Shock rippled through the ranks.
"I know," Gaara said, eyes narrowing.
Far off, the vines budded—flower heads swelling—
—then a pale dust began to seep across the battlefield.
Gaara swept Tsunade and the Mizukage aloft on a tide of sand.
"What is that?" the Raikage demanded, thunder flashing across his shoulders.
"The scale is unreal… a forest in an instant," Mei Terumi breathed, pupils contracting.
"Everyone, beware the pollen—do not inhale it!" Tsunade snapped, a sudden grimness in her gaze.
[Hashirama Senju: "Madara, when did you learn my technique?"]
[Madara Uchiha: "I studied it. Thoroughly."]
[Tobirama Senju: "Big brother, I told you to stop talking to this Uchiha—why don't you ever listen?"]
Hashirama sighed. "He's not like the others, little brother."
"You say that every time! He's made you soft!"
[Boruto Uzumaki: "Can the Five Kage really beat Madara?"]
[Sarada Uchiha: "It's looking dicey…"]
[Mitsuki: "Where is Mother at a time like this…?"]
"Deep Forest Emergence… and even Flower-Tree World." Tsunade's brows drew tight.
She didn't know how Madara could wield her grandfather's power, only that the situation had turned dire. Madara had been terrifying already; with Hashirama's wood style layered on…
Even the Sage of Six Paths might struggle.
The ground tore open.
A colossal Susanoo rose at Madara's back.
Sand and shattered stone billowed upward in ragged gyres.
The Five Kage turned, faces blanching.
"Your eyes were on the flowers," Madara said, voice like ice.
"Raikage—!" Ōnoki's face pinched—too late.
A single titanic palm swatted them from the sky.
Boom—boom—boom—!
Five bodies punched through curtains of vines and smashed into the earth.
Madara leapt, hands flashing through seals. "Let's add one more spark…"
"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
A wall of searing flame roared from his mouth and ignited the pollen.
The Five Kage choked as the sweet reek filled their lungs—consciousness tilting toward black.
"Water—flood it now!" Ōnoki barked, the veteran's instincts kicking in.
Mei's brow twitched. Right now—she couldn't bring it up.
[Madara Uchiha: "So this is the power of the Five Kage? Underwhelming."]
[Mei Terumi: "…"]
[Fourth Raikage A: "Don't preen yet. You'll fall to us."]
[Tsunade: "To steal Grandfather's power… unforgivable."]
[Madara Uchiha: "So you're Hashirama's granddaughter. You don't seem to have inherited anything from him."]
They still believed they could win. In the sky-screen, the figures hadn't fallen—not yet.
But the picture kept rolling:
Fire swelled, heat distorting the air.
Mei sagged first, crumpling to the ground.
Then Hokage, Raikage, Kazekage—one by one.
Only Ōnoki still clung to wakefulness.
He frowned as the last four slumped, then grimaced—old bones screaming.
Even he… might not last.
A pebble lay before his nose. He stared at it, expression complicated.
"So I have gotten old… I…"
The frame blurred.
A boy again—
His Tsuchikage master speaking of the Will of Stone while Ōnoki struggled to grasp it.
A pebble like this—if you swapped it, no one would notice. But what matters most is the spirit that does not yield.
He remembered seeking alliance with Madara alongside his master—and being crushed instead.
The towering Susanoo, the helplessness, the shame; his fist clenched around a stone.
Back then he had no courage.
The present slammed back in.
The stone at his feet glowed dull red from the fire's breath. Ōnoki seized it and pushed himself upright, eyes hardening.
Music seemed to catch flame.
"I keep making excuses…"
He drew a breath; his hands opened.
A blinding white light bloomed—hope given shape in the old man's grasp.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
The light carved through the air—
—and in a heartbeat an entire swath of the battlefield was erased.
Vines vanished to nothing.
Madara's left side was swallowed by the white—disintegrated.
Ōnoki hung in the air, unbending.
"Don't call it old age. Excuses… aren't worthy of me."
Gooseflesh prickled across the new generation.
[Kurotsuchi: "Too cool—Grandpa's never looked this cool!"]
[Deidara: "Heh. So the geezer's back doesn't hurt today."]
[Fourth Raikage A: "Well done, Tsuchikage. So that's the Will of Stone."]
[Tsunade: "Good. Hold that tempo—we will beat Madara."]
[Mei Terumi: "I've no intention of going down here."]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "Let's gooo! So this is Grandpa Tsuchikage's power?!"]
[Himawari Uzumaki: "The gramps who always tweaks his back… was that strong when young?"]
[Sarada Uchiha: "So this is how our predecessors fought!!"]
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/MugiwaraTL