Natsuhiko stood there with a calm expression, looking as though he did not care in the slightest about everything that had just happened.
Yet that composure only existed on the surface. Deep down, even he still felt lingering traces of shock.
Up until now, he had always been the one bombarding others with Tailed Beast Bombs. Even when facing the Nine-Tails' attacks, he had always prepared himself beforehand and dealt with them accordingly.
This time, although he had relied on the Wood Human as his foundation, this was still the first time he had ever used the technique in actual combat.
No matter how powerful he knew the jutsu was, he could never be completely confident in something so unfamiliar.
Had he been using a technique he understood more thoroughly, he naturally would not have felt this level of uncertainty.
Blocking the Fourth Raikage was nothing more than basic execution. After all, the Raikage's attacks still fell within the scope of nin-taijutsu.
But a Tailed Beast Bomb was entirely different.
It was the most destructive attack a tailed beast could unleash, and as a hidden jinchūriki himself, Natsuhiko understood better than anyone just how terrifying that kind of power truly was.
Fortunately, the Wood Human's defensive capabilities had not disappointed him.
"Still… I can't drag this out any longer."
Natsuhiko muttered inwardly.
At the moment, his chakra reserves were still relatively abundant. His recovery ability guaranteed that much.
However, his eyes were already beginning to feel strained, and even his sage chakra was becoming difficult to maintain.
That was far from good news.
It meant he would soon be unable to continue sustaining both his Jōgan Chakra Mode and Sage Mode simultaneously.
Under those circumstances, the best solution was obvious—end the battle quickly.
At this point, Natsuhiko had already accomplished nearly everything he intended to do.
Every Kumogakure ninja had been trapped within the Deep Forest Bloom. Some were already beginning to show signs of breaking free—but only because Natsuhiko had stopped continuously feeding chakra into the technique.
Even so, escaping the binding branches and vines was far from easy.
After all, this was a legendary pinnacle technique.
Beyond that, both the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki had already been pushed close to their limits. Even if they were not fighting at their absolute peak, for Natsuhiko, that was more than enough.
What remained now was the cleanup.
He would completely crush this battle and bring everything to an absolute end.
Thinking this, Natsuhiko slowly drew in a deep breath.
The chakra within his body immediately began surging wildly, and the moment that terrifying fluctuation spread outward, both the Fourth Raikage and Killer B reacted at once.
"There's no point struggling anymore." Natsuhiko looked at the two of them indifferently before lightly shaking his head. "Your resistance is meaningless."
The instant his words fell, Natsuhiko slowly rose into the sky.
His blue chakra shimmered with flowing light, making him appear profoundly mysterious.
Flight—it was the dream of countless shinobi.
Yet throughout the entire ninja world, the only known shinobi capable of flying was Ōnoki alone.
But today, Natsuhiko had completely shattered that common understanding.
He too possessed the ability to fly.
And the pressure he exuded was far more terrifying than Ōnoki's.
...
Watching Natsuhiko's figure from afar, Ōnoki's heart sank completely.
Previously, the greatest reason he believed he could restrain Natsuhiko was because he himself could fly. By maintaining aerial superiority and attacking from above with Dust Release, he had thought he stood a chance.
But now, his greatest advantage had been silently destroyed by Natsuhiko without warning.
To him, this was nothing short of catastrophic news.
"Stop him!" The Fourth Raikage roared furiously.
He did not care whether Natsuhiko could fly or not. His body shot upward once more as he charged straight toward him.
At the same time, Killer B controlled the Eight-Tails, letting out a thunderous roar before rushing toward Natsuhiko at full speed as well.
But before the two of them could even reach Natsuhiko, both the Wood Human and the Wood Dragon had already begun to move.
The Wood Human lifted its massive foot and stomped down heavily. In an instant, another earth-shattering roar exploded across the battlefield, and the ground itself seemed unbearably fragile beneath that overwhelming force.
Under the Wood Human's crushing step, the earth fractured like a giant spiderweb as countless cracks spread wildly in every direction before the terrain collapsed outright. Huge chunks of stone burst upward, scattering violently through the air.
