"You're Rōshi?"
Somewhere within the Land of Fire, a middle-aged man wearing a strangely shaped helmet and a purple kimono was surrounded by several ninjas clad in black cloaks patterned with red clouds. They were all members of Akatsuki.
"Who are you people? Why are you blocking my path?" Sensing their ill intent, the middle-aged man named Rōshi warily examined these mysterious figures.
Rōshi had never seen the peculiar design of their cloaks, nor the strange symbols on their forehead protectors.
Yet they offered him no answer.
"Confirm that the target is the Four-Tails Jinchuriki. Move."
The leader, a man with shark-like markings on his face, spoke. When he opened his mouth, rows of serrated teeth were visible.
"Attack!"
At the command, the surrounding Akatsuki members drew their respective weapons and rushed forward.
"Attacking me without a word—do I really look that easy to bully?" Though Rōshi was middle-aged and mild-tempered, his pride as a Jinchuriki did not allow him to be looked down upon like this.
It just so happened that the Four-Tails sealed within him was renowned for its monstrous close-combat strength.
Rōshi removed the iron staff he had been carrying on his back and charged to meet the attacking ninjas.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The iron staff, weighing dozens of pounds, whistled through the air in Rōshi's hands as he swung it at the Akatsuki members. The sounds of clashing metal rang out one after another.
Compared to the light weapons in the Akatsuki members' hands—katana, longswords, kunai, and the like—the iron staff wielded by Rōshi held an overwhelming advantage in both weight and reach.
The dozen or so Akatsuki ninjas could not get close to Rōshi at all. Instead, four or five of them were injured by him.
"Tch. I told you long ago that we