Rumble—
The ground shook violently.
Above the golden wall Rasa had erected, fine grains of sand tumbled down ceaselessly, proof that the Complete Body Susanoo was already close at hand.
"How do we cooperate?"
The Raikage clenched his teeth, raising his head to look toward the sky.
He was the first to let go of his grudges.
Just as Tobirama had said—Uchiha Yu had declared war upon all shinobi.
If the Cloud wanted to claim Konoha, they would first have to deal with Yu. Konoha itself, aside from these two reanimated Hokage, was no longer a threat.
Tobirama spoke solemnly:
"My brother and I will hold Susanoo head-on. You will attack in coordination from the flanks—but you must go all out."
The Raikage's eyes lit up at once, and he agreed without hesitation:
"No problem!"
Tobirama and the Raikage both turned to look at Rasa. Pressured, Rasa gave a reluctant nod.
---
Outside Konoha.
"Orochimaru, what do you think you're doing?" Tsunade's beautiful face was frosted over as she barked at him.
"Why, joining the new Konoha, of course."
Orochimaru's signature wicked smile spread across his lips.
As he crouched upon the head of Manda, he whispered:
"Go. Head to Konoha. Lord Yu won't blame you—in fact, he needs us now."
"…"
Manda gazed in the direction of Konoha, silent in thought. But after a moment, the giant serpent's massive body began to slither toward the village.
"You go. I'm not interested."
Tsunade gritted her teeth. With Shizune at her side, she turned toward the serpent's tail to leave.
Both she and Orochimaru bore the mark of the Yasakani in their eyes, and they too had heard Yu's declaration of war.
But where Orochimaru was elated—thrilled at the prospect of rebuilding a new Konoha—Tsunade could feel only dread.
For Orochimaru, it was an alluring dream.
His defection from Konoha had never stemmed from hatred of his homeland—though "love" would hardly be the right word either.
But if given the choice, he preferred the Land of Fire, and Konoha's soil in particular, as the place to pursue his research and illuminate the world with his brilliance.
Casting a sidelong glance at Tsunade behind him, Orochimaru shook his head with a sigh.
"You really are hopeless. Do as you wish. In any case, with Lord Yu's ocular mark upon you, there's nowhere you can run."
With that, he urged Manda onward, carrying him and Uzuki Yugao swiftly toward Konoha.
---
At the Root base.
Hashirama, Tobirama, the Raikage, and Rasa stood upon the golden wall of sand, facing the approaching Complete Body Susanoo.
The skies were dark.
Clouds hung heavy and oppressive.
The wall Rasa had raised, towering more than ten meters high, reached no higher than Susanoo's armored boots.
With Tobirama forging a temporary alliance with the Cloud and Sand, the great clans of Konoha began withdrawing from the village.
"What's going on?"
The Raikage frowned at the sight of Konoha shinobi retreating in panic, then turned to glare at Tobirama.
"Rest assured," Tobirama replied evenly. "Konoha will fully cooperate."
No sooner had he spoken than the Sarutobi clan shinobi, once obliterated by his devastating forbidden techniques, emerged reanimated by Edo Tensei, rushing to the frontlines first.
Tobirama had said the Sarutobi would cover the retreat—and he never broke his word. This was his promise to Konoha's clans.
The Raikage and Rasa fell into deep thought.
On their side, they would pay in blood and lives. On Konoha's side—only reanimated dead.
In an instant, they understood exactly what kind of game Konoha was playing.
But with the Complete Body Susanoo bearing down upon them, there was no time to argue.
"Everyone, attack!"
Tobirama's voice was calm and sharp. He glanced at Hashirama, and the brothers exchanged a firm nod.
Rumble—
Dark-red flames lit their faces as roaring winds tore past, clouds of dust billowing into the sky.
The Susanoo loomed closer and closer, each of its steps pressing down upon the Cloud and Sand shinobi like the weight of a mountain.
High above—
Inside the "cockpit" of the Complete Body Susanoo, Uchiha Yu peered down.
When he saw Tobirama and Hashirama standing alongside the Raikage and Kazekage, he was not surprised.