The tremors spread astonishingly far, and the fissures rapidly expanded alongside the quake itself. Only the Deep Forest Bloom remained unmoved amidst the destruction, standing firm despite the chaos consuming everything around it.
Dust and debris filled the battlefield without restraint, and within that violent storm of shattered rock, the Fourth Raikage's figure appeared incomparably small.
Although his speed was astonishing, in the blink of an eye he was swallowed entirely by the smoke and flying rubble.
At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield, the Wood Dragon launched its assault against the Eight-Tails.
The Wood Dragon itself possessed terrifying restraining power.
Back during the Night of the Nine-Tails' attack, Natsuhiko had once used the same technique against Kurama, though the Nine-Tails had not been in ideal condition at the time. Of course, back then Natsuhiko himself had been nowhere near as powerful as he was now.
At that time, his combination of Intermediate Sage Mode and basic Wood Release had merely placed him on roughly equal footing with the weakened Nine-Tails.
Even so, he had still managed to pin the Nine-Tails in place and leave it completely unable to move.
Now, however, Natsuhiko's strength had already reached an entirely different peak.
Not only did he possess Intermediate Wood Release, but also Advanced Sage Mode, alongside the power of his Jōgan Chakra Mode.
With all those enhancements layered together, the Wood Dragon he unleashed was mixed with all kinds of different powers, yet its might had risen to an utterly terrifying level because of it.
Under Natsuhiko's precise control, the Wood Dragon instantly coiled around the Eight-Tails, tightening with crushing force the moment it wrapped around its target.
"ROOOAAAR—!"
The terrifying constriction immediately forced the Eight-Tails to let out a miserable scream, and at that very moment, its massive body visibly began to shrink.
Like traditional Wood Release techniques, the Wood Dragon possessed the ability to absorb chakra. The instant it bound the Eight-Tails, the beast's enormous reserves of chakra began draining away at frightening speed.
Only moments later, the Eight-Tails lowered its head weakly.
Clearly, it had already lost most of its combat capability.
Meanwhile, Natsuhiko floated high in the sky as the chakra within his body surged to its absolute limit.
In truth, he did not need such elaborate preparations merely to unleash this technique. The real reason he had delayed was because he had been carefully considering exactly which jutsu he should use to bring this battle to its conclusion.
He had already made up his mind.
Not a single one of these seven thousand-plus Kumogakure shinobi would leave alive.
Even the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki and the Fourth Raikage—if fate abandoned them here and they died alongside the others, then so be it.
Changing the so-called course of fate carried absolutely no psychological burden for him.
Likewise, he possessed more than enough power to annihilate every ninja present.
The only thing that had caused him hesitation was deciding between two techniques.
One was the mysterious power born from his Jōgan, the force similar to Shinra Tensei that he had comprehended during his battle against Pain.
The other was the ultimate secret art of the Senju Clan—the supreme Wood Release technique said to be usable only by the God of Shinobi himself, Senju Hashirama: The True Several Thousand Hands.
The truth was that Natsuhiko had never used either technique before. To him, the difficulty of both was essentially the same.
"Still… compared to True Several Thousand Hands, Shinra Tensei has too many uncertainties. There are no hand seals involved, and it's difficult to accurately judge the full extent of its area of effect. Besides…"
A faint blue glow flickered within Natsuhiko's eyes.
He had already made his decision.
"And besides, Ōnoki is here."
A cold smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
"Though it's a shame I couldn't lure out that idiot Rasa, having Ōnoki alone is enough. After all, he's someone who survived the final years of the era of the Two Gods. Since that's the case… I'll help him relive it properly."
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Natsuhiko no longer hesitated.
The power within him erupted completely.
For one of the rare times in battle, he brought his palms together.
In an instant, that vast ocean of chakra poured out violently like a flood bursting through a broken dam.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
The moment Natsuhiko's chakra erupted outward in a mad torrent, the earth began trembling once again.
Yet this time, the entire world seemed to fall into absolute silence.
Everyone could feel the heavens shaking and the land quaking beneath them, but strangely, their ears heard nothing at all.
The sky gradually dimmed, and within that deathly silent world, an immense shadow spread across the earth like a descending curtain of darkness.
Under that colossal shadow, every single person fell silent at the same time.
Their eyes stared blankly at the gigantic entity rising from the ground.
At that moment, regardless of whether they were ally or enemy, everyone present felt their hearts violently assaulted by something beyond imagination.
An indescribable terror silently spread through the battlefield, becoming the shared emotion echoing within every soul.
Clang…
Within the Deep Forest Bloom, one particularly fortunate Kumogakure shinobi—someone who possessed both luck and decent strength—finally lost the will to continue struggling.
The kunai slipped from his hand and fell onto the ground as he stared helplessly at the enormous figure slowly rising into the sky, so vast that it blotted out the sky itself.
"T-This… has to be a joke…"
As for the other Kumogakure shinobi bound tightly by branches and vines, those who had regained consciousness after the pollen toxins were burned away, their faces were now filled with despair, terror, and utter numbness.
For a brief moment, many of them genuinely wished they had never awakened at all.
At least then, they would not have to witness a scene so crushingly hopeless.
"Am I dreaming…? If I am, then somebody wake me up already…"
"Can… can a shinobi really do something like this…?"
"I don't want to die yet… somebody save me…"
"What kind of monster is this?!"
"Are we even living in the same world as him?"
Dodai himself had completely lost all fighting spirit.
He dropped to his knees upon the shattered and uneven ground, staring blankly at the colossal being before him.
Despair echoed endlessly within his heart while cold sweat streamed continuously down his forehead.
"It's over… everything's over…"
At this moment, none of his former confidence remained.
At this moment, none of his composure or strategic certainty remained.
All he had left was endless regret and overwhelming despair.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Raikage pushed away the massive boulders crushing down on him.
Earlier, when he had charged forward, the Wood Human's stomp had shattered the earth beneath him and sent him plunging into a deep crater.
Countless rocks had buried him afterward, and it had taken tremendous effort just to force his way back out.
But even then, he had never imagined he would witness something like this.
He remained silent as he slowly climbed to his feet.
Because he understood that at this point, words were meaningless.
He could not think of a single method capable of stopping what stood before him.
Slowly, he raised his head toward the sky.
An overwhelming sense of helplessness surged from the depths of his heart, and perhaps for the first time…
He regretted everything.
He regretted attacking Konoha.
He regretted starting this war.
He regretted never managing to uncover Natsuhiko's true strength.
"So this… is what despair really means…"
For some reason, the words Natsuhiko had spoken before the battle began suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
Until now, he had believed he already understood the meaning behind the despair Natsuhiko spoke of.
Deep Forest Emergence.
The Wood Human.
The Wood Dragon.
Those techniques alone had already made him experience what despair felt like.
But now he realized he had still underestimated the meaning behind Natsuhiko's words.
Perhaps only this moment…
Perhaps only now…
…was true despair.
"Are you ready?" Natsuhiko gently lowered himself onto the massive body of the True Several Thousand Hands as he looked down at the countless tiny figures below with a faint smile.
His voice was soft, and it even carried a trace of exhaustion, yet despite that, it still echoed clearly across the entire plain.
At this moment, Natsuhiko truly was not in good condition.
This was his first time ever using such an ultimate technique, and he simply lacked practical experience with it.
In the end, this was entirely his own problem.
Back in Konoha, he had only learned the technique itself, but he had never taken the final step of truly unleashing it in battle.
Had he completed that step beforehand, the system would have fully mastered the technique for him.
Even if there were still minor flaws during execution, it would never have drained his chakra to such an outrageous degree like it was doing now.
To be honest, ever since obtaining the fragment of Asura's power, Natsuhiko had almost forgotten what it felt like to completely exhaust his chakra reserves.
Now, he was experiencing that sensation once again.
And he hated it.
Fortunately, his chakra was still recovering on its own.
