Time seemed to freeze.
Kushina's kiss was brief.
Far too brief for Kazuki's liking.
"Save Grandma Mito!"
Her face was flushed red as she pulled back.
Kazuki nodded.
He formed hand seals again.
Suddenly—
The sky darkened.
A terrifying aura spread outward like a tidal wave crashing against the continent itself.
The thousand-meter-tall Buddha statue rose completely.
Mountain ranges looked like garden rocks beside it.
Thousands of colossal palms spread outward—
Covering the sky.
The entire village of Konoha trembled violently.
Konoha Village
"What's happening?!"
"An earthquake?!"
"What is that?!"
Everyone was jolted awake.
Shinobi and civilians alike rushed into the streets.
They looked up—
And saw a gigantic Thousand-Armed Buddha piercing the clouds.
It felt like the end of the world.
Uchiha Clan Compound
Uchiha Fugaku was meeting with clan members, including Mikoto and Obito.
Then—
The ground shook violently.
Everyone rushed outside.
Fugaku saw it.
His body trembled.
"That… that's the First Hokage's ultimate technique…"
As a child, he had witnessed the battle at the Valley of the End from afar.
That Buddha—
That overwhelming power—
It was burned into his memory forever.
"Who is it?"
"Is it Kazuki?"
He couldn't believe it.
Yes, Kazuki used Wood Release.
But there was Wood Release—
And then there was Hashirama's Wood Release.
This was the latter.
Mikoto and Obito stared in shock.
Wasn't this the same technique Kazuki had used on the bridge?
But this—
This was ten times bigger.
"Is it really him…?"
Even Mikoto struggled to believe it.
Hyuga Clan
Hyuga Hizashi's elder knelt immediately.
"This… is the First Hokage's Immortal Wood Release!"
Members of the Hyuga clan followed suit instinctively.
Hyuga Hiashi activated his Byakugan, enhancing his vision to the limit.
He peered toward the distant Buddha.
He could barely make out—
A wooden figure.
Standing atop the Buddha.
And atop that—
A person.
That silhouette…
It looked familiar.
Suddenly—
Blood streamed from his eyes.
His vision went black.
He collapsed.
"Hiashi!"
The Hyuga clan panicked.
Across the Nations
Old veterans trembled.
"Impossible…"
"The Thousand-Armed Buddha?"
"Who is that?"
Land of Fire – Border with the Land of Lightning
BOOM!
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, clashed with the Third Raikage.
Lightning and earth shattered around them.
Nearby, Orochimaru and Tsunade fought the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Blue B.
The battlefield was chaotic—
Until the tremor hit.
The earth beneath them shook.
Blue B paused suddenly.
"The Eight-Tails… it's restless."
The Third Raikage frowned.
"What's happening?"
They looked toward Konoha—
And saw it.
A colossal Thousand-Armed Buddha rising above the horizon.
"What is that?!" the Raikage roared.
Blue B muttered, "Gyūki… is afraid."
Even the Eight-Tails felt it.
Jiraiya descended from above.
"Am I late?"
The three Legendary Sannin stood together.
Hiruzen stared at the distant Buddha.
"That's not the Wood Golem Technique."
He knew.
He had seen it once before.
"Return to Konoha. Immediately."
In his heart, a name surfaced.
Kazuki.
"Tobirama-sensei… Hashirama-sensei… what's happening in the village?"
And a darker thought followed.
"Danzo… don't tell me you've done something again."
Kirigakure
With the Third Mizukage gone and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen wiped out, civil unrest had already begun.
Then—
They saw the Buddha on the horizon.
"What in the world is that?!"
It faced Konoha's direction.
Fear spread through the Mist.
Iwagakure
Tsuchikage Ōnoki was reviewing reports when the tremor struck.
He stepped outside.
He saw it.
A massive Thousand-Armed Buddha in the distance.
"Am I seeing things?"
He rubbed his eyes.
"Dispatch three jōnin squads immediately. Investigate Konoha."
"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama!"
Ōnoki's mind drifted back forty years—
When he had once stood before Hashirama Senju.
Sunagakure
The Third Kazekage stared into the distance.
Such scale…
Such power…
Then—
The world shifted.
He found himself inside a genjutsu.
A barren desert.
Two figures stood before him.
One, a young red-haired boy.
The other—
An elderly man with Mangekyō Sharingan.
An hour later—
The Third Kazekage lay dead.
Blood seeped into the sand.
The corpse vanished.
The assassin—
Sasori of the Red Sand.
And an unknown Uchiha.
The disappearance of the Kazekage would ignite chaos.
The spark of the Third Great Ninja War had been lit.
All because a single butterfly had flapped its wings.
Kazuki.
Back to Konoha
BOOM!
The continent trembled again.
Training Ground Four was no longer a training ground.
It was a wasteland.
"Stay down!"
A colossal Buddha palm descended.
The Two-Tails and Kurama both bristled instinctively.
"TAILED BEAST BOMB!"
Matatabi condensed a purple-black sphere instantly.
It launched.
The air warped under its destructive force.
A mountain-level attack.
The Buddha's hand descended like the Five-Finger Mountain.
The Tailed Beast Bomb detonated—
But only splinters of wood fell.
"No…!"
The Two-Tails screamed.
The massive hand slammed down.
RUMBLE!
Dust and shockwaves rippled outward.
When the smoke cleared—
The Two-Tails was pinned beneath the gigantic palm.
Like a beast trapped under heaven itself.
It trembled.
Unable to move.
Like it had been sealed beneath a divine mountain.