Even for someone with a vitality as strong as Rōshi's, such a grievous wound was impossible to endure.
Inside him, the Four-Tails instantly sensed the crisis and barked:
"Hurry up and release the seal! Otherwise you really will die — and if you die, that's one thing, but I sure as hell don't plan on dying with you!"
The bond between a jinchūriki and their tailed beast was a form of symbiosis. If the jinchūriki died, the tailed beast — a living entity composed entirely of chakra — would also be adversely affected. The Four-Tails had no intention of letting this human, who at least provided some amusement, die so easily.
If it were the Rōshi from thirty years later — one who had already formed a deep bond with the Four-Tails — faced with such a situation, he would have released the beast without hesitation.
But the Rōshi of today still lacked understanding. His knowledge of tailed beasts was limited to seeing them as ferocious monsters. Even though he had reached the point of basic communication with the Four-Tails, he was still unwilling to release it, fearing the beast might go on a rampage and harm Iwagakure's shinobi.
At this moment, the pain was excruciating, yet Rōshi stubbornly resisted loosening the seal. The Four-Tails was helpless against this stubborn human, but when its own survival was threatened, it no longer cared about Roshi's feelings.
The beast began violently battering the seal. Already weakened from his injuries, Rōshi's body couldn't withstand the sudden assault. The clash between his own will and the Four-Tails' rampage made him cough up a mouthful of blood and collapse unconscious.
Almost instantly, a blood-red chakra surged around him. The single tail at his back became three. Sensing Rōshi's rapidly climbing power, Hoshiyomi's eyes widened. He clenched his teeth, ready to rush in and finish him off.
But within moments, the Four-Tails had completely seized control of Rōshi's body. Cloaked entirely in crimson, it lashed its three tails and unleashed a deafening roar.
At the same time, Hoshiyomi felt the ground beneath his feet shake violently. His expression changed, and he quickly retreated. Sure enough, the moment he left his original spot, the ground beneath his feet completely shattered.
A massive gout of magma erupted like a fountain, far more terrifying than Rōshi's earlier Lava Fountain. The molten rock blasted tens of meters into the air before splattering outward in all directions.
Hoshiyomi had no intention of testing what a "magma bath" felt like. Every bit of his focus was on evading the molten rain; he had no time to worry about Rōshi.
The Four-Tails took that opportunity to fully force Rōshi's body into its third stage — complete tailed beast transformation.
Amid the rain of magma, the towering form of the Four-Tails pounded its chest and let out a triumphant roar. The shockwaves from its voice alone shattered the ground around it.
After so many years, it could finally see the sky again.
The sheer force of its emergence made even Konoha's shinobi ten kilometers away turn pale.
None of their generation had ever witnessed the true might of a tailed beast. Seeing the Four-Tails pounding its chest and shouting in the magma, they were all pale with fear.
Even Onoki, who was a distance away and entangled in a battle with Jiraiya and Shinku, changed his expression when he saw this.
Gekkō Hoshiyomi has indeed entered the Kage level. He actually forced out the Four-Tails' true form by himself.
But he probably wasn't a match for the Four-Tails. Even he would have to use a lot of effort to deal with the Four-Tails. That brat probably couldn't handle the Four-Tails.
...
Meanwhile, the Four-Tails' great, lantern-like eyes fixed on Hoshiyomi. It remembered clearly — this human had injured Rōshi, creating the opportunity for its release.
Although he was excited to be out, he wasn't going to forgive this human who had given him so much trouble. He had used a lot of effort to heal Roshi's wounds
The Four-Tails glanced at Hoshiyomi and showed a somewhat humanized playful expression. Let's see if you can withstand this move.
Lava began to flow visibly within its now glowing-crimson fists. Rōshi's transformed body raised both arms high and brought them down hard.
With a loud boom, the sound was so loud that it caused Jiraiya and the others, who were far away and fighting Onoki, to have a ringing in their ears.
Before the stunned eyes of the Konoha shinobi, the Four-Tails' blow split the wide plain, carving a miniature canyon into it.
From within the fissure, a river of molten lava seethed.
This was one of the Four-Tails' signature moves — Lava Release: Scorching River Great Eruption.
With its overwhelming chakra, it could reshape the very land itself. Such was the power of a tailed beast.
Even Hoshiyomi couldn't help swallowing when he saw that red-hot rift. Only one thought filled his mind — Run!
He pushed his Shunpo to its absolute limit, moving so fast that afterimages hung in the air.
The moment he left the spot, the magma in the fissure reached critical mass. It erupted in a torrent, flooding the hundred-meter area around the Four-Tails with a blazing red inferno.
The scale of it stunned villagers in towns dozens of kilometers away. People poured into the streets to gape at the crimson sky in the distance. Some, less worldly, even fell to their knees and began to worship.
By now, everything around the Four-Tails was a world of molten rock. Hoshiyomi had no idea how he could even get close enough to attack.
The beast would never quietly return to its host now. So how was he supposed to deal with it?
After thinking hard, Hoshiyomi finally decided to pin his hopes on Ōnoki.
Meeting the Four-Tails' mocking gaze across the magma field, Hoshiyomi made up his mind. He murmured softly:
"Time to go all out."
Without hesitation, he opened the Eight Gates — something he hadn't done in a long time — and went straight to the Sixth Gate.
Already a Kage-level fighter, Hoshiyomi's aura now became even more formidable. Pale green chakra flared from his body, its pressure startling even Ōnoki and the Four-Tails.
Feeling the surge of temporary chakra from the Sixth Gate, Hoshiyomi immediately converted all of it to Water Release.
Testing his speed and the lightness of his body, he felt his confidence return.
He glanced at the molten field around the Four-Tails, then kicked off hard, charging straight toward it.
From afar, Jiraiya and Shinku thought he'd gone mad. Minato and Kuugetsu, watching from another position, covered their mouths in shock, unable to imagine what he was planning.
In the next instant, every onlooker's eyes widened. Hoshiyomi vaulted seven or eight meters into the air, gliding like a flying machine toward the Four-Tails.
Just as he was about to land, the Mikazuki Munechika in his hands flared with a water-blue light — but this time, what he unleashed wasn't a blade of energy. It was a massive, water-blue sphere of light.