Boom—
Buzz—
Accompanied by deafening roars
and piercing, ear-splitting hums,
the inky black night was instantly torn apart by dazzling light!
Illuminating the entire battlefield with perfect clarity.
The destructive impact wave of Sage Art: Rasengan surged forth with overwhelming force, twisting and deforming the air in its path.
The last towering, solemn Buddha statue, which had stood majestically, crumbled like a fragile sandcastle before this terrifying power.
The stone on the Buddha's body cracked inch by inch, countless fissures spreading like a spiderweb. Immediately after, huge stone blocks collapsed with a thunderous roar, and debris rained down.
Under the continuous assault of the impact wave, the Buddha statue finally disintegrated completely, turning into dust that scattered with the wind, leaving behind only a chaotic ruin.
When the sky-obscuring smoke finally dispersed, Senju Hashirama's figure appeared before everyone.
At this moment, his body was incredibly battered, devoid of his usual majesty and composure.
The red armor that once symbolized the Sengoku era was now tattered, its shredded cloth strips fluttering weakly in the wind.
His hair was disheveled, messy strands covering his pale and weary face. Sweat, blood, and dust mingled, making him look utterly wretched.
The God of Ninja had fallen from grace.
Senju Hashirama knelt on the ground, hands propped on the earth, his body trembling slightly, breathing with difficulty.
His chest heaved violently, and though a trace of stubbornness and determination remained in his eyes, there was more unmasked exhaustion and pain.
That battle just now had drained all his strength.
Senju Hashirama slowly stood up, relying on his last vestiges of will.
This time, he did not choose to attack.
Instead, he slowly walked towards a Wood Release barrier.
It was what he had created to protect Madara; Madara's remains were there...
"Madara... wait for me... I'll join you..."
Senju Hashirama staggered with each step, swaying as he walked.
At this moment, various past events appeared before his eyes.
His gaze was hazy, passing through the battlefield, through the smoke, through the ravaged Wood Release, through time and space.
The "passing lantern" began...
"Hahaha, nice to meet you, I'm Hashirama!"
"I'm Madara..."
"Can I use you for skipping stones?"
"Get lost!"
"If there's any way to ensure neither of us dies, it's to be honest with our enemies and hide nothing from each other."
"Is it really impossible to be honest with each other?"
"Thank you, Madara, you truly are a man of loyalty!"
"Do you remember what we said here when we were little, about building our own Village here?"
"It's time to name the Village, Madara, do you have any good ideas?"
"...."
Scenes from the past appeared before his eyes like slides.
Just then, a faint image of young Madara appeared before Senju Hashirama, gazing silently at him, then slowly extended a hand.
A tear streamed from the corner of Senju Hashirama's eye. He tremblingly raised one hand, overlapping it with the phantom's hand.
"Though we weren't born on the same day of the same month, we'll die on the same day of the same month....."
"Tobirama, Konoha is entrusted to you. I... am leaving..."
Senju Hashirama fell to the ground with a thud.
He no longer wanted to escape; dying with Madara felt good. Then, he slowly closed his eyes and departed!
Senju Hashirama, the end!
"It's finally over..."
The moment they saw Senju Hashirama fall,
Mū could no longer support his body and directly fainted backward. The crow on his shoulder also automatically released its contract.
The unconsciousness was caused by excessive Chakra consumption.
In fact, Mū should have collapsed much earlier, but he had been sustained by Sage Mode. Now that Sage Mode was released, the negative effects rushed over him all at once.
Hōzuki Gengetsu's expression changed. He quickly stepped forward to support the falling Mū, then tightly pinched Mū's philtrum and shouted to the Ninja Allied Forces behind him, "Quick, someone!"
Instantly, Ōnoki, the Second Raikage, and Shamon's expressions all changed. They quickly stepped forward to check on Mū's condition.
"Quickly bring our best rescue Ninja!"
The Second Raikage urgently shouted to the Kumogakure Ninja.
"Yes! Does Sunagakure have any accompanying medical Ninja? Hurry!"
Shamon also urgently shouted to the Sunagakure Ninja behind him.
The Four Kage on the side all raised an eyebrow.
It seems these few people forged a good foundation of camaraderie during the battle...
In an instant, the emergency Ninja from the Four Great Nations all stepped forward.
They all surrounded Mū, performing first aid.
When it was diagnosed that Mū was only unconscious due to excessive Chakra consumption, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sirs, what should we do with Senju Hashirama's corpse?"
Several Ninja captains stepped forward to inquire.
The Four Kage were about to speak,
but then noticed Senju Hashirama's corpse inexplicably began to spontaneously combust.
"This... could it be?"
The Four Kage looked at each other.
They ultimately concluded that Senju Hashirama did not want them to desecrate his corpse, which was why he used a self-combustion Jutsu.
They then began to organize a search for Uchiha's body.
But strangely, Uchiha Madara's corpse was gone.
"Uchiha Madara's corpse is gone..."
"Ah, Mū's Dust Release and Senju Hashirama's battle earlier were too large-scale. Uchiha Madara's corpse probably turned to dust long ago."
Everyone unanimously believed that Uchiha Madara's corpse had been completely obliterated by Dust Release, so they directly gave up searching.
On the other side, when the reconnaissance Ninja left behind by Senju Tobirama saw that Senju Hashirama had died, their faces were shocked, so stunned that they couldn't utter a word!
"Quick! Go! Tell Tobirama-sama this information!"
"Oh my god! The sky has fallen! Konoha's pillar has collapsed!"
.....
Why didn't Senju Tobirama come to save Senju Hashirama?
That's because Senju Tobirama never thought his elder brother would lose the fight.
At this moment, in Konoha Village,
Senju Tobirama was rushing to the Kage building to announce that his elder brother was fighting the Four Kage.
Suddenly,
a transparent, ethereal hand gently rested on Senju Tobirama's shoulder.
Thump.
Senju Tobirama seemed to sense something and abruptly turned his head.
But there was nothing behind him.
However, Tobirama's gaze happened to meet Hashirama's Kage Rock statue.
"Big Brother...."
Senju Tobirama looked at the Kage Rock statue, a frown on his face, and an inexplicable emotion arose in his heart.
Arriving at the Kage Office,
a group of Konoha clan heads were gathered together.
Even Uzumaki Ashina was there.
When they heard that war was coming, everyone was not very happy.
After all, they had just enjoyed the stability brought by peace and hadn't had enough of it. No one wanted to return to war, so their mood was naturally not good.
"I presume everyone is clear about the situation, Kage—"
"Bang!"
Senju Tobirama had not finished speaking.
A Senju Jonin rushed in frantically!
Senju Tobirama frowned slightly, but before he could speak,
the Senju Jonin spoke a few urgent words into Senju Tobirama's ear.
"Tobirama-sama... Hokage-sama... Hokage-sama... has fallen in battle!!!!"
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