"Uncle Hashirama, don't be so idealistic…"
Hearing the boy's words, Senju Hashirama couldn't help but pause for a moment. Still, he stubbornly lifted his chin and said:
"But precisely because of that, we must strive to pursue the path of peace."
"And have you found it?"
Kyusei asked in return.
Senju Hashirama fell silent.
Kyusei picked up his pen again and continued copying the materials as he spoke:
"If you can't find a path to peace, then choose to unify the shinobi world instead."
"Don't pursue eternal peace—just keeping peace for a hundred years should be doable."
"Even after you're gone, Uncle Hashirama, with the Second Hokage's methods, things could still remain stable for a long time."
Senju Hashirama looked at the boy quietly copying documents before him.
Tobirama…
His capabilities were indeed outstanding—this much Hashirama had to admit.
Whenever he encountered difficult problems in the past, he would always turn to that omnipotent younger brother.
Rather than saying Hashirama was the true head of the Senju clan, it might be more accurate to say Tobirama was.
"Uncle Hashirama, why were you able to establish Konoha in the first place?"
"Wasn't it simply because of your unrivaled strength?"
"Without that power, Konoha wouldn't have been founded at all."
"You might have even died by Uchiha Madara's blade."
Facing the boy's calm words, Senju Hashirama fell into silence.
Heh.
Even Senju Hashirama had a day where he got shut down like this.
Inside Kyusei's body, the Nine-Tails curled its lips into a mocking grin.
—
"Quick!"
"Organize defenses!"
"That woman is coming again!"
Panicked shouts echoed across the battlefield in the Land of Rivers.
Hundreds of Sand shinobi could only watch helplessly as a streak of golden light—moving at a speed no human could react to—tore straight through their formation.
The so-called elite puppet corps was a complete joke before that blonde woman.
No matter how they arranged their troops, nothing could stop her advance.
The chakra blade in her hand easily severed the puppet corps' chakra strings.
Even when they successfully controlled their puppets, the moment they launched a barrage of hidden weapons—
That woman would instantly dissolve into a flash of golden light and vanish.
In the very next second, she would reappear at another position, once again charging straight into their ranks.
Ordinary shinobi were utterly incapable of fighting her.
Encounter meant death.
Encounter meant instant kill.
Encounter meant collapse.
Ebizō stood atop the command platform, watching his formation crumble like paper. His expression was incomparably grim.
Konoha had gained yet another powerhouse.
And one with terrifying speed.
Flying Thunder God.
As an elder who had lived since the Warring States era, Ebizō naturally recognized this signature technique of Senju Tobirama.
It was the jutsu that earned Tobirama the title of the fastest shinobi in history.
He never imagined that Konoha would produce another successor to this nightmare technique—
And one who might even surpass the original.
No matter how unwilling he was to accept it, retreat was now the only option.
Continuing the fight would only add meaningless casualties.
Before discovering a way to counter Flying Thunder God, they were doomed to be beaten unilaterally.
Retreat seemed inevitable.
But the alliance with the Land of Earth, Lightning, and Rain bound him tightly in place.
If his side withdrew, pressure on the other fronts would skyrocket.
Ebizō's cloudy eyes looked toward the blonde girl rampaging through his ranks, and he let out a deep sigh.
Kaoru herself had no awareness of being watched by the enemy commander.
The chaos of the battlefield forced her to maintain peak concentration at all times.
Moreover, Flying Thunder God placed enormous demands on the user's reflexes.
This technique wasn't just about teleporting to a marker and calling it done—the user had to instantly adapt to their surroundings and re-enter combat at maximum speed.
Without sufficient reaction speed, even a brief pause of a few seconds after teleporting would be enough to get someone killed several times over.
Kaoru didn't even need a second.
Tsunade stood on the command platform with her arms crossed, watching the blonde figure lead the vanguard straight through the Sand forces, tearing their formation apart from head to tail. Her eyes gleamed with admiration.
Now she finally understood why that old man was so determined to cultivate this child.
She had previously thought Kaoru was simply fast.
She hadn't expected this level of absurdity.
"Pass down my orders."
"Both flanks, move in to encircle. Center forces, advance."
With Tsunade's command, Konoha's troops immediately began moving at full speed.
Although Tsunade had never personally commanded an army before, it wasn't as if she'd never seen how war was fought.
The Senju clan's historical records—spanning hundreds of years—were filled with schemes—
No, with battlefield strategy.
And Tsunade wasn't just an armchair general.
She had been a pivotal figure in the Second Shinobi World War.
Even commanding troops for the first time, she appeared calm, composed, and confident.
Seeing their commander so steady, the Konoha shinobi around her felt their morale surge.
This battle ultimately ended in a crushing defeat for the Sand shinobi.
Had Ebizō not personally intervened—using poison smoke to temporarily halt Konoha's advance—no one knew just how disastrous the engagement would have become.
At the same time, the outcome of the Wind–Fire front rapidly spread to every battlefield.
In the Rain Village, Uchiha Madara naturally received this report.
"Cough… cough…"
Reading the battle report in his hand, Madara couldn't help but cough twice.
He hadn't expected that after Senju Tobirama's death, someone else would inherit the Flying Thunder God.
His younger brother, Uchiha Izuna, had been killed by that despicable, sewer-dwelling white-haired rat using this very technique.
"Teacher…"
Beside him, a blue-haired girl hurried forward and gently patted his back when she saw his condition.
"Konan, go call Nagato."
Uchiha Madara's eyes darkened.
He hadn't anticipated Konoha gaining a Flying Thunder God user.
If this person wasn't dealt with swiftly, they would become a serious problem in the future.
A perfect Nine-Tails jinchūriki alone was already troublesome enough.
Now there was also a Flying Thunder God user—
And one closely tied to that jinchūriki.
If this wasn't resolved soon, then after his death, the plan to capture the Nine-Tails would drift further and further out of reach.
Although Nagato had already been pushed onto the path Madara had laid out due to Yahiko's death, his power was still insufficient.
He needed to be forced—quickly and thoroughly—to awaken the immense potential within his body.
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