With a flicker, the scenery blurred before Ōnoki's eyes. When he opened them again, he had arrived in a village surrounded by rocky peaks, with roads carved through the mountains.
Inside the Iwagakure office, Ōnoki and the Iwagakure Ninja who had been trapped in an illusion and unable to escape returned to Iwagakure.
"What a desolate place. Even setting a chakra mark here took more effort than I expected. Now, can we talk, Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales?"
At opposite ends of the rectangular conference table, Ōnoki sat at the head, while Uchiha Hanazuki lounged back in his chair across from him, smiling without a word.
"To think you'd hold negotiations under these constraints. In the end, you're not like Uchiha Madara, kid. He never negotiated with anyone. He only demanded submission."
"I just don't want to make things more troublesome than they need to be. But there's one thing you've misunderstood. This isn't a negotiation. It's a unilateral declaration."
Ōnoki's wrinkled old face darkened, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
"I take back what I said earlier. You're exactly like Uchiha Madara, kid. Neither of you is willing to listen to anyone else."
"It's a very simple condition. You are not to take part in the fighting on the front lines."
"If you break it, you'll see the consequences. I'm already sick of this war dragging on. Let's bring the Third Shinobi World War to an end soon."
At that, Ōnoki sneered and mocked him.
"You're still just a kid. Even written agreements are torn up whenever the great nations please. What good is a verbal promise?"
Hanazuki slowly rose to his feet and turned his back on the Iwagakure Ninja. His quiet muttering stirred a faint, ominous feeling in Ōnoki.
"The agreement takes effect the moment I leave Iwagakure. If you dare take part in the Third Shinobi World War again... a parting gift will appear in your village."
"This is my parting gift. We're done."
Hanazuki vanished from sight. Ōnoki's sense of foreboding grew stronger, as if some deeply hidden threat beside him were slowly baring its fangs.
"Sage Art: Great Spiral Wheel!"
In an instant, all sound fell silent.
A consuming white light flashed outside Iwagakure. Its terrifying brilliance replaced the sun in the sky, as though the celestial body that had hung high above had fallen to earth.
The earth shook violently. An unprecedented earthquake left the entire village on the verge of collapse, and it took a long time for things to settle.
At last free, Ōnoki burst out of the meeting room. His pupils trembled uncontrollably, and his once-unbreakable fighting spirit wavered, as though he had returned to his youth, facing that invincible figure once more.
"Father, the roads leading out of the village are blocked by piles of earth taller than the rocky mountains. What is that crater?"
Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi, asked in alarm. A gigantic crater, spanning thousands of square kilometers, had appeared outside Iwagakure at some point. There wasn't a trace of life in it.
"What is this... Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Hanazuki, the God of Shinobi?"
The fear that Ōnoki had thought vanished with Uchiha Madara's death seized his aged heart once more.
"Father, didn't you go to the front lines yourself?"
Faced with Kitsuchi's confusion, Ōnoki fell silent for a long while, then slowly shook his head.
"From today until the Third Shinobi World War is over, I won't take a single step outside the village. My son, Kitsuchi, remember this well."
"If you ever encounter an Uchiha Ninja wearing a Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask, run without hesitation. Whatever you do, don't fight him head-on."
"That's a realm beyond mortal reach. I wonder how much of a headache he'll give Sarutobi Hiruzen if he learns of him. Uchiha and Konoha... Heh heh heh..."
The smile on the old man's face calmed the panicked Iwagakure Ninja. They rushed out in droves to help the injured.
Among the Iwagakure Ninja, two greatly feared shinobi stood atop a peak, gazing at the enormous crater. It looked strangely familiar.
"Is this... a Tailed Beast Bomb? What do you think, Han?"
The burly man, wearing a red conical hat and armor that covered his entire body, gave a slight nod in agreement.
"Did another ninja village send out a Jinchūriki? I can't sense any other Tailed Beasts nearby. What in the world happened? Did that old geezer Ōnoki cause this?"
The purple-clad shinobi, his red hair tied into small bunches and even his beard red, gazed at the figure floating in midair, deep in thought.
"Why don't you go ask him yourself?"
"Give me a break. You know Ōnoki and I don't get along. If you're counting on him to speak up, you'd better go ask him instead—unless you want to die without even knowing how. Han."
Roshi turned and walked away. Han's expression shifted, but in the end, he decided not to ask. Ōnoki was the Third Tsuchikage. How to handle this was his problem to worry about. Still...
"Even if it's a Tailed Beast Bomb, one this powerful would have to come from something on the level of the Eight-Tails or Nine-Tails. Cloud Village and Konoha? Which side was it?"
As the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, with Roshi as the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Han knew far more about Tailed Beast Bombs than anyone else.
"Why? Why didn't they throw it straight at the village? A technique with this kind of range could have wiped Iwagakure off the map. Who did this?"
The wind howled, and wisps of dust rose into the air. The terrifying sight sent a deep chill through anyone who looked upon it.
At the border of the Land of Earth, a black cloak fluttered in the wind. Behind the Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask, a gleam of thought passed through his eyes.
In his inner world, across the pale blue water, an intricate, elaborate Red Eye stared down a vivid, sinister red eye.
"Are you going to talk or not? What exactly are you hiding in your stomach?"
"Quit nagging. Even if you're a little Uchiha brat, don't think you can pry a single word out of me. I wouldn't talk even if you used an illusion on me!"
Black Nine-Tails was full of fighting spirit. He stuck to the principle of confessing meant a life sentence, resisting meant going home for the New Year, and stubbornly held out for ten minutes without saying a word.
Fifteen minutes later, after the friendly persuasion of Sage Art: Great Spiral Wheel, Black Nine-Tails finally spoke.
"Damn it, you little brat. You've gotten stronger again. Since you've asked so earnestly, I'll graciously tell you."
"Cut the chatter and spit it out, or I'll show you my ultimate interrogation technique."
Hanazuki looked thoroughly impatient. Only then did Black Nine-Tails reluctantly spit out a bamboo scroll, his face full of pain.
"This is a treasured scroll that came with me to this world, from another world..."
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