Even though he could no longer maintain Sage Mode, nor continue sustaining his Jōgan Chakra Mode, he was still capable of controlling the True Several Thousand Hands through his own chakra alone.
After all, the foundation of this technique was his own power.
Still, he needed a moment to recover properly.
The consumption from using this jutsu was simply too terrifying.
"Just… who exactly are you?" The Fourth Raikage spoke with considerable difficulty as he slowly walked beneath the massive True Several Thousand Hands.
He raised his head and stared at the colossal thousand-armed Buddha statue towering in the sky, its enormous form blotting out everything above him.
His voice sounded powerless as he asked the question.
At this point, not a trace of his former pride remained.
Just like Dodai kneeling nearby, he now resembled nothing more than a stray dog abandoned by fate.
"My name is Natsuhiko. Senju Natsuhiko."
Natsuhiko answered softly, his voice amplified by chakra as it echoed once more across the entire plain.
"Perhaps Lord Raikage already knows my name. After all, I've never made any effort to hide it. Still, when you think about it carefully, I suppose I never truly introduced myself properly.
Unfortunately, it seems our first meeting was never destined to end well, so I'll skip the usual 'please take care of me.'"
As he spoke, Natsuhiko paused slightly.
He could already feel his chakra recovering to the level he needed.
Slowly, he raised one hand and formed a seal.
In that instant, his chakra surged violently once more.
And at the same time, his voice rang across the battlefield again.
"Then let this be the end. This unjust war of invasion that you started…"
His gaze swept indifferently across the battlefield below.
"…will end with your lives."
"Ninja Art: Top Transformed Buddha!"
"RUN!"
The moment Natsuhiko's chakra erupted again and the thousand-meter-tall True Several Thousand Hands began to move, the entire world seemed to tremble violently.
A body of that magnitude did not even need to attack seriously.
A mere movement was enough to shake the skies and split the ground.
The surviving Kumogakure shinobi no longer possessed even the slightest will to fight.
In truth, the moment they witnessed the True Several Thousand Hands, they had already fallen completely into despair.
Those Kumogakure shinobi who had escaped the branches and vines, those who had already thrown away their weapons, no longer cared about anything else.
Not even their comrades mattered anymore.
They fled madly toward the outskirts of the battlefield as if their lives depended on it.
Gritting their teeth, they frantically squeezed every last drop of chakra from their bodies while recklessly using the Body Flicker Technique over and over again without caring whether their bodies could withstand the strain.
The Body Flicker Technique placed an enormous burden on the body. Otherwise, it would never have been a skill mastered by so few.
As these Kumogakure shinobi desperately pushed themselves beyond their limits, they could already feel every muscle in their bodies trembling violently.
That was the consequence of repeatedly forcing the Body Flicker Technique beyond safe limits.
They knew very well that if they continued like this, they might very well suffer irreversible injuries.
But none of them cared anymore.
At this point, they could not even spare a thought for their own comrades, so how could they possibly care about their future injuries?
Right now, only one thought remained in their minds:
Run.
Run as far away as possible.
They never wanted to see that monster again.
Unfortunately for them, such hopes were nothing more than impossible fantasies.
All of the massive arms of the True Several Thousand Hands began moving simultaneously.
Each gigantic hand possessed enough power to seize and restrain the Nine-Tails itself.
Now, those enormous palms clenched tightly into fists before smashing downward toward the Deep Forest Bloom with devastating force.
The instant a single punch from the True Several Thousand Hands descended, the entire world seemed to collapse.
The earth itself was violently overturned.
An overwhelming force swept outward like a catastrophe capable of splitting mountains and overturning seas.
Beyond that…
There was nothing left.
Once power reached the level of the True Several Thousand Hands, it no longer required any additional "technique" to amplify its destructive force.
At this level, the simplest and most direct attack was also the most effective one.
And the most terrifying part was that this was not merely a single strike.
Every fist of the True Several Thousand Hands would attack simultaneously.
