Tug-of-War

"Kid, are you serious?"

Makita Kiyotaka flexed his aching wrists, glared at Katsuki standing in front of him, and reached out as if to grab Katsuki's shoulder.

"Senior, please have mercy! I am just a Shadow Clone, and I cannot withstand your palm strike." Lightning flickered slightly beneath the Shadow Clone's feet, and he dodged Makita's outstretched hand with a swift movement.

"Shadow Clone?"

Makita Kiyotaka frowned.

"Where is your real body? Sending only a Shadow Clone for something like this is far too risky..."

Before he could finish his last words, two more Shadow Clone appeared from underground, completely unaware of his presence even though they were right next to him. This ability was more than enough to shut him up.

"As for his main body, he's currently fighting Jinchuriki from Stone Ninja. They're probably locked in a fierce battle right now and won't be able to break away for a while, especially since there's another One-Tail Jinchuriki nearby."

"Makita, it's confirmed that he's Lord Sakumo's disciple. I've seen him at the front-line camp before, and his Chakra aura is the same." A sensory ninja from the Yamanaka Clan whispered to Makita Kiyotaka, helping Makita make up his mind.

Having made up his mind, and no longer needing to worry about the future, Makita's heart was filled with hope. As long as this brat who claimed to be Sakumo's disciple wasn't lying, the possibility of turning the situation around was not low at all, as long as they could hold out for a little longer and protect the food and supplies of Black Tail Mountain.

"Pass down the order: tighten the defensive perimeter, concentrate forces, and don't give the Sand Ninja and Stone Ninja any openings." Makita shouted the order, Yamanaka Clan ninjas, who were almost exhausted, still gritted their teeth and used magic to transmit Makita's command.

The ninjas fighting on Black Tail Mountain have changed. Teams from Konoha have begun to retreat towards the mountainside, and under Makita's command, they have been deployed in an orderly manner at various strategic passes, forming a fairly solid defensive line. As long as no top-tier experts break through the formation or release Tailed Beast to cause damage, Makita is confident that he can hold out until reinforcements arrive.

Reinforcements, and from the front-line camp no less! Sakumo had defeated the Sand and Stone Ninja who were entangled with him, and was now leading his troops to provide support at top speed.

This is the news brought by Katsuki.

Relying on the Thunderclap Chariot's incredible speed, and with Katsuki's strength now far surpassing what it once was, Sakumo abandoned his plan to arrive at Black Tail Mountain alone first, and instead entrusted this important task to Katsuki.

"The problem now is still the Tailed Beast. If we can't stop those two Tailed Beasts, Black Tail Mountain's defenses won't be able to withstand their Tailed Beast." As Makita said this, he glanced at Katsuki.

"Don't worry, it's just two Tailed Beasts. The main body can hold them off for a while without any problem," the Shadow Clone said.

A glint flashed in Makita's eyes. He had originally wanted to ask Sakumo if he had any backup plans, but he hadn't expected that these backup plans would be this little brat who brought the message... He looked like just a kid, but since he was Sakumo's disciple and had come alone, his strength must have been recognized by Sakumo.

"Then... I'll leave it to you."

"Yes, yes, it's my duty."

Leaving aside the transmission of intelligence from the rear, the great battle at the front was in full swing.

Dark clouds churned in the sky, and silver lightning and thunder fell like a torrential rain, shattering the lava balls that shot into the sky and striking the lava lake hard. The fiery red lava splashed up more than ten meters high, and the lava lake, which covered an area of eight hundred meters in diameter, was never still for a moment, with the viscous lava swaying and undulating.

However, Roshi remained unharmed, hidden in the lava lake. While the power of lightning was formidable, it was somewhat ineffective against liquid lava. Unlike flowing water, which has good electrical conductivity, lava seemed to have very poor electrical conductivity, and could only rely on the energy inherent in the lightning itself to bombard the lava lake.

Silver lightning and fiery red magma intertwined and collided in mid-air, as brilliant and dazzling as fireworks, quite a sight to behold. However, such an attack was like trying to cut water with a knife, having no effect whatsoever. Of course, conversely, Roshi's attack could not harm him in the slightest either. In the end, all that was left was to look on with admiration.

"Jinchuriki are such troublesome things." Standing on the Thunderclap Chariot, Katsuki stroked his chin. This damned Lava Release is really something, it actually created such a large lava lake. Katsuki dared not touch such a high temperature, to be precise, even getting a little close could ignite him from the high temperature of the lava.

The land outside the lava lake was parched and cracked, not a drop of moisture remained, and raindrops evaporated in mid-air before they even reached the ground. Even standing on the Thunderclap Chariot, Katsuki could feel the terrifying heat emanating from below.

"Lightning Release had no effect... I still have too few methods." Katsuki. After mastering the techniques of splitting the soul and Lightning Release Materialization, his strength had indeed increased by leaps and bounds, but his methods were still somewhat limited. This showed that his methods were insufficient when dealing with the Four-Tails Jinchuriki who had mastered the Lava Release.

"Old man, have the guts to come out and fight? Is this all the courage you Stone Ninja have?" Katsuki shouted, mocking Roshi, who was hiding in the lava.

"Hmph, Konoha brat, if you have the guts, come down here and let your Stone Ninja grandpa teach you a lesson." The Partial Tailed Beast Transformation of Roshi poked his head out, floating in the lava lake like a fish, and exchanged insults with Katsuki.

"Tsk!"

Katsuki gritted his teeth in hatred. This old rogue couldn't be provoked with just a few words. It seemed that a tug-of-war would have to be waged for the time being. Although this suited his task of stalling for time, he was still a little frustrated. He had originally thought that after his strength improved greatly, he could finally hold his head high and show off, but he was stopped by Roshi.

"Well, well, he's a veteran Jinchuriki after all, so it's only natural that he has this much strength."

Suppressing her frustration, Katsuki lightly stomped her foot, and the Thunderclap Chariot immediately roared deafeningly. The dragon-shaped chariot head gathered a massive amount of lightning, and a dazzling bolt of thunder suddenly shot out, striking the huge Wind Bullet flying towards it.

Empty Air Bullet.

Shukaku's enormous body appeared a kilometer away.

While Katsuki and Roshi were locked in a fierce battle, the One-Tail Jinchuriki, who had been saved and restored by Chiyo, quickly pressed forward. Although he was unable to control Shukaku's power, after Chiyo forcibly stimulated his potential with a secret medicine, he was able to go toe-to-toe with Shukaku's will.

As for attacking Katsuki, it was Rasa's doing. Faced with the terrifying power of the battle between Roshi and Katsuki, he thought it over and chose to retreat temporarily. He found Chiyo and, after discussing it, he used the One-Tail to attack Katsuki. Konoha has a new generation of talented people. Both Chiyo Rasa had the idea of getting rid of Katsuki as soon as possible.

We must not allow such geniuses to grow up, or it will become their future nightmare.