Lava Release, Four-Tails

The war in the Land of Wind was not going as smoothly as expected.

The Leaf Ninja were indeed stronger than Sunagakure, but the desert environment was more suited to the Sand Ninja.

Especially a young man named Rasa, who used Magnet Release to suppress a small unit that included three Jonin.

He possessed the ability to control a rampaging Shukaku in the desert.

Orochimaru had failed to rank him among the highest-level combatants, causing the battle to descend into a stalemate.

Across the desert, bloodstains were everywhere, along with countless shattered puppet fragments and broken weapons.

"Orochimaru, if you think you can kill this old woman, you're not qualified yet."

Chiyo controlled the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu and cut a brown giant snake in half.

Orochimaru appeared atop the severed snake's body, his face dark.

According to their estimated combat strength, he should have been able to hold Chiyo back while the Leaf Ninja rapidly conquered the Land of Wind, leaving Sunagakure unable to respond on either front.

But...

His gaze shifted toward Rasa in the distance, who was raising a Gold Sand Waterfall.

This level of strategic Magnet Release was far too powerful on a large-scale battlefield.

Especially when used on his home turf...

"Another Magnet Release user?"

Chiyo snorted. "Little snake, since you dared to attack the Land of Wind, it seems you already know."

"Or rather, was it you Leaf who killed the Third Kazekage?"

The Third Kazekage had been missing for more than three months.

Forget a Village Shadow—even a Genin who lost contact for a month would be presumed dead.

Chiyo had long since abandoned the search for the Third Kazekage. The reason she was still fighting the Leaf was to choose the Fourth Kazekage through the war.

Orochimaru licked his lips menacingly and sneered.

"Old woman, according to the information we received, it was your grandson who killed the Third Kazekage."

Sasori!

Chiyo's pupils suddenly contracted, and her control of the Chakra threads faltered for an instant.

At her level, as a top-tier Puppet Master, she should never have made such a low-level mistake.

Swish!!

Orochimaru did not let the opportunity slip away. A White Rainbow shot from his mouth and severed one of Chiyo's arms!

Boom!!

Several puppets that had lost their control crashed to the ground.

"Lady Chiyo!"

"Elder Chiyo!!"

"Protect Lady Chiyo!"

"Retreat! Protect Lady Chiyo and retreat!"

Seeing Chiyo injured, countless Sand Ninja fought desperately to stop Orochimaru from continuing his attack.

Chiyo was the wife of the First Kazekage, and her status was equivalent to Mito's in Konoha.

Having this old ancestor preside over the battle was already proof of Sunagakure's helplessness. If they even let her die on the battlefield...

They would truly have no face left to call themselves shinobi.

The fearless Sand Ninja caused Orochimaru considerable trouble. Even Rasa abandoned his own battlefield and advanced toward them.

After fighting Elder Chiyo for so long, Orochimaru had expended a great deal of energy. If he was surrounded, he would be in serious danger.

In the end, the battle concluded with Sunagakure retreating.

Unfortunately, the Leaf Ninja no longer had the strength to advance either. Quite a few of them had been poisoned by the Sand Ninja.

"Tsunade..."

Orochimaru furrowed his brows. If Tsunade had been here, the two of them could definitely have killed Chiyo, and he would not have needed to divide his attention to deal with Chiyo's poison.

But then he thought of Tsunade's problem... this battlefield was covered in blood.

If she had been here, not holding them back would already have counted as good enough.

Orochimaru looked at the battlefield's aftermath with some regret.

He had still underestimated Sunagakure. Even a rotten ship had three nails left, let alone one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Rasa's appearance had prevented Konoha from achieving much. Orochimaru wanted far more than this minor victory.

He knew very well what this defeat meant for Konoha. He had to find a way to turn the situation around.

Orochimaru decided to infiltrate Sunagakure personally, gather more intelligence on Chiyo and Rasa, and spread the news that Sasori of the Red Sands had assassinated the Third Kazekage.

It would be useless if only Sunagakure's Higher-ups knew. The lower-ranking Ninja had to learn of it too.

He had learned this trick from Danzo.

If he got the chance, he wanted to assassinate that Magnet Release user!

After the battlefield was cleaned up, Orochimaru quietly left under the cover of night and set out toward Sunagakure.

At the same time, on another battlefield along Konoha's western front.

Scattered limbs and corpses littered Kannabi Bridge.

