"I'll go."
Onoki took the initiative to accept the task. After all, he could fly.
No matter how fast someone moved on foot, flying was always more efficient—not to mention, it made it easier to avoid enemy surveillance.
More importantly, Onoki was worried about the Hidden Stone Village.
He planned to check in on things while he was there—especially to make sure that the stubborn Rōshi wouldn't end up clashing with Senju Tobirama.
And his concerns weren't unfounded.
At that very moment, Tobirama was already itching to kill Rōshi.
That stubborn fool was infuriating.
Tobirama had arrived at the Hidden Stone Village with Kitsuchi, carrying Onoki's direct orders.
His mission was to extract the Jinchūriki and relay the command for the village's elite forces to gather at the Hidden Cloud Village.
Everything else proceeded smoothly—except for Rōshi.
The problem started when Rōshi flat-out refused to obey Kitsuchi's orders. Even though the directive came from the Tsuchikage himself, it made no difference to him.
Kitsuchi was at a loss.
"Do you understand what will happen if you stay here and end up being targeted by Uchiha Madara?"
Tobirama had tried to be patient.
But even he had his limits.
"Heh."
Even in the face of someone as legendary as Tobirama, Rōshi remained as defiant as ever. He had absolute faith in his own strength.
"Ugh…"
Kitsuchi sighed in frustration.
What kind of situation was this?
He was caught between his father and a stubborn old warhorse like Rōshi.
The worst part?
When two people as headstrong as Tobirama and Rōshi clashed, neither would ever back down.
And sure enough, after a brief but heated argument, things escalated into an all-out battle.
Rōshi, to his credit, had courage.
But facing Tobirama?
He was completely outmatched.
Even someone like Hoshigaki Kisame had managed to toy with Rōshi in a fight.
Against Tobirama—the man hailed as the greatest Water Release user in history?
It wasn't even a contest.
With his arsenal of forbidden techniques, Tobirama overwhelmed Rōshi effortlessly.
And since he was in his Edo Tensei form, he didn't have to worry about stamina or injuries.
Defeating Rōshi was as easy as flicking a fly off his shoulder.
"Give me some time."
Beaten to a pulp, Rōshi was left reeling from the humiliating defeat.
Even after tapping into his Tailed Beast's power, he was utterly crushed.
Tobirama's Water Release was like an industrial-grade pressure washer, its sheer power and penetrative force leaving Rōshi stunned.
Not only had he been humiliated, but even the Four-Tails inside him was mocking him.
"Make it quick. We don't have time to waste," Tobirama said coldly.
Even though he had already given Rōshi a thorough beating, he didn't want to push things too far—after all, this was the Hidden Stone Village's territory.
If he humiliated Rōshi any further, it would only reflect poorly on the village.
He didn't want to make things unnecessarily difficult for Kitsuchi, either.
Leaving the rest to Kitsuchi, Tobirama promptly departed.
Rōshi had sustained some injuries, but after receiving treatment and resting briefly, he would be ready to travel to the Hidden Cloud Village.
"This is a decision made by all Five Great Shinobi Villages—not just my father. Please consider the bigger picture. I'll have a medical-nin tend to your wounds," Kitsuchi said, hoping Rōshi would come to his senses.
But he could tell that Rōshi was far from convinced.
He had no choice, though.
As much as Kitsuchi disliked Rōshi's obstinance, at least Tobirama had put him in his place.
If Tobirama hadn't stepped in, dealing with this situation would have been a nightmare.
The Five-Tails' Jinchūriki, Han, remained silent the entire time.
Unlike Rōshi, he wasn't one for talking.
And the two of them didn't exactly get along, either.
"Hmph!"
Now alone, Rōshi sat on the ground, clutching his wounds.
"Bastard…" he muttered through gritted teeth.
Getting thoroughly beaten—by a shinobi from another village, no less—was a bitter pill to swallow.
Even if Tobirama was a legend, Rōshi refused to accept it.
But he wasn't stupid.
The gap in strength between them was insurmountable.
Even with the Four-Tails' power, he had stood no chance.
Compared to Onoki, Rōshi was a radical extremist—always aggressive in both thought and action.
When the medical-nin sent by Kitsuchi arrived, they were met with a startling sight—Rōshi was nowhere to be found.
Panic set in immediately.
They rushed to inform Kitsuchi, who was equally dumbfounded.
He had vanished?
This was bad.
Rōshi, still bitter over his defeat, had slipped away in secret.
He had no intention of going to the Hidden Cloud Village.
He didn't care about orders from Onoki or the Allied Shinobi Forces.
And his reckless decision played right into Black Zetsu's hands.
Though White Zetsu had been purged from the Hidden Stone Village, that didn't mean they had lost all sources of surveillance.
One of the remaining White Zetsu operatives had been keeping an eye on the village.
Instead of gathering intelligence, they had stumbled upon something far more valuable—a Jinchūriki wandering alone, injured.
There was no hesitation.
The White Zetsu immediately informed Black Zetsu.
And so, fresh off his success in capturing the Seven-Tails from the Hidden Waterfall Village, Black Zetsu swiftly moved in on Rōshi.
The result?
Rōshi, who had barely recovered from his previous fight, found himself ambushed and brutally defeated once more.
This time, he didn't even get the chance to survive.
When Black Zetsu left, the only thing remaining was a battlefield covered in destruction—alongside Rōshi's cold, lifeless corpse.
By the time Tobirama and Kitsuchi arrived, all they could do was retrieve his body.
Without the Tailed Beast, a Jinchūriki had no chance of survival.
Tobirama stared at Rōshi's corpse, his mood as dark as a storm cloud.
And this was only the beginning.
When Onoki arrived at the Hidden Stone Village and delivered the latest update, the situation worsened.
The Hidden Waterfall Village had been devastated.
The village was in ruins, and the Seven-Tails had been taken.
At that moment, Tobirama felt the urge to cough up blood.
All his efforts had been in vain.
The only silver lining was that Han, the Five-Tails' Jinchūriki, was cooperative.
Unlike Rōshi, he didn't cause any trouble and obediently followed them to the Hidden Cloud Village.
Meanwhile, Takuya and his team, slowed down by the massive Six-Tails, had finally made their way back to the Hidden Cloud Village.
By then, Tobirama had already arrived ahead of them.
Takuya had barely set foot in the village when he was bombarded with bad news.
"So… that means three Tailed Beasts have already been captured—Shukaku, the Four-Tails, and the Seven-Tails?"
As expected.
Just like Madara, Black Zetsu wasn't following the standard order for sealing the Tailed Beasts.
This wasn't good news.
Not only was he acting unpredictably, but he was also taking advantage of every opportunity.
While Konoha was busy trying to reclaim the Rinnegan from the Hidden Cloud Village, Black Zetsu was systematically hunting Tailed Beasts.
Thankfully, the remaining Jinchūriki and Tailed Beasts had all been gathered at the Hidden Cloud Village.
Which meant that the next step was obvious.
Uchiha Madara would have to make his move personally.
With no Tailed Beasts left to steal from elsewhere and the last Rinnegan still missing, there was little Black Zetsu could do on his own.
The only option left…
Was for Madara himself to step onto the battlefield.
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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read the rest of the Chapter at Patreon com/ Emik01.
DO NOT FORGET POWER STONE AND CHATTING