Above the desolate wasteland, a violent gale howled.
Thousands of puppets surged forward, blades flashing—like a pale tide of death intent on swallowing Tobirama whole.
"Die! You arrogant brat!"
Chiyo's fingers danced through the air, puppet strings trembling with excitement, her eyes filled with cruel delight.
Faced with this overwhelming onslaught, Tobirama merely glanced at them.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't retreat.
Slowly, he raised both hands and brought them together.
It was a hand seal that once made the entire shinobi world quake.
"That is…!"
In the distance, Sakumo Hatake's pupils shrank violently.
Tobirama slammed his palms together.
A surge of vivid green chakra—overflowing with vitality—burst from his body.
It was completely different from the cold, oppressive chakra of the Uchiha clan.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Rumble—!
The earth roared in response.
The once-barren desert shattered instantly. Countless massive tree roots, thick as dragons and carrying terrifying momentum, erupted wildly from the ground!
In front of these colossal roots, the puppets were no sturdier than toys.
Crack! Snap!
Hundreds of puppets were entangled, crushed, and pulverized in an instant.
"T-This is…!"
Chiyo's fingers froze mid-air. Her wrinkled face trembled violently, eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
"Wood Release?!"
"The First Hokage's Wood Release!"
"That's impossible! How could an Uchiha use Wood Release?!"
This was the exclusive power of the God of Shinobi—Senju Hashirama!
Even the Senju clan itself had failed to produce another inheritor.
What right did this Uchiha brat have?!
In the distance, Orochimaru licked his lips, fanatic light overflowing from his eyes.
"The perfect Uchiha… combined with the First Hokage's Wood Release…"
"Tobirama-kun… just how far have you evolved?"
---
"ROAR—!"
Just as the Sand Ninja defense line teetered on the brink of collapse, a sharp, piercing roar echoed across the battlefield.
Behind the Sand forces, the elderly monk Bunpuku—who had been sitting cross-legged—suddenly opened his eyes.
If he didn't stake everything now, the Land of Wind's main force would be annihilated today!
"Shukaku—come forth!"
Boom!
An ocean of sand shot skyward, rapidly condensing into a gigantic tanuki-shaped monster, its body etched with violet curse markings.
Shukaku!
"Hahahaha! I'm finally free!"
Shukaku laughed maniacally, opening its mouth and firing a massive Wind Bullet straight into the frantically expanding forest.
"A Jinchūriki?"
Tobirama stood atop a towering tree trunk, gazing down at the colossal beast.
There was no shock in his eyes—only faint disdain.
"A beast is still just a beast."
"Showing off a Tailed Beast in front of Wood Release and an Uchiha…"
"Are you tired of living?"
He clapped one hand.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Roar—!
A gigantic wooden dragon, hundreds of meters long, burst from the forest. Runes designed to suppress Tailed Beast chakra covered its body as it lunged straight for Shukaku.
"What the hell is that?!"
Before Shukaku could react, the wooden dragon coiled tightly around it.
This restraint was fatal.
The dragon's head bit down viciously on Shukaku's neck.
"Ggh—!"
It began frantically draining its chakra.
"My chakra! Stop it!"
Shukaku screamed in terror as its massive body visibly shrank.
Bunpuku let out an even more agonized scream, his life force rapidly fading.
"Die."
Tobirama uttered the word coldly.
The wooden dragon constricted.
Crack!
Both the Tailed Beast and its Jinchūriki were crushed instantly!
Bunpuku spat out blood, his head slumping lifelessly to the side. Shukaku howled unwillingly before dissolving into sand, forced back into dormancy.
One strike.
The One-Tail Jinchūriki had no ability to resist at all.
The Sand Ninjas stared at the corpse before them as the final pillar in their hearts collapsed.
"Mon… monster…"
"Even a Tailed Beast was defeated…"
"How are we supposed to fight this?"
Chiyo looked at her devastated forces, then at the arrogant youth in the distance. Despair crept into her heart.
But she was an elder of the Land of Wind.
She could not retreat.
"Don't panic!"
Chiyo shouted fiercely, summoning her strongest creation—the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets.
Ebizo stepped forward alongside her, as did her son and daughter-in-law—Sasori's parents.
"Shinobi of the Land of Wind!"
"Fight him to the death!"
"Even if we die, we'll tear a piece of flesh from him!"
Watching them prepare for a final, desperate stand, Tobirama shook his head.
"Ignorance breeds fearlessness."
