After Elder Roshi's third tail formed, the cylindrical earthen wall also settled down.
"Commander—"
"Save it. A Jinchuriki's rampage won't be suppressed that easily."
Although Iwagakure hadn't faced many such situations before, based on previous intelligence reports, this level of attack could at best hold things off temporarily.
"Why is it getting hotter?"
"You don't mean—"
While rapidly retreating, the commander shouted loudly, "Fall back now!"
In his eyes, the reddening earth wall meant something inside had changed dramatically.
[Lava Release]—recalling the rare Molten Wastelands scattered throughout the Land of Earth, his originally determined expression flinched slightly.
The other Rock-nin didn't have time to think further, all fleeing desperately backward for four or five hundred meters.
"Hiss—" The scorched hole in the earth wall revealed deep red magma dripping onto the uneven ground below—a full ten meters lower than the surrounding terrain.
Helpless and uncertain, the Rock-nin waited for their commander's next order.
Besides Lightning Release's piercing capability, only the extreme heat of Lava Release could counteract Earth Release techniques.
Any additional earth or rocks summoned would simply become part of the lava within moments.
Roshi's Four-Tails form unleashed its full power in this environment.
"All forces—" Gazing at the massive front of molten lava, the commander finally gathered his courage and issued the command, "Die protecting the Land of Earth!"
From an order to suppress a Tailed Beast to one defending the country itself, every Rock-nin present understood—they were facing a life-or-death battle.
"Die protecting the Land of Earth!!!"
Their previously fearful expressions became resolute after roaring this declaration.
Ninja valued their missions above all else, but they also bore the duty of safeguarding the nation sheltering them.
Twenty kilometers south of the Land of Earth, Team One's three mischievous members once again created a vast Molten Wasteland.
"This is boring. I'd rather punch mountains than do this," Nawaki muttered disinterestedly, tossing a large boulder into the lava.
His complaint was met with nothing but icy glares and dismissive looks.
"Completing the mission seriously is the quality every ninja should possess." Nayou's icy tone immediately shattered his morale.
Shen, keeping silent with a pouting face, followed up with a decisive blow: "Do you think Sister Tsunade would appreciate her little brother slacking off like this?"
Suddenly motivated by the threat, Nawaki sprang into action.
That ever-present tormentor from his childhood was barely over a hundred kilometers away.
With Hagoromo's Ship's speed, reaching the Land of Earth might take less than ten minutes.
Trembling with fear, Nawaki kept throwing boulders into the molten flow.
And what had started all this? Simply because the young Lava Expert felt that consuming so much Sage Chakra to create these lava zones was quite wasteful.
Thus, Team One "unanimously agreed"—to keep the overly idle Mountain-Punching Expert busy, letting him gradually expand small lava patches into massive ones.
It took the old man all afternoon to scan every inch of the area before he finally found a suitably isolated spot to build.
"Ahha, maybe we should just call it a day today?" Shen stared at the nearly one-kilometer-long lava zone, thinking it better to stay low when causing destruction.
Who knows what chemical elements might be produced by using Sage Chakra to heat rocks into lava?
Shen flatly denied that he was just bored and wanted to rest — he had solid reasons to stop!
Nawaki hurled the massive rock in his hand aside and charged forward, growling, "You think I'm stupid? If you really cared about the environment, you wouldn't have started this at all!"
"Cough cough, I hadn't developed that level of awareness initially. Isn't it still timely to change now?" Shen put on the perfect act, playing the guilty kid to a T.
Enraged beyond reason, Nawaki wanted nothing more than to pin this guy down and mercilessly trample him repeatedly.
Yet reality was simply that he could only imagine it.
In an actual fight, it would probably be Shen pinning Nawaki down while continuously spitting out Great Fireballs to torment his mind.
"Hmph, this time I'll let you annoying brat go!" His thoughts getting increasingly deviant, he directly turned westward toward the Land of Grass.
"Don't you forget this, mark my words… someday…" After walking about ten meters, Nawaki's threatening words were only halfway out when he suddenly sensed an overwhelming pressure.
Instantly activating his Sharingan and entering Sage Mode, Shen, together with Nayou who opened her Byakugan in shock, both stared fixedly at the sky.
"This is—" Looking up into the sky, Nawaki got startled seeing a tiny red dot with three tails floating above.
He dropped to the ground and rolled sideways in one swift motion.
Shen, clearly shocked, grabbed Nayou's wrist to stop her Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
Soon, the red dot landed straight at the spot where Nawaki had originally stood.
That pair of eyes filled with hatred caused all three to feel chills running down their spines.
Whoosh—" Roshi exchanged a glance before springing into the air without another word.
Only after he disappeared from sight did Shen loosen his left hand gripping Nayou's wrist tightly.
"I-Is that the Jinchuriki from Iwagakure?" A weakened Nawaki blankly stared at the direction he vanished.
"Looks like the plan's gone up in smoke," Shen sighed, shaking his head helplessly.
Roshi had just jumped directly northward.
To the south of the Land of Earth was Amegakure, still playing its cards close to its chest.
"Shen, you said Rain ninjas joining the battle requires..."
"That shinobi world demigod has an extremely high probability of declaring war against both us and Iwagakure simultaneously." Shen's face twisted bitterly.
From what he remembered from the previous timeline, Rain's audacity in declaring war on Konoha, Sunagakure, and the Land of Iron came precisely from dragging the battlefield into Amegakure itself.
Proud Hanzo would never allow anyone to shake his rule over Rain.
Even if present-day Konoha had become two or three tiers stronger than in the original timeline, he wouldn't hold back in the slightest.
Shen quickly summoned Indra's Ship and activated the communicator to reach Orochimaru.
"Damn it, no signal here," somewhat panicking, he immediately sat inside Indra's Ship.
Nayou and Nawaki quickly followed behind.
Their Team One had all decided to stop Roshi from heading to Amegakure.
Shen pressed the accelerator to the floor, his expression filled with anxiety.
From Roshi's eyes just now, he understood that the latter had definitely entered rampage mode.
If he reached Amegakure, there'd definitely be chaos.
Beyond wanting to keep the Rain ninjas out of the fight, Shen had a more compelling reason.
That was Nagato—who currently had not yet lost his parents and carried the Rinnegan within him.
If Roshi in his rampage accidentally killed his parents, things would get really interesting.
"Lord Madara, don't scrap your plan to use White Zetsu to impersonate Konoha ninjas and stir up hatred in Nagato."
Shen pushed Indra's Ship to maximum speed. Ahead, he could already see the out-of-control Roshi bounding forward, dragging three tails behind him.
At this moment, they were less than five kilometers away from Amegakure.
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