On Konoha's forward position, Hikaru, Shikaku, and the others had already gathered.
Two days had passed in the blink of an eye. Perhaps because the scent of the final battle was growing stronger, every Konoha shinobi stood ready for war.
They had completed all transfers and deployments in only a day and a half.
Everyone knew they could not retreat any further. If they did, they would enter the Land of Fire.
At this moment, they seemed to feel the weight of their responsibility even more clearly. Perhaps the newspaper's propaganda had been too successful, but this time, every one of them carried the mission of protecting their homeland.
Coupled with Hikaru's two previous victories, their morale and condition were both excellent.
Konoha's spirit was soaring.
"Minister Hikaru."
Hyūga Hiashi stood beside Hikaru, his Byakugan constantly watching every movement ahead.
During this period, he had been leading the Hyūga Clan in reconnaissance. Hikaru's order to him was simple: monitor Kumogakure's movements at all times, while ensuring their own safety.
Although Hiashi still had doubts about some of Hikaru's actions, there was no denying that Hikaru had helped the Hyūga Clan through this deployment.
So even if doubts remained in his heart, Hiashi did not voice them.
"Clan Head Hiashi, how is the situation?" Hikaru turned and asked.
"Kumo has completed its full assembly. I can see the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki now," Hiashi said in a low voice, his expression grave. "They may launch their charge soon. Minister Hikaru, we should prepare."
Kumo's assembly placed enormous pressure on Hiashi.
Not only him. Every Konoha shinobi probably felt the same.
His words made Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and the other clan heads who had come with Hikaru turn their eyes toward him.
Shikaku, in particular, had always been curious about how Hikaru planned to deal with these enemies.
Under Shikaku's arrangements, and with the efficient execution of all Konoha shinobi, Hikaru's preliminary strategic setup had been completed.
And now, Konoha had reached its most dangerous moment.
Every decision Hikaru made from this point onward would determine the direction of Konoha's war with Kumo.
To say they were not nervous or pressured would be impossible.
Hikaru naturally sensed their state of mind. He also understood why they were reacting this way. After all, he had never explained his true plan to them.
But now that things had reached this point, there was no need to say more.
No matter how much he explained, it would not compare to showing them with his own hands.
Thinking of this, Hikaru slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, a brilliant blue radiance bloomed within them.
At the same time, Hikaru's chakra began to tremble slightly. Unlike before, this time he used the chakra of the Jōgan.
In an instant, Shikaku and the others felt an indescribable suffocation.
They stared at Hikaru in disbelief, staring at those radiant eyes.
Among the people beside Hikaru, only Hiashi and Shikaku had ever looked at those eyes from such close range. The others might have known about them, but they had never observed them like this.
And at this moment, Hikaru's chakra was vastly different from anything he had displayed before.
This power was far more terrifying.
Far more frightening.
"Minister Shikaku, do you remember what I told you before?"
Hikaru looked at the crowd before him with a smile.
"Remember it well. Do not forget.
"Because what comes next will be very dangerous."
After saying that, Hikaru ignored their reactions and leapt lightly out of the trench.
His eyes locked onto the front, and his chakra began to pulse.
He had endured for so long.
Now he could finally stretch his limbs properly.
"What is this chakra?"
Inside Kumo's forward command post, a reconnaissance shinobi suddenly began sweating.
Just moments ago, in his perception, an unfamiliar yet strangely familiar terrifying chakra had appeared within Konoha's position.
He immediately shouted, "Lord Raikage! Something is wrong! An unknown massive chakra has appeared on Konoha's side. This chakra seems to be…"
He tried hard to recall the details. When he finally remembered something, his expression became even more horrified.
"It's… it's that Senju Hikaru?"
"What?"
The Fourth Raikage, seated at the commander's position, frowned.
Just now, he too had felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
But he found it hard to believe that this power came from Senju Hikaru.
He had fought Hikaru before, so he knew exactly how strong that boy was. How could the feeling just now come from him?
However, the sensing shinobi before him was someone he trusted greatly, and that left him momentarily uncertain.
"It is definitely Senju Hikaru, Lord Raikage."
Cold sweat still covered the sensor's forehead as he spoke with difficulty.
"Lord Raikage fought him before, so we naturally recorded his chakra. His chakra has always been strange and constantly changes, almost like Lord Raikage's Chakra Mode. But the source chakra itself does not change.
