Namikaze Minato flung over a dozen specially marked Flying Thunder God kunai into the mist of steam surrounding Rōshi. Using the technique, he teleported to Rōshi's front in a flash, and a blue sphere of chakra instantly formed in his right hand. He drove it forcefully into Rōshi's chest.
The Rasengan struck true, but against Rōshi's Lava Release Chakra Mode, it was clearly ineffective.
The Rasengan only forced Rōshi to take two steps back and didn't deal any real damage.
Uchiha Yuan's face showed a trace of helplessness upon seeing Minato's ineffective attack.
Rōshi's Lava Release Chakra Mode left Yuan feeling there was nowhere to strike. His lava armor was like a flaming turtle shell, and Yuan had no good way to deal with it.
"Hahaha! Is that all the Yellow Flash has got?" Rōshi laughed.
Minato only smiled faintly and formed a hand seal. A large toad was summoned in a puff of smoke.
"Gamakō, I'll be counting on you. Keep firing Water Bullet Cannons at him. Yuan, you keep up the Water Release pressure as well," Minato instructed both the toad and Yuan.
Gamakō followed orders immediately, launching water bullets one after another toward Rōshi.
Yuan made use of the residual water from the Water Bullet Cannons to unleash his own Water Release techniques.
With man and toad working in tandem, the blazing Lava Release Chakra Mode was finally extinguished under the flood of water techniques.
"Old man, now that you've lost that form, what will you do?" Yuan asked Rōshi, who now looked like a drowned rat.
Rōshi's face darkened. He hadn't expected Minato to have such a tactic up his sleeve.
But to think this alone could bring him down was far too naïve.
He slowly closed his eyes, and the next moment, blood-red Tailed Beast chakra began to rise from his body—he had entered the Four-Tails' Tailed Beast Cloak state.
Using the Four-Tails' chakra, Rōshi didn't hold back and unleashed a large-scale Lava Release jutsu: Lava Style: Burning River of Molten Rock.
"Gamakō, Yuan, I'm counting on you!" Minato shouted.
Yuan didn't hold back anymore. He formed hand seals and unleashed his largest-scale Water Release to date: Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique.
Meanwhile, Gamakō leapt high into the air and bombarded with more Water Bullets.
Together, the man and the toad barely managed to suppress the lava wave.
Yuan seized the opportunity and teleported right in front of Rōshi.
A blade materialized out of nowhere, and he swung it at Rōshi's neck.
Rōshi, protected by the Tailed Beast Cloak, didn't bother defending and instead swung a magma-wrapped fist at Yuan's head.
Uncertain whether he could pierce the Tailed Beast Cloak, Yuan chose to teleport away. Rōshi's punch struck the ground, blasting out a deep crater.
"Hmph, kid, you've got some skill. But this is where it ends. I'll leave it to you, Four-Tails!"
As he spoke, Rōshi's body was engulfed by a massive surge of chakra. The chakra condensed, and a massive red ape appeared before them.
"The Four-Tails! The Four-Tails is out!" Yamanaka Kagetsu shouted in alarm.
"Don't call me Four-Tails! I am the Great Sage Monkey King—Son Gokū!" Just like in the original, the beast was extremely particular about his name and hated being called Four-Tails.
With a deafening roar, the Four-Tails launched a massive black chakra sphere straight at the group.
"Summoning: Twin Rashōmon!" Hyuga Asana instantly responded to the Tailed Beast Ball by summoning the Rashōmon Gates.
In the original, the First Hokage's Fivefold Rashōmon could block a full-powered Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball. Though her two gates were not as strong, they were enough to block the Four-Tails.
"Nice work, Asana! I didn't think Lord Orochimaru had even taught you the Rashōmon technique," Minato praised.
"Minato-senpai, should I summon a snake from Ryūchi Cave to assist?" Asana asked.
"We do need coordination, but not for you to assist me—I'll support you. Asana, summon the largest snake you can. Gamakō and I will pin the Four-Tails down. You have the snake inject it with as much venom as possible."
Asana didn't know the full plan, but she trusted Minato's judgment. This seemingly young jōnin was even praised by her own teacher, Orochimaru.
The best way to deal with a Tailed Beast was sealing techniques. Minato's plan was to have the venom from Ryūchi Cave's snakes paralyze the Four-Tails' body, then use a sealing jutsu to reseal it inside Rōshi.
Without the Four-Tails' chakra, Rōshi was at best a standard Kage-level opponent, and Minato was confident he could handle him.
Asana then summoned a large gray snake just slightly smaller than Manda.
She didn't summon Manda himself, as he was notoriously temperamental—even Orochimaru had difficulty controlling him, let alone her.
So she summoned the more docile Gray Snake instead.
"Gray Snake, I'll be counting on you!"
The snake nodded and charged toward the Four-Tails.
Gamakō, Minato, and Yuan began coordinating their attacks to sync with Gray Snake's tempo.
Under their combined assault, the Four-Tails' body became covered in bite marks. The venom slowly invaded his body, and his movements began to slow.
"Minato-senpai, how's your preparation coming?" Yuan asked, dodging a mass of lava.
"The sealing jutsu is ready—it's the Uzumaki clan's advanced technique: Four Symbols Seal. I can activate it at any time," Minato replied.
Yuan nodded and continued assisting Asana and Gray Snake.
The venomous bites eventually reached a tipping point—the Four-Tails lost control of his body and collapsed.
"Damn it! Cursed humans—I'll kill you all!" The Four-Tails was paralyzed, but still conscious.
Asana ignored him and turned to Minato: "Minato-senpai, we're ready for the sealing!"
"Understood!" Minato formed a series of seals and activated Four Symbols Seal.
In the original, two Four Symbols Seals combined formed the Eight Trigrams Seal, which was strong enough to seal the Nine-Tails in Naruto. Using just Four Symbols Seal on the Four-Tails was more than sufficient.
"Cursed humans!" roared the Four-Tails as the seal activated.
With that, the Four-Tails vanished, leaving only Rōshi lying on the ground.
With the Four-Tails sealed, Rōshi's consciousness returned. He looked up at the group in shock.
"Didn't expect you to subdue the Four-Tails so quickly."
(To Be Continued...)