"I'm a ninja too. This is how ninjas fight."
Behind Hashirama, Kamihane slowly unsheathed his luminous blade, limbs fully restored - not a trace remained of his earlier battered state.
His next slash targeted the neck.
"My fellow Konoha villagers are all part of my being. The people of the village believe in me, and I believe in them..."
"What?" Kamihane frowned, failing to catch Hashirama's murmured words.
"I'll entrust my dreams to the distant future. As for you..." Hashirama's voice weakened to a whisper, "go repent in hell!!!!"
With a thunderous roar, he mustered the final ounce of strength from every fiber of his being, turning with desperate force to drive his fist into Kamihane's chest!
This strike embodied the full resolve of the 'Shinobi God,' channeling every last drop of Sage Art Chakra into a final crescendo that would echo through his lifetime!
The colossal impact shattered the defenses of the 'Sea God's Physique,' its destructive force penetrating bone to send Kamihane's organs shifting within him.
Kamihane coughed up blood and was sent flying backward in a straight line—directly toward where Kagami stood.
He had just rushed to Tobirama's side and pulled out "Frostfall's Single Heart" from its sheath.
A thousand meters vanished in an instant. Kagami only saw a blur before someone flew right in front of him.
"Squelch!"
Kagami stared blankly at the face so close to his - unfamiliar yet disheveled - finding himself momentarily at a loss.
Only when a trickle of warmth flowed over his wrist did he notice his trembling hands clutching the blade embedded in his brother's heart.
"You've suffered these years, little brother." Kamihane's head slumped weakly on Kagami's shoulder as he whispered close to his ear.
Familiar words, a familiar tone, familiar... warmth—suddenly pulled his thoughts back to yesterday.
On the Hokage Rock, in a forgotten corner where no one cared, there was someone to talk with, someone to gaze at the starry sky with, someone to look out at the prosperous and peaceful Konoha together... It was the first time in so many years that he felt less alone.
"So... it was you..."
Kagami stumbled back several steps with a 'thud, thud, thud,' staring in horror at his brother lying prone on the ground, breath extinguished. His features contorted bit by bit, his expression growing increasingly deranged.
In the distance, Hashirama gazed at Kamihane's corpse, no longer able to hold on. The facial markings representing "Immortal Mode" gradually faded away, like the setting sun descending.
He collapsed backward limply and wearily closed his eyes.
Kagami stumbled backward uncontrollably, unable to believe the scene before him, driven by instinct to flee until his back hit the jagged rocks.
"No, no, no—I killed him—my own brother!"
He stared at his blood-soaked hands as a crimson haze swam before his eyes, his vision blurred by blood and tears.
"Kagami, cut off his head and gouge out his eyes!"
In the distance, the feeble Tobirama suddenly spoke.
Kagami, on the verge of collapse, suddenly froze. What had he just heard?
The teacher he had always revered most had not only watched him kill his own elder brother with his own eyes but also ordered him to desecrate the corpse?
"Hurry!" Tobirama clutched his chest, where blood gushed out unceasingly. His voice was weak yet urgent. "Hurry up and do it!"
Kagami stared blankly at her teacher, then turned to her brother, hesitating and uncertain what to do.
Shall we make a move?
Why?
I still don't even know why he left the village back then.
Still don't understand what exactly Madara's will is that he's so insistent on upholding?
Still don't know why he chose to become an enemy of the Leaf?
What has he been through all these years? Has he been living well?
Even more perplexing... why does he keep letting me go time and again?
So it turns out... I never truly understood him.
They know nothing, yet they shamelessly bask in the light to judge others, to judge their own blood brother...
How utterly disgusting...
If only I had talked to him sooner, understood everything about him earlier... Perhaps the ending wouldn't have been so catastrophic...
In the end, I killed him with my own hands.
He was so powerful, having faced Lord Hashirama unscathed. How could he possibly die by my hand?
"Why? Why should I be the one to kill him? I'm the least qualified person to do so!"
!!!
An extreme chill swept out in all directions. A bone-chilling chakra erupted violently. Under Tobirama's disbelieving gaze, Kagami opened his pair of crimson eyes.
As blood vessels crawled across the pupils, the tails of the three tomoe gradually elongated and linked together. Ink-black patterns expanded outward, eventually morphing and solidifying into the shape of a slender three-leaf clover.
Mangekyō Sharingan!
Tobirama's jaw dropped. For the first time in his life, he lost his composure as something beyond his understanding had occurred. His face turned ashen as lime, though it was unclear whether from pain or terror.
Suddenly, Kagami's body trembled. A flicker of astonishment crossed his face before vanishing, all emotions draining from his eyes until only stillness remained - calm as undisturbed water.
Tobirama's throat bobbed as he opened his mouth. Before he could voice the question, Kagami hurled a kunai straight at him.
"You!"
A breeze stirred, and a massive hand materialized out of thin air, swift as thunder. Two fingers stretched out, already reaching toward the newly awakened Mangekyō Sharingan eyes.
"Swish!"
Kagami vanished into thin air and reappeared beside Tobirama, one hand catching the kunai while the other rested on Tobirama's shoulder.
Kamihane lunged at empty air, turning to his brother with startled eyes. His left pupil had already transformed into an eerie, bone-white void.
His corpse dissipated into crystalline light, vanishing like a bubble disintegrating in sunlight, leaving no trace behind.
"Why?" Kagami's eyes flickered with confusion, blood-streaked tears still glistening on his cheeks. "Why would you do this?"