Uchiha, Jinchuriki?

"Fire Release—Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

"Lava Release—Flowing Lava Rock Technique!"

BOOM!!!

The Dragon Fire and Lava Ball collided, unleashing a fierce wave of heat!

"Brat, yours is merely ordinary fire, but my Lava Release can burn even fire to ashes!!"

Even without Tailed Beast Chakra for the moment, Roshi was still an extremely powerful shinobi!

Whoosh!!

No good!!

Roshi's gaze was still fixed on the explosion when an Invisible Slash suddenly attacked from behind at his side.

The slash had no physical form. Relying on his instinctive danger perception, Roshi barely avoided the fatal blow.

Sss—

BAM!

Dozens of trees crashed to the ground.

Roshi turned around to meet the scarlet Sharingan and a flash of snow-bright Blade Aura!

Without the Four-Tails' Chakra, Roshi could not maintain Lava Release Chakra Mode with his own Chakra alone.

If he had been in Lava Release Chakra Mode, this brat's attempt to get so close would have been suicide!

Clang!

Sode no Shirayuki struck Roshi's steel bracer, sending sparks flying.

BAM!

Roshi twisted around and slammed a fist toward Kagami Uchiha's chest with his other hand, scorching magma burning over his fist.

Kagami Uchiha's face was as calm as still water, but icy light flashed in his eyes.

He shifted slightly, easily dodging Roshi's punch, then kicked out with lightning speed.

Roshi blocked with both arms! The powerful impact forced him back slightly, but he immediately steadied himself and launched another attack.

"Too green, brat!"

His fist crashed toward Kagami Uchiha like a meteor, carrying waves of heat.

Kagami Uchiha naturally would not foolishly trade punches with him. His body flitted through the Fist Shadow like a ghost as he searched for a chance to counterattack.

A prolonged attack was bound to leave an opening.

At last, Kagami Uchiha found his chance. Using the reflection on Sode no Shirayuki's blade, he met Roshi's gaze!

Kagami Suigetsu!

Vast Dojutsu Power surged forth, instantly sketching black Three Tomoe in Roshi's eyes!

Without a moment's hesitation, Kagami Uchiha slashed toward Roshi's neck!

BAM!!

With his defenses wide open, Kagami Uchiha was kicked away by Roshi!

He had not had time to infuse the kick with Lava Release, so it did not cause much damage.

But...

Looking into Roshi's eyes, Kagami Uchiha sneered. "Did you reach an agreement with that gorilla?"

Roshi looked at Kagami Uchiha with a complicated expression. "Only when dealing with you would the Four-Tails be willing to help me break the Genjutsu..."

"What exactly did you do to him?"

The Four-Tails had never paid him any attention, apart from cursing him a few times while fighting over Chakra. Yet now, it was actually willing to help him...

Roshi even felt that killing Kagami Uchiha might make the Four-Tails completely submit to him.

Stubborn as he was, he never expected to reconcile with the Four-Tails. He did not acknowledge it.

Gurgle... gurgle...

Roshi's pupils contracted sharply.

That sound, that posture...

He knew it all too well!

Kagami Uchiha lowered his head and glanced at himself. A red Chakra Cloak wrapped around his body.

A gigantic Chakra tail also appeared behind him.

"This... How is this possible!"

"You're the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!!"

Roshi was utterly horrified.

As everyone knew, Konohagakure had only one Tailed Beast—the Nine-Tails.

Even if they did not know the exact details of the terrible relationship between Konohagakure's Higher-ups and the Uchiha Clan, everyone in the Ninja World knew about the century-defining battle between Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara.

Had the Third Hokage gone mad?

He had actually made a member of the Uchiha Clan the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!

Are you trying to create another Uchiha Madara?!

The Second Hokage and Third Hokage of Iwagakure had both been beaten senseless by Uchiha Madara, and they hated him intensely.

They... had also feared him greatly.

Even Shibi and Xuanhuo, atop the giant eagle, were stunned.

The fact that Kushina was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was classified as an absolute secret.

If not for Minato's close relationship with her, along with his status as Jiraiya's disciple, even he would not have been qualified to know.

After Roshi shouted it out, and seeing Kagami Uchiha's obvious Tailed Beast Cloak...

This guy will definitely be influenced by the Nine-Tails! Konohagakure is finished! (This was Aburame Shibi's thought.)

He already possesses the Uchiha's supreme talent, and now he has the Nine-Tails too... The Uchiha are going to rise! (This was Xuanhuo's thought.)

"Idiot! That's my Chakra! Can't you even recognize it?"

The Four-Tails had recovered a little strength and was shouting wildly inside Roshi.

Uh...

Who could recognize that? A one-tailed Chakra Cloak looks pretty much the same no matter whose it is...