"I remembered his original chakra signature. Although his chakra has changed again now, I can still find that source. So I can confirm it. It is him."
Dodai stood beside the Raikage, his eyes flickering when he heard this.
He also found it inexplicable.
What exactly was Senju Hikaru trying to do?
For some reason, he suddenly felt as if a conspiracy was wrapping around him.
But he had no time to think further.
The sensor suddenly stood up and pointed ahead, his voice trembling.
"He's coming… that man is coming…"
Hearing him, the Fourth Raikage and the others immediately rushed out of the command room. Soon, they found Killer B in the trench.
At this moment, Killer B's expression was solemn.
He was no longer performing his clumsy rap. He was unusually quiet.
He had also sensed that terrifying power.
Not only him. Even the Eight-Tails inside him seemed affected.
Following his gaze, they saw a lone figure slowly walking in their direction.
Hikaru walked toward Kumo's position alone.
His steps were slow, but each step he took strengthened his aura.
At this moment, he suddenly felt as if he had become Uchiha Madara.
Through his Jōgan, he could see the distant Kumo shinobi filled with doubt, vigilance, and an invisible fear at his arrival.
As he continued forward, he seemed to understand what Madara had done when facing the Allied Shinobi Forces.
"In essence, he used taijutsu at the start as a warm-up while also familiarizing himself with the limits of his Edo Tensei body.
"At the same time, he shattered the Allied Shinobi Forces' psychological defenses, making the rest of the battle more efficient."
Hikaru thought silently.
He felt he could use Madara's tactics as a reference.
Although he did not have the Sharingan's superhuman dynamic vision, nor did he have Madara's immortal body or infinite chakra, his Jōgan combined with the Flying Thunder God Technique was enough to ensure Kumo would not easily cut him down.
His own recovery ability and chakra recovery could also support this approach.
Most importantly, a necessary warm-up before battle would help him bring out his power more fully.
Since Hikaru had already decided to fully release his power, he would naturally do it in whatever way felt most comfortable and smooth.
"That bastard plans to face us alone?" the Fourth Raikage said through gritted teeth as he watched Hikaru's hazy figure. "What an arrogant madman!"
"Big Brother, his chakra feels wrong," Killer B said, frowning. "Gyūki says his power is strange. It feels familiar, but he can't remember where he has seen it."
"This is not the time to discuss his power," Dodai said. "Lord Raikage, he is alone right now. The sensory unit has not detected anyone else with him. This is an opportunity!"
"An opportunity?"
The Fourth Raikage took a deep breath, and his gaze turned fierce.
Chakra surged wildly across his body.
But before he could issue the order, Hikaru suddenly accelerated.
Originally walking slowly, Hikaru suddenly broke into a light run.
Across the endless plain, his figure gradually became clear in the eyes of the Kumo forces.
At this moment, although Hikaru was alone, he seemed like an army of thousands, faintly suppressing the momentum of the entire Kumo force.
Buzz!
Suddenly, blue chakra light appeared around Hikaru's body.
The instant that chakra emerged, every Kumo shinobi felt a strange palpitation in their chest.
They subconsciously tightened their grips on their kunai. Some were already dripping cold sweat.
Hikaru's aura was too terrifying.
The Kumo shinobi were under unimaginable pressure.
Hikaru had directly entered Jōgan Chakra Mode.
That destructive power completely covered his body, making him look hazy and unreal.
His aura strengthened again.
He was like a Shura preparing to harvest lives.
It was hard to imagine.
Several thousand Kumo shinobi stood together, yet not one of them felt safe.
Hikaru's speed was very fast.
As he drew closer, the Fourth Raikage and the others seemed affected by him as well.
For a moment, they forgot to command.
And in that moment of distraction, Hikaru was already about to reach their position.
"Ah!"
Perhaps because the pressure of Hikaru's aura had become unbearable, one Kumo shinobi finally lost control.
A roar suddenly rang out from within the army.
Immediately afterward, the entire Kumo force erupted.
Everyone roared and charged forward without waiting for the Fourth Raikage's command.
The vast army surged like a tide.
Seen from above, it would have looked like a dense black wave, and the numbers between the two sides were not comparable at all.
"Lord Raikage…"
Dodai's strength was decent. The roar of Kumo's army finally snapped him back to his senses.
When he saw the scene before him, every hair on his body stood on end.
The enemy's aura was too terrifying.
He felt lingering fear, and the feeling that they were caught in a conspiracy grew even stronger.