In the shinobi world, there was only interest.
No allegiance was ever eternal.
Outside the Root Organization base, as more than two thousand Edo Tensei shinobi of the Sarutobi clan launched the first assault, the Cloud and Sand shinobi also surged forward like mad.
Angry shouts echoed through the sky.
Even in the face of such a colossal monster, because their Kage stood in the front, these shinobi seemed to feel no fear.
Seeing those unbound shinobi—those not under the control of the Eight Thousand Spears—rushing like ants in an instant—
"Captain, for the sake of our new home, please allow us to fight!"
The Uchiha once again drew their weapons.
At the forefront, Izumi, Minami, and Tamao also burned with fighting spirit.
Uchiha Yu raised his hand and waved, signaling them to move to the rear. In the meantime, Nonou and Mikoto also joined the battle.
The remaining children, along with Sasuke, stayed by Uchiha Yu's side—the safest place to be.
Uchiha Yu was fighting to claim a new home for them. If they didn't contribute now, in the future, their hearts would surely feel uneasy.
Once they reached the rear of Susanoo's helmet "cockpit," the gemlike floor split apart, and the Uchiha squad dropped rapidly downward as if riding an elevator.
The crimson scenery seemed to retreat upward in their eyes like flowing light.
Boom—Boom—Boom—
The full-body Susanoo quickened its pace. Its right hand crushed Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two Edo shinobi, discarding them carelessly to the ground. Then, with both hands crossed, it drew the massive chakra blades embedded in its flaming, crimson wings.
As the Uchiha leapt out just before the gem floor hit bottom, Susanoo shifted its stance, rotating its massive body, and swung the blazing sword viciously at the golden-sand wall.
That fierce crimson slash seemed to cleave space itself, carving two perfect arcs through the sky.
Facing the descending giant blade, Tobirama shouted:
"Stay away from—or cut down—those comrades who are being controlled by the eye technique!"
On the sand wall, the Raikage and Kazekage's pupils shrank; they instantly body-flickered to the left and right.
The Raikage, moving as a bolt of blue lightning, growled, "Second Hokage, you're truly merciless!"
Tobirama answered coldly, "It's precisely because I am Hokage that I must carry out merciless resolve!"
On the sand wall, only two remained.
But as the full-body Susanoo leapt over a towering structure, Tobirama pressed his hand onto Hashirama's shoulder. The two vanished together and reappeared atop a building behind Susanoo.
Flying Thunder God Technique!!
On one of the structure's tiles was a Flying Thunder God Mark.
It was the same battlefield coordination the two brothers had once used in the past.
In the next instant—
Hashirama fixed his gaze on Susanoo's back, slammed his hands together, and growled:
"Wood Style Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
Channeling his chakra as life energy into the earth, he transformed the designated area into a forest.
Rumble—Rumble—Rumble—
The full-body Susanoo split the golden-sand wall with a single strike. The surface of the Root base was cleaved in two, revealing its underground structure.
Smoke billowed.
In a blink, beneath Susanoo's feet, the earth split apart into countless fissures. Thick vines twisted upward like giant serpents, coiling around Susanoo's armored boots, climbing higher and higher in an attempt to restrain the towering giant within a sea of trees.
Hashirama's face was grim, his clasped hands trembling along with the ground itself.
Thanks to Tobirama's modified Edo Tensei, Hashirama had recovered half his former power.
This was their confidence—the reason he and Tobirama dared to face Susanoo head-on alongside the Cloud and Sand.
At that very moment, at Susanoo's front, the Sarutobi Edo army, the Cloud shinobi, and the Sand shinobi all charged in, unleashing large-scale jutsu at close range.
On Susanoo's right arm, a bolt of blue lightning—Raikage—appeared out of thin air.
In mere seconds, he flickered upward along the armor, closing rapidly on the helmet.
To the left, Kazekage Rasa stood atop a distant building a kilometer away, his hands forming seals.
One layer after another, golden-sand waves towering over twenty meters surged toward Susanoo.
Inside the "cockpit" of the full-body Susanoo, Uchiha Yu wore a cold smile, utterly unfazed.
°°°
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