Roshi had no time to respond. Kagami Uchiha, whose speed had increased dramatically, was so fast that only an afterimage remained.

BOOM!!

A heavy punch slammed into Roshi's chest.

The ferocious force, combined with the scorching nature of the Tailed Beast Chakra, burned through his clothes and branded a fist mark into his skin.

Kagami Uchiha did not let the force send him flying. The Chakra tail behind him stretched out, coiled around Roshi's ankle, and smashed him hard into the ground!

A true battle was about using combo attacks to empty the enemy's health bar. Was he really supposed to trade one blow and chat after every attack?

Sode no Shirayuki had been put away at some point. In this state, punches and kicks were more suitable for dealing damage.

Not everyone in the Ninja World was as tough as Orochimaru. Without Tailed Beast Chakra protecting him, Roshi's body could not withstand this kind of assault.

His injuries grew more severe, and his consciousness began to blur.

"Hey! Bastard! Idiot! Kill him for me!!"

The Four-Tails' roar achieved nothing. The monkey itself was still being crushed beneath the chains and could not even get up.

"Do we still... need to help?"

Shibi swallowed, feeling somewhat guilty.

Kagami Uchiha looked to be in his teens. Roshi had not found it particularly absurd for someone that age to awaken Three Tomoe, but they knew very well...

The person down there fighting a Jinchuriki—no, crushing a Jinchuriki—was only eight years old this year.

Xuanhuo was still immersed in his fantasy of Kagami Uchiha controlling the Nine-Tails, sweeping across Konohagakure, and establishing the Uchiha Clan's position in a single stroke. He did not notice Shibi's words.

At that moment, the corner of Shibi's eye caught sight of a tiny black speck.

He had not paid it any attention at first, but several seconds later, the black speck gradually took on the outline of a person.

"No way..."

Shibi's voice trembled. He was even more terrified than he had been facing the Jinchuriki.

He hurriedly leaned half his body out from the giant eagle and shouted hoarsely:

"Kagami! Retreat!"

"It's Ōnoki!"

"Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki is here!!"

Nearly sixty years old, Ōnoki was one of the few shinobi still alive who had experienced the Warring States Period. He was the Tsuchikage who had held the highest authority in the Land of Earth for the longest time, and he had ushered Iwagakure into its golden age.

Kekkei Tōta, which stood above Kekkei Genkai.

A battle-hardened absolute powerhouse known as "Ōnoki of Both Scales"!

Why was the Third Tsuchikage here?!

Minato had the same question.

Whoosh!

Kagami Uchiha carried Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai. After sensing the massive Chakra that had appeared on the battlefield, he decisively led his teammates away from the forces commanded by the Five-Tails and came here to regroup first.

"Kagami... you..."

Seeing Kagami Uchiha covered in Tailed Beast Chakra, Minato was deeply shocked as well.

"There's no time to explain."

Kagami Uchiha held the unconscious Roshi by the neck. After hesitating, he still chose not to kill him.

A living Jinchuriki was more valuable than a dead one.

High in the sky, a small old man hovered with his arms folded. Despite his tiny figure, his presence made everyone below feel as though even breathing was difficult.

The giant eagle also felt the immense pressure and flew toward Kagami Uchiha in search of security.

As it approached, Kagami Uchiha immediately released the Summoning Technique and looked up at Ōnoki with a solemn expression.

A Jinchuriki was understandable, but there was no reason for the Third Tsuchikage to appear so soon.

Normally, he should have been guarding Iwagakure against a possible surprise attack by Kumogakure.

Then... someone had leaked the information.

It was Danzo!

Kagami Uchiha would not doubt his own luck. Whenever something unreasonable happened, someone was definitely targeting him deliberately.

The Ninja World was only so big, and there were only so many people. In any case, at least eight out of ten bad things could be pinned on Danzo.

Black Zetsu could claim the remaining two himself.

"With my current Chakra, I can transfer five people at most..."

The number of people Flying Thunder God Technique could transport depended not only on one's own Chakra, but also on the amount of Chakra possessed by those being transferred.

If people could be transported at will, the Second Hokage would not have died while staying behind to cover the retreat back then.

Even Minato did not dare hope to fight the Third Tsuchikage right now. Moreover, they had not defeated the Five-Tails, and the Iwagakure forces were rapidly approaching as well.

"There really is a Uchiha brat who's absurdly strong..."

"That stubborn Roshi was actually defeated..."

Ōnoki muttered softly as he met Kagami Uchiha's gaze below.

He saw the Tailed Beast Cloak covering Kagami Uchiha's body, and his nearly white eyebrows trembled violently.

Making a member of the Uchiha Clan a Jinchuriki...

What on earth was Sarutobi Hiruzen doing?!