Endless sand dunes stretched as far as the eye could see. The sun blazed overhead, and waves of heat rose from the ground, twisting the air until the horizon looked faint and unstable.
Roshi, dressed in a monk's robe, trekked across the desert with his staff in hand. His movents were strange, nothing like an ordinary traveler. He would take a few steps, stop abruptly, and scan the surrounding dunes as if searching for sothing.
Inside his inner world, the Four-Tails, Son Goku, noticed his unease.
"What's wrong, Roshi? You seem restless."
Roshi's lips barely moved. "Four-Tails... I have a bad feeling."
He paused again and looked into the distance, trying to find the source of the pressure weighing on his chest.
"It feels like soone is watching ."
"A bad feeling?" Son Goku's voice echoed in their shared world. "Why? You left Iwagakure because your ideals clashed with Onoki, but he never branded you a rogue ninja or issued a warrant for your arrest. It has been peaceful all these years..."
Halfway through, the giant ape suddenly stopped.
"Could it be..." His voice sank. "That person who attacked us back then... is he nearby?"
"Perhaps."
Roshi did not deny it. His gaze locked on an abandoned tower slowly taking shape through the desert haze, and his fingers tightened around his staff.
"The first traces of that person appeared in Loulan."
"I see."
Son Goku's tone beca heavy. mories from more than a decade ago surfaced between them. A masked man who knew both his na and Kokuo's na. A man who could forcibly devour the power of a Tailed Beast.
Roshi narrowed his eyes, and the last trace of doubt in his heart disappeared.
'Let see who you really are.'
With his mind made up, he walked toward the ancient ruins of Loulan. But before he could reach them, sothing moved in the sky.
Roshi stopped and looked up. A black dot was rapidly growing larger above him, and soon its shape beca clear.
It was a wooden construct covered in thick, shell-like armor, with massive wings spread across its back.
The terrifying Wood Dragon from his mories.
Roshi's breathing paused, and the staff in his hand trembled slightly.
"It really is you..."
The scaled Wood Dragon descended and folded its wings, hovering above the dunes. The downdraft kicked up a violent sandstorm, forcing Roshi to narrow his eyes as sand whipped against his robe.
Through the swirling sand, he could vaguely see a figure standing on the dragon's head.
"Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi." Shinichi looked down at the old monk from above. "You certainly made search for you."
Roshi's heart sank the mont he heard the voice. It was too young.
When the wind and sand finally settled, he saw the person standing on the dragon clearly. Black hair, a teenage face, and calm eyes. No matter how Roshi looked at him, the boy was far too young to be the shadow from more than a decade ago.
"You... aren't him?" Roshi asked, shock slipping into his voice.
He had imagined many possibilities for this reunion, but a teenager riding the sa Wood Dragon was not one of them. Shinichi's brow twitched slightly, clearly not expecting those to be the first words out of Roshi's mouth.
"Him?" Shinichi repeated. "Who is 'he'?"
Roshi tightened his grip on the staff and stared into Shinichi's eyes, searching for any sign of a disguise or transformation technique. But the face before him was genuinely young, and it could not belong to the person from back then.
Yet the winged Wood Dragon beneath Shinichi's feet was real.
Son Goku's reaction was also real.
After a mont, Roshi seed to understand. His expression changed, and his gaze toward Shinichi beca even more complicated.
"I see. You must be his descendant. I didn't expect that after all these years... he would have a child."
Shinichi fell silent.
'What is this old man talking about?'
He quickly pushed the thought aside. Roshi's misunderstanding did not matter, and Shinichi had no interest in untangling it right now.
His goal had never changed. The Tailed Beast's power had to be secured.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Roshi." Shinichi's eyes swept over the old monk's battle-ready stance.
"But your journey ends here."
The mont the words fell, Shinichi clapped his hands together. Chakra surged from his body and poured into the sandy ground below.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Ergence!"
The earth trembled violently. Within a hundred-ter radius, the yellow sand erupted as thick tree trunks burst through the dunes, growing wildly in every direction.
Branches spread, vines twisted together, and in the blink of an eye, a raging forest swallowed the desert.
Countless wooden tendrils shot toward Roshi, rushing to crush him from every side. Roshi's eyes sharpened as he retreated, but instead of panic, a grim look of certainty crossed his face.
'Indeed... Four-Tails, your judgnt was right.'
