Return to the Village

Boom, boom, boom! The hillside began to explode. Sensing an unprecedented danger, Uzumaki Hane immediately turned his entire body into magma and wrapped himself in layer after layer of lava.

Boom, boom, boom! The violent blasts kept blowing apart the lava layers around Uzumaki Hane, and he quickly generated more. But the explosions seemed endless, and the layers gradually became unable to keep up.

Uzumaki Hane knew he couldn't go on like this. He would be blown to death. There was only one way: open the Second Gate, the Gate of Healing. Gritting his teeth, he blasted all his magma at the Gate of Healing. Boom! The intense pain made his mind reel, and he nearly lost consciousness. Then another explosion went off, and countless cracks appeared in the last layer of lava around him. It was about to be destroyed.

Uzumaki Hane's eyes narrowed, and he shouted, "No..." Countless figures began to appear in his mind: Yamano Koromo, Hyuga Tanaka, Tsunade, Naruto, Might Guy... One figure after another flashed past. How could he die like this?

Uzumaki Hane roared, "I don't want to die..." A surge of magma, carrying his fierce will to live, slammed into the Gate of Healing.

Boom! His mind rang, and the Gate of Healing was blasted open. In an instant, a powerful surge of Chakra burst forth. Uzumaki Hane felt as though his body had come back to life, filled with vitality. His Chakra instantly surged to about three times its original amount, his physical abilities increased greatly, and his whole body felt full of power.

At that moment, the lava layer shattered. Uzumaki Hane hurriedly roared, "Magma Wall!" Three thick lava walls rose, forming a three-sided enclosure that wrapped around him once more.

Meanwhile, Hyuga Tanaka and Yamano Koromo were resting in their rooms when a tremendous noise suddenly came from the distance, and the whole ground began to shake. Both were jolted awake and went outside, only to see violent explosions erupting on the distant hillside.

Hyuga Tanaka said, "Those explosions were caused by Explosive Tags."

Yamano Koromo said in shock, "How many Explosive Tags would it take to cause explosions like that?"

All the villagers were also awakened by the explosions. They hurried out of their houses and looked at the distant hillside in panic.

Just then, the village chief came over and said, "Tomoko... Have either of you seen Tomoko?"

Yamano Koromo said, "Tomoko's missing?"

The village chief said anxiously, "She suddenly disappeared. That poor child wandered outside for so many years and only returned to the village a month ago. If anything happens to her, how am I supposed to answer to her dead father?"

Yamano Koromo exclaimed, "Village chief, what did you say? Yamamoto Tomoko only came to the village last month?"

The village chief said, "Yes."

Suddenly, the two realized something. Looking around and seeing no sign of Uzumaki Hane, they both shouted, "Where's Hane?" They rushed to his room, but no one was inside. Yamano Koromo went to the bed and felt it. "The bed's cold. Hane must have left a long time ago."

Hyuga Tanaka looked toward the explosions and said, "Those explosions... Could they have been meant for Hane?" The two quickly ran toward the site of the explosions.

They soon reached the hillside, but by then the explosions had ended. The entire hillside had been blown away, leaving only a huge, deep crater covered in scorch marks, with scattered flames still burning.

Yamano Koromo cried out in grief, "Hane..." She fell to her knees, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.

Hyuga Tanaka clenched his hands tightly. After a long while, he reached out and put a hand on Yamano Koromo's shoulder. "Koromo, don't be sad. Maybe Hane wasn't here. He might have just gone out to take care of something." In truth, Hyuga Tanaka knew that was impossible. After all, the enemy had gone to so much trouble; their target could only have been Uzumaki Hane.

Both were sunk in heavy grief and fell silent for a time.

Just then, the rock at the center of the hillside split open, revealing Uzumaki Hane inside. Still in magma form, he walked toward them.

Hearing the sound, Hyuga Tanaka looked up and saw Uzumaki Hane walking toward them. He couldn't help exclaiming, "Hane..."

Yamano Koromo trembled at Hyuga Tanaka's voice. She looked up and saw Uzumaki Hane. She hadn't expected him to survive such a terrifying explosion. She raced over and threw herself into his arms. Afraid of hurting her, Uzumaki Hane ended his elemental form and hurriedly returned to normal. Yamano Koromo burst into tears in his arms.

Uzumaki Hane patted her back and said gently, "I'm fine. Don't cry."

Uzumaki Hane told them both what had happened. Neither had expected him to encounter such danger, but now that he was all right, everything was fine.

Uzumaki Hane comforted Yamano Koromo for a long time. Finally, she fell asleep in his arms, and he took her back to her room to rest. Hyuga Tanaka didn't say much and simply told Uzumaki Hane to rest. After all, he had just been through a brush with death and was probably exhausted in body and mind.

The next day, the three left the village and returned to Konoha.

Nothing happened along the way, and the three returned safely to the ninja village. They went to the mission hall to report the mission complete, and Uzumaki Hane offered to treat them, taking them both to a barbecue restaurant.

Back home, Uzumaki began to reflect on what he had gained and lost on this mission. Though it had been full of twists and turns, it had ultimately been completed successfully. He had also gained a blessing in disguise, opening the Second Gate and greatly increasing his strength. Now, even if he encountered a Kage Level ninja, he could exchange a few blows with them.

However, he hadn't expected Danzo to still be unwilling to give up. He had thought that after he became Tsunade's disciple, Danzo would abandon his desire to kill him. But it didn't matter. Once he grew a little stronger, he would go and wipe Danzo out.

Although he had fought a life-and-death battle the day before and had nearly died, Uzumaki Hane didn't intend to slack off. He began strengthening his body.

Uzumaki Hane sat cross-legged on the floor and began using magma to strengthen his body. After two rounds, he was utterly exhausted and fell asleep right there on the floor.

The next day, Uzumaki Hane got up early and walked on his hands to the training ground, where he began his training for the day.

After exercising for a while, he felt that his physical abilities had at least doubled. Uzumaki Hane was thrilled and planned to test the power of the Magma-Magma Fruit next.

Standing on the ground, Uzumaki Hane turned his entire body into scalding magma. The earth beneath his feet began to melt, spreading outward. This time, Uzumaki Yo could be said to have gone all out. With Uzumaki Hane at the center, the earth within five meters turned to magma. Even the air seemed to catch fire as towering waves of heat rolled out.

Next, Uzumaki Hane stretched out both hands, rapidly turning them to lava. His hands then quickly formed a giant lava fist, which he blasted forward.

"Great Eruption!"

Rumble! The trees ahead were destroyed one after another, leaving a flaming path more than ten meters long. Looking at the result, Uzumaki Hane saw that the attack was at least twice as powerful as before. He was very satisfied. After all, this was magma, and ordinary ninja were now no match for him.