News of Konoha's crushing defeat soon spread throughout the Ninja World.
Iwagakure Ninja, who had been eager to make a move in the Grass Country, finally began to advance towards the Land of Fire.
The front-line commander of Iwagakure was Kitsuchi, the son of the Third Tsuchikage.
It was Kitsuchi who had previously tried to pursue Yakushi Nonou, and after failing in the pursuit, he returned to Iwagakure.
Although his daughter had recovered, the actions of the Konoha Ninja were still unforgivable.
Kitsuchi, who had actively applied to come to the front line, undoubtedly became the commander.
However, not everyone was convinced by this, such as the man with a full beard wearing a purple monk's robe.
This person was Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure.
At this moment, Roshi was angrily questioning Kitsuchi.
"Now we just need to attack head-on, Kumogakure has already told us the method for victory!"
Kitsuchi shook his head, rejecting the idea of a direct confrontation.
"Our situation is different from Kumogakure's; their Eight-Tails is a perfect Jinchuriki, and the Two-Tails is also close to a perfect Jinchuriki. Roshi, you are too hot-headed."
Upon hearing this, Roshi looked at Kitsuchi with a displeased expression.
"Kid, don't think you can order me around just because you're Ōnoki's son. I will lead Iwagakure to victory."
After speaking, Roshi ignored Kitsuchi and directly left the camp with his subordinates, heading towards Jiraiya's position.
Kitsuchi was also filled with anger at this moment; Roshi was a hot-headed, unruly fellow who had acted on his own initiative more than once.
Although Ōnoki had always looked down on Kitsuchi, thinking he wasn't very bright and unsuitable to be Tsuchikage, compared to ordinary Ninja, Kitsuchi was definitely a blend of strength and wisdom.
Kitsuchi knew very well that his two Jinchuriki were no match for Kumogakure's Jinchuriki, and Jiraiya was no weaker than Hiruzen Sarutobi, while he himself was clearly no match for the Raikage.
The key was that the opposing camp had Uchiha Shisui, who had made a spectacular showing in the Hidden Mist.
Iwagakure also had a general idea of what Yuuki had done in the Hidden Mist; although they didn't know the specifics, they knew that Yuuki alone had subdued the entire Hidden Mist forces.
And Uchiha Shisui, who was once as famous as Yuuki, even if he was worse, how much worse could he be?
Kitsuchi's initial goal was merely to enter the Land of Fire and make it look like they were ready for war, as for when to actually make a move, they would have to find another opportunity.
This steady approach might not yield much, but it would maximize the guarantee of not losing.
Kitsuchi was such a cautious Ninja; as long as I don't fight you, I at least won't lose!
However, Roshi's stubbornness completely disrupted Kitsuchi's plans.
Roshi, as a Jinchuriki whom even Ōnoki didn't pay much attention to, often helped weaker comrades.
Therefore, Roshi's image as an upright old boy who wasn't afraid of power and cared for the weak also attracted many Ninja in Iwagakure.
As a Jinchuriki who had his own followers within the army, Roshi, leading his supporters, was clearly planning to deliver a blow to Konoha!
The situation had already occurred, and Kitsuchi, unable to stop Roshi, had no choice but to call Han, bring the demolition squad, and several Jonin to catch up.
No matter what, Roshi was also a Jinchuriki of Iwagakure and could not be simply handed over to Konoha.
The range of a Tailed Beast Ball was much greater than that of Ninjutsu, and Roshi, feeling he was close enough, stopped.
Red Chakra bubbles emerged from his body, gradually forming a Tailed Beast Cloak with three tails.
This was the limit of Roshi's ability to maintain sanity. Immediately, a Tailed Beast Ball began to condense in front of Roshi.
Not long after, the fully condensed Tailed Beast Ball was unleashed by Roshi towards Konoha's camp.
The Tailed Beast Ball was discovered by Konoha Ninja during its flight, and the Ninja in the Konoha camp quickly gathered.
Seeing the Tailed Beast Ball about to hit the camp, Jiraiya immediately made a decision.
Abandon the camp, preserve the Ninja's strength.
Jiraiya had fought Tailed Beasts before; Gamabunta could even briefly clash with a Tailed Beast.
However, a Tailed Beast Ball and a Tailed Beast were two different concepts; someone who could fight a Tailed Beast might not be able to stop a Tailed Beast Ball.
It wasn't that Jiraiya couldn't do it; he estimated that his Sage Art: Goemon would definitely block the Tailed Beast Ball, but he didn't have that much time at the moment.
"All Konoha Ninja, disperse and evade! Abandon the camp!"
