Boil Style, Strength of a Hundred, Little Amaterasu?

Orochimaru ultimately had to switch to a white snake as his mode of transport—Manda refused to deal with him anymore.

Orochimaru also abandoned the idea of riding the Five-Tails with Ruohuo—Ruohuo had simply mounted the beast and bolted.

This would be the second spectacle to appear on the battlefield today.

The youth rode the snow-white Five-Tails, galloping wildly, crossing high mountains and leaping over seas of people.

As for Orochimaru, he relied on the tunnels Manda had burrowed along the way, which could be considered taking a shortcut.

Although he was quickly left behind, with the Five-Tails drawing the attention of the Iwagakure ninja, Orochimaru's "escape" journey remained quite leisurely.

The Five-Tails had appeared, but the Jinchuriki was not Han.

This grim news quickly reached Iwagakure. Ōnoki, who was floating in mid-air studying a map, fell straight to the ground...

"My back, my back, my back! Gently, gently, gently..."

Once the messenger ninja finally helped him up, Ōnoki felt a wave of dizziness.

"What did you just say? Say it again..." Ōnoki said weakly.

"The Five-Tails appeared in its full form before the mountains of Kanabi Bridge. It attacked the ninja intercepting Orochimaru and is now fleeing toward Konoha."

The messenger paused, then gritted his teeth in grief: "Lord Han has been confirmed KIA..."

"..." Everything went black before Ōnoki's eyes.

"Third!"

"Third! Pull yourself together!"

"Someone! The Medical Corps! The Medical Corps!! The Third has passed out!"

Overcome with rage and anxiety, Ōnoki fell into a temporary coma.

However, the Iwagakure Frontline Operations Command Center soon took over for the Tsuchikage Building. Kitsuchi, Ōnoki's son, made a decisive call and issued the highest-level orders to all units on the Iwagakure battlefield.

Iwagakure forces facing the Cloud Village were to suspend operations and fall back to defensive positions to prevent an invasion!

As for the ninja facing Konoha, they were to intercept at all costs, ensuring the Five-Tails was recovered before it could reach Konoha!

Even if it meant killing the beast, they could not allow Konoha to snatch it away!

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki was summoned to duty in this crisis and left the village, rushing toward the battlefield!

This order was both decisive and resolute.

And from any angle, it was undoubtedly the correct move.

While throwing everything into intercepting the Five-Tails, they had also prepared for the possibility of a Cloud Village raid on the Land of Earth, attempting to minimize losses while avoiding being kicked while down.

But could Iwagakure truly recover its losses?

Ruohuo offered no comment.

Regardless, his own gains were indeed quite substantial.

After establishing a chakra link with the Five-Tails, in addition to gaining the ability to "communicate mentally" with the beast, Ruohuo had just received a system notification.

[Your Chakra Reserve attribute has been upgraded to A (Temporary)]

[Kekkei Genkai: Boil Style, activated.]

[Method of acquisition: Chakra endowment.]

[Triggering Little Fire God passive: All your Fire Style techniques will be replaced by intense flames. Attribute fusion successful.]

[Your flames can now be imbued with a Corrosive effect (must be activated via Five-Tails chakra).]

[Corrosive effect: Your Fire Style will continue to inflict damage after hitting the target; duration depends on the amount of (Five-Tails) chakra used.]

[Obtained S-rank skill: Boil Style: Strength of a Hundred.]

[Boil Style: Strength of a Hundred: Elevates (Five-Tails) chakra to its boiling point, briefly providing a massive boost to all physical attributes.]

"It even has this effect?"

Ruohuo was delighted; he hadn't expected the fusion of his Kekkei Genkai and "Little Fire God" to yield such results.

"Corrosive effect... isn't that just the meaning of Amaterasu!"

Fire Style was direct damage, using high temperatures to burn and wound a target.

And the "strongest form" of Fire Style—Amaterasu—possessed the highest temperature and could cling to a target until they were burned to nothing.

His Boil Style version of Fire Style, all things considered, was essentially a mini-Amaterasu!

If he could find a way to obtain Sage Mode, wouldn't he have a man-made version of the Amaterasu Flame?

"Boil Style, Strength of a Hundred... no wonder humans are so desperate to obtain Tailed Beasts."

While happy, Ruohuo also felt a sense of lament.

Humans were truly greedy.

Sealing a Tailed Beast into one's body to gain power was certainly not the original "cooperative" method between humans and Tailed Beasts.

In the normal course of history, there must have been a honeymoon period between humans and the Tailed Beasts.

Tailed Beasts were willing to lend their power to humans to help them.

However, the humans who gained this power sought to monopolize it, and so, gradually... gradually...

"The Five-Tails is coming this way! Stay hidden!"

"Listen up, try to stall it for a while, reinforcements will be here soon!"

"Wait until it gets a little closer..."

"Now!"

Just as the Five-Tails was about to pass through a canyon, accompanied by a roar, the Iwagakure ninjas lying in ambush suddenly appeared!

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

The Iwagakure ninjas combined their efforts to create an enormous earthen wall, first blocking the path of the Five-Tails, then sealing off the entrance to the valley!

Taking advantage of the terrain and the high mountains on both sides, the Iwagakure ninjas had actually crafted a massive earth-style cage for the Five-Tails!

And that wasn't all.

"Barrier Team!!!" came another shout.

There's a Barrier Team too? Ruohuo was a little surprised.

Iwagakure... they really couldn't bear to part with the Five-Tails!

"Hold on tight, Indra."

The Five-Tails Kokuō whispered a reminder through their mental link. Its speed didn't decrease; instead, it accelerated, snorting steam as it lowered its head to reveal the four horns on its crown, charging straight at the earthen wall!

BOOM--!!

The seemingly towering wall was as fragile as thin paper before the Five-Tails. It smashed straight through the blockade before the Barrier Team could even activate their barrier!

I hope Orochimaru doesn't take this path later...

Ruohuo glanced behind him, thinking to himself.

It seemed finding an Iwagakure ninja on the road to test a little Amaterasu was impossible; the Five-Tails Kokuō didn't seem inclined to give him the chance.

But we should be reaching the border of the Land of Fire soon, right?

I wonder what they'll think when they see the Five-Tails charging toward them...

Ruohuo raised an eyebrow. They wouldn't just attack on sight, would they?

Come to think of it, that actually seemed quite possible.

Anyone who saw an enemy village's Tailed Beast charging toward their own village would surely scramble to resist!

In that case, would he be acting in emergency self-defense? Or legitimate defense? Or perhaps legally purging a spy organization?

So hard to choose, hehe...

However, Ruohuo was clearly overthinking it.

Orochimaru was the Third's disciple, the man destined to inherit the title of Fourth Hokage.

How could there not be an emergency long-distance communication method between him and the Hokage Office Building?

Jiraiya even had his Little Frog.

The moment Ruohuo began riding the Five-Tails toward Konoha, a small snake slithered out from Orochimaru's residence, crawling through streets and alleys, dodging wild cats, stray dogs, and the heavy footsteps of humans.

Finally, it crawled onto the desk in the Hokage's office.

The Third, who was busy "working" with his Crystal Ball, suddenly tightened his expression!

"This is... Oh no! Has something happened to Orochimaru!"