Land of Rain, as though someone had drawn a dark curtain across the heavens.
Ripples spread across the shallow water beneath their feet, merging with the rhythm of the rainfall. It was a quiet chaos—beautiful, but deadly.
Roshi smirked. "So, you've made your decision? Two against one—how entertaining. I won't call it unfair... it makes the game balanced enough. After all, I am a Jinchūriki."
With that, his chakra surged violently. The ground beneath him trembled, steam rising from his skin as the heat distorted the air.
Sakumo's expression hardened as his own aura flared, cold and sharp as winter steel.
If Roshi's presence was blazing heat, then Sakumo's was frigid calm. The clash of fire and ice made even Hayashi's heart tighten.
Then—shing!—the White Fang Short Sword was drawn. Its gleaming blade, which had tasted the blood of countless foes, reflected the lightning above.
White chakra enveloped it like a storm unleashed, and under Sakumo's perfect control, the energy focused into a deadly line.
The next moment, he vanished.
Hayashi's Sharingan spun wildly, tracking the faintest blur of movement. Even so, Sakumo's speed pushed his perception to the limit.
Hayashi prided himself on his swiftness, aided by both the Body Flicker Technique and Lightning Release. But compared to Konoha's White Fang, his speed was only half as fast. That difference alone was staggering.
The sword intent radiating from Sakumo was suffocating—sharp enough to make Hayashi instinctively brace himself, feeling the chill of death brush past.
Roshi moved. In the blink of an eye, a kunai appeared in his hand as he braced for impact.
Crack!
A flash of blue electricity danced through the air as Sakumo's short sword came down. There was no metallic clang—only the sound of the kunai being cleaved cleanly in two. Lightning exploded outward.
"Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique!"
A sphere of molten lava burst from Roshi's mouth, hissing through the rain toward Sakumo.
The White Fang swung his blade, lightning roaring as he cut the lava ball apart with surgical precision. But the molten sphere detonated midair, forcing Sakumo to leap back as fire and steam erupted around him.
Roshi laughed, his voice echoing through the downpour. Like a geyser, he spat multiple streams of lava, turning the battlefield into a blazing inferno.
To him, this was nothing but a warm-up. Releasing this much chakra was trivial—merely a medium-sized piece of cake.
Sakumo grimaced slightly, watching the river of magma surge. "What an absurd amount of chakra..." he muttered. His reserves were vast, but compared to this reckless display, it felt like comparing a humble household to a millionaire.
Yet, power meant nothing if it didn't strike its target.
Sakumo dashed through the molten storm, his movements as fluid as a phantom's.
Roshi grinned. "In such a hurry to die, Konoha ninja?"
He raised his hand, sending a massive wave of lava crashing forward.
Sakumo didn't flinch. The moment before the lava engulfed him, his short sword flashed several times, slicing the molten wall apart as thunder echoed across the field.
Roshi snorted, his hands weaving rapidly through seals—only to freeze mid-motion.
Snap!
The crisp sound cut through the rain. His body stiffened, his expression locked in place. Hayashi's genjutsu had taken hold.
A flash of white light followed.
There was no longer any obstacle between Sakumo and his target.
For a speed-type ninja like Sakumo, a single second was an eternity. His killing intent flared like fangs bared to strike.
But just before the blade reached Roshi's neck, crimson light erupted from his body.
A deafening roar tore through the field—the voice of a beast long suppressed. The very air trembled.
Roshi's eyes glowed red as molten chakra enveloped him. Instead of dodging, he raised his arm to block the strike.
BOOM!
A thunderous shockwave exploded outward. The white light of Sakumo's chakra clashed against the burning red of Roshi's, sending waves rippling through the rain.
Sakumo narrowed his eyes, noticing the dense cloak of chakra wrapping Roshi's arm. His Lightning Release blade had only pierced the outer layer before stopping.
"This... is tailed beast chakra," Sakumo muttered.
It was rare—almost unheard of—for anyone to stop his blade barehanded.
Roshi grinned, his voice thick with madness. "Yes... that's it!"
He swung his glowing arm forward, his punch connecting with a thunderous impact.
Sakumo's body was hurled backward, crashing into the soaked earth as steam rose around them.
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