Onoki's warning

With a flicker of his form, the scenery in Onoki's eyes blurred. When he opened them again, he had arrived within a village carved directly into the stone, surrounded by towering rocky peaks.

Inside the Iwagakure office, the group of Iwagakure ninja who had been trapped in the genjutsu, along with Onoki, had returned to the village.

"What a desolate place. Setting a chakra mark here was more laborious than I anticipated. Shall we talk now, Third Tsuchikage, Onoki of the Two Scales?"

At the ends of the rectangular conference table, Onoki sat in the seat of honor, while Uchiha Hanazuki sat opposite him, leaning back in his chair with a silent smile.

"To force a negotiation under such restrictive circumstances—you are different from Uchiha Madara after all, brat. He never negotiated with anyone; he only demanded submission."

"I simply prefer to avoid unnecessary trouble. However, there is one thing you seem to have misunderstood: this is not a negotiation, but a unilateral declaration."

Onoki's wrinkled face twitched, turning incredibly grim.

"I retract my previous statement. You and Uchiha Madara are exactly the same—both of you are men who refuse to listen to a word anyone else says."

"It is a simple treaty. During this conflict, you are forbidden from participating in the battlefield directly."

"If you violate this, you will see grave consequences. I have grown weary of the continuation of this war; let the Third Shinobi World War draw to a close in the near future."

At these words, Onoki sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"A brat is still a brat. When even written agreements can be torn up at any moment in the eyes of the Great Nations, what use could a mere verbal promise possibly have?"

Hanazuki rose slowly, his back to the Iwagakure ninja. His whispered words caused a sense of ominous foreboding to rise within Onoki.

"From the moment I leave Iwagakure, the agreement officially takes effect. If you dare to participate in the Third Shinobi World War again... a parting gift will appear in your village."

"This is a gift before I depart. It is finished."

His figure vanished from the spot. The premonition in Onoki's heart grew stronger, as if some deeply hidden threat beside him had slowly bared its fangs.

"Sage Art: Great Spiral Wheel."

In an instant, all sound ceased.

A pure white light that devoured everything flashed outside Iwagakure. The terrifying brilliance replaced the sun in the sky, as if that entity which had hung high in the heavens had fallen to the mortal realm.

A horrific tremor shook the earth; an unprecedented earthquake left the entire village of Iwagakure teetering on the brink of collapse, only settling after a long duration.

When he regained his freedom, Onoki bolted out of the conference room, his pupils trembling incessantly. His once-tenacious fighting spirit felt as though he had returned to his youth, facing that invincible figure, now teetering on the edge of ruin.

"Father, the roads leading out of the village are blocked by mounds of earth higher than the stone mountains. What exactly was that crater?"

Onoki's son, Kitsuchi, asked in a panic. He had appeared before Iwagakure, looking into a massive crater that spanned thousands of square kilometers, devoid of any signs of life.

"What is this... Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Hanazuki, or the God of Shinobi?"

The fear that he had assumed would dissipate following the death of Uchiha Madara once again gripped Onoki's aged heart.

"Father, didn't you go to the front lines yourself?"

Facing Kitsuchi's confusion, Onoki remained silent for a long time before slowly shaking his head.

"From today on, until the Third Shinobi World War ends, I will not take a single step out of this village. My son, Kitsuchi, you must remember this."

"If you ever encounter an Uchiha ninja wearing a Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask, you must flee without hesitation. Never engage him in direct combat."

"That is a realm unreachable by mortals. I wonder what kind of headache Sarutobi Hiruzen would have if he knew of his existence. The Uchiha and Konoha, heh heh heh..."

The smile on his aged face calmed the panicked Iwagakure ninja. Many of them mobilized, participating in the task of rescuing the wounded.

Among the many Iwagakure ninja, two who were deeply feared stood on a high peak, staring at the massive crater, finding it strangely familiar.

"Is this... a Tailed Beast Bomb? What do you think, Han?"

The burly man, wearing a red conical hat and armor covering his face, nodded slightly in agreement.

"Did another ninja village deploy their jinchuriki? I didn't sense the presence of any other tailed beasts in the vicinity. What is going on? Is this the work of that old man, Onoki?"

The purple-clad ninja, whose red hair was tied in a small bundle and whose beard was also red, stared at the figure floating in mid-air, lost in thought.

"Why don't you go ask him yourself?"

"Forget it. You know as well as I do that Onoki and I don't get along. If you're counting on him to talk, you should go ask him yourself, so you don't end up dead without knowing why, Han."

Roshi turned and left. Han's expression shifted, but ultimately, he chose not to inquire. Onoki was the Third Tsuchikage; how to handle this was his own headache. However...

"Even if it were a Tailed Beast Bomb, a blast of this scale would require the power of the Eight-Tails or the Nine-Tails. Cloud Village or Konoha? Which side is it?"

As the jinchuriki of the Five-Tails, with Roshi being the jinchuriki of the Four-Tails, his understanding of Tailed Beast Bombs was naturally far superior to others.

"Why? Why didn't he just throw it at the village? A jutsu of this magnitude could have easily razed all of Iwagakure to the ground. Who exactly is he?"

The wind whistled, and wisps of dust rose. The terrifying sight made one feel a deep, chilling dread from the bottom of their heart.

On the border of the Land of Earth, a black cloak fluttered in the wind. Beneath the Three-Eyed Demon Fox Mask, a flicker of contemplation crossed his eyes.

In his inner world, amidst the pale blue water, a pair of exquisite, complex red eyes stared down a pair of bright, eerie crimson eyes.

"Are you going to talk? What exactly are you hiding in your belly?"

"Don't be annoying. Even if you are an Uchiha brat, don't expect to pry a single word out of this lord's mouth! Even if you use genjutsu, I won't say a thing!"

The Black Nine-Tails was full of fighting spirit, adhering to the principle of "confession leads to leniency, resistance leads to a hard life," and stubbornly held out for ten minutes without uttering a word.

Fifteen minutes later, under the "kind persuasion" of the Sage Art: Great Spiral Wheel, the Black Nine-Tails finally spoke.

"Damn it, you brat has gotten stronger again. Since you asked so sincerely, this lord will be merciful and tell you."

"Enough talk. Speak quickly, or I'll let you experience my ultimate interrogation technique."

Hanazuki looked impatient. The Black Nine-Tails then reluctantly spat out a bamboo scroll from its mouth, looking as if it were in physical pain.

"This is the treasure from another world that came to this world with me..."