The most terrifying thing was that the army had completely lost control.
They had moved without waiting for orders.
Dodai knew this was no longer something he could control, but the situation was still horrifying.
"Prepare to attack."
The Fourth Raikage also came back to himself. He too had been frightened by Hikaru's aura.
Once he recovered, his expression became even uglier.
Recalling his battle with Hikaru half a month ago, he suddenly felt as if he had been deceived.
He did not know what Hikaru's purpose was, but he faintly sensed that Kumo was now in great trouble.
But the arrow was already on the string.
The entire Kumo force had already charged out.
What else could he do?
Even with unease filling his heart, he could only brace himself and go forward.
On Konoha's side, after Hikaru rushed out, there was also a commotion among Konoha's main force.
Hikaru was their supreme commander.
They did not know what he intended to do, but they also did not want anything to happen to their commander.
Fortunately, they quickly received Shikaku's order: do not act rashly.
Only then was the entire force held down.
"Minister Shikaku, what is Minister Hikaru doing?" Hiashi asked anxiously as he watched Hikaru's figure through his Byakugan.
"I don't know."
Shikaku sighed.
He truly did not know what Hikaru was planning.
No. More accurately, he had vaguely guessed what Hikaru intended to do, but his rational mind kept telling him it was impossible.
Because no matter how he looked at it, it was far too insane.
He poked his head out and raised a pair of binoculars.
In truth, every Konoha shinobi was now looking toward Hikaru with binoculars. They were all curious about what Hikaru intended to do.
But the moment Shikaku focused on Hikaru, his expression changed.
"So they've all moved."
Hikaru looked at Kumo's army charging toward him. Although he was slightly surprised, he was more pleased than anything else.
Their direct charge saved him quite a bit of trouble.
He had no idea that his aura had grown so powerful that it had affected the Kumo shinobi.
Looking at the enormous number of Kumo shinobi swarming toward him, Hikaru remained completely calm.
In most cases, numbers could indeed change a shinobi battle.
But there were always exceptions.
Like that time in Kirigakure.
And now.
Boom!
A moment later, Hikaru collided with the Kumo forces.
In that instant, screams erupted throughout the Kumo army.
Hikaru was like a tiger crashing into a flock of sheep. The moment they clashed, countless shinobi were thrown high into the air.
Within the crowd, Hikaru was like a blue ghost.
His figure was agile, yet impossible to track.
One moment, he was attacking in one place. Before the afterimage of that attack even faded, he had already appeared somewhere else and launched another fatal strike.
His hand movements were light and effortless.
Any shinobi who touched him even slightly was sent flying.
His combat style was not artistic or beautiful.
It was terrifyingly efficient.
Simple, smooth, and natural to the point of suffocation.
With one punch, a Kumo shinobi flew backward, the immense force crushing more than ten comrades behind him.
His chakra paused slightly.
Hikaru vanished instantly.
Behind him, a cold blade slashed down where he had just been.
The blade missed.
Hikaru appeared beside the attacker.
His right hand seized the Kumo shinobi who had attacked him, while his left hand grabbed the arm of another Kumo shinobi holding a kunai.
With a slight exertion of force, the two shinobi felt their arms go out of control, dragged toward another direction.
Puchi!
The sound of metal cutting flesh rang out.
At the same time, both men felt pain in their chests.
They never even saw what had happened.
Then intense pain struck their chests again.
In the final moment of their consciousness, they felt themselves flying backward, blood constantly pouring from their mouths. Their sternums had already collapsed.
The glowing blue Jōgan flickered slightly.
The next instant, Hikaru vanished again.
Swish!
The moment he disappeared, another blade came down.
Before the attacking shinobi could react, his neck suddenly turned cold. Then he collapsed to the ground.
Hikaru casually picked up his ninja blade.
In that instant, the blade was covered in Hikaru's terrifying chakra. At the same time, Hikaru activated his Sage Mode chakra.
With Jōgan Chakra Mode covering and protecting him, and with the support of his Jōgan and sensory ability, he was already very safe.
But if he could be even safer and stronger, why not?
In an instant, Hikaru's power had reached the state he had used when facing Pain.
He flashed straight into the crowd.
The ninja blade in his hand mercilessly cut through the Kumo shinobi.
Moving among thousands of shinobi, Hikaru was completely at ease.
No matter who attacked him, from what angle, his Jōgan saw everything clearly.
And under Jōgan Chakra Mode, his offensive power had increased enormously.
