"Lightning Release Chakra Mode! Are you from Kumogakure?" Rōshi asked sternly.
Kumogakure and Iwagakure were essentially sworn enemies. The two villages had never ceased hostilities. During the Third Great Ninja War, the Third Raikage even died at the hands of Iwagakure. The grudge between the two sides only deepened over time, which is why Rōshi, upon seeing Lightning Release Chakra Mode, immediately assumed Uchiha Yuan was someone from Kumogakure stirring up trouble.
Uchiha Yuan said nothing. He instantly teleported in front of Rōshi, his lightning-clad fist slamming fiercely into Rōshi's chest, sending him flying with a single punch.
Rōshi smashed through several trees before he managed to stabilize himself. He knelt on the ground, blood at the corner of his mouth.
The next second, Uchiha Yuan vanished again. Ignoring the pain in his chest, Rōshi hurriedly activated Lava Release Chakra Mode.
Rōshi's body was quickly encased in lava.
Initially, Rōshi thought that with his body covered in lava, Uchiha Yuan wouldn't dare attack directly.
But to Rōshi's surprise, a ghostly blue skeletal giant manifested in front of him. The giant slowly extended its hand and effortlessly lifted Rōshi into the air.
"What… what is this thing? Solidified chakra?" Rōshi thought.
"This is Susanoo! I've seen a similar jutsu before," said the Four-Tails, who normally never spoke to Rōshi.
"Susanoo? What is that?"
"A unique technique available only to members of the Uchiha clan after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"What?! You're saying this guy is an Uchiha?"
"Rōshi, let me take control of the body! You're no match for him!" said the Four-Tails.
"You're trying to save me?"
"I'm saving myself. Any Uchiha capable of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan is a lunatic—real lunatics who kill without hesitation!"
Rōshi, hearing this, didn't argue. He immediately handed his body over to the Four-Tails.
In the next moment, Tailed Beast chakra began to gush from the Four-Tails.
Uchiha Yuan smiled slightly—this was exactly what he wanted: to force the Four-Tails out.
He casually tossed Rōshi to the ground and waited for the Four-Tails to emerge.
A few minutes later, a massive ape with four tails appeared before Uchiha Yuan.
Uchiha Yuan increased his ocular power input. The Susanoo developed muscle tissue and a ghostly blue blade appeared in its hand.
Still unsatisfied, Uchiha Yuan curled his lips in displeasure and continued pouring in chakra. At the same time, he activated Magatsuhi and Annihilation on the Susanoo.
Under Uchiha Yuan's "forced growth," the Susanoo underwent yet another transformation.
Boom! With a thunderous sound, the Susanoo donned black tengu armor, and Uchiha Yuan's horizontal blade appeared, scaled proportionally in the Susanoo's hand.
With the Susanoo entering its third stage, Uchiha Yuan felt as though he had reached the pinnacle of power. This overwhelming strength intoxicated him.
However, Uchiha Yuan could clearly feel the immense chakra consumption and instability of using this form. It had to end quickly.
He controlled the Susanoo to raise the arm holding the horizontal blade and slashed at the Four-Tails.
The Four-Tails rolled to avoid the strike and launched a massive wave of lava toward Uchiha Yuan.
Uchiha Yuan, unfazed, swung the blade again. The enormous blade pressure blew the lava away.
The Four-Tails was also struck and sent flying.
Seizing the momentum, Uchiha Yuan charged at the Four-Tails and swung again.
This time, the Four-Tails failed to dodge and had an arm severed by Uchiha Yuan.
If it had been another Tailed Beast, Uchiha Yuan would've stopped after obtaining chakra from the severed limb.
But he absolutely detested the Four-Tails. "A monkey dares call itself Son Goku?"
He went full force, engaging the Four-Tails in intense combat for over ten minutes, and ultimately killed it.
Once the Tailed Beast died, its Jinchūriki Rōshi naturally died as well.
After finishing off the Four-Tails, Uchiha Yuan deactivated Susanoo. As he landed, a wave of weakness surged through him, making it hard to even stand.
His vision blurred—clearly a side effect of overusing his eyes. His life force was no longer sufficient to replenish his ocular power.
"Looks like forcibly activating Susanoo's third stage really takes a toll," Uchiha Yuan said, sitting on the ground.
"Yuan, are you okay?" Hyuga Asana descended from the sky and asked.
"I'm fine. Asana, just give me a minute—I'll be okay." Saying this, Uchiha Yuan activated Inari.
The Four-Tails' scattered chakra and life force poured into Uchiha Yuan. In the blink of an eye, he had mostly recovered.
And only about one-tenth of the Four-Tails' chakra and life force had been consumed.
Uchiha Yuan sealed away the rest of the chakra.
A portion of the Four-Tails' chakra would be used to construct the mini Ten Tails. The rest would be more than enough for him to "play around" a few times.
"Asana, let's go! With all this noise, someone will show up soon."
"What about him?" Hyuga Asana pointed at Rōshi, who lay on the ground.
"Cut off his head and cash it in at a bounty station—bring the money back to Orochimaru. I don't need it for now."
Hyuga Asana nodded, used a chakra scalpel to decapitate Rōshi, sealed the head in a scroll, and the two departed the scene aboard Shadiao.
Under Hyuga Asana's guidance, Shadiao headed toward the Land of Rice Fields.
As in the original work, Orochimaru had chosen this country as the location for his base.
Originally, Uchiha Yuan had wanted to check out the base, but recalling all the severed limbs and organs he had seen in the lab made him nauseous.
So Uchiha Yuan said to Hyuga Asana, "Asana, I won't go with you. If I calculate correctly, I should return to Konoha to report in. Can't delay it too long."
"Okay, then you should hurry back."
"Let me give you a parting gift." He took out a scroll from his storage ring and handed it to Hyuga Asana.
She opened it to find a taijutsu manual titled Rokushiki (Six Forms).
The Hyuga clan had always excelled in taijutsu. After a quick glance, Hyuga Asana noticed this taijutsu differed significantly from anything currently practiced in the ninja world.
"Yuan, where did you get this?" Hyuga Asana asked.
"It's from the Uchiha clan's archives. It's been untouched for ages—forgotten in some corner. I found it by chance."
"I see. This will be very useful to me. Thank you."
"There's no need for thanks between us." With that, Uchiha Yuan waved at Hyuga Asana and departed on Shadiao.
(To Be Continued...)