Roasted Fox

Shock.

That was the thought shared by everyone in the treetops.

Pairs of wide eyes stared intently ahead. The orange Nine-Tails had burst out of the forest, swaggering as it casually swung its tails and swept everything away.

The Nine-Tails swung its tails with abandon, battering the earth and kicking up massive gusts of wind. Like a tornado, they toppled all the surrounding trees, leaving it completely exposed beneath the sunlight.

Its enormous limbs gripped the ground tightly. Its orange fur gleamed in the sun as it lowered its head, bared its sharp teeth, and growled. Its crimson eyes remained fixed on the two people standing atop a tree, utterly unaffected.

Their figures were clearly reflected in its scarlet eyes. The Nine-Tails could sense the threat to its life, and its tails swayed uneasily beneath the sky.

A purple, transparent flame rose from the ground like a curtain. It flowed along the earth, converging into a clear barrier that hung in the air and completely enclosed the area where they stood.

The moment the barrier formed, the Nine-Tails swung its enormous hand at the two people in the tree. The trees were torn to pieces as easily as paper, while its sharp claws carved several trenches into the ground.

Taking advantage of the smoke from its first attack, the Nine-Tails charged across the earth. It rose to its feet and swung its arm at the transparent barrier, trying to break out of its cage.

A burning sensation spread across its palm. Its orange fur caught fire from the transparent purple flames, but the barrier's surface merely rippled. As the ripples died away, the barrier returned to normal.

"Are you all right?"

Seeing the shinobi maintaining the barrier sway a little, one of the shinobi waiting to relieve him asked softly.

"That casual blow from the Nine-Tails was certainly astounding, but this is nothing." The Uzumaki shinobi holding his hand seals replied with a light cough.

Steadying himself, he thought, I can't let that happen again. The clan leader and Lord Kaimi, maintaining the barrier together on the other side, would surely sense what had happened here. He couldn't let the Uzumaki Clan down again.

As his resolve strengthened, the vast chakra within him began pouring into the barrier without pause.

"Good. Let me know immediately if you can't hold on, and be ready to switch out."

Sensing that the Uzumaki shinobi beside him was in good shape, the man relaxed. He looked up at the Nine-Tails, which was thrashing wildly inside the barrier. He could sense its terrifying presence even from this far away. He could hardly imagine what it was like inside.

With his Sharingan activated, Rikusei could see inside the barrier quite clearly. Madara and Hashirama were warming up. Even with his Double Tomoe, he could barely make out their afterimages. Their peerless Taijutsu was on full display, and their flawless teamwork drove the Nine-Tails back again and again, until it was pressed against a corner of the barrier.

But many people at the scene could only see the Nine-Tails getting beaten through the transparent barrier. They couldn't see Lord Hokage and Lord Madara displaying their might. Under the scorching sun, quite a few people began to grow anxious, their eyes darting about in agitation.

"Secret Technique: Kikaichū!"

An Aburame Clan shinobi wearing black sunglasses extended his arm. Little black insects gathered on it and flew toward the sky. The dense swarm formed a dark canopy, completely blocking the sun and solving their immediate problem.

"Phew, nice work, Taiichi!" Torifu Akimichi tugged open his collar, gasped in the heat, and raised a hand to praise him.

"It's nothing." The boy in sunglasses answered casually. He didn't feel the slightest strain; this was only a portion of the Kikaichū in his body.

Torifu Akimichi asked the white-haired man in blue shinobi armor in front of them, "We can't see a thing like this! Teacher Tobirama."

"Save your breath, Torifu. It'd be dangerous to get any closer," Sarutobi Hiruzen scolded quietly. At this distance, they were just within the Byakugan's maximum range, and had enough time to react to any jutsu flying their way.

Danzo nodded along in agreement.

Tobirama rested a hand against his chin and studied them, thinking. It really was frustrating not to be able to see what was happening inside the barrier.

He considered how they might solve the problem.

Then he spotted a girl with a golden ponytail chatting with Naori in the crowd and called out, "Can anyone from the Yamanaka Clan use Mind Transfer Jutsu?"

"I can, Teacher Tobirama!" the girl answered brightly, raising her hand.

"Then I have a way for you to see what's happening inside the barrier." Tobirama smiled mysteriously and beckoned, asking Taiichi and Nao Yamanaka to come forward and join the Hyuga Clan shinobi.

Rikusei, enjoying the shade in the crowd, seemed to realize what Tobirama was planning.

"Taiichi, use your Kikaichū to connect Hyuga Kagami's chakra to everyone. Then Nao can use Mind Transfer Jutsu to transmit what he sees inside the barrier through the chakra, straight into everyone's minds." Tobirama narrowed his eyes as he explained his idea. Then, as if remembering something, he added, "The Byakugan sees the world in black and white, so keep that in mind."

So, a live broadcast in black and white.

Sure enough, it was just as Rikusei had expected.