"Since you're so eager to witness true power…"
"Then I'll show you the very end of despair."
He pressed his palms together.
Facial markings instantly spread across his face.
"Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands!"
Boom—boom—boom—!
The earth sank violently.
A colossal Thousand-Armed Buddha, over a thousand meters tall, burst from the ground and pierced the clouds.
Before it, the Sand Ninjas looked like dust beneath its feet.
But it wasn't over.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in Tobirama's eyes spun rapidly.
"Susanoo: Majestic Attire!"
Purple-red chakra armor instantly wrapped around the Buddha.
The once-benevolent statue transformed into a war god—a deity of pure destruction.
Susanoo-clad Great Buddha.
This was power beyond Kage-level.
"T-This…!"
The puppet strings in Chiyo's hands snapped.
She craned her neck back until it nearly broke—yet still couldn't see the statue's peak.
At this moment, poison, puppets, and numbers all became laughable.
"This… must be an illusion…"
Ebizo murmured, completely abandoning hope.
"Chiyo."
Tobirama's voice rolled down from the clouds like thunder.
"Since you refuse to yield, then accept the whip of defeat."
"Witness the might of the God of Shinobi!"
"Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands!"
Boom!
Thousands of massive fists, clad in Susanoo armor, rained down like meteors!
Each strike could shatter a mountain.
Thousands striking at once—apocalypse.
"No—!"
Chiyo screamed one final time.
"All puppeteers! Defend!"
It was meaningless.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shattered, tectonic plates shifted.
Within a ten-kilometer radius, the wasteland was blasted into a gigantic crater.
Dust and smoke swallowed the sky.
---
Long after, the smoke cleared.
The Land of Wind's army was gone.
Only ruins remained.
Chiyo lay half-crushed in a pool of blood, barely clinging to life.
She looked at the youth descending from the sky as the great Buddha dissipated.
There was no hatred left in her eyes.
Only fear—and awe.
"This… is no longer the power of a shinobi…"
"Konoha… has given birth to a god…"
Her voice faded.
"The Land of Wind… has lost…"
"I only hope… the village makes the right choice… in the future…"
Her head slumped.
She died.
The elite forces of the Land of Wind—annihilated.
---
"W-We won…?"
Five kilometers away, Sakumo Hatake and the Konoha shinobi stared in utter disbelief at the utterly transformed terrain.
Then—
"Long live Lord Tobirama!"
"The God of Shinobi!"
"A new God of Shinobi!"
Cheers thundered across the battlefield.
Every Konoha ninja—Jonin and Genin alike—dropped to their knees, offering their highest reverence.
If the destruction in the Land of Rain still lay within human limits, then today's battle had elevated Tobirama to the realm of gods.
From this day forward, the title of God of Shinobi no longer belonged to Senju Hashirama.
It belonged to Uchiha Tobirama.
Tobirama walked over to Orochimaru and casually tossed him a scroll.
"The antidote."
"Handle the remaining cleanup."
Orochimaru accepted it, and for the first time, something resembling submission flickered in his snake-like eyes.
"Tobirama-kun… no—Lord Tobirama."
"Where are you going?"
Tobirama looked east—toward the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.
"Of course…"
"To sweep away the remaining trash."
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
A golden flash erupted.
Tobirama vanished.
Leaving behind an invincible silhouette etched forever into their minds.
---
Meanwhile, on the eastern front of the Land of Fire.
The situation had reached the brink of collapse.
"Hold the line! Everyone, hold it!"
Nara Shikaku, drenched in blood, roared orders hoarsely.
It was useless.
The enemy was overwhelming.
The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Blue B, had fully transformed, rampaging like a living bulldozer.
Yugito Nii moved like blue fire, too fast to track.
Under Kumogakure's command, the Hyuga and Uchiha forces were pushed back relentlessly.
"Damn it! Where is the support?!"
Uchiha Tomiyama barely dodged an Eight-Tails Tailed Beast Ball, his face grim.
"If reinforcements don't arrive soon… we're finished!"
As despair peaked—
Blue B opened his massive jaws, a colossal Tailed Beast Ball forming.
Roshi and Han watched like predators, ready to strike.
"It's over, Konoha trash!"
Dodai sneered, giving the kill order.
Just as the Tailed Beast Ball was about to fire—
Swish!
A kunai engraved with a technique formula appeared out of thin air above the Eight-Tails.
Golden light flashed.
A figure in a black robe adorned with red clouds descended.
"So lively."
"Mind if…"
"I join in?"