Under the thick cover of night, the high-hanging moon cast a halo tinged with bloodiness. Across the completely silent land, faint lights still flickered within the human town.
A figure slicing through time and space flickered repeatedly before finally stopping inside a dense forest... This was indeed where he should stay.
"So there are actually people immune to this technique. The concept of 'ultimate techniques' really isn't reliable—it always ends up having exceptions," observed the First Hokage while watching the sudden appearance, without showing any surprise.
Haseo glanced around before speaking, "It's exactly midnight. I forced myself to arrive right on schedule—might be some Virgo trait."
Honestly speaking, this was definitely the worst slander Virgo had ever received.
"As for your compliment... I merely borrowed a portion of Six Paths Sage's power. There's nothing praiseworthy about it. Relying purely on myself, I wouldn't be able to act freely under such moