Seeing this scene, Uchiha Hikaru's lips curved into a confident smile.
He lightly clapped his hands, as if quite pleased with Roshi's performance.
"Haha, don't get nervous. It's not time yet. What's a show without an audience?"
He laughed mockingly.
Roshi was stunned by his gesture, but quickly realized Uchiha Hikaru's intention.
He wanted to defeat him again—this time in front of everyone.
That made Roshi's brows furrow, his eyes blazing as he glared at Hikaru, burning with anger.
With his explosive temper, he couldn't be bothered to overthink it. Besides, fighting here wouldn't affect the outside world.
Having come to that conclusion, he leapt back decisively, quickly putting distance between them.
He brought his hands together, about to release a jutsu—
But right at that crucial moment, he suddenly found himself unable to move.
Barely able to lower his head, he saw intricate sealing formulas wrapping around his body like pitch-black chains.
"D-Damn it..."
Roshi cursed inwardly, realizing he had fallen into his opponent's jutsu.
Despite the shock in his heart, he still struggled fiercely, trying to break free.
But no matter how he tried, his body wouldn't budge.
After dealing with Roshi, Uchiha Hikaru no longer paid him any attention.
He glanced at him, seeing the man straining against invisible bindings, yet completely immobilized.
Hikaru knew Roshi had no chance of escaping his sealing technique.
He turned away and looked toward the depths of the seal.
There, a massive red-furred ape stood, watching him with a solemn expression.
A powerful energy radiated from the creature's body, as if it could shake the entire sealed space.
"Son... Goku, right? I'm not mistaken—Four-Tails Son Goku?"
Uchiha Hikaru slowly walked toward the Four-Tails, a faint smile at his lips.
His face bore a calm and confident look, as if everything was under his control.
The Four-Tails felt a faint tension as it watched him approach.
With a hint of unease, it asked:
"Who are you?"
Its voice was deep and hoarse, but carried an oppressive weight.
There was something familiar about Uchiha Hikaru's presence—something that reminded it of the man who once stole its freedom.
Unconsciously, it stepped back, trying to maintain distance.
But the sealed space wasn't large enough—it had nowhere left to retreat.
As Uchiha Hikaru drew closer step by step, the Four-Tails felt a mounting, irresistible pressure.
Truthfully, Hikaru hadn't fully decided how to deal with the Tailed Beasts.
But the fact that Ōnoki dared to send the Four-Tails into Konoha was an undeniable provocation.
And in response, Uchiha Hikaru had no intention of letting the Four-Tails return to Iwagakure.
Looking at the beast now, he couldn't help but chuckle.
He had no idea that back when the Four-Tails roamed freely, it was suddenly captured by two absolute monsters.
While taking it down, they called it "too dangerous"—yet beat it like a scolded child.
That left a deep psychological scar in the Four-Tails' heart.
So when it saw Hikaru laughing, the tension inside it suddenly snapped.
It opened its massive jaws and roared, preparing to unleash a Tailed Beast Bomb.
But just then—Uchiha Hikaru moved.
His figure flickered, and he instantly appeared before the Four-Tails, placing one hand gently on its chest.
The next second, the Four-Tails met the same fate as Roshi.
Its body was bound by an overwhelming force.
And the more it struggled, the tighter the binding grew.
"What a pain."
Uchiha Hikaru looked at the towering creature and felt a slight headache coming on.
Handling a Tailed Beast wasn't easy—especially when its Jinchūriki was still a Chūnin Exam candidate.
The exam hadn't even begun yet. If the Four-Tails were unleashed now, it would certainly cause unnecessary chaos.
And that was the last thing Hikaru wanted.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, mind racing with possible solutions.
Moments later, his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly opened.
At the same time, Son Goku's massive body trembled, its ferocious expression gradually calming.
Not far away, Roshi was frozen in place, eyes wide in shock.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The Four-Tails Son Goku… had been subdued this easily?
Was this really the same beast that used to fly into fits of rage at the drop of a hat?
Roshi began doubting his own choices. Had he known, he wouldn't have acted so impulsively—those barbaric Cloud-nin would've jumped in eventually anyway.
Now he'd taken the full hit—and deeply regretted it.
Uchiha Hikaru glanced at him, a flicker of amusement in his eyes.
Once Son Goku had fully calmed down, he turned his gaze back to Roshi.
Then he began walking toward him.
Seeing this, Roshi began to panic.
He forced a nervous smile and said:
"Ha... haha, what if I said I was just joking earlier—would you believe me?"
Uchiha Hikaru chuckled at his words.
Shaking his head, he stopped in front of Roshi and said with a smile:
"I preferred you when you were all defiant and unruly. Can you go back to that?"
As he spoke, he patted Roshi's shoulder.
Roshi saw that despite the teasing, Hikaru hadn't done anything drastic, so he prepared to say something nice and back down.
Then—just a second later—
Flames suddenly erupted on the shoulder Hikaru had touched.
Roshi instinctively tried to throw himself to the ground and extinguish the fire, but he was still bound by the same sealing jutsu.
So he could only watch helplessly as his shoulder turned into a blazing inferno. The flames twisted like serpents, dancing across his skin.
The searing pain tore through him like blades, forcing a scream from his throat.
Just as he couldn't take it anymore and was about to beg for mercy, he realized—
Uchiha Hikaru had already vanished.
What happened in the sealed space no longer concerned Hikaru.
The fire was just a punishment—enough to make Roshi suffer, but not kill him.
After all, without the audience in place, the "actors" couldn't be taken off the stage just yet.
Had it been otherwise, Hikaru would've already extracted the Four-Tails and sealed it away.
He wasn't some merciful saint. He wouldn't tolerate insults and simply walk away.
From his point of view, letting Roshi off with a bit of pain was already a kindness.
Of course, what occurred inside the sealed space didn't go unnoticed by the outside world.
But in truth, the whole exchange had happened in mere moments.
To the observing shinobi, it just looked like Roshi had jumped out to challenge Uchiha Hikaru.
They had no idea what had really taken place.
Seeing someone take the lead, two Cloud-nin also stepped up, sneering:
"What, Konoha doesn't have anyone else? They're letting kids take the Chūnin Exam now?"