Four-Tails, Capture Successful

"That alone won't be enough to deal with me..."

Roshi lunged at Uchiha Madara with savage speed, attempting to tear him limb from limb, but Uchiha Madara merely narrowed his eyes, and Roshi slammed heavily into the skeletal frame of the blue Susanoo.

--Awoo!

After scrambling to his feet, Roshi let out a few roars, then opened his maw, lined with razor-sharp teeth. As he inhaled the gale, a mixture of blue and black chakra began to gather in his throat.

"A miniature Tailed Beast Bomb?"

The power of a Tailed Beast Bomb is terrifying, even in its miniature form; even someone as strong as Uchiha Madara had to take it seriously. Decades ago, when he controlled the Nine-Tails to fire a Tailed Beast Bomb at the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama, Hashirama had to deploy the "Fivefold Rashomon" just to barely deflect its trajectory.

However... he was in his prime now!

--Bang!

The Tailed Beast Bomb shot out like an arrow from a bow. In an instant, the ground cracked, and the beam of light seemed to tear the world apart, reducing everything in its path to nothingness.

Uchiha Madara had no intention of dodging; he simply reached back, took his large Gunbai, and held it in front of him.

The moment the Tailed Beast Bomb touched the Gunbai, the expected explosion did not occur. It wasn't until Uchiha Madara let out a cold sneer that—

"Uchiha Reflection...!"

The Tailed Beast Bomb was completely absorbed into the Gunbai. Uchiha Madara gave the fan a light flick, converting the massive amount of accumulated chakra into wind-attribute chakra and releasing it in one go.

--Boom!

The shockwave kicked up dust, turning into an incredibly powerful blast that slammed into Roshi. He was sent flying and crashed heavily to the ground. Before he could even get up, Uchiha Madara shifted his Susanoo to its first stage, extended an arm wreathed in blue chakra, and gripped Roshi's body tightly.

"Four-Tails, capture successful..."

Just as Uchiha Madara was about to perform a sealing jutsu to bind Roshi, the tails behind Roshi suddenly began to thrash violently. Amidst his heart-wrenching roars, his body began to grow larger.

Seeing this, Uchiha Madara immediately retreated with a few body flickers. Looking at the behemoth that had expanded to the size of a small hill, he formed hand seals again. "A full Tailed Beast transformation...? Then let me let you taste my new technique!"

"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"

His old friend, Senju Hashirama, had once used this move to suppress the Nine-Tails he was controlling. Uchiha Madara remembered it vividly, and he immediately clapped his hands together and raised them—

A massive wood dragon with a long, hooked nose and a body covered in thorns surged forward, firmly binding the Four-Tails, "Son Goku," who had just completed his transformation.

His eyes were filled with astonishment—not because he was about to be sealed the moment he appeared, but because of the face of the man before him and the ninjutsu he was using.

During the Warring States period, it was that "madman" named Senju Hashirama who would say things like "You Tailed Beasts are too dangerous," while riding a Wood Golem and a Wood Human to capture and seal him and his brothers and sisters... they were even traded around like mere objects.

Whenever he saw Wood Release, he would always recall that day... the fear of being dominated by Wood Release, and the humiliation of having his chakra drained away like a toy by the wood dragon...

However, Uchiha Madara was not as gentle as Senju Hashirama. After draining the transformed Roshi of all his chakra until he fainted, he casually sealed Roshi into a scroll, then slowly stepped forward and picked up the talisman that had fallen to the ground.

"Sheep...?"

Holding the Sheep Talisman in his hand, even Uchiha Madara couldn't help but feel a shiver. "What exactly is the power of this thing...?"

Before the talisman had even warmed in his hand, Uchiha Madara's vision was suddenly engulfed by a white light he couldn't react to. Immediately after, he felt his body lose control, and his consciousness began to drift upward.

"What is this?!"

The surprise lasted only a few seconds, as the sensation reminded Uchiha Madara of the evil ninjutsu of "a certain naturally evil white-haired man."

"Impure World Reincarnation"... a forbidden jutsu that toys with the souls of the dead...

His body was now lying on the ground. In the eyes of the White Zetsu following him, he had simply dropped dead. The White Zetsu crowded around, shaking his body incessantly and crying out things like, "Lord Madara! Lord Madara! How will we ever survive without you!"

"Can they not see me..."

Uchiha Madara made his first judgment: he was currently in what one might call a "soul state."

He attempted to dive back into his fallen body, and as he expected, he "resurrected" once more.

"Lord Madara! Are you alright?!"

"Black Zetsu? Why are you here...?"

Before the question was even fully out, Uchiha Madara had already guessed the answer. Some White Zetsu must have scurried off to tell Black Zetsu that he had kicked the bucket... which was why Black Zetsu, who was busy collecting intelligence on the Tailed Beast jinchuriki as his "will," had rushed to his side in such a panic.

"It's nothing serious... I was just testing a talisman..."

There was a hint of regret in Uchiha Madara's tone. Compared to the Dog Talisman that gave him eternal vitality, this Sheep Talisman, which only allowed for out-of-body experiences, was clearly of little use.

Although it might have been useful for gathering intelligence if it had fallen into the hands of the other villages of the Five Great Nations, he had tens of thousands of White Zetsu at his disposal, and the Ninja World was merely his backyard. The situations where he would need the Sheep Talisman were truly limited.

...Just as Uchiha Madara was about to head home, "Tobi" suddenly popped out of the ground in front of him. "Lord Madara! I found it! I found it! There's news of another talisman!"

The moment Uchiha Madara subdued the Four-Tails jinchuriki Roshi, our Qian Yu immediately added the final four talismans to the mix.

Uncle and Chixing were on their way back to Konoha when the magic spell told him once again that another talisman had appeared.

"Chixing! Change direction! A new talisman has appeared!"

"But... Uncle, I have to wait for Yellow Sponge..."

"Ay-ya! You don't want to disappoint the Marshal of Crab Kingdom, do you?!"

"You don't want the demons to rule the world, including Bikini Bottom, do you?!"

Chixing was so frightened by Uncle's impassioned tone that he shrank his pointed head, weakly nodded his tiny exposed head, and said, "Yes..."

"Then hurry up and find the talisman with Uncle!"

"Right! Uncle, leave a note for Yellow Sponge so he can split up from us to search for the talismans!"

Uncle cast Qi Magic, placing a Crimson Seal at the location where Chixing was to meet Yellow Sponge. Chixing immediately turned around with Uncle on his back, transforming into a small rocket and soaring into the sky.

At the same time, the special ninja squads from the other four ninja villages had all returned to their respective homes.

Land of Wind.

Sunagakure, Kazekage's office--

"Apologies... Lord Kazekage... I have failed you..."

Rasa, wrapped from head to toe in bandages, knelt with difficulty on one knee. Together with Yashamaru, he apologized for the failed mission and for destroying Yugakure, which had led the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water to demand compensation from the Land of Wind.

"Enough... This is not your fault... That old man who could use special techniques and the Starfish Monster that controlled magma were indeed beyond our expectations..."

The Third Kazekage exchanged glances with the two advisors beside him, and in the end, they all shook their heads.

No one had expected that the intelligence sent back by their spies—stating that "there is an old man who uses power outside the chakra system and a Starfish Monster summon that masters magma"—would actually be true.

Initially, the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure had unanimously concluded that "their spies must have been discovered," or that "the intelligence had been intercepted and altered," which was why the report had seemed as whimsical as a child's dream.