This was already Natsuhiko's current limit. Perhaps in the future he would be able to perform far better, but as things stood now, this was the utmost extent of what he could achieve.
Even so, no matter how one looked at it, this was already more than enough to crush any obstacle before him.
The colossal fists descended with enough force to split mountains and rivers apart, carrying suffocating pressure within their violent shockwaves as they smashed downward relentlessly.
A terrifying surge of chakra spread outward in every direction.
Under the influence of that overwhelming chakra, dark clouds rapidly gathered across the sky, while faint flashes of lightning began flickering within them.
When the very first fist struck the Eight-Tails, which was still tightly bound by the Wood Dragon, the beast immediately let out a miserable scream.
Its body began collapsing at astonishing speed as endless cracks spread wildly across its massive form.
No one could tell whether the blood pouring out belonged to the Eight-Tails or to Killer B himself. All that could be seen was crimson liquid spilling uncontrollably from the shattered body.
An unimaginable shockwave exploded outward.
With a thunderous roar, the earth completely caved in beneath the impact.
At that moment, even the world itself seemed to mourn.
BOOM!
Another fist smashed directly into Killer B's body.
This time, the Eight-Tails shattered completely.
The enormous tailed beast vanished without a trace, and at the same moment, a tiny human figure could be seen flying helplessly through the air.
Even without activating his Jōgan, Natsuhiko knew that figure was Killer B.
As for whether he was dead or alive, Natsuhiko neither knew nor particularly cared.
Without the Jōgan active, he had no way to observe the details anyway.
But to him, it made little difference.
Whether it was Killer B or the Fourth Raikage, their survival or death held no real importance in his eyes.
His attention remained focused primarily on the countless Kumogakure shinobi trapped within the Deep Forest Bloom.
This time, his goal was absolute annihilation.
The gigantic fists carrying endless destructive force continued crashing downward one after another, while the terrifying shockwaves spread ceaselessly across the battlefield.
Within the Deep Forest Bloom, those Kumogakure shinobi bound by branches and vines did not even have time to react before they were swallowed entirely by that devastating power.
As for the shinobi attempting to flee, they could not escape very far either.
Many of them did not even have time to let out a scream before being completely erased by the overwhelming force.
"NO—!"
Some Kumogakure shinobi refused to wait helplessly for death.
Their hands formed seals frantically as layers upon layers of defensive ninjutsu erupted around them without pause.
Yet the moment the shockwaves reached them, every defense they created crumbled like paper.
Their bodies were instantly crushed beneath that boundless power.
Chakra and destructive force raged wildly across the battlefield.
At this moment, no Kumogakure shinobi possessed even the slightest chance of survival.
Amid deafening explosions, enormous clouds of dust rose into the sky while the trembling ground shook endlessly beneath them.
Even locations dozens or hundreds of kilometers away could clearly feel the violent tremors spreading through the ground.
"Damn it all! Fall back! Retreat further!"
All of Konoha's shinobi were retreating frantically.
At this moment, every single one of them wished they had an extra pair of legs just so they could run faster.
Although that heaven-obscuring giant Buddha was not targeting them directly, the terrifying aftershocks alone were already beyond what they could endure.
Violent winds swept across the battlefield from every direction.
The ground trembled constantly beneath their feet.
Dark clouds swallowed the skies overhead, making it look as though a natural disaster capable of ending the world was descending upon them.
Wave after wave of overwhelming explosions echoed through the air.
The sound had already surpassed the limits of human hearing.
At that instant, every single person temporarily lost their hearing, while some weaker shinobi even had thin streams of blood trickling from their ears.
Terrifying shockwaves mixed with shattered stone swept toward them relentlessly, leaving them unable to guarantee even their own safety. Right now, the only thing they could do was run.
Nara Shikaku was feeling unprecedented regret at this moment.
Natsuhiko had warned him beforehand to lead the troops as far away from this place as possible.
But Natsuhiko had never explained what exactly he intended to do, nor how far things would escalate.
Because of that, Shikaku had never dared to withdraw the entire army too casually.
