Naruto: Maelstrom Of The Uzumaki

A bright moon hung high in the sky, casting its light over a dense forest filled with shadows and figures.

"Roshi, we haven't found any traces of the Konoha ninjas. Could they have crossed the border and returned?"

Under the moonlight, Roshi led a large force of Iwa ninjas through the forest at full speed, heading for the border between the Land of Birds and the Land of Wind. Their mission was to intercept Raiden and his forces, who had ventured into Bird Country.

One by one, scouting ninjas reported back, but none had found any sign of Raiden's troops. Roshi's deputy began to doubt their assumptions, wondering if the Konoha team had already retreated.

"That's unlikely," Roshi muttered. "Our movements should be faster than theirs."

"Perhaps they're hiding better than we anticipated," he added, lowering his head in thought.

But before he could continue, a piercing sound shattered the quiet night.

"Shhhh!"

From the shadows, countless kunai with strange designs shot through the air at terrifying speed. Some Iwa ninjas, caught off guard, were struck before they could react and fell heavily to the ground.

"Enemy attack!" Roshi roared, chakra surging wildly from his body.

At that moment, a blond-haired young man appeared, his golden locks shimmering in the moonlight.

"Namikaze Minato!" Roshi exclaimed, his eyes widening.

Minato, wasting no time, grabbed one of the thrown kunai and dashed toward Roshi's neck. His speed was unmatched, and before Roshi could fully react, Konoha's ninjas launched a coordinated assault. Explosions from kunai with attached paper bombs lit up the night, followed by a torrent of combined ninjutsu. The Iwa troops scrambled to defend themselves, chaos erupting among their ranks.

Despite the overwhelming assault, Roshi's reaction was swift. His chakra flared, and a fiery red tail emerged behind him, intercepting Minato's attack.

"Hmm!" Minato grunted, his eyes narrowing sharply. His blade didn't falter, slashing cleanly through the fiery tail. Though the strike didn't reach Roshi, it slowed Minato enough to allow Roshi to retreat.

Roshi landed among the Iwa forces, who were beginning to regroup under his command. With Roshi at the helm, they started forming defensive lines to repel the Konoha assault.

"Whoosh!"

Just as Roshi landed, Minato appeared again beside him, his teleportation technique catching Roshi off guard. This time, Minato's left hand carried a spiraling sphere of chakra.

"Rasengan!"

The spiraling chakra shot toward Roshi, but he countered quickly. His body radiated scorching chakra, lava flowing from his feet as he defended himself with four blazing tails.

Minato, recognizing the danger, threw a kunai directly at Roshi. As the kunai neared its target, Minato activated the Flying Thunder God technique, teleporting away from Roshi's attack and reappearing right next to him.

"You're courting death!" Roshi growled, slamming his hands together.

"Melting Lava Pillar!"

Molten lava erupted upward, enveloping Roshi and forming a searing barrier around him. Minato, knowing better than to engage directly, teleported again, reappearing a safe distance away in the forest.

"Delivered yourself right to me, didn't you?" Roshi snarled, his body undergoing a terrifying transformation. His chakra surged, and his form began to shift into a monstrous, half-Tailed Beast state.

Minato's expression hardened. Gripping his kunai tightly, he prepared for Roshi's next move.

In seconds, Roshi opened his mouth, and a black sphere of concentrated chakra began to form—a Tailed Beast Bomb.

The sphere shot toward Minato with a powerful tail of chakra trailing behind it. Minato, undeterred, moved his kunai, causing the space in front of him to distort. The Tailed Beast Bomb halted mid-air, mere meters from Minato, before disappearing into the void of distorted space.

"It takes so much chakra to deflect an attack of this magnitude," Minato muttered to himself. "If this keeps up, I'll run out before I can finish him off."

He steeled himself, determination blazing in his eyes. "Guess I'll have to use it."

"Three Styles of Spiral Flash Super Wheel Dance and Roar!" Minato declared without hesitation.

In a blur, Minato pulled out five kunai with unique designs and threw them at Roshi. Enraged, Roshi roared, unleashing a shockwave of chakra that rippled outward. But Minato's kunai, imbued with the Flying Thunder God technique, were unaffected, embedding themselves in the ground around Roshi.

Minato's figure flickered across the battlefield, appearing and disappearing in rapid succession. He retrieved the kunai one by one, darting toward Roshi with relentless precision.

Kunai rained down on Roshi from every direction, yet his half-Tailed Beast form proved nearly impervious. The blades struck his body but failed to penetrate his skin, bouncing harmlessly to the ground.

Seeing this, Roshi's distorted face twisted into a grin.

But before he could react further, Minato appeared behind him, a Rasengan in hand.

"Rasengan!"

The spiraling sphere slammed into Roshi's lower abdomen, sending him flying through the air. He crashed through several trees before hitting the ground, leaving a trail of destruction behind him.

Minato stood where Roshi had been moments before, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Success."

Forming the "Rat" hand seal, Minato activated the Flying Thunder God technique. The mark he had engraved onto Roshi's abdomen during his attack—the characters for "Sword of Ninja Love"—activated.

Roshi, still recovering, suddenly vanished in a flash of light.

As Minato disappeared into the forest, the remaining Konoha ninjas began their retreat, leaving the battlefield like a receding tide.

(End of Chapter)