Shinichi lowered his hand and looked at Roshi lying unconscious on the ground. After watching him for a moment, a trace of sympathy flashed through his eyes.
"Thinking about it now, you really got the short end of the stick," Shinichi muttered.
"First, you got instantly crushed by my future self. That memory will probably haunt you for the rest of your life."
"And after that, you got dragged into a performance between me and him."
The corner of Shinichi's mouth twitched slightly.
If it were him, standing at the top of the ninja world, only for someone vastly stronger to appear out of nowhere, crush him effortlessly, then grab him by the throat while spouting cryptic nonsense...
"Heh."
Shinichi let out a low chuckle.
"If that happened to me, I'd probably never recover from the embarrassment either."
Shaking away the stray thoughts, he bit his thumb and quickly formed hand seals.
"Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A cloud of thick white smoke burst across the desert. As the smoke cleared, Katsuyu's enormous slug-like body appeared on the sand.
"Katsuyu, same as usual."
Shinichi pointed at the unconscious Roshi.
"Take him back to Konoha and hand him over to Sister Tsunade."
Katsuyu looked at the unconscious man on the ground and immediately sensed the massive tailed beast chakra coming from him. For a moment, even she fell silent.
"Master Shinichi… this is Roshi, the Four-Tails jinchuriki from Iwagakure, isn't it?" she asked softly. "Lady Tsunade once fought him during the Second Shinobi World War."
She lowered her body slightly to examine Roshi more carefully. "To think you actually captured him… that's truly incredible."
Shinichi glanced at Roshi and answered calmly,
"He was just a somewhat troublesome target."
Katsuyu fell silent again.
'A Four-Tails jinchuriki is only considered "somewhat troublesome"…'
For a moment, she genuinely wondered if there was anything in the world Shinichi truly took seriously.
Her antennae twitched slightly before she spoke again.
"The last time I brought the Seven-Tails jinchuriki back to the Hokage's office, Lady Tsunade and Shizune were already extremely shocked."
She paused, seemingly remembering the chaos from back then.
"This time… even if they're mentally prepared, they'll probably be shocked all over again. After all, Roshi has been a famous powerhouse in Iwagakure for decades."
After speaking, Katsuyu opened her mouth and produced a small scroll covered in sticky saliva.
Shinichi took it with a puzzled look and quickly wiped it clean. "What's this?"
"Lady Tsunade asked me to give it to you," Katsuyu explained. "It contains intelligence on the recent movements of Utakata, the Six-Tails jinchuriki and a rogue ninja from Kirigakure."
"Oh?" Shinichi raised an eyebrow slightly, his grip on the scroll tightening. He hadn't expected the next clue to arrive this quickly.
"Utakata…" A sharp glint flashed through his eyes. "Things are progressing smoothly."
At this point, among the nine tailed beasts, the only ones still beyond his reach were the not-yet-revived Three-Tails, Isobu; the heavily protected Five-Tails, Kokuo; and Kumogakure's Two-Tails, Matatabi, and Eight-Tails, Gyuki.
"Five out of nine…"
Shinichi murmured softly before putting away the scroll. Then he looked toward Katsuyu again.
"I understand. Thank Sister Tsunade for me. And pass along another message."
Katsuyu's antennae lifted slightly. "Of course, Master Shinichi."
"What would you like me to tell her?"
Shinichi raised his gaze, looking past the endless sandstorm toward the direction of Iwagakure.
"Tell her this."
"After I capture the Six-Tails jinchuriki, I'll personally head to the Land of Earth." He paused briefly, his voice calm and unwavering.
"Alone."
"And I will attack Iwagakure."
Katsuyu's tentacles bobbed as she obediently repeated the message.
"I understand, Master Shinichi. After capturing the Six-Tails jinchuriki, you plan to attack Iwagakure…"
Halfway through speaking, her voice suddenly stopped. Her tentacles froze in midair and began trembling violently.
"Huh?!"
Katsuyu's massive body instantly shrank back in shock, almost jumping off the sand in panic. She hurriedly turned toward Shinichi, her voice full of disbelief.
"W-Wait, Master Shinichi!"
"Did you just say you're going to attack Iwagakure?!"
Completely unfazed by Katsuyu's reaction, Shinichi simply nodded.
"You heard correctly. Once I secure the Six-Tails, I'll move against Iwagakure." A cold glint flashed through his eyes.
His original plan had always been to first gather the tailed beasts that were easier to obtain before choosing a major target to demonstrate overwhelming force to the entire ninja world.
And Iwagakure was the perfect choice.
Alongside Konoha and Kumogakure, it was recognized as one of the three strongest military powers among the hidden villages. If he crushed Iwa head-on, the shockwaves would spread across every nation.
At the same time, he could also seize the Five-Tails, Kokuo. And once Iwagakure fell…
His next target would be Kumogakure.
Even though the memories inherited from his future self suggested that this solo assault on Iwagakure would probably end in failure, Shinichi never once thought about backing down.
Since Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan, the ambitions of the great nations had already begun to stir again. If he wanted to completely dominate the geopolitical landscape, then the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning were two mountains he had to crush sooner or later.
Besides, the Six-Tails was reportedly near Iwagakure anyway, so this trip saved him the trouble of making another one later.
Shinichi withdrew his gaze and looked down at the slug still trembling in shock.
"The message has been delivered. You can head back now."
A faint smile appeared on his face, calm and confident.
"Tell Sister Tsunade not to worry. I will win."
Katsuyu opened her mouth, her tentacles twitching anxiously. "But Master Shinichi! That's one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and you're completely alone..."
Boom!
A terrifying wave of chakra burst from Shinichi's body and instantly cut her off.
The air shook violently.
The ground beneath his feet cracked apart and sank, while the distant ruins of Loulan trembled from the pressure.
Sand and broken stones rose into the air and began swirling around him like a storm. It wasn't wind at all, but chakra so overwhelming that it was starting to affect the surroundings.
Shinichi stood at the center of it all, his figure blurred by the violent chakra currents. Only his eyes remained clear, glowing with a terrifying light as they locked onto Katsuyu through the dust-filled air.
"Ah!" Katsuyu cried out, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, the boy she knew seemed to vanish completely. The Shinichi before her no longer felt human.
He felt like an ancient monster that had slept for countless years and was only now opening its eyes again.
The terrifying chakra storm disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
In just a few seconds, the overwhelming pressure faded completely, all of that monstrous chakra flowing back into Shinichi's body as if nothing had happened.
The violent winds calmed. Dust slowly settled back onto the ruins.
Shinichi stood there quietly and looked at the stunned Katsuyu.
"This is my current strength," he said calmly. "So what is there to worry about?"
Katsuyu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the memory of that terrifying chakra still lingered in her mind. In the end, all of her waving tentacles slowly lowered.
"...I understand, Master Shinichi," she said softly. "Please be careful."
Poof!
As the white summoning smoke faded, taking Katsuyu and the unconscious Roshi with it, Shinichi's figure flickered and vanished.
The next moment, he appeared high in the air, landing atop the head of the winged Scale Wood Dragon.
The massive wooden dragon spread its wings and shot into the sky, violent gusts sweeping across the desert below. Following the intelligence Tsunade had provided, it quickly changed direction and flew toward the Land of Demons.
Far beneath them, the ruins of Loulan grew smaller and smaller until they became nothing more than a tiny speck in the endless sea of sand.
High above the desert, Shinichi silently looked toward the distant horizon.
The ninja world had already stepped into a new era.
And at the center of that era stood Tejima Shinichi.
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