Looking at things now, if he had truly led the army into a full retreat back then, none of this disaster would have happened.
The current situation was simply catastrophic beyond words.
It was not only Nara Shikaku whose heart was filled with regret.
At this very moment, Ōnoki also felt nothing but despair.
Not even in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would one day witness a technique like this.
This level of Wood Release…
He had only ever seen vague mentions of it recorded within his grandfather's notes. According to those ancient records, this was supposedly the strongest technique Senju Hashirama had ever possessed.
It was this very jutsu that established Hashirama's title as the God of Shinobi.
With such power, a single person truly could destroy an entire village alone.
"Terrifying… it's simply too terrifying…"
Ōnoki's heart was filled with helplessness.
He had absolutely no idea how one was even supposed to confront such power.
Because he realized something horrifying—
No matter what he tried, there was no way to face this technique head-on.
Against this jutsu, there was only one possible outcome.
Death.
Konoha was still Konoha. But at this moment, Konoha had completely returned to its former glory.
It had once again become the village that stood above the entire shinobi world, the village that looked down upon all others.
All because Konoha now possessed one man.
A man comparable to the God of Shinobi himself.
A man who came from the same clan as Senju Hashirama.
A young man named—
Senju Natsuhiko.
...
Only after a very long time did the True Several Thousand Hands finally cease its assault.
Yet even then, the suffocating aftershocks still lingered in the air.
The residual force continued spreading for a long while before everything gradually calmed down.
And only at that moment did everyone finally dare to look around them.
Their ears still rang violently with endless tinnitus, but when they saw the scene before them, all they could do was open their mouths unconsciously, unable to utter a single word.
As far as the eye could see, the entire plain had completely collapsed.
In the distance, an enormous canyon had even been carved directly into the earth!
The land was utterly devastated beyond recognition. Countless gigantic craters littered the battlefield, while every tree in the surrounding area had long since vanished.
The entire region resembled a hellish wasteland capable of sending chills through anyone who looked upon it.
Dark clouds blanketed the sky overhead as thunder rumbled continuously through it.
Then torrential rain began pouring down, as though the world itself wished to wash this ruined land clean.
Yet at that moment, the same thought surfaced within everyone's hearts.
"Can… can a human really accomplish something like this?"
...
Across the vast earth, all that remained was desolation.
After the devastation wrought by the True Several Thousand Hands, what lingered behind was nothing but endless tragedy and ruin.
The ground was scarred beyond repair, and the entire terrain had become utterly chaotic.
A massive canyon now stretched directly before Natsuhiko's eyes.
The Deep Forest Bloom had completely disappeared.
Countless shinobi lay scattered across the battlefield in twisted heaps.
Some had already been reduced to mangled flesh beneath the iron fists of the True Several Thousand Hands.
Others had vanished so thoroughly that not even their corpses could be found.
The thick smell of blood spread endlessly across the earth.
At the same time, Natsuhiko finally dispelled the True Several Thousand Hands.
As he descended from the sky and landed on the ground, his body actually wavered unsteadily for a moment, almost unable to remain standing.
Taking a deep breath, Natsuhiko could not help but acknowledge just how enormous the consumption had been.
This battle had completely exceeded his expectations.
"What a miserable sight…" Natsuhiko sighed inwardly.
He understood better than anyone just how terrifying the power of the True Several Thousand Hands truly was.
After all, this was the very technique created to contend against Uchiha Madara's Susanoo at the level of the Majestic Attire: Susanoo during its peak.
And when combined with Top Transformed Buddha, the True Several Thousand Hands had completely shattered that legendary Susanoo enhanced by the Nine-Tails itself—
Ultimately creating the famous Valley of the End.
Even though Natsuhiko had already been unable to maintain either his Jōgan Chakra Mode or Sage Mode by the final moments before unleashing Top Transformed Buddha—
Relying solely on the raw power of the True Several Thousand Hands itself had still produced destruction beyond imagination.
However, even Natsuhiko had underestimated just how terrifying that destructive force would be.
