Rōshi frowned slightly as he looked at the wound on his hand. With sword energy that sharp, no wonder it had forced his elder brother to use the Scorching Rock Burial.
Thinking of his brother's death, the flicker of admiration Rōshi felt for Hoshiyomi once again became complicated. Though he knew deep down that it was nothing more than a conflict between opposing sides, he still couldn't let go of his grudge for his brother's killer.
Admiration was one thing, but revenge was still something that had to be carried out.
After making this decision, Roshi spoke to Hoshiyomi. "You're a man worthy of respect. From now on, every year on this day, I'll drink a cup in your honor."
As he spoke, Roshi put his hands together to form the Tiger hand seal. As he formed the seal, his whole body began to emit a reddish magma.
Unlike his brother's granite-like magma armor, Rōshi's body was covered in molten lava that burned in a true, blazing state.
This was Rōshi's most refined state — Lava Release Chakra Mode, a unique mode he could use only thanks to the Four-Tails' protection.
In this form, his body was wreathed in high-temperature lava capable of melting anything it touched, while also greatly bolstering his defense.
Lava Release Chakra Mode was a perfect balance of offense and defense. In the original story, Roshi in this mode couldn't be easily broken through by Naruto's Rasengan, and he was even able to use Needle Jizo to counter-attack and burn Naruto in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Seeing Rōshi's transformation, Hoshiyomi's expression hardened. He knew full well how dangerous this mode was, so he didn't charge recklessly. Instead, he threw a kunai to test it out.
Rōshi made no attempt to dodge, letting the kunai fly straight toward him. Under Hoshiyomi's watchful eyes, the weapon, sharp enough to pierce the human body, began to glow red from the heat before it even touched Rōshi.
When it finally struck the molten armor, there wasn't even the sound of metal hitting rock — the kunai simply melted away in the blistering heat.
Seeing this, Hoshiyomi frowned.
This terrifying high temperature is a bit of a problem for me since I'm a close-range fighter. I have to end this quickly.
With that thought, he immediately switched his chakra nature. With the system's aid, his chakra shifted to Water Release, and a water-blue glow flowed along the blade of Mikazuki Munechika.
He couldn't unleash anything like Kisame's monstrous water techniques, but his water-aspected sword strikes might be enough to deal with Rōshi's Lava Release Chakra Mode.
With that in mind, Hoshiyomi swung his blade in a cross-slash. Two arcs of water-blue sword energy appeared and overlapped, forming a massive cross-shaped strike that shot toward Rōshi.
Rōshi, clad in his lava armor, didn't dare take it head-on. He slammed his fist into the ground, creating a huge, reddish-black rock wall with remnants of magma in front of him.
Lava Release: Granite.
Hoshiyomi's water-infused cross-slash shattered the granite wall, but its power diminished greatly in the process.
Rōshi casually swatted the weakened attack apart with a single punch, scattering it into a burst of steam. At the same time, he opened his mouth wide:
"Lava Release: Scorching River Flow Rock Jutsu."
In an instant, a storm of magma orbs several times denser than before hurtled toward him. Such was the advantage of a jinchūriki — with a tailed beast at their back, they had chakra to burn and no fear of running out.
Faced with such a barrage, even Hoshiyomi didn't dare to take it head-on. After cleaving apart the nearest few orbs with a quick draw slash, he used Shunpo to evade the rest, rapidly closing in on Rōshi.
But Rōshi seemed addicted to spitting magma. He stayed in place, firing them off like a living Gatling gun. The ground around Hoshiyomi became pitted with smoking craters, some of which still gurgled with bubbling lava.
The air temperature in their battlefield was now over ten degrees higher than normal. Sweat poured from Hoshiyomi's forehead, but he couldn't afford to be distracted.
He knew exactly what Rōshi was doing — reshaping the terrain to his advantage. If the entire area turned into molten ground, Hoshiyomi wouldn't even be able to fight.
So he kept his movements precise, dodging side to side while still steadily closing the gap.
After avoiding over a hundred magma orbs, Rōshi finally entered his range. Hoshiyomi tossed the Mikazuki Munechika into the air, reversing his grip from standard to reverse-hand.
This was the opening stance for Crescent Moon Slash, a technique he hadn't used in a long time.
At the same time, Rōshi decided he had created enough magma pits. He quickly formed hand seals for the strongest Lava Release technique he could use in human form:
Lava Release: Scorching Rock Fountain!
As the seals completed, the magma in the hundred-plus pits behind Hoshiyomi began to boil violently. A moment later, massive geysers of molten rock erupted from each one, like a volcanic field exploding all at once.
Roshi couldn't help but smile. With so much magma, Hoshiyomi was surely dead.
But events didn't unfold as he expected.
The moment Scorching Rock Fountain erupted, Hoshiyomi became a streak of water-blue light.
That streak threaded through the storm of lava without being touched, flashing past Rōshi's side. The blade's blue glow traced across his left waist, releasing a hiss of steam.
Rōshi's eyes widened. His lava armor suddenly burst with molten spray as the section around his left waist visibly thinned.
Now!
Behind him, Hoshiyomi's eyes sharpened. In a smooth motion, he switched his reverse grip back to standard as if performing a sleight of hand.
He gripped the blade in both hands and spoke in a low voice:
"Secret Technique: Swallow Return."
For an instant, time seemed to stop. Hoshiyomi's hands moved with impossible speed, fast enough to leave not one, but two tangible afterimages.
Three arcs of blade light — high, left, and right — flashed across Rōshi's body simultaneously.
Only when Hoshiyomi sheathed his blade did time seem to resume. With that motion, three water-blue gashes flared across Rōshi's body.
Steam and molten rock erupted from the wounds, carrying with them the sharp tang of blood.
Anyone watching closely would see that Rōshi's lava armor had been broken in three different places.
The high and right sections, though shattered, had still done their job, leaving only shallow cuts.
But the wound at the left waist was different. That armor had already been mostly destroyed by Crescent Moon Slash, and Swallow Return's right-hand slash left a massive gash at his side.
The injury was deep enough to reveal glimpses of damaged internal organs. Without the Four-Tails sustaining his vitality, Rōshi would likely already be dead.