The Iwagakure shinobi's plan had been meticulous, and its execution was flawless.
However, they had overlooked one simple fact. While Sakumo Hatake, the "White Fang of the Leaf," was legendary for his swordsmanship, he was, at his core, a Lightning Style specialist.
Even a child yet to graduate from the Academy knew the fundamental cycle of elemental counters: Lightning beats Earth.
A brilliant flash of electric light erupted, and in an instant, Sakumo's form surged, shattering the binding of the Antlion Hell. He unleashed a Body Flicker; the numerous Earth Style jutsu that followed succeeded only in piercing his afterimage.
Having bypassed the final line of defense, Sakumo was suddenly at Hayama Shirakumo's side.
The White Fang short sword cleared its scabbard, wreathed in flickering blue-white arcs of electricity. In a single motion, he claimed the life of an Iwa swordsman. In the current shinobi world, when it came to a pure contest of blades, no one was his match.
Perhaps a future, fully realized Killer Bee with his eight-sword style might have stood a chance, but the Bee of this era was still a child under ten—not yet the Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, and far too green.
"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
While Sakumo was carving through the Iwa kenjutsu unit at will, Orochimaru began his own revenge. Fueled by cold fury, he opened with one of his most repulsive techniques.
An endless tide of venomous snakes hissed as they swarmed toward the Iwa offensive.
The Iwa shinobi who had faced Orochimaru before knew exactly how troublesome this jutsu was and immediately began bombarding the swarm with various ninjutsu. But the snakes possessed a predatory intelligence; once released, they scattered, making it impossible for even high-powered Earth Style attacks to clear them all.
"Lava Style: Scorching Stream Rock Jutsu!"
Suddenly, an Iwa ninja wearing a garish purple combat uniform, his hair tied in a high ponytail and a ring of beard around his mouth, appeared in the midst of the unit. After a flurry of hand signs, he spat out multiple orbs of molten rock, trailing thick lava as they rained down upon the surging serpents.
"Roushi, Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails!"
Orochimaru recognized him instantly.
As Roushi made his move, another massive figure—nearly half again as tall as Roushi—joined the fray. He wore a bamboo hat and a suit of red armor that encased him completely, his nose and mouth hidden behind a heavy mask, leaving only a pair of peculiar red eyes visible. Steam erupted from his body like an old-fashioned locomotive as he charged with incredible speed toward Sakumo, who had already cut down three Iwa swordsmen in a matter of heartbeats.
Any snakes in his path were sent flying like they had been hit by an actual train. A few attempted to sink their fangs into him before they died, but before they could even touch his armor, the radiating steam scalded them into "steamed snake," filling the air with a briny, meaty aroma.
"Han, Jinchuriki of the Five-Tails!"
The Konoha shinobi, who had gathered extensive intel on Iwa before the war, looked upon this young, towering ninja with profound wariness.
Even from a distance, Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed at the sight of Roushi and Han appearing one after the other. He hadn't expected Ohnoki to be so audacious as to deploy both Jinchuriki to the front lines simultaneously.
Roushi was one thing; he was a veteran of Hiruzen's own generation and had been a Jinchuriki for years. Even if he hadn't achieved perfect control over the Four-Tails, he could harness its power without issue. But bringing the young Jinchuriki of the Five-Tails was reckless. If the carnage of the battlefield caused the Tailed Beast to grow restless and the young host failed to suppress it, the resulting rampage would devastate Iwa more than anyone else.
That said, as long as Han showed no signs of losing control, his presence as a Jinchuriki made him a catastrophic threat to Konoha. Hiruzen could only hope that Sakumo's experience and strength would be enough to suppress him.
Troublesome.
Looking at the grim-faced Roushi, Orochimaru's expression darkened.
Orochimaru knew quite a bit about the veteran. Having been an established powerhouse for years, Roushi could skillfully draw upon the Four-Tails' chakra. Combined with his own Lava Style Kekkei Genkai, Orochimaru knew he wouldn't be gaining any easy ground here.
"Lava Style Chakra Mode!"
Roushi wasn't interested in waiting for Orochimaru to finish his analysis. Chakra transformed into molten slag, encasing his body until he looked more like a fire elemental than a man.
With a Body Flicker, Roushi closed the distance, a fist of molten rock hurtling toward Orochimaru's head. The intense heat caused Orochimaru's hair to singe and curl, but in the next breath, his body was replaced by a wooden log.
Orochimaru had not yet fully committed to the "soft body" modifications of his later years, so his physical constitution was still largely human; the unique "Orochimaru-Style Substitution" had not yet been perfected.
Having used a standard substitution to create distance, Orochimaru racked his brain for a way to counter the Jinchuriki.
To an extent, Roushi was his natural counter. The sheer heat of the Lava Style Chakra Mode rendered Orochimaru's signature snake-based ninjutsu useless from the start. Against a normal ninja, he could use attrition to drain their chakra, but against a Jinchuriki, a war of exhaustion was an exercise in self-humiliation—unless you were an Uzumaki or your name was Hashirama Senju.
"Striking Shadow Snake Overload!"
Refusing to stay on the defensive, Orochimaru wove a set of signs and summoned two massive serpents, each as thick as a man's leg, to strike at Roushi. He hoped their rugged vitality would buy him enough time to formulate a real plan.
Roushi had no intention of giving him that time. Facing the lunging serpents, he concentrated the molten lava into his hands.
"Undersea Needle!"
A master of taijutsu, Roushi delivered two lightning-fast thrusts, piercing through the massive serpents. The once-fearsome creatures were reduced to limp carcasses instantly. Without breaking stride, Roushi pressed forward, intent on pinning Orochimaru down with superior martial arts and blistering heat.
But Orochimaru was a genius with all seven elemental affinities. Having bought those few precious seconds, he had already devised his counter.
"Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
A massive deluge of water erupted, surging forward with the force of a tidal wave.
While Lava Style was a Kekkei Genkai of Fire and Earth, its primary lethality came from the volcanic heat of the magma. To counter such a thing, there was no better choice than a Water Style powerful enough to cool even a volcanic eruption.
Indeed, in the future, Roushi would eventually fall to the Water Style of Kisame Hoshigaki—a man who enjoyed building "dams" just as much as he enjoyed hunting Jinchuriki.