Inside the barrier, there was a deathly silence.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, and even the two legendary Hokage, all eyes were fixed on the blue giant kneeling on one knee.
Naruto looked at Yulian, at the familiar battle damage marks on his armor, at the pure white Ω symbol of the Space Marine Chapter on his shoulder pad. The image of the scrawny boy, trembling in the ruins, slowly overlapped with the steel mountain before him.
"The last time I saw you was on Krieg's third moon, and you only reached my waist." Naruto's voice was calm, devoid of emotional fluctuations, but for him, it was already quite affectionate.
"Yes, Political Commissar," Yulian's helmet emitted a processed sound, like grinding millstones, "After that, I was sent to Macragge to undergo the 'Primaris Rubicon' surgery. To better serve the Emperor."
Naruto nodded.
Primaris Space Marines. Demigods created by subjecting mortals to nineteen organ implants and genetic modification surgeries, with an additional three modifications named 'Black Carapace,' 'Catalepsean Node,' and 'Belisarius Furnace,' surpassing the Space Marines of the old era. They possess greater strength, faster reaction speed, and more tenacious vitality. Each one is the Empire's most precious war asset.
"You did not betray those sacrifices," Naruto gave his affirmation.
Yulian's massive helmet lowered slightly, a gesture of gratitude. "You gave me the chance to live, Political Commissar. My life, and all the glory I have gained with this life, belong to you and the Emperor."
Due to the language barrier, Hiruzen Sarutobi was completely bewildered. He only knew that this blue giant was summoned by Naruto and showed absolute obedience to him.
That was enough; the flame of hope reignited in his heart.
Naruto stopped reminiscing. He looked at the battlefield and gave instructions in the most concise language: "Yulian, the targets are those two puppets and the Ninja controlling them. Prioritize disabling the puppets' mobility."
Yulian's crimson ocular lenses scanned the First and Second Hokage, and his cold logical core instantly completed the analysis: "Understood. High-energy lifeforms, suspected of possessing high-speed regeneration. Recommend using high-energy weapons for structural annihilation strikes."
"An interesting summoning beast…" Orochimaru licked his lips, the unease in his heart completely replaced by intense curiosity and a desire for research. His eyes gleamed with the fanaticism of seeing rare experimental materials. "Naruto-kun, what kind of monster did you summon from hell? His body structure is simply too perfect!"
Yulian ignored Orochimaru's chatter.
His metal arm, thicker than a normal person's thigh, lifted. The menacing Bolter in his hand was casually reattached to the magnetic hardpoint on his leg. Then, from the side of the huge power pack on his back, he took out another weapon.
It was a peculiar firearm, dark gray all over, its barrel covered with complex energy coils and large heat sinks. It had no magazine, and a thick energy conduit connected the middle and rear of the barrel directly to the power pack on his back. The gun felt less like a weapon and more like a portable industrial furnace, full of raw and violent energy.
A Plasma Gun. An extremely dangerous weapon, potentially fatal even to its user.
It works by feeding liquid hydrogen fuel into a miniature nuclear fusion core, exciting it into a plasma state under high temperature and pressure. This plasma is identical to the matter inside stars, extremely hot and with immense energy density, and then fires it out. Its power is immense, but it is also extremely unstable.
Senju Hashirama clearly wouldn't give the enemy time to change equipment. He slammed his hands on the ground again, and the Wood Dragon, which had coiled up after losing its target, roared once more, crushing towards Yulian.
Yulian raised the Plasma Gun with one hand.
"Buzz—"
The energy core at the muzzle suddenly lit up with a blinding, eerie blue light. The light grew brighter and brighter, and the air warped from the extreme heat, as if a small sun had been forcibly crammed into this barrier.
He pulled the trigger.
There was no deafening gunshot, only a peculiar, sharp whistle, as if space itself was being torn apart.
A ball of plasma energy, several times thicker than the Bolter rounds used by Karsten Squad earlier, constrained into a spherical shape by a strong magnetic field, and emitting an eerie blue light, roared out.
Time seemed to slow down.
Wherever that small sun passed, the roaring, ferocious Wood Dragon had no chance to struggle. The incredibly tough Wood Release construct that formed its body, upon contact with the plasma energy, did not burn or break, but was directly annihilated from the material level by a higher-tier energy, instantly vaporized, leaving not even a trace of ash.
The plasma ball plowed a scorched furrow on the ground, dozens of meters long, with molten red lava flowing within it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched, dumbfounded, completely stunned.
He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a sound. That pure, utterly illogical destructive power, which directly vaporized matter itself, exceeded his entire understanding of "Ninja tools."
Is this… the power Naruto brought back?
The plasma ball's target was not just the Wood Dragon. After annihilating the Wood Dragon, its speed undiminished, it shot straight towards Senju Hashirama behind it.
"Wood Release: Wood Golem!"
Senju Hashirama's battle instincts were still present. A thick, heavy defensive wall, instantly formed by countless massive wooden stakes coiling together, rose from the ground, attempting to block this fatal blow.
The plasma energy poured onto it violently.
"Pfft—"
There was no violent collision, no roar of an explosion. The plasma ball easily pierced through the wooden wall, as if a hot knife cutting through butter. The part of the wooden wall that contacted the energy was instantly vaporized, leaving a huge, smooth-edged circular hole.
Senju Hashirama's upper body was completely swallowed by this "small sun."
In the extreme light and heat, the legendary Ninja God, along with his Sengoku era armor, silently vanished.
Inside the barrier, silence fell once more, and Orochimaru's brows furrowed.
"It's hard to understand what this is, interesting…"
However, before Hiruzen Sarutobi could recover from this immense shock, an unexpected scene unfolded.
Countless tiny dust particles and scraps of paper talismans, as if drawn by some invisible force, converged from all directions towards Senju Hashirama's empty lower body. The dust rapidly condensed, the paper scraps swirled and intertwined, and before everyone's horrified gaze, Senju Hashirama's vaporized upper body rapidly reconstructed and restored itself at a visible speed.
In just two seconds, a perfectly intact First Hokage reappeared in his original spot.
"Heh heh!" After a brief moment of surprise, Orochimaru let out a hoarse laugh. "Political Commissar, that was a beautiful attack. I can't say it was completely useless, but it's certainly not enough."
He looked greedily at Yulian and the weapon in his hand, his voice filled with morbid pleasure: "As long as their souls are bound to this world, their Edo Tensei bodies will continue to exist!"
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Warning, energy core overheating, weapon entering forced cooling mode."
The Plasma Gun in Yulian's hand glowed with a blinding red warning light at the muzzle. The heat sinks on the gun body turned scarlet, emitting rolling white steam.
To ensure a one-hit kill, he had used maximum power for that shot.
His strongest attack method was ineffective, and the weapon was now in an unusable cooling state.
The battle had reached a stalemate again.
At this moment, Senju Tobirama, who had been lurking at the edge of the battlefield, searching for an opportunity, seized this fleeting gap.
His figure vanished from its spot.
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