"That jutsu that absorbed the Five-Tails' chakra back then... it really was Wood Release."
Son Goku snorted coldly in their inner world.
"You stubborn fool. I told you back then that it was Wood Release, but you refused to believe . Who do you think captured and brought to Iwagakure in the first place?"
Roshi's expression grew heavier.
'This kid really is his descendant. He even inherited Wood Release.'
He no longer dared to underestimate Shinichi. Although he had never personally faced that masked man's Wood Release back then, the legendary reputation of this kekkei genkai was more than enough to make him cautious.
"Lava Release Chakra Mode!"
Dark red chakra erupted from Roshi's body and rose into the sky. Scorching heat wrapped around him, instantly charring and lting the vines that ca too close.
"Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique!"
Roshi spat several massive lava boulders from his mouth, sending them crashing into the advancing forest.
Trees and vines burned wherever they struck, and a scorched path was carved through the dense wood as flas spread across the battlefield.
The molten boulders did not slow down. They tore through the burning forest and hurtled straight toward Shinichi at the center of the flas.
Shinichi's expression did not change. His clasped hands shifted slightly, and the scaled Wood Dragon beneath him opened its enormous jaws before surging forward.
Its jaws snapped shut, trapping the dark-red lava between rows of wooden fangs.
Sizzle!
The heat scorched the wood, sending white steam into the air. Then a strong pull ca from deep inside the dragon's jaws.
The lava quickly lost its chakra and cooled into ordinary sludge. It dripped through the dragon's teeth and fell onto the sand below.
Roshi showed no surprise.
Shinichi noticed this and felt a little curious. The old monk did not seem shocked at all when the Wood Dragon absorbed the chakra from his Lava Release.
"You seem quite familiar with the ability of my dragon," Shinichi said calmly.
"Familiar?" Roshi snorted coldly.
Lava churned around him as he burned away another wave of vines.
"Didn't your father tell you? More than a decade ago, he and I exchanged blows."
His voice lowered as he recalled that bitter mory. "Although back then, we couldn't even force him to use Wood Release."
Shinichi stood silently on the dragon's head, and his gaze gradually darkened.
The scattered clues began to connect in his mind. Yellow sand, ancient ruins, a winged Wood Dragon, an ambush more than a decade ago, Wood Release, and Roshi's complete certainty that he was soone's descendant.
The picture beca clear almost at once.
Soone had attacked Roshi and Kokuo in the past while using a winged Wood Dragon capable of stealing Tailed Beast chakra. The thod was nearly identical to Shinichi's own technique.
The only contradiction was his age.
His eyes shifted past the burning forest and settled on the distant ruins of Loulan.
"I see..."
The last traces of doubt disappeared from his mind, but another confusion quickly replaced them.
He had never planned to travel through ti. His original goal was simply to gather all the Tailed Beasts within three years and prepare for the threats waiting in the future. Changing the past had never once crossed his mind.
Before he could think further, a loud shout cut through the flas.
"Lava Release: Granite!"
Roshi burst from the burning forest, Lava Release chakra covering his body. The sand beneath his feet lted as he charged forward.
Molten rock gathered around his right arm, forming a giant fist. With a roar, he swung it at Shinichi. Heat rippled through the air before the attack even landed.
Shinichi pushed aside his thoughts and focused on the battle. He raised one hand and spread his fingers forward.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Curved wooden pillars burst from the dragon's back and locked together, forming a large do in front of Shinichi.
Boom!
The giant lava fist slamd into the barrier. Heat and wood collided, sending sparks and splinters flying.
The outer layer charred instantly, but fresh wood grew from within and absorbed the impact before it could reach Shinichi.
Roshi used the recoil to jump back and quickly ford hand seals.
"Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique!"
Seven lava spheres shot toward Shinichi from different directions, blocking his escape while spreading the fire through the forest.
Shinichi frowned slightly.
Roshi's relentless assault, combined with the unsettling revelations about the past, caused a cold glint to appear in the boy's eyes.
"Really..." he muttered quietly.
There was no anger in his voice, only the impatience of soone whose thoughts had been repeatedly interrupted.
'Why am I even wasting ti thinking about this?'
Looking down at the charging monk, Shinichi's eyes grew cold.
"Capturing you will be enough."
Shinichi slamd his palms together.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
Rumble!
The earth before the dragon exploded apart as a colossal wooden figure slowly rose from beneath the ground.
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