Lao Zi stood in the distance with his arms crossed, letting the two Konoha ninjas talk.
"Done talking?" Lao Zi said disdainfully.
Only the weak gather in groups. The truly strong stand alone.
As the jinchūriki of the Four-Tails, Lao Zi had been isolated and rejected within Iwagakure for years. He believed he was born to walk alone.
A lone wolf stood opposed to everything in this world. The only thing he could rely on was power—specifically, the power of the Tailed Beast.
Others might not comprehend the might of a tailed beast, but he understood it intimately. He had full confidence in his strength. In his own mind, if he unleashed his power completely, not even the Third Tsuchikage could necessarily stop him. And yet, moments ago, he had been treated like prey.
Hunting a jinchūriki?
Ridiculous. Tailed beasts are not pets.
This world has grown arrogant. Perhaps it's time they remembered to fear the Tailed Beasts once more.
As for the order to reinforce the main battlefield, Lao Zi had long dismissed it. He had been confined too long within the village. His chakra surged, yearning for release. What he craved now was a true battle—raw and exhilarating.
Sakumo Hatake stepped forward while Uchiha Tatsumi took a flanking position, forming a pincer formation.
For a moment, the air froze. The rain hadn't stopped since earlier, and the gray sky pressed heavily over the Land of Rain like a suffocating lid.
Ripples spread across the puddles, whispering like restless spirits. Rain tapped the leaves like a novice musician fumbling on a xylophone—chaotic, uneasy.
Lao Zi laughed. "So, you've finished planning. Two-on-one? I won't call you cowards… this just makes it fair. After all… I'm a Jinchūriki!"
Fwoosh!
Lao Zi's chakra flared wildly. His aura surged with molten fury.
Sakumo's chakra rose as well—but his presence was like the chill of a blade in midwinter, cold and silent.
This contrast—flame and frost—made Uchiha Tatsumi's heart pound.
Then, with a hiss of metal, Sakumo Hatake's White Light Chakra Sabre flew from its sheath. Though stained by countless battles, the blade gleamed with killing intent.
His pale chakra surged like a beam of light, sharpening the blade's edge even further.
Konoha's White Fang demonstrated what true speed looked like.
Sakumo blurred forward like a streak of lightning. If not for Uchiha Tatsumi's Sharingan, he wouldn't have been able to track the movement at all.
Tatsumi recognized the gap instantly. His own Lightning Release-enhanced movement techniques, honed through training, couldn't come close to Sakumo's raw speed and precision. That single swing radiated the unmistakable threat of death.
Lao Zi drew a kunai in a flash, ready to parry.
Zzzap!
A flash of blue lightning enclosed Sakumo's blade—it sliced straight through the kunai without resistance.
There was no clash of metal. The kunai was sheared in half by the White Fang's sabre, which surged forward with an electric hum.
"Lava Release: Scorching River Rock Technique!"
A massive ball of magma burst from Lao Zi's mouth, colliding with the oncoming blade.
Sakumo's sabre slashed into it like a hot knife, but in the instant it split apart—
BOOM!
The lava ball exploded violently. Sakumo had to leap back to avoid the scorching fallout.
Lao Zi laughed maniacally, spewing lava like a furnace. His chakra output didn't diminish—his expression remained calm, even amused.
To unleash this level of ninjutsu so casually… what kind of chakra reserves did he possess?
Sakumo frowned. His chakra was substantial for an elite jonin, but compared to this, it was like a peasant facing a noble's extravagance.
Still, Sakumo knew one truth: all the chakra in the world was meaningless if you couldn't land a hit.
He leapt, evading streams of magma with minimal movement, and closed in once more.
"So eager to die, Konoha shinobi?"
Lao Zi's eyes gleamed with madness. He raised his arm and unleashed another wall of lava.
Sakumo didn't flinch. With a few quick slashes, his blade dispersed the magma as if cutting through mist.
Lao Zi began weaving signs.
Snap!
A finger snap echoed through the forest—Uchiha Tatsumi's genjutsu slipped in unnoticed.
Lao Zi's body froze mid-sign, eyes wide, expression locked.
That single second was all Sakumo needed.
A silver flash split the silence of the rain-soaked forest. No barriers remained between Sakumo and his target.
For an elite like Sakumo Hatake, one second was more than enough.
Like a fang from the heavens, the White Fang's blade closed in.
But just before it struck, Lao Zi's body erupted in crimson chakra, and a guttural roar tore through the air. The very ground trembled.
Lao Zi's eyes opened—now glowing red with the Four-Tails' influence. The blade was a breath away, and yet—
He didn't dodge.
Instead, he blocked it with his bare arm.
BOOM!
The impact was like muffled thunder. Blue and white lightning clashed with searing red chakra.
Sakumo stared, stunned. His lightning-enhanced sabre had only carved through the outer layer of the chakra cloak—it couldn't cut further.
Aside from the Raikage's Lightning Release armor, Sakumo had never seen anyone stop his blade barehanded.
"Yes! That's it! The blood of the beast—boiling!"
Lao Zi roared, his chakra flaring hotter. He swung his arm and punched Sakumo squarely in the chest, sending him flying.
Visit patreon.com/TEA_QUILL to get 30+ chapters