Ōnoki's face was pale, cold sweat soaking the white hair on his forehead. He spoke one word at a time.
"I admit it. You truly have that talent... the kind of talent that could earn you the same title as Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi!"
His words carried across the battlefield, but they drew completely different reactions.
The God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, was a legendary figure who had once ended an age of war and founded the era of hidden villages through strength alone.
At the rear, among the new reinforcements who had just arrived and still did not understand the full situation, a suppressed commotion broke out.
"What is Lord Tsuchikage saying?!"
"Senju Hashirama? That Konoha brat?"
"You've got to be joking. No matter how strong he is, how could he possibly..."
Doubt spread through the crowd. They had only seen the ruined battlefield, the giant Wood Human, and the Wood Dragon.
They had not personally felt how overwhelming that power was, so many of the younger ninja still looked defiant, unaware of what they were really facing.
But on the front lines, the Iwagakure ninja who had already experienced the rampage of Wood Release reacted very differently.
No one cheered, and no one questioned it.
There was only silence.
They had seen the vines crush their Earth Flow Walls with ease. They had seen the Wood Human crush entire teams underfoot while they failed to slow it even for a moment.
They had even seen Lord Tsuchikage, along with Kitsuchi and Akatsuchi, driven into a corner until they could barely fight back.
Those scenes were still fresh in their minds. Now, hearing Ōnoki personally say the words "God of Shinobi," their hands trembled around their kunai, and the color drained from their faces.
If even the Tsuchikage had acknowledged Shinichi's power, could they really still fight back?
Kitsuchi's expression turned grave. He knew his father.
Ōnoki would never say something like that unless he had truly been pushed to the brink and seen Shinichi's strength for himself.
Ōnoki took a deep breath, looked up at Shinichi, and his tone suddenly became sharp.
"But don't forget, you are only thirteen years old right now!"
"Although I was heavily injured and nearly out of chakra during our clash, I also saw you push your Wood Release to its limit!"
He raised his hand and pointed at the mass of reinforcements and the remaining Iwagakure forces behind him.
"Now, Iwagakure's defenses have not collapsed, and tens of thousands of ninja are gathered here. Even if you have Hashirama's talent, how can you possibly withstand us?!"
Ōnoki's words steadied the Iwagakure ninja slightly, and their scattered morale began to recover.
"That's right. We still have the village defenses and tens of thousands of ninja."
"Our army brought down the Third Raikage back then."
"He's only thirteen. He can't be stronger than the Third Raikage."
Kurotsuchi also seemed to snap out of it. She looked at Shinichi standing alone before them and shouted along with them.
"No matter how strong you are, you can't defeat tens of thousands of ninja alone!"
Kitsuchi clenched his fists even tighter. Chakra gathered around him again as he stared fixedly at Shinichi. As long as Ōnoki gave the order, he would attack once more.
"Heh..."
As the crowd's morale began to rise again, Shinichi let out a low laugh.
"Full strength?"
He slowly raised his head. A cold light flashed in his amber eyes, and faint green chakra rippled around him.
"Ōnoki... what made you think I was using my full strength?"
Boom!
As soon as his voice fell, chakra erupted from Shinichi's body and swept across the battlefield. This time, he held nothing back.
The fused chakra of four Tailed Beasts surged around him like a green torrent, pressing down on the entire battlefield.
At that moment, the chakra he released was already enough to rival half of Senju Hashirama's at his peak.
The Iwagakure ninja had only just begun to recover their morale, but their faces went pale at once. Kurotsuchi froze. At fifteen, she had never imagined power on this scale.
But Ōnoki was the one most shaken.
He loosened the hand clutching his lower back, and his body trembled slightly as he stared at Shinichi, whose body was now wrapped in a green chakra cloak.
anger on his face had been completely replaced by confusion.
"Even a Tailed Beast... in terms of chakra capacity... wouldn't be equal to a fraction of him, would it?"
Ōnoki murmured in a low voice.
"I don't understand..."
"Why... Why does a child have such terrifying power...?"
What kind of monster had Konoha produced? No, Shinichi was already a walking natural disaster.
Shinichi glanced down at the stunned crowd below, then raised both hands. He closed his eyes and pressed his palms together in front of his chest.
There were no complicated hand seals. He simply brought his palms together.
Dark markings spread from the corners of his eyes, across his forehead, and along both sides of his face. Sage Mode activated, and his chakra fused with natural energy, forming senjutsu chakra.
The pressure on the battlefield grew heavier.
Looking at Shinichi, whose strength had climbed even higher, Ōnoki went still. He did not know what Shinichi would do next, but the pressure alone was enough to root him in place.
Shinichi slowly pressed his clasped hands downward. His voice rang clearly across the battlefield.
"Today, I announce the beginning of my era to the Ninja World."
"So look closely."
His gaze swept across the battlefield, passing over one terrified face after another.
"This is my true power."
"This is how I become the next God of Shinobi."
The moment his voice fell, the earth tore apart.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
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