Ten-odd minutes earlier.
Second Peak.
After reforming his body from scattered flames, Uchiha Jin fixed his gaze on the two figures before him—
Rōshi, fully wrapped in Lava Release Chakra Mode.
And Kitsuchi, poised and calculating.
Jin's expression grew solemn.
Conventional ninjutsu would accomplish nothing here except drain his chakra.
If he wanted a swift resolution—
He would have to unsheathe one of his true trump cards.
The flames along his Zanpakutō-like blade gradually withdrew inward, revealing the scorched-black surface beneath.
Residual Flame Blade — East: Rising Sun Slash.
"Seabed Needle!"
Rōshi lunged again, molten chakra roaring around him.
His Lava Release Chakra Mode cloaked him in magma exceeding a thousand degrees. Touch it and you burned. Strike it and you died. In close combat, it granted overwhelming advantage.
This technique—
Concentrated chakra into his fist, amplifying the temperature severalfold beyond even his surface magma.
It could melt steel.
Jin didn't retreat.
He swung.
Blade met fist.
For a split second, Rōshi thought he'd simply overpower him—
Then—
It felt like punching into a sun-heated brand.
The temperature difference was absurd.
If his Lava Release was a furnace—
Jin's blade was a star.
"Ah—! Hot—so hot—!"
Rōshi recoiled instinctively, retreating rapidly.
Even with jinchūriki durability, that heat was monstrous.
Jin, however, was mildly surprised.
To withstand hundreds of thousands of degrees barehanded and not lose the limb—
Rōshi truly was extraordinary.
He was about to press the advantage—
"Earth Release: Rock Cannon Technique!"
A compressed stone projectile screamed toward him.
Jin halted pursuit and raised his blade horizontally.
Boom.
The stone shattered to powder—
Yet the kinetic force drove him back over ten meters.
He glanced toward Kitsuchi, still mid-seal.
Perfect timing.
Every move struck precisely when Jin's old force ended and new force had yet to form.
Veteran battlefield sense.
"Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon!"
The ground beneath Jin churned violently.
A massive earthen dragon burst upward, spiraling toward him midair.
"Lava Release: Scorching River Rock Technique!"
Simultaneously, Rōshi hurled massive magma spheres, burns on his hand already regenerating under Four-Tails chakra.
Jin rotated midair.
"Flame Ring — Fire Pillar!"
A colossal column of fire erupted around him, intercepting dragon and magma alike.
Then—
His eyes sharpened.
He drew upon the inferno rising from the pillar itself.
"Fire Release Secret Art—"
"Two Hundred Thousand Degrees—"
"Fudō Myōō!"
From within the blazing pillar, a gigantic arm of flame thrust outward—
And slammed toward Kitsuchi.
The heat distorted the air.
Kitsuchi felt his blood begin to steam.
"Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"
A massive stone slab several meters thick rose before him—
And was annihilated instantly.
The flaming arm didn't slow.
Kitsuchi's expression froze—
His body shattered into rubble.
"Earth Clone…"
The flaming arm drove into the ground—
And then—
A colossal upper-body fire deity rose from the mountain.
Thirty meters tall.
Fierce brow.
Blazing hair.
Wrathful eyes like molten suns.
A half-bodied divine king of flame.
Yet incomplete—
Certain sections blurred, still forming—raw flame without full structure.
"ROOOAR!"
Fudō Myōō swung both arms.
Waves of scorching heat exploded outward.
The temperature across Second Peak spiked violently.
Green trees yellowed in seconds.
Leaves curled and shriveled.
Rōshi landed beside the real Kitsuchi.
"This is bad… Should I relinquish control and fully release the Four-Tails?"
For the first time—
He understood why the Fourth Raikage had insisted Jin was a major threat.
Kitsuchi shook his head sharply.
"No!"
"Most forces on B Peak are Iwa shinobi! If you fully transform, regardless of outcome, Iwagakure suffers catastrophic losses!"
Rōshi's temperamental tailed beast would slaughter indiscriminately.
There were over a thousand Iwa shinobi still present.
They couldn't afford that.
But Jin gave them no time.
The Fire King raised his arm—
And condensed a blazing sphere like a miniature sun.
It descended.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
Kitsuchi slammed both hands into the ground.
A massive rock fortress wall erupted—
And disintegrated almost instantly under the sun-like fireball.
BOOOOM—!
Flames surged skyward.
The entire impact zone became a raging inferno, as though the soil itself might burn to ash.
"Lava Release: Granite Form!"
Rōshi roared and burst from the sea of flame.
Dark violet-black skin showed beneath the magma shell—
His defenses pushed to their limit.
He launched like a meteor toward the towering Fire King.
"Good!"
Jin's voice resonated from within Fudō Myōō.
He unleashed the prepared finisher.
"Fire Release Sealing Art—"
"Single Blade Cremation!"
A colossal flaming sword extended from the deity's hand—
And plunged directly into Rōshi's charge.
Rōshi didn't hesitate—
He forced his way into the blade.
Then—
Golden-red sealing inscriptions slithered through the fire.
One by one, they formed a suppressive sealing array—
And descended upon him.
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