The sealing technique in Onoki's hand and the sealing formula on Roshi's body resonated each other. The already severely weakened Four-Tails was successfully sealed away under this resonance, reverting back into Rōshi's human form.
Although the Four-Tails had suffered heavy injuries, its chakra had still managed to save Rōshi's life. The wound at his waist had mostly healed, leaving no immediate danger to his life.
However, Rōshi had also collapsed into unconsciousness due to the massive chakra drain from releasing the Tailed Beast.
Ōnoki let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the fallen Rōshi. Whatever else could be said, at least the Four-Tails—this enormous headache—was finally dealt with.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he sharply sensed a gust of wind rushing from behind. As the Third Tsuchikage, he had experienced not just dozens but hundreds of battles over the years. His senses for danger had long been honed razor-sharp.
The moment he sensed the gust of wind, Onoki reacted quickly. He twisted his waist in an almost unnatural motion, barely evading Hoshiyomi's "Crescent Moon Slash" from behind, and at the same time smashed a punch from his Rock Fist Technique square into Hoshiyomi's body.
That single punch alone was enough to show the sharpness of Ōnoki's reflexes—he could land a precise hit even on someone charging at high speed with the Crescent Moon Slash.
Unfortunately, because it had been so sudden, he hadn't managed to layer Added-Weight Rock Technique onto it. If he had, that one blow could have left Hoshiyomi half-dead at the very least.
Even without the added weight, the punch was no joke. Hoshiyomi was sent flying far back. When he got to his feet, pain radiated through his whole body, and a quick check told him three ribs were broken.
Breathing through the pain left his chest feeling tight and heavy, each breath coming only with difficulty.
But if Hoshiyomi was in bad shape, Ōnoki wasn't much better.
In twisting to evade Hoshiyomi's strike, he'd contorted himself into a posture far beyond what a man his age should be capable of.
Such a move put an enormous strain on his waist, and years of being hunched over paperwork had already left his lower back riddled with problems. This time, it finally gave out.
With a cracking sound, Ōnoki felt as if his lower back had been broken in two, and for a moment, even regaining a normal standing position was difficult.
Nearly fifty, Ōnoki experienced a back strain for the first time. How to describe it… it felt as if his whole body had been hollowed out.
This was not yet the future Ōnoki, who would strain his back three times a day and fight on unaffected. This first sudden attack of pain left cold sweat streaming down his forehead, and he could almost see his late master beckoning to him from the Pure Land.
And so the two of them—Ōnoki and Hoshiyomi—ended up in a strange stalemate, standing there facing each other. One clutched his ribs, the other his back, both gritting their teeth in pain.
But in the end, the younger man was the first to recover. Enduring the pain in his chest, Hoshiyomi brought his blade around, sending a slash of sword energy surging toward Ōnoki.
Ōnoki, seeing the attack coming, could no longer afford to care about the agony in his back. With a muttered curse, he forced himself to activate Super Light-Weight Rock Technique, wobbling awkwardly into the air to dodge the slash.
Seeing this, Hoshiyomi's mind turned—if he couldn't strike Ōnoki, there was still Rōshi lying there.
A mischievous, dangerous smile spread across his face. He raised his Mikazuki Munechika and sent another slash of sword energy straight toward the unconscious jinchūriki.
Rōshi, deep in a coma, couldn't move to defend himself; he was like a fish laid out on the cutting board, utterly at Hoshiyomi's mercy.
Ōnoki stiffened in shock. Rōshi wasn't just a genius of the village—he was the jinchūriki of the Four-Tails, one of Iwagakure's trump cards in war. Losing him was unthinkable.
There was no time for hesitation. Ignoring the stabbing pain in his back, Ōnoki hastily formed hand seals:
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A massive earthen wall burst from the ground, barely intercepting the sword slash. At the same time, Ōnoki dropped from the sky, and before Hoshiyomi could send a second slash, he grabbed the unconscious Rōshi by the collar and wobbled back into the air.
Flying with a thrown-out back was bad enough—now he was carrying nearly two hundred pounds of dead weight. Even with Super Light-Weight Rock Technique to reduce the load, it was sheer torture.
The pain in his back grew so intense that his vision darkened. If it weren't for his extraordinary chakra control, he would probably have already fallen from the sky.
If his back had been fine, Ōnoki wouldn't have feared this little brat one bit. But now, with his lower back screaming and Rōshi dragging him down like an anchor, even forming seals for an attack was exhausting. He could barely use a tenth of his full power.
Staying any longer meant not only failing to kill Hoshiyomi, but also risking both his own life and Rōshi's.
Hoshiyomi's life versus the lives of himself and Rōshi… which was more important?
For Ōnoki, that wasn't even a question.
There would be plenty of chances to kill this brat later; there was no need to rush. Comforting himself with that thought, Ōnoki turned to glare venomously at Hoshiyomi.
"Gekkō Hoshiyomi, I swear that I will take your life as long as I live! Hss—!"
Halfway through his threat, a fresh spike of pain lanced through his back, making him suck in a sharp breath. He wasted no more words, accelerating as best he could toward the Iwa camp.
The plan to assassinate Hoshiyomi had been a complete failure.
Not only had they failed to kill Hoshiyomi, Jiraiya, and the others, but they'd been forced to retreat in disgrace. It was humiliation of the highest order.
Meanwhile, the Konoha shinobi, seeing Ōnoki flying back toward the Iwa camp with an unconscious Rōshi, couldn't hide their excitement.
That was the Tsuchikage and the Four-Tails' jinchūriki! Everyone had assumed they were surely doomed this time—but unexpectedly, Hoshiyomi-sama had done it: defeated the Four-Tails' jinchūriki and even managed to injure the Third Tsuchikage.
The Konoha shinobi's cheers shook the very clouds.
...
Watching Ōnoki's retreating figure, Hoshiyomi finally let out a long breath. He'd thought there would be another fierce battle ahead—he had even been ready to unleash every trump card he had left.
His calculations were clear—Ōnoki could use Dust Release at most five times. He'd used it once at the start, then again against the Tailed Beast Bomb, leaving three uses. With the displacement from his Dance of the Startled Swan and Sword Shadows, Hoshiyomi figured he could dodge all of them.
That was the unreasonable power of the Dance of the Startled Swan.
Even so, dodging all of Ōnoki's Dust Release didn't mean he could guarantee victory. This was the longest-serving Tsuchikage in history—a super Kage-level opponent.
He had expected that even after using every last Sword Shadow, he would still have to fight Ōnoki to the death. But unexpectedly, the battle had ended in such an anticlimactic way.
At that thought, Hoshiyomi's expression turned odd.
He couldn't help but think of the Ōnoki from years later, constantly throwing out his back. Could it be… that this was where the problem started?
Author's Notes:
I was originally going to write the story according to Hoshiyomi's plan, but I felt that it would make the protagonist too invincible. This is not an invincible protagonist story, so in the end, I didn't choose to write it that way. Instead, I chose this more... fortunate way of winning.