When the Kikaichū crawled toward him along a branch, Rikusei smiled at Taiichi and pointed to his Sharingan, turning in its socket. There was no way he'd let himself be connected. He had a shocking secret hidden in his heart.

Now all the shinobi in the treetops could see what was happening inside the barrier.

The battle inside the barrier continued. The Nine-Tails glared furiously, its hatred practically spilling from its crimson eyes. Everything on the surrounding ground had been destroyed.

In the heat of battle, it had learned their names.

Uchiha Madara. Senju Hashirama.

The cracked earth was strewn with shattered chunks of soil, sinking like a dense web of spiderwebs.

Some of the damage had been caused by the tails thrashing behind it. But most of it came from the man named Hashirama, who had pounded the ground with his fists again and again. The man with a fan strapped to his back, meanwhile, skillfully attacked the parts supporting its body, repeatedly knocking it off its feet and toppling it to the ground. Dust covered its once-proud fur.

Dodging a powerful punch, it swung its tail and knocked Madara away from its side. It shook its body to clear the dust, sending yellow-brown dirt and smoke formed from tangible red chakra swirling through the barrier until the view grew blurry.

All this effort was futile against the Nine-Tails. The Byakugan and Sharingan could see everything clearly; only the Uzumaki Clan outside the barrier was affected by the obscuring mist.

Calm-faced in the mist, Hashirama relied on his senses and silently mouthed a few words to Madara. The Sharingan could read lips. The two formed hand seals at the same time.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"

Ordinary jutsu became something extraordinary in their hands. With the Wind Release and the fan boosting it, the enormous crimson fireball looked like the blazing sun had descended to earth. It seared the land as it roared toward the Nine-Tails.

This is bad.

Watching what was happening inside the barrier, Rikusei thought the Nine-Tails might end up a roasted fox.

The Nine-Tails crouched on the ground, its forepaws restlessly scraping at the trench-riddled earth. Its fur began to curl in the scorching heat. Its nine tails gathered together behind it, and chakra condensed beside its mouth into a black sphere of energy that shot toward the blazing sun.

The pitch-black chakra sphere punched straight through the fireball, which burst apart. A towering wave of flames erupted from the shattered red sphere, each surge rising higher than the last as it rushed into the sky.

The wind whipped Madara's long hair, and his armor clattered incessantly. The black tomoe in his scarlet Sharingan began to turn. His Eternal Mangekyo captured every detail at the center of the explosion.

"Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique."

Hashirama pressed his palms together, sending chakra into the earth. Green trees burst from the ground. Their rapidly growing trunks entwined tightly and began to merge, and a towering wooden golem rose from beneath their feet. Madara and Hashirama stood safely on the nose of the golem's unfinished form, watching the black Tailed Beast Bomb fly toward them.

The Wood Golem took several steps forward and caught the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb in one hand. Hashirama smiled and controlled its fingers, curling them inward as he tried to crush the sphere in its palm.

"I misjudged how much chakra it had."

Madara, his Eternal Mangekyo activated, tightened his grip on his fan. He could clearly discern the details within the Tailed Beast Bomb and tell how much power it still held. Shaking his head, he pointed out the Wood Golem's flaw.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Tailed Beast Bomb tore through the Wood Golem's hand and came roaring toward them.

Uchiha Madara glanced at Hashirama, signaling that he didn't need to act again. Then he leaped from the Wood Golem and raised his fan to stop it. The fan's tomoe-patterned surface clashed fiercely with the much smaller Tailed Beast Bomb. He murmured, "Uchiha Reflection."

The Tailed Beast Bomb began flying back along its original path. The Nine-Tails calmly wrapped chakra around its hand and slapped it aside. A violent explosion boomed inside the barrier, and the transparent purple barrier could no longer withstand the spreading shock wave. It dissolved into the air.

"Clan leader, are you all right!"

The Uzumaki shinobi who had been maintaining the barrier rushed to where the white-haired elder had fallen. They helped him up without caring that they were getting dust on themselves.

"I'm fine. Cough!" Uzumaki Ashina answered his clanmates' worried looks and slowly stood up. As he watched the battlefield, a dull, numb ache spread across his back where the box had dug into him. "Quick, check that the sealing tools are all intact!"

The others hurriedly checked inside the box and replied, "Everything's intact, Clan Leader. But what about your health?"

"I'm fine."

Uzumaki Ashina waved a hand, but his gaze never left the Wood Golem running across the earth.

Its heavy footsteps boomed as it moved, sending powerful tremors from the middle of the battlefield toward them. Nearby pebbles bounced across the ground.

"Is this Lord Hokage's Wood Release?" A young Uzumaki shinobi gazed intently at the towering green Wood Golem, his voice full of admiration.

"This is the power that defeated the Uchiha Clan," Uzumaki Ashina said, his old, low voice tinged with emotion. "No, there's one more thing to add."

"What is it, Clan Leader?"

"The power to defeat the Tailed Beasts for good."