Chapter 86: Tsuchikai, Just Kneel Already

Just as everyone thought the matter was settled, Rojie’s destroyed body began to change.

The parts of his body that had turned to ash were now regenerating at a visible rate.

Broken scales regrew; shattered flesh gradually healed.

Your attending physician, Ma Fu, has come online.

Dog Fu isn’t lazy—he just didn’t trigger the mandatory 1-point HP deduction mechanic.

None of these are fatal wounds; why bother attacking further?

Thus, only Old Ma diligently healed Rojie’s injuries.

At that moment, Obito’s pupils shrank sharply.

He could hardly believe his old eyes.

His utmost effort, the Dust Release, had failed to utterly defeat this monster.

The Third Tsuchikai, his lower back aching, finally understood the meaning of guasha.

As Tsuchikai of the Hidden Stone Village, he had endured countless battles, never felt this powerless before.

Obito tried to gather chakra again, but his body, overexerted, refused to obey—he could only watch helplessly as Rojie’s wounds healed rapidly.

The Stone ninja around him were even worse off.

Their expressions froze, replaced by endless despair.

“It’s over… everything’s over…”

“The Hidden Stone Village is truly finished this time.”

“What kind of monster is that…?”

Amid this atmosphere of despair, Rojie’s body continued to regenerate at breakneck speed.

In the blink of an eye, his massive milk-dragon form was restored to perfect condition.

Rojie slowly lifted his head, his enormous dragon eyes coldly fixed on Obito, as if declaring the Hidden Stone Village’s fate already sealed.

Of course! The Tailed Beasts!

Obito seized this as his last lifeline—a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

If the Five-Tails, Muwang, unleashed a Tailed Beast Ball, everything would be fine.

With a sliver of hope, he urgently glanced toward the distance.

But the sight before him plunged his heart straight to the bottom.

Muwang’s massive body had vanished, leaving only a ruined battlefield.

The Five-Tails was down and out!

Where was the promised Tailed Beast Ball?

This generation of Tailed Beasts is useless—they couldn’t even spit one out.

Even Obito now felt an indescribable fear.

How could the ninja world harbor such a terrifying being?

Has the current power balance collapsed to this extent?

Obito’s thoughts involuntarily drifted back to childhood, recalling his childhood trauma.

Back then, he had accompanied his master, the Second Tsuchikai, to the Hidden Leaf to meet the First Hokage—and encountered Madara Uchiha.

It was like a level-one newbie stumbling upon a max-level boss.

In his young eyes, Madara Uchiha was a god—an unassailable pay-to-win player.

Now, even though he had become a village leader, standing atop the ninja world’s peak…

History always repeated itself eerily!

Before Rojie, Obito once again felt the same helplessness he had faced back then against a stats monster.

A bitter taste rose in his heart.

He was merely a humble Dust Release grunt—how could he defeat a being like a god?

Meanwhile, Rojie spoke:

“Surrender or die. Choose.”

Obito trembled all over.

How could he possibly choose surrender?

He was the inheritor of the Stone Will—he’d rather have his herniated disc leave home than bow his head!

Before Obito, there was only death—no surrender.

Yet he felt the villagers’ gazes.

The entire Hidden Stone Village’s gaze: Tsuchikai, just kneel already! We’re young—we don’t want to die!

Those gazes burned so hot they felt like they’d ignite his back.

Obito suddenly realized:

He was not merely a ninja clinging to his beliefs.

He was the Third Tsuchikai of the Hidden Stone Village, burdened with the duty to protect the entire village.

How could he let the Hidden Stone Village perish under his hands?

How could he send his beloved villagers to their deaths?

Finally, after a long silence,

this stubborn old man slowly lowered his head.

…

Inside the Tsuchikai’s office.

The throne, once symbolizing the highest authority of the Hidden Stone Village, now held Rojie, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.

His legs sprawled carelessly across the desk, his posture utterly relaxed.

Before Rojie, the Hidden Stone Village’s high-ranking officials stood in a line, punished.

They received a lecture from the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf—

more accurately, a one-sided psychological assault.

The gist: how to be a proper defeated village.

The core principle summed up in ten characters: Stand straight when beaten, stand tall and take the mockery.

Among them, the Third Tsuchikai, Obito, stood at the front.

His face tried to maintain composure, but his eyes betrayed his resentment; his spine bent, yet his mouth still held firm.

Behind him, on one side, stood his son, Huang Mao.

His expression was cold, lips tightly pressed.

On the other side stood his granddaughter, Bai Xi.

Her two long, pale legs stood out sharply in the dim office.

No wonder Rojie’s gaze kept lingering on them.

After all, Miss Leg-Wan’s legs were dazzlingly white, making the Hokage momentarily distracted.

Further back stood several Stone Village Jonin.

Each bowed their heads, faces etched with humiliation.

In their eyes, this young brat from the Hidden Leaf

not only trampled the Hidden Stone Village’s dignity, but now openly lusted after their female ninja.

Yet after their crushing defeat and brutal lesson, they could only suppress their rage, too afraid to speak out.

Rojie shifted into a more comfortable pose, crossed his legs, and began looking down his nose at them.

“From now on, the Hidden Stone Village’s rules must change.”

He extended his finger, first pointing at Obito, then at Bai Xi, his tone leaving no room for refusal.

“Itachi, old man, and Itachi, little one, plus your Five-Tails jinchuriki—all of Itachi will move to the Hidden Leaf.”

“The Hidden Stone Village will be managed by Itachi—I appoint Itachi as the Fourth Tsuchikai.”

As he spoke, Rojie pointed at Huang Mao.

Huang Mao froze, then lifted his head.

I’m the Tsuchikai now?

If his father had named him, he’d be thrilled—it would mean his father’s approval.

But now it came from the Hidden Leaf’s enemy.

Huang Mao refused to accept it.

If he accepted, wouldn’t he become the Hidden Leaf’s lapdog?

He didn’t want to be the first puppet Tsuchikai in Hidden Stone history.

That would nail him to the pillory of shame.

Obito, hearing this, trembled slightly, a flash of fury in his eyes.

Bai Xi’s eyebrows arched, but catching her grandfather’s suppressed expression, she swallowed the words on her tongue.

Under the desk, the girl made an international friendly gesture with her fists, vowing that if she ever got the chance, she’d humiliate Rojie thoroughly and take revenge!

The girl made an international friendly gesture under the table, thinking that if she ever got the chance in the future, she would utterly humiliate Rojie to avenge herself!

(End of Chapter)