Iwagakure.
The Shadow Chamber Hall.
Thick stone walls shut out every sound from outside. The atmosphere inside the hall was unbearably oppressive, as though the air itself had solidified into hard stone, leaving no room to breathe.
Ōnoki sat upright in the elevated stone chair, his stooped frame held rigidly straight. His normally clouded old eyes were now bloodshot. He clutched the intelligence scroll in his hand, his knuckles and joints white from excessive force, his grip nearly crushing the scroll.
Just moments earlier...
The news sent back by scouts on the front lines had exploded in his mind like thunder-
Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, had died at Green Dam. His killer was Uchiha Lei!
Stubborn as Roshi was, Four-Tails Son Gokū had been sealed inside him. That was a vital source of tailed beast power for Iwagakure, one of the foundations of the village's standing in the Shinobi World!
Now the tailed beast was missing and Roshi was dead. It was as though an arm had been severed from Iwagakure-a devastating loss!
Before this...
It was not that Ōnoki had failed to notice the unusual developments at Green Dam. Though displeased with Uchiha Lei's actions, he had remained hesitant because of the delicate situation surrounding the Third Shinobi World War.
He feared the Flying Thunder God Mark, and he was even less willing to carelessly ignite all-out war between the villages. He had kept wavering, thinking he should endure for the moment and consider his next steps carefully.
But now Roshi had been killed, and the Four-Tails' whereabouts were unknown!
This utter humiliation and crushing loss had completely destroyed the last trace of hesitation in his heart!
"Uchiha Lei... What a Uchiha Lei you are!"
Ōnoki abruptly rose to his feet. Dust swirled around him, his Dust Release chakra