As Jiraiya spoke, the Konoha Ninja quickly began to scatter and evade.
"Jiraiya-sama, I want to try!"
Jiraiya looked back and saw Uchiha Shisui.
After all these days, Jiraiya had long recognized Shisui; he was a unique Uchiha Ninja!
Shisui did not stop Jiraiya's actions, because he himself was not sure if he could block the Tailed Beast Ball, he just wanted to try.
After all, Yuuki had strictly warned Shisui before they parted, not to use his Mangekyo Sharingan unless it was an emergency.
Shisui agreed, and in Shisui's opinion, now was an emergency, and an idea also popped into Shisui's mind.
"Yuuki, compared to you using your Mangekyo in the Hidden Mist merely to display power, this moment, when I use this power to protect my comrades, is the best time!"
Jiraiya looked at Shisui and asked seriously, "Shisui-kun, are the consequences severe?"
Not stopping him, Jiraiya, knowing that any ability capable of blocking a Tailed Beast Ball must be a forbidden Jutsu, was only concerned about the severity of the consequences of the forbidden Jutsu.
Shisui gently shook his head, recalling how Yuuki's eyes had bled profusely that time, but he hadn't noticed any major problems with Yuuki afterwards.
No big problem, probably!
"No big problem, Jiraiya-sama!"
"Hahaha! Then I'll leave it to you, Shisui. Go all out, don't worry if you fail, I'll protect you!"
Jiraiya laughed, encouraging Shisui to use his full power.
Shisui nodded earnestly upon hearing this, then his Sharingan eyes began to spin rapidly, quickly forming the pattern of a four-bladed pinwheel.
Jiraiya looked at the Sharingan in Shisui's eyes, which was clearly different from that of ordinary Uchiha clan members.
"Is this the Mangekyo Sharingan the old man spoke of, eyes possessing the power of a god?"
Shisui's body then continuously surged with emerald green Chakra, gradually perfecting from a skeletal form, eventually taking on the appearance of a Karasu Tengu with armor on its upper body.
"It's here, Shisui-sama's Susanoo!"
"Finally, I see Shisui-sama's Mangekyo Sharingan again!"
"This is the ultimate power of our Uchiha Clan!"
Many Uchiha clan members who had escaped to safety began to get excited the moment they saw Susanoo, as if they themselves had activated Susanoo.
Jiraiya felt the oppressive force brought by Susanoo and was also exclaiming in his heart.
"This power! Without activating Sage Mode, I probably can't contend with it. Judging by its current form, this Jutsu might not be complete yet!"
Jiraiya keenly noticed the fatal weakness of Susanoo at this moment: it couldn't move. But even so, it was an eye-opener for Jiraiya, who was seeing it for the first time.
"The Uchiha Clan truly is a blessed clan!"
Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh in his heart, but there was no jealousy. He was no longer the young man who had been jealous of Orochimaru's talent.
Shisui's movements did not stop. Under Shisui's control, Susanoo's original katana slowly began to transform, becoming a circular ring made of connected magatama.
Susanoo exerted a sudden force, and the giant emerald green magatama ring shot out rapidly, heading towards the Tailed Beast Ball.
"Yasaka Magatama!"
The two collided in mid-air. First, a blinding light erupted, followed by a huge explosion. After a period of time, the area returned to calm.
At this point, both the Tailed Beast Ball and the Yasaka Magatama had disappeared.
Konoha Ninja began to cheer, simultaneously looking with respect at the handsome yet slightly shy young man.
He was their hero, an existence capable of confronting a Tailed Beast Ball head-on, Uchiha Shisui!
Shisui's eyes were bleeding at this moment, but it wasn't as exaggerated as Yuuki's incident in the Hidden Mist, stopping after only a moment.
Jiraiya asked Shisui with concern, "Are you really okay?"
Shisui was somewhat happy about stopping the Tailed Beast, and smiled, saying, "It's nothing serious, much milder than the Clan Head's incident in the Hidden Mist."
Although Shisui said he was fine, he clearly felt his vision was much blurrier, and his heart was full of worry at the same time.
Not for himself, but for Yuuki.
Yuuki, are your eyes still okay now?
Jiraiya pondered silently after hearing Shisui's explanation, 'Clan Head? Uchiha Tomoki, the person the old man is so wary of?'
Without much idle thought, Jiraiya asked.
"Shisui, can you still fight?"
"No problem at all!"
"That's good then, let's go meet the person who greeted us!"
-------------------------
Thank you for following my story. If you want to read it first, please visit my Patreon — there are about 40 chapters waiting there. Your support really motivates me to continue to release more stories!
👉[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]