At the same time, the sheer chakra consumption was so overwhelming that even he found it difficult to endure.
Only now did he truly realize that the resurrected Senju Hashirama from the original timeline had genuinely not recovered his full strength.
When Hashirama claimed that he only possessed seventy to eighty percent of his peak power after being revived, he clearly had not been exaggerating at all.
Natsuhiko had always believed that combining his Jōgan Chakra Mode with Sage Mode should already place him at the level of Hashirama at his absolute peak.
Reality, however, had given him a harsh lesson.
Perhaps in certain aspects he had indeed reached that level, but when everything was taken into account together, he was still merely approaching it.
"Looks like I still have a very long road ahead of me."
Natsuhiko slowly exhaled before turning and walking away from the battlefield.
He had no interest in checking whether there were any survivors left.
There was simply no need anymore.
He was exhausted.
That final Top Transformed Buddha had completely drained the chakra he had only just barely recovered. Although his body was still slowly regenerating chakra even now, the fatigue remained almost unbearable.
And more importantly, the smell of blood in this place was far too heavy.
When he had taken a deep breath earlier, he had nearly choked from the overwhelming stench.
He truly hated environments like this.
"I wonder how Shikaku and the others are doing… and what happened to Ōnoki's group."
As he walked forward, Natsuhiko silently pondered to himself.
The area affected by the True Several Thousand Hands had simply been too vast.
Just looking at the once-open plain that had now been transformed into a gigantic canyon by his own attack, it would not be surprising if this place eventually became a massive waterfall years down the line.
With destructive power on such a scale, even Natsuhiko could not help worrying about Konoha's forces.
Although he had warned them to stay as far away as possible, his Jōgan still showed that they had not retreated very far during the battle.
That was definitely not good news.
If a large number of Konoha shinobi had died merely because they were caught in the aftermath of his attack, then things would become truly troublesome.
"I just hope Shikaku and the others reacted quickly enough and didn't do anything too stupid… and Ōnoki's probably still alive, right?"
That old man had not been particularly far from the battlefield either.
There was a very real chance he had been caught in the destruction as well.
Although Natsuhiko personally did not care much whether Ōnoki lived or died, if the old man really died here and Iwagakure decided to pin the blame entirely on him, that would become rather annoying.
But the moment that thought appeared, even Natsuhiko himself could not help laughing softly.
As long as the Iwagakure observers had not all been wiped out completely, then everything he had done today would absolutely spread throughout Iwagakure.
And with the help of the newspapers, it would not even be difficult for the entire shinobi world to learn about it.
At that point, if Iwagakure still dared to come looking for trouble after losing Ōnoki…
Then Natsuhiko could only say that those people truly had no fear of death.
Continuing forward slowly, Natsuhiko raised his head and glanced toward the sunlight in the sky.
The sunlight was dazzlingly bright.
Against the bleak devastation covering the earth below, the contrast felt almost surreal.
And at this moment, Natsuhiko suddenly felt something deep within his heart.
Right now, he himself was just like that blazing sun above.
In this era—
He had already ascended above the clouds.
...
"How… how is this possible…"
Far away, amidst a field of ruins, Killer B lay limply among shattered rocks.
Not a single part of his body remained unharmed.
Blood continuously seeped out from his wounds, staining the rubble beneath him crimson.
His breathing was incredibly weak, and even his chakra presence had nearly vanished completely.
Yet despite all of that—
He was still alive.
He had not died.
Perhaps this was one of the greatest advantages of being a jinchūriki.
As long as the tailed beast itself had not died or been extracted, the jinchūriki would always possess a chance to survive.
Still, Killer B's expression was filled with confusion and emptiness.
He could not understand how things had ended up like this.
Eight thousand shinobi had been annihilated in an instant.
As for his big brother, the Fourth Raikage, his fate was currently unknown.
An overwhelming sense of despair spread endlessly through Killer B's heart.
For a brief moment, he genuinely wished he could simply die.
But he knew he could not.
He still had to return to Kumogakure.
As the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, he still carried the responsibility of protecting the village…
...
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