Tobirama—who hadn't spoken once—finally said calmly,
"We came to Konoha for one reason."
"To meet you… the Uchiha's newly risen God of Shinobi."
Then his eyes shifted toward the crowd—landing on Tsunade.
For the first time, the stern Second Hokage let a faint smile appear.
"And to see Princess Tsunade again."
Hashirama's expression softened as well. He even waved at her—gentler than anyone expected.
"Little Tsunade… don't cry, alright?"
"Grandpa…"
Tsunade's eyes reddened.
She knew what the Senju had sacrificed—how they'd been pushed to step back, again and again, so the Hokage's authority wouldn't be threatened.
But it hadn't mattered.
A Senju was still a Senju.
And after Hiruzen took power… those with Senju blood had a way of dying for no reason at all—without evidence, without answers.
Around them, Fugaku, Hiashi, Kakashi, and the others all exhaled—each one feeling the same weight in their chests.
Jiraiya gave a bitter smile.
"Sensei Hiruzen… you really did pay for everything you did."
Ren raised an eyebrow, his expression unreadable.
He wasn't intimidated.
He simply wanted to see what these two intended to do.
Hashirama breathed out once, then spoke plainly.
"Alright. I won't waste words."
"You want to abolish the Will of Fire? Fine."
"You're the Fifth Hokage."
"But the shinobi world has always been the same."
"Strength decides everything."
He clenched his fist, almost excited—like someone dusting off an old habit.
"I haven't fought in a long time."
"Let's go outside the village… and settle this."
Ren thought for a moment—then nodded.
Power gave meaning to ideology.
The Will of Fire had always been an idea built on Hashirama's overwhelming strength.
If they came here to test him…
Then he'd let them see it.
Let them witness what it meant when Whitebeard's power—backed by an immortal body—merged with a fully manifested Susanoo.
At minimum…
Below Six Paths, invincible.
Hashirama swept his gaze across the crowd.
"Then come watch."
"Let's show you what a battle between gods looks like."
His eyes locked onto the children in the corner—Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest, frozen stiff.
"You too."
"Huh—?!"
Naruto jolted like he'd been struck. A surge of crimson chakra flared around him.
Ren's brows snapped down.
"Kurama."
"Don't start making trouble."
Inside Naruto, the Nine-Tails clicked its tongue—
but the moment it remembered who it was dealing with…
it shrank back immediately.
In full view of everyone, the chakra vanished as if it had never existed.
Hashirama laughed, genuinely amused.
"Interesting."
"You actually got the Nine-Tails to behave."
Ren didn't even blink.
"The Nine-Tails?"
"Can that thing even hurt anyone?"
"…Uh."
Hashirama stiffened—like he'd just been slapped by the words themselves.
And in the next heartbeat, he vanished—shooting toward the outskirts of Konoha.
Ren followed.
The village erupted into motion.
"Move!"
"We're watching!"
"A god-battle—just thinking about it is insane!"
Shinobi poured out of Konoha in streaks of shadow and wind.
Civilians didn't dare follow.
Half an hour later—
Outside Konoha, at the same battlefield where the Four-Village Alliance had once gathered—
Ren and Hashirama faced each other from a distance.
Neither spoke.
Yet their will to fight climbed into the sky like a storm.
"Uchiha Ren," Hashirama warned, cracking his knuckles.
"Be careful."
"The Great Toad Sage's Edo Tensei is unusually complete."
Then—
a monstrous surge of chakra erupted from Hashirama's body.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
The earth split.
Cracks raced across the battlefield.
And in front of countless stunned eyes—
towering trees burst from the ground, roots snarling like beasts, crashing forward to crush Ren.
Ren's right fist tightened.
Armament Haki and tremor force wrapped around it in pale, dazzling ripples.
"Air Quake."
He punched the air.
The atmosphere fractured—
and a wave of shimmering shockpower slammed into the forest.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
The giant trees exploded apart, ripped into splinters and debris, torn to pieces in a storm of sound.
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