Fugaku's skill in Genjutsu was exceptional. At that moment, he was controlling two Stone Hidden Ninja and interrogating them for information.

Kagami Uchiha wiped the blood from Sode no Shirayuki.

Swordsmanship was part of Uchiha Style Taijutsu, but it relied mainly on the Sharingan's power of observation.

Once he caught an enemy's opening, a Short Sword was more convenient for killing than a long blade.

It also suited his slashes better.

Minato saw that he wanted to train, so he left most of the subsequent waves of Stone Hidden Ninja to him.

The Uchiha improved fastest through actual combat.

Whether it was his sense of timing or combat intelligence, Kagami Uchiha had improved noticeably.

"It seems... Iwagakure has confirmed the intelligence that the Land of Fire's border is lightly defended."

Fugaku walked over to the group and said solemnly, "According to what they know..."

"Ōnoki has already ordered a Jinchuriki to set out. The destination is here!"

A Jinchuriki...

No matter the time, it was an extremely oppressive term.

Minato smiled gently. "They'll come sooner or later. Isn't that precisely why we're stationed here?"

Everyone's gaze turned toward Kagami Uchiha.

Fugaku had already learned what was discussed during Orochimaru's prewar meeting.

According to his account, Minato would hold back one Jinchuriki. If a second appeared, Kagami Uchiha would deal with it...

Although Kagami Uchiha's performance in recent days had been dazzling, no one believed he could stand against a Jinchuriki.

The terrifying power of Black Flash rivaled a Tailed Beast Ball, but after using it once before, Kagami Uchiha had lost the ability to continue fighting.

Facing their silent questions, Kagami Uchiha sheathed his blade and said calmly, "I hope it's the Four-Tails. I'm rather interested in it."

Aside from the all-purpose charger Kurama, the Four-Tails had the greatest compatibility with Kagami Uchiha among the Tailed Beasts.

He most often used Fire and Earth Ninjutsu, giving him the basic conditions to develop Lava Release.

Developing Yin Release was the most worthwhile path, and slashing could also be considered a manifestation of Yin Release.

Lava Release was powerful, but he did not have much energy to devote to developing it.

The Four-Tails was practically a shortcut.

The Nine Tailed Beasts were guardians left to the Ninja World by the Sage of Six Paths, and each possessed powerful abilities.

With the right Jinchuriki, after reaching an understanding, a Ninja could use a Tailed Beast's power and achieve an effect greater than one plus one.

The Nine-Tails Chakra Kagami Uchiha had absorbed had helped him develop Yin Release—Sun-Chasing Fierce Wolf.

If he could obtain Four-Tails Chakra, it would greatly benefit his development of Lava Release.

Just as he was thinking this...

A wave of heat swept over them, as though an active volcano had erupted nearby.

"You bastards from Konoha, what did you do to my partner?!"

The roar approached from afar. A scarlet figure could be vaguely seen, and raging flames ignited wherever it passed.

"Get ready for battle. It's the Four-Tails you were looking forward to, Kagami."

Minato could not keep Chakra sensing active every moment, so he was not particularly startled by the newly arrived enemy.

Compared with the Four-Tails and Five-Tails they had encountered before, the Nine-Tails was far more terrifying. Minato even felt that these two Jinchuriki were not on the same level as Kushina at all.

He had actually claimed that they would need to bring a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to fight them. What a boast.

Kagami Uchiha activated his Sharingan again and rapidly formed Hand Seals as he mobilized his Chakra.

He did not have the bad habit of waiting for someone to charge over, chatting a little, and only then starting a fight.

If he did not use this time to charge up a big move, did they think this was a turn-based game?

Screech—screech—screech—

The grating sound of cutting continued to ring out, making everyone turn their heads.

Fugaku in particular was reminded of an unpleasant memory.

Azure Blade revolved around Kagami Uchiha, spinning faster and faster like a storm.

"Stay a little farther away from me."

The storm's range continued to expand, pulverizing the corpses of the Stone Hidden Ninja on the ground and staining the Azure Blade Flow with a hint of red.

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki was covered in flowing magma and entered full-power mode at the first opportunity.

Lava Release—Flowing Lava Rock Technique!!

Several magma spheres the size of millstones came crashing over, radiating terrifying heat.

Kagami Uchiha extended two fingers and guided them.

"Slash Release—Thousand Blade Flow Scenery of Severity."