Any enemy within his attack range needed only one strike to die.
There was no need for excessive technique.
After only a few minutes, no one knew how many had already fallen by his hand.
On top of that, his movements were too fast.
Combined with the Flying Thunder God Technique, whose trajectory could not be grasped, Kumo's long-range ninjutsu could not lock onto him at all.
Hikaru's actions fell into the eyes of every Konoha shinobi in the distant formation.
At this moment, they were completely dumbfounded.
Even though they could not see each of Hikaru's movements clearly, and could not even properly catch his figure, they could see the corpses of Kumo shinobi left across the ground.
They could also faintly capture the blue figure flickering like an illusion.
Hikaru's performance had completely surpassed their imagination.
They had imagined Hikaru was powerful.
But they had never imagined he could be this powerful.
Was this even still human?
Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chōza, Hyūga Hiashi, Aburame Shibi, and the other clan heads who had come with Hikaru were also stunned.
"So this is… Minister Hikaru's plan?"
After a long while, Shikaku smiled bitterly and muttered.
He had been thinking about Hikaru's plan all along.
He had indeed considered whether Hikaru intended to solve everything alone.
But when Hikaru truly did it, Shikaku realized he still could not remain calm.
He did not know whether his unrest came from the simplicity of Hikaru's plan, or because Hikaru's displayed power had completely surpassed imagination.
Shikaku himself did not know.
But he did know he would have a lot of work to do afterward.
If Hikaru really dealt with all these Kumo shinobi, then Shikaku would have to think carefully about how to explain all of their previous actions.
After all, Konoha had paid casualties as well.
Giving Konoha's shinobi a reasonable explanation would be absolutely necessary.
Suddenly, he felt that after Hikaru became Hokage, he might indeed have to take control of considerable authority.
Even if it was forced on him.
"That damned bastard!"
The Fourth Raikage and Killer B watched Hikaru charge through the Kumo army as if no one could stop him. Their fury had reached its limit.
If not for Hikaru's speed being too fast to lock onto, and if not for their desire to observe his strength, they would have rushed out long ago.
But after observing for a while, they realized in shock that they had seen nothing useful.
From beginning to end, Hikaru had only used taijutsu and the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Yet even that alone had already inflicted terrible damage on Kumo's main force.
If they allowed him to keep attacking without restraint, the morale of Kumo's army would collapse completely.
"Stop!"
The Fourth Raikage roared and rushed into the crowd, searching for Hikaru's figure.
Killer B's body also erupted with red chakra.
He silently drew his blades and followed his brother into the mass of soldiers.
What they did not expect was that Hikaru's figure flickered lightly, and he withdrew from the range of Kumo's main force.
He stood quietly atop the countless corpses of Kumo shinobi.
A breeze swept across the battlefield.
The heavy stench of blood spread across the plain.
"The warm-up is about done."
Hikaru looked indifferently at Kumo's army not far away.
Soon, his gaze landed on the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki.
However, he only glanced at them briefly before losing interest.
At this moment, Hikaru no longer cared who his opponent was.
Strictly speaking, unless Ōnoki descended from the sky, or those peak-level Edo Tensei monsters crawled out from underground, or that ghost wandering through the shinobi world, the founder of the shinobi system, the Sage of Six Paths, suddenly emerged from beneath the earth, no one in the current shinobi world could stop him.
At least, not right now.
Hikaru did not know how long this state could last.
But he believed there would definitely be people who would constantly think of ways to deal with him.
For example, Black Zetsu.
That creature understood the secrets of Ōtsutsuki power and knew how to cultivate a super-class powerhouse.
Hikaru would probably have to face enemies raised by him in the future.
Fortunately, Black Zetsu himself did not possess overwhelming power.
Otherwise, he would have been the greatest threat.
Thinking of this, Hikaru slowly withdrew his gaze.
He raised one hand, and the chakra within his body surged wildly.
"Die!"
Unexpectedly, at this very moment, the Fourth Raikage and Killer B charged before him like bolts of lightning.
Hikaru had no choice but to pause the chakra he had just gathered, and he sighed slightly.
He had finally wanted to imitate Uchiha Madara and use a truly large-scale technique, but these two brothers clearly had no intention of giving him the chance.
Their speed was extremely fast.
In the brief moment Hikaru thought, they had already attacked.
But in that split second, their attacks only struck the ground.
Boom!
With a violent roar, the earth was blasted into a huge crater by the two of them.
