Orochimaru ended up switching to a different white snake for transportation—Manda wasn't giving him the time of day anymore.
Orochimaru also gave up on the idea of riding the Five-Tails with Ruohuo—Ruohuo had simply hopped onto the Five-Tails and taken off.
It would be the second spectacle to appear on the battlefield that day.
The boy rode the snow-white Five-Tails like a steed, galloping at full speed over mountains and through a sea of people.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, took a shortcut through the tunnels Manda had dug along the way.
Although he was soon left in the dust, the Five-Tails drew the Iwagakure Ninja's attention, so Orochimaru's "escape" was relatively unhurried.
The Five-Tails had appeared, but its Jinchuriki wasn't Han.
The terrible news was quickly relayed to Iwagakure. Ōnoki, who had been floating in the air while studying a map, fell right out of the sky...
"My back, my back, my back! Easy, easy, easy..."
At last, the messenger ninja helped him up. Ōnoki then felt a little dizzy.
"What did you just say? Say it again..." Ōnoki said weakly.
"The Five-Tails appeared in its complete form in the mountains in front of Kanabi Bridge. It attacked the ninja who were intercepting Orochimaru, and is now fleeing toward Konoha."
The messenger paused, then said through gritted teeth, grief-stricken, "Lord Han's death has been confirmed..."
"..." Ōnoki's vision went black.
"Lord Third!"
"Lord Third! Hang in there!"
"Someone! The Medical Team! The Medical Team! The Lord Third has passed out!"
Overcome by anger, Ōnoki temporarily lost consciousness.
But soon, the Iwagakure Frontline Operations Command Center took over from the Tsuchikage Building. Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi, acted decisively and issued the highest-level orders to all Iwagakure forces on the battlefield.
Iwagakure forces facing the Cloud Village were to suspend operations, fall back to the rear, and switch to defense to prevent a Cloud Village invasion!
Iwagakure Ninja facing Konoha were to intercept the Five-Tails at all costs and recover it before it could reach Konoha!
Even killing it was acceptable. Under no circumstances could Konoha be allowed to seize the Five-Tails!
The Four-Tails Jinchuriki was also urgently dispatched and left the village for the battlefield!
The order was both decisive and resolute.
And no matter how you looked at it, it was absolutely the right call.
While throwing everything they had into intercepting the Five-Tails, they were also prepared for the possibility of the Cloud Village launching a surprise attack on the Land of Earth. They were doing their best to minimize their losses without giving anyone a chance to take advantage of them.
But could Iwagakure really recover its losses?
Ruohuo had no comment.
In any case, he'd certainly gained quite a lot.
After establishing a chakra link with the Five-Tails, Ruohuo had gained the ability to "communicate telepathically" with it. Just now, he'd also received a notification from the system.
[Your chakra reserves have increased to A (temporary)] [Bloodline Limit: Boil Style, activated.] [Method of acquisition: Chakra donation.] [Little Fire God passive activated. All your nature transformations will be replaced by flames. Attribute fusion successful.] [Your flames can be imbued with a corrosive effect (must be activated using the Five-Tails' chakra).] [Corrosive effect: Your Fire Style can continue to damage a target after hitting it. Duration depends on the amount of (Five-Tails) chakra.] [S-rank skill acquired: Boil Style: Strength of a Hundred.] [Boil Style: Strength of a Hundred: Raise the (Five-Tails') chakra to its boiling point to briefly and drastically increase all physical attributes.]
"It does that too?"
Ruohuo was delighted. He hadn't expected the Bloodline Limit and "Little Fire God" to fuse in this way.
"A corrosive effect... Isn't that basically what Amaterasu does?"
Fire Style dealt direct damage, burning targets with high heat.
And the "strongest form" of Fire Style—Amaterasu—had the highest temperature and could cling to its target until it had burned them to nothing.
So, give or take, his Boil Style version of Fire Style was basically a little Amaterasu!
If he could figure out how to obtain Sage Mode, then artificial Amaterasu Flame would be within reach!
"Boil Style, Strength of a Hundred... No wonder humans all want to get their hands on a Tailed Beast."
Even as Ruohuo rejoiced, he couldn't help feeling a little wistful.
Humans really were greedy.
Sealing a Tailed Beast inside themselves to gain its power surely hadn't been the original "arrangement" between humans and Tailed Beasts.
The normal story probably went like this: humans and Tailed Beasts enjoyed a honeymoon period for a while.
The Tailed Beasts were willing to lend their power to humans and help them.
But once humans gained that power, they wanted to claim the Tailed Beasts' strength for themselves, and so, gradually... gradually...
"The Five-Tails is heading this way! Stay hidden!"
"Listen up. Hold it off for as long as you can. 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, the Iwagakure Ninja lying in ambush suddenly sprang out with a shout!
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
Working together, the Iwagakure Ninja used Earth Release to create an enormous earthen wall. First, they blocked the Five-Tails' path, then sealed off the entrance to the valley!
Using the terrain and the mountains on either side, the Iwagakure Ninja had actually built an enormous earthen prison for the Five-Tails!
And that wasn't all.
"Barrier Team!!!" someone shouted again.
"There's a Barrier Team too?" Ruohuo was a little surprised.
Iwagakure... really didn't want to lose the Five-Tails!
"Hold on tight, Indra."
The Five-Tails, Kokuō, gave a quiet warning through their mental link. Its speed only increased as it snorted out clouds of steam, dipped its head to reveal the four horns on its crown, and charged straight at the earthen wall!
BOOM!!
The towering earthen wall was as fragile as paper before the Five-Tails. It charged right through the blockade, before the Barrier Team even had a chance to activate its barrier!
"I hope Teacher Orochimaru doesn't take this route later..."
Ruohuo glanced behind him and thought to himself.
Looks like there was no chance of finding an Iwagakure ninja on the road to test out little Amaterasu. The Five-Tails, Kokuō, didn't seem inclined to give him the opportunity.
"But we must be close to the border of the Land of Fire, right?"
"I wonder what they'll think when they see the Five-Tails charging at them..."
Ruohuo raised an eyebrow. "They wouldn't attack us right away, would they?"
Come to think of it, that seemed quite possible.
Anyone who saw an enemy village's Tailed Beast charging toward their own village would surely fight back at once!
So, when the time came, would he be acting in self-defense? Would it be justified retaliation? Or would he be legally purging a spy organization?
So hard to choose. Heh...
But Ruohuo was clearly overthinking it.
Orochimaru was the Lord Third's student and the man who would inherit the title of Fourth Hokage.
How could he not have an emergency long-distance communication method with the Hokage Office Building?
Jiraiya had Little Frog too.
The moment Ruohuo rode the Five-Tails toward Konoha,
a little snake had already slithered out of Orochimaru's residence, winding through the streets and alleys, evading hunting cats and dogs as well as the giant feet of passersby.
At last, it crawled onto the desk in the Hokage's office.
The Lord Third, who was "working" with his Crystal Ball, immediately tensed up!
"This is... Oh no! Has something happened to Orochimaru?!"
Before you continue