Four-Tails, Capture Successful

"It'll take more than that to deal with me..."

Roshi lunged ferociously at Uchiha Madara, trying to devour him whole. But Madara's eyes merely narrowed, and Roshi slammed heavily into the bones of the blue Susanoo.

--Roar!

After getting back to his feet, Roshi let out several furious roars. Then he opened his cavernous maw, lined with sharp fangs. As he sucked in the raging winds, blue and black chakra began to gather in his mouth.

"A small Tailed Beast Bomb?"

The power of a Tailed Beast Bomb was astonishing, even a small one. Even someone as powerful as Uchiha Madara had to take it seriously. Decades ago, when he controlled the Nine-Tails and used a Tailed Beast Bomb against the First, Senju Hashirama had barely managed to alter its trajectory by using the Fivefold Rashomon.

But... right now, I'm in my prime!

--Bang!

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

Uchiha Madara didn't even try to dodge. He simply took the large Gunbai from his back and held it before him.

The moment the Tailed Beast Bomb touched the fan, the explosion he'd expected never came. Only after Uchiha Madara let out a cold laugh did he speak--

"Uchiha Reflection...!"

The Tailed Beast Bomb was completely absorbed into the fan. Uchiha Madara gave it a light swing, converting the enormous amount of chakra stored within into wind-style chakra and unleashing it all at once.

--Rumble!

The blast swept up dust and became an immensely powerful shock wave, smashing into Roshi. He was sent flying and crashed heavily to the ground. Before he could even get back up, Uchiha Madara changed Susanoo to its first stage and reached out with a blue-chakra-coated arm, gripping Roshi's body tightly.

"Four-Tails, capture successful..."

Uchiha Madara was just about to use a Sealing Jutsu to restrain Roshi when several of Roshi's tails suddenly began thrashing violently. As he let out a heart-rending howl, his body continued to grow larger.

Seeing this, Uchiha Madara immediately used Body Flicker to retreat several times. He stared at the towering beast, now swollen to the size of a small mountain, and formed hand seals again. "Complete Tailed Beast Transformation...? Then let me show you my new technique!"

"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"

His old friend, Senju Hashirama, had once used this technique to suppress the Nine-Tails that Madara controlled. Madara remembered it vividly. He clapped his hands together, then raised them--

A gigantic Wood Dragon with a long, hooked snout and a body covered in spikes shot forth, tightly coiling around the newly transformed Four-Tails, Son Goku.

His eyes were full of astonishment. He wasn't shocked that he was about to be sealed as soon as he'd appeared. It was the face of the man before him—and the ninjutsu he was using—that stunned him.

During the Warring States period, that "lunatic" named Senju Hashirama had said something about how "you Tailed Beasts are too dangerous," then ridden a Wood Golem and a Wood Human to capture and seal him and all his siblings... They'd even been passed around like objects.

Whenever he saw Wood Release, he remembered that day... the fear of being dominated by Wood Release, and the humiliation of having his chakra drained by the Wood Dragon like he was nothing but a plaything...

Uchiha Madara, however, was nowhere near as gentle as Senju Hashirama. After draining all the chakra from the transformed Roshi until he passed out, Madara casually sealed him inside a scroll. Then he walked over and picked up the Talisman lying on the ground.

"Sheep...?"

Holding the Sheep Talisman in his hand, even Uchiha Madara couldn't help shuddering. "What exactly can this thing do...?"

Before the Talisman had even warmed in his hand, an unperceivably swift white light suddenly enveloped Uchiha Madara's vision. A moment later, he felt his body lose control as his consciousness slowly rose.

"What's happening to me?!"

His surprise lasted only a few seconds, because the feeling reminded Uchiha Madara of the evil jutsu used by "that naturally evil, white-haired man."

"Impure World Reincarnation"... A forbidden jutsu that toyed with the souls of the dead...

His body had already fallen to the ground. In the eyes of the White Zetsu following him, he'd suddenly dropped dead. They crowded around him, shaking his body over and over and crying things like, "Lord Madara! Lord Madara! How are we supposed to live without you?!"

They can't see me...?

Uchiha Madara's first conclusion was that he was now in some kind of "soul state."

He tried to enter his fallen body, and just as he'd expected, he "came back to life" again.

"Lord Madara! Are you all right?!"

"Black Zetsu? What are you doing here...?"

Before he could finish asking, Uchiha Madara had already figured out the answer. Some White Zetsu had probably hurried off to tell Black Zetsu he was dead... That must be why Black Zetsu, who was Madara's "will" and had been gathering intelligence on the Jinchūriki, had rushed over to him.

"It's nothing serious... I was just testing the Talisman."

There was a hint of regret in Uchiha Madara's voice. Compared with the Dog Talisman, which had given him eternal vitality, this Sheep Talisman, which could only let his soul leave his body, was clearly of little use.

Although it might prove useful for gathering intelligence if it fell into the hands of one of the other villages in the Five Great Nations, Madara had tens of thousands of White Zetsu at his side, and the Ninja World was nothing more than his backyard. There were very few situations where he could use the Sheep Talisman.

...Just as Uchiha Madara was about to head back, "Tobi" suddenly emerged from the ground in front of him. "Lord Madara! We've got it! There's news about another Talisman!"

The moment Uchiha Madara subdued Roshi, the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki, our Qian Yu immediately sent out the last four Talismans.

Uncle and Chixing were on their way back to Konoha. Just then, the spell told him another Talisman had appeared.

"Chixing! Change course! A new Talisman has appeared!"

"But... Uncle, I'm supposed to wait for Yellow Sponge..."

"Come on! You don't want to disappoint Marshal of Crab Kingdom, do you?!"

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

Frightened by Uncle's impassioned tone, Chixing tucked his pointed head in, then weakly nodded the tiny bit that was still showing. "Yes..."

"Then hurry up and go find the Talisman with Uncle!"

"Oh, right! Uncle will leave a message for Yellow Sponge and tell him to search for the Talismans separately from us!"

Uncle used Qi Magic to leave a Crimson Seal at the spot where Chixing was supposed to meet Yellow Sponge. Chixing immediately turned around with Uncle on his back, becoming a little rocket and soaring into the sky.

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

Land of Wind.

Sunagakure, Kazekage's Office--

"I'm sorry... Lord Kazekage... I've let you down..."

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

"All right... This wasn't your fault... That old man who could use strange techniques and the Starfish Monster that controlled magma really were beyond what we expected..."

The Third Kazekage exchanged glances with the two advisers beside him. In the end, they all shook their heads.

No one could have imagined that the spy's report about "an old man who could use a power outside the chakra system and a starfish summoning beast that controlled magma" would be true...

At the time, Sunagakure's leadership had unanimously concluded that "their spy must have been discovered," or else "the intelligence was intercepted and altered." That was the only way to explain why the report sounded like the wild fantasy of a child's dream...