In the Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
"Lord Tsuchikage! The Four-Tails suddenly appeared in the Kalkatakt Volcano Range! According to him... Lord Roshi... died in battle."
An Iwagakure ninja pushed the door open and rushed in, shouting in a panic.
For a moment, the office fell completely silent.
After a long, deathly silence.
"What... did you say?"
Ōnoki's voice was low, hoarse, and aged, betraying neither joy nor anger, yet it sent the temperature throughout the office plummeting to freezing.
"Lord Roshi... was killed in action. The Four-Tails, Son Gokū, has broken free of the Jinchūriki seal and appeared in the Kalkatakt Volcano Range!"
The Iwagakure Jonin gritted his teeth and spoke quietly.
As his words fell.
Bang!
A withered, shriveled hand slammed hard onto the stone desk!
The incredibly hard granite desk instantly caved beneath the palm, cracks spreading from the deep impression as stone fragments scattered everywhere!
Ōnoki, who had always restrained his emotions and kept his feelings off his face, was now utterly enraged!
"Damn it!! With Roshi's strength, if he wanted to leave, he could easily have hidden in the Four-Tails' alternate dimension or held out until Han and the others arrived to support him!
"That stubborn fool, what goes through his head all day long?! That idiot!! Idiot!!!! Do we know who did it??"
For a moment, rage blazed in Ōnoki's chest. He could not understand how a Kage-level powerhouse stationed in the rear, who also possessed the power of a tailed beast, had managed to get himself killed.
"According to the Four-Tails... it was a... a child from the Uchiha Clan... around... ten years old or so..."
Sensing Ōnoki's fury, the Iwa Ninja Jonin lowered his head and haltingly said words he could barely believe himself.
A child of around ten had killed a veteran