Neither of them dared to stop for even a moment. After finishing their attack, they immediately scattered backward to search for Hikaru's position.
They had been worn down mentally and physically by Hikaru's ghostlike fighting style.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was simply too terrifying.
To their slight surprise, Hikaru did not launch an attack.
After transferring with the Flying Thunder God Technique, he merely stood nearby and watched them.
"You don't actually need to be in such a hurry," Hikaru said indifferently. "Because I will come for you eventually. None of you will escape."
"Do not be so arrogant!"
The Fourth Raikage roared, fully activating his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
"The one who cannot escape will be you!"
"Is that so?"
Hikaru tilted his head slightly, then chuckled.
"Then let's test it."
As his voice fell, Hikaru raised one hand vertically.
The chakra within his body surged madly again.
Boom!
The ground roared.
Hikaru's body rose higher and higher.
Beneath his feet, a giant tree emerged, growing at incredible speed. Under his chakra's guidance, it finally formed a massive giant.
The wooden giant had the face of an arhat.
But there was nothing compassionate about this arhat.
It looked fierce and wrathful.
Its massive, muscular body seemed to proclaim its strength. Just standing there was enough to make people's hearts tremble.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique."
Hikaru stood with his arms folded atop the wooden giant's head, softly speaking the name of the technique.
This was one of the techniques he had learned during this period.
It had both offense and defense. Although Hikaru had not enlarged it to its maximum size, the Wood Human was currently only over ten meters tall.
Nor had he used it together with the Wood Dragon Technique.
But for now, this was completely enough.
And to protect himself, Hikaru had not stood on the shoulder with no defense like the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
He controlled the Wood Human and moved himself directly into its body.
After all, he possessed the Jōgan. Unlike Hashirama, he would not lose sight of the outside world after entering the Wood Human.
When the Kumo shinobi saw this scene, they all trembled.
The sight before them had completely surpassed their imagination.
Looking at that enormous wooden giant, an invisible pressure surged through their hearts.
The fear of death seemed to spread completely around them.
Just what was this man?
The Kumo shinobi were filled with terror.
The Fourth Raikage and Killer B were not faring well either.
Especially the Fourth Raikage.
He felt like he had truly been played.
When he fought Hikaru before, Hikaru had never displayed this kind of power.
But the power Hikaru was showing now was no longer merely a level above him, nor was it something that required the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge his attacks.
The current Hikaru was displaying absolute suppression.
Back then, when Hikaru faced him, he had simply been playing around.
He had not used his full strength at all.
This man's goal had probably been to gather the entire Kumo army onto this plain.
His goal was likely to annihilate Kumo's entire force!
After realizing all of this, the Fourth Raikage's face turned deathly pale.
At that moment, Hikaru's voice entered his ears.
"I told you.
"Not one of you will escape."
On Konoha's position, the Konoha shinobi were beyond mere excitement.
"Wood Human Technique! I never thought it would actually be the Wood Human Technique!"
Although they had seen Hikaru use Wood Release before, none of them had ever seen a giant over ten meters tall like this.
Especially after this technique appeared, even from several kilometers away, they could feel its overwhelming power.
How could they not be thrilled?
Although they were also confused as to why Hikaru had not used this technique from the beginning, they quickly came up with many explanations on their own.
For example, perhaps he had delayed on purpose to prevent Kumo from fleeing.
Perhaps he had some other objective and therefore did not attack immediately.
Even Shikaku probably had not expected that before his explanation could spread, it had already become almost unnecessary.
At this moment, Shikaku stared into the distance and sighed.
Wood Release.
In the end, it was still the technique Konoha was proudest of.
In the end, it was still the technique that had once pacified the shinobi world.
"Minister Shikaku, should we quickly surround those Kumo shinobi?"
At that moment, Hiashi suddenly spoke.
He was also very excited.
"If we surround them, they won't be able to escape!"
"There is no need. They won't run, and they don't dare run."
Shikaku returned to his senses and shook his head with a bitter smile before explaining.
"If they run, our troops can march straight across the Land of Hot Water. At the same time, Iwagakure in the Land of Iron will also move.
"When that happens, our two villages will join forces and step into the Land of Lightning together.
"Kumo has only one choice now.
"They must fight to the death.
"Only by defeating us can they frighten Iwagakure into staying back.
"But…"
Shikaku paused, then spoke quietly.
"This time, it may truly be Kumo's doomsday."
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