Naruto: The Teaching System - 253

Chapter 253: If You Have the Ability, Break In and Take It Back Yourself

"Oh, where's your Sage of Six Paths now, old man?!" The instant Sawada landed, he formed hand seals. "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Countless figures exploded from the smoke, scattering in all directions. As they encircled the Four-Tails, Sawada launched himself onto the massive creature's head and drove his fist down.

As Son Gokū's massive head crashed heavily into the ground, the shadow clones waiting around immediately raised both hands and formed seals. "Earth Release: Earth Flow Core!"

The ground where the Four-Tails stood instantly sank, yet the beast, seeing stars from that punch, still struggled to jump out. Sawada raised his hands again to form seals. "Earth Release: Falling Earth Spears!"

Countless earth fragments fell from above, precisely covering the Four-Tails.

"ROAR!" The Four-Tails let out a roar, spewing overwhelming lava from its mouth toward the opening above the pit.

"I was waiting for you to use that move!" Seeing this, Sawada immediately had the shadow clones increase their chakra output, then jumped up himself, his ten fingers flipping rapidly. "Earth Release: Dropping Lid"

A massive earthen lid fell down, heavily covering the enormous trench created by Earth Flow Core. The Four-Tails' stream of lava had just reached the top when it was immediately sealed by the lid, making a muffled sound.

"Next, heat it up with a big fire." The shadow clones on the side all gathered their strength, lifting that oddly shaped lid. Sawada condensed chakra at his throat and fiercely expelled a torrent of flames into the gap.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

"AWOO!" Instantly, the Four-Tails in the pit let out a howl. As Sawada's Great Fire Annihilation's power increased, the howling gradually weakened. The massive figure transformed from physical to ethereal form, the entire being like flowing chakra, retracting into Rōshi's body.

Sawada, who had been aware all along, stopped his Fire Release and fiercely kicked open the lid. The massive lid crashed onto Sunagakure's logistics camp, where raging fires were already burning.

Inside the trench, Rōshi had returned to human form, unconscious. Sawada leaped to Rōshi's side. It had to be said, Jinchūriki were indeed unkillable cockroaches. After all this, Rōshi was still alive, though he was now in a coma.

Sawada reached out, pressing his finger against Rōshi's forehead. Black threads manifested from pure Yin Release, spreading across Rōshi's body like living chains.

"Sealing Jutsu: Chakra Binding!"

The threads pulsed with sealing energy, locking down Rōshi's chakra network.

"Hey! Sawada!" From above the trench came Asuma's roaring voice. Sawada had already notified Asuma to come over after finishing up.

"Catch!" Without hesitation, Sawada grabbed Rōshi's body and threw it toward Asuma.

Asuma caught him in one grab. After seeing who it was, he couldn't help but gape. "Four-Tails Jinchūriki!"

After landing, Sawada nodded. "Yes, he's unconscious."

"What do we do?" Asuma asked, his reaction somewhat slow.

"What can we do? Of course, we take him back. If Iwagakure dares send out a Jinchūriki, they better be prepared to suffer losses." Sawada waved his hand.

The Akatsuki organization wanted to collect Tailed Beasts? Then capture one or two first and see if they dare attack Konoha.

"Let's go quickly, or Sunagakure's main force will arrive." From the battle's start until now, Sunagakure's main forces still hadn't appeared. Sawada guessed Kakashi was probably blocking them head-on on the battlefield, but it was about time to leave. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to escape afterward.

"No problem!" Asuma was ecstatic. After all, Sawada had captured the Four-Tails! Doesn't that mean he could absorb it later? Thinking of this, Asuma couldn't help but get moving.

Inside Sunagakure's main tent, an Iwagakure jōnin wearing an Iwagakure forehead protector fiercely slammed the table, roaring at Chiyo before him. "Sunagakure must send troops to make Konoha return our Jinchūriki as soon as possible!"

Chiyo sat calmly at the head of the table, looking at the chattering Iwagakure shinobi, and spoke flatly. "If you have the ability, have Ōnoki come personally."

Hearing this, the Iwagakure shinobi's entire body stiffened, his face instantly turning ugly. He wanted to say something, but the people sitting in the main tent—who among them wasn't a seasoned expert?

"How many shinobi did we lose in this battle? Even the logistics camp's supplies were destroyed by your Jinchūriki. Tell Ōnoki that if he doesn't take responsibility, we'll invade Iwagakure!"

As soon as Chiyo's words fell, two Sunagakure shinobi stepped forward, approaching the Iwagakure jōnin. The Iwagakure shinobi broke out in cold sweat. He looked around, then walked out of the main tent.

With the Iwagakure shinobi's departure, discussion in the tent finally began.

"Elder Chiyo, what should we do next?" A Sunagakure jōnin asked anxiously. Since declaring war on Konoha, Sunagakure had lost numerous jōnin, along with countless chūnin and genin. Now, even the supplies at the logistics camp had been destroyed. If this continued, Sunagakure would have to consider surrender.

"First, consolidate our defenses. Since Iwagakure's Jinchūriki was captured by Konoha, Ōnoki won't stand for it. Once Iwagakure engages Konoha, the pressure here will ease," Chiyo said after a brief silence.

She was biding her time. If the Fourth Kazekage in the village could recover, then they still had a chance at victory. If not, they'd have no choice but to submit a surrender letter to Konoha.

It wasn't stubbornness. Sunagakure currently had no one who could replace the Kazekage. The One-Tail Jinchūriki's emotions were still unstable. The village elders only wanted power struggles. If not for her late brother's sake, Chiyo wouldn't be dragging her aging body to the front lines.

The best solution was to throw the shinobi world into turmoil and fish in troubled waters.

Hearing this, all the Sunagakure shinobi fell silent. For now, this was all they could do. However, the village elders were playing a dangerous game: using war to cover up the Kage's coma, redirecting the villagers' anger toward the frontline jōnin, and shifting blame onto Konoha. The cost was devastating.

Inside Konoha's front-line command tent, Sawada gazed at where the snow had stopped falling and sighed. The heavy snow had arrived quickly and departed just as fast, giving Sunagakure, already on its last legs, a brief reprieve.

"Sawada, you should return to the village first." Kakashi, sitting at the head of the table, tossed a scroll to Sawada. Sawada caught it and began reading.

The message was brief. Hiruzen wanted Sawada to escort the Four-Tails Jinchūriki back. After all, at this stage, only Sawada could suppress a Jinchūriki. The Jinchūriki was a bargaining chip, but only valuable if they maintained control.

As expected, with the Four-Tails' capture, Iwagakure immediately dispatched a large army to the border. Ōnoki demanded Konoha return the Jinchūriki.

Hiruzen ignored this, replying simply that Ōnoki was welcome to come and take him back himself.

"What about Sunagakure?" Sawada looked at Kakashi, genuinely unable to understand Sunagakure's strategy. Since the war started, after that one battle, they had gone radio silent. The logistics camp forces had been completely annihilated. Whether they could even survive much longer was questionable. Yet they still refused to withdraw.