Boom!
Roshi was struck by a tremendous force and sent flying.
Chiya stood on the lava-ravaged battlefield. The dark crimson skeletal frame of Susano'o looked strangely cold in the scorching air.
The Four-Tails jinchuriki, Roshi, hauled himself up from the ground, battered and disheveled.
He let out a furious roar. The tailed beast chakra coursing through him visibly surged to a higher level.
His Lava Style chakra mode activated in an instant.
Scorching magma seeped out from the surface of his skin, burning the surrounding air into warping distortions.
"Lava Style, Scorching River of Stone Jutsu!"
Roshi formed seals with both hands and spat several enormous lava fireballs from his mouth. They came crashing down toward Chiya like falling meteors.
Everywhere the fireballs passed, the ground was carved into deep scorched trenches. A wave of searing heat swept across the battlefield.
Chiya's gaze was ice cold. He swept one arm of Susano'o's skeletal frame, and the dark crimson chakra formed a barrier that caught every single lava fireball and held them off.
The fireballs slammed against the barrier with a deafening roar. Molten rock splattered in every direction.
But the barrier did not break.
"You dare act so aggressively in front of me with nothing but Lava Style?"
Chiya's voice carried through Susano'o, tinged with contempt.
He brought his hands together. The skeletal frame of Susano'o expanded sharply. The dark crimson chakra burned like flames, and the skeleton-form Susano'o raised its head and looked down at Roshi. One enormous fist came hammering down.
Roshi's pupils contracted. He fell back in a hurry, and at the same time slammed both hands into the ground.
"Lava Style, Granite Wall!"
The earth erupted upward in an instant, a wall of molten rock rising to block Susano'o's attack.
But the fist of Susano'o drove through it like it was nothing. The lava wall shattered like paper, and the force carried forward without slowing, slamming into Roshi.
"Bang!"
Roshi was driven straight into the ground by the punch. Dust and debris erupted all around him.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood. The madness in his eyes burned even hotter.
"Damn Uchiha!"
He roared, and the tailed beast chakra inside him erupted in full.
His body began to expand. Crimson chakra gradually covered his skin from head to toe. Tails unfurled from behind him.
Roshi had entered a partial tailed beast transformation!!
"Now we are getting somewhere."
Chiya let out a cold laugh. The arm of Susano'o's skeletal frame rose again. Dark crimson chakra condensed into a massive blade, its edge pointed directly at Roshi.
Roshi felt the danger radiating from that blade.
He dodged quickly, and at the same time stopped holding anything back. He released the full power of the Four-Tails completely.
His body was entirely enveloped in tailed beast chakra. The chakra gathering above his head took the shape of a massive crimson ape. That was Four-Tails Son Gokū.
Son Gokū threw his head back and roared toward the sky. The shockwave sent ninja all across the battlefield clutching their ears.
He opened his enormous jaws. Tailed beast chakra churned and gathered wildly inside his mouth, and a black sphere of energy gradually took shape.
The Tailed Beast Ball!
"Die!"
Roshi roared and the Tailed Beast Ball was launched directly at Chiya.
The black energy sphere tore through the air. The space it passed through seemed to rip apart in its wake. The terrifying pressure it radiated left the Konoha ninja watching from a distance drained of color.
Chiya's gaze sharpened. Susano'o's arms crossed in front of him. The dark crimson chakra barrier expanded once more.
The Tailed Beast Ball collided with the barrier and detonated in a blinding flash of light, followed immediately by a thunderous explosion.
The shockwave tore through everything within several hundred meters. The ground was overturned. Dust and smoke blotted out the sky.
When the dust settled, Chiya's Susano'o still stood unbroken. Only a few faint cracks had appeared across the surface of the skeletal frame.
Chiya looked at Roshi with cold eyes.
"Is this everything you have? That is all it is."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, the cracks in Susano'o had already repaired themselves.
A flash of shock passed through Roshi's eyes. He had not expected his Tailed Beast Ball to be stopped cold.
While he was still frozen in stunned disbelief, Chiya's Susano'o moved. The enormous skeletal arm shot out and seized the Four-Tails by the head, driving him hard into the ground.
"It is over."
Chiya's voice was cold and without mercy. Susano'o's other arm rose high. The dark crimson blade descended toward the Four-Tails' head.
Just as Chiya was on the verge of finishing Roshi, a scorching burst of steam came driving in from the side at extreme speed.
Chiya's eyes sharpened. Susano'o's arm moved quickly to defend. Even so, the force of the impact pushed him back several steps.
'Who is this?'
Chiya's gaze snapped toward the source of the attack. A figure stepped slowly out of the steam.
Five-Tails jinchuriki Han!
Han wore his crimson steam armor. High-temperature steam swirled all around him. His gaze was sharp and cold. His voice was low.
"Roshi, you are in quite a sorry state."
Roshi climbed to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood. He said through gritted teeth.
"Han, save it. This Uchiha is no ordinary opponent!"
Han gave a nod. His gaze locked onto Chiya, and those Sharingan eyes in particular filled him with a deep wariness.
"A genius of the Uchiha Clan. No wonder he has pushed Roshi into such a sorry state."
Chiya looked at the suddenly arrived Han and curved the corner of his mouth into a cold smile.
"Another one come to die."
Han did not waste words. He went straight into combat.
He formed seals with both hands. His chakra erupted. The steam armor immediately came to a boil.
"Boil Style, Unrivaled Strength!"
His speed surged in an instant. He became like a red bolt of lightning charging at Chiya.
Chiya's Susano'o swung a punch to meet him. But Han's speed was astonishing. He wove through the gaps between Susano'o's strikes and drove a fist straight into Susano'o's chest.
The high-temperature steam and the chakra collided with a sharp, grinding crack.
"Bang!"
Susano'o's skeletal frame shuddered from the impact. A trace of surprise crossed Chiya's eyes.
'Han's Boil Style truly lives up to its reputation. Both his speed and his strength have been pushed to their peak.'
One strike and it was clear neither side had gained the upper hand.
Both of them had unmistakably felt just how difficult an opponent Chiya was.
They exchanged a glance and stood side by side.
Tailed beast chakra began to surge with wild intensity.
The chakra of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails condensed into solid form over their bodies. The fearsome shapes of the tailed beasts materialized before everyone's eyes.
Two enormous sets of jaws opened wide. Tailed Beast Balls condensed and were launched directly at Chiya.
The terrifying pressure froze the very air on the battlefield.
Chiya let out a cold snort. Susano'o's arms spread wide. The dark crimson chakra surged with furious force.
"Yasaka Magatama!"
Several enormous magatama flew from Susano'o's hands and collided with the Tailed Beast Balls in midair.
"Boom!"
The shockwave from the explosion obliterated the ground in every direction. A pillar of dust shot into the sky.
Han and Roshi were knocked back by the blast. And Chiya, standing at the center of the explosion, did not move at all.
"His defense is too strong!"
Roshi said through gritted teeth.
Han's expression was grave.
"We have to break through his defense. Otherwise we have no chance of winning."
They looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
In the next instant, Han's body was covered entirely in the chakra of Five-Tails Kokuō. He entered a complete tailed beast transformation.
Roshi underwent a complete tailed beast transformation as well.
The massive body of the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails charged at Chiya from the left and right simultaneously.
Chiya watched their combined assault. The crimson Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes rotated slowly.
"Since you are so determined to die, I will grant you your wish."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, the power of the crimson Mangekyō Sharingan surged again.
The dark crimson Susano'o began to transform. Over its flesh-covered surface, the heavy armor of the Karasu Tengu spread rapidly to cover it completely.
Susano'o now descended on the battlefield like a god of war.
Han and Roshi's assault came to an abrupt halt. Shock appeared simultaneously in both of their eyes.
"This... what is this?!"
Roshi's voice carried a tremor.
He could not have imagined that thing, already enormous, was capable of transforming further.
Chiya's Susano'o slowly raised an arm. A blood-red great sword condensed in its hand. Cold chakra coiled around the blade's edge as though it could cut through anything.
He looked down at both of them with cold eyes.
"Now, it is my turn."
Han and Roshi felt a pressure unlike anything they had ever experienced. But they had no way to retreat. They could only fight to the last.
"Full power attack!"
Han roared.
"Horn Break!"
Han in his complete Five-Tails state charged directly at Chiya.
Roshi, transformed into the Four-Tails, stood in the distance. He opened his enormous jaws as a Tailed Beast Ball gathered wildly inside his mouth.
Chiya's Susano'o swung the blood-red great sword down in a single stroke.
Where the blade's light passed, space seemed to tear apart. The Five-Tails that Han had manifested had not yet reached Chiya when the sword's edge passed through it and reduced it to something as thin as paper, splitting it cleanly in two.
Han let out a stifled groan and was sent flying, crashing hard into the ground.
On the other side, Roshi had just launched his Tailed Beast Ball when Susano'o's other hand shot out and caught it, crushing it raw in its grip.
The shockwave from the explosion recoiled back into the Four-Tails, flipping that enormous body over and slamming it to the ground.
A dead silence fell over the battlefield. Both the Konoha and Iwa-nin had stopped completely, staring at what was before them with their mouths open.
Chiya's Susano'o slowly withdrew the great sword. Cold chakra spread out over the entire field.
He looked down from above at the heavily wounded Han and Roshi and said plainly.
"You have lost."
Han had broken out of his tailed beast state by this point. He struggled to stand. A line of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
He had never felt a pressure this terrifying before. It was as though he was not facing a human being, but a true god.
Roshi's Four-Tails form had similarly reached its limit.
He could no longer sustain the tailed beast state and reverted to his human form.
He collapsed to the ground where he sat, his eyes filled with despair.
With the defeat of both jinchuriki, the Iwa-nin fell back in all directions. Their morale collapsed completely.
Chiya slowly raised his hand. Susano'o's great sword rose again, prepared to deliver the final blow.
At that very moment, an urgent series of whistles sounded from the distance. Iwagakure's signal to retreat.
Han wrung out the last reserves of chakra left in his body, activated Boil Style, grabbed Roshi, and ran for his life.
The Iwa-nin withdrew like a receding tide. Chiya watched their retreating figures with cold eyes.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
His gaze locked onto the two of them.
Dark crimson magatama were hurled in Han's direction and connected.
"Aah!"
A scream rang out through a spray of blood.
The two of them were blasted deep into a mountain in the distance. Chunks of rock tumbled down and blocked Chiya's line of sight.
Watching the Iwagakure ninja retreat at full speed, the Susano'o around Chiya slowly dissolved. He turned and walked back toward the Konoha camp.
Hatake Sakumo stepped forward. His eyes were filled with shock.
"Chiya, you..."
Chiya gave a slight smile and said nothing more.
"The rest is up to you."
Hatake Sakumo drew a deep breath and gave a solemn nod.
"Leave it to me. I will handle everything."
The Konoha ninja on the battlefield broke into cheers. Chiya's name rang out and rose to the sky.
In this battle, Uchiha Chiya had defeated two jinchuriki single-handedly and turned the tide of the war.
His name would spread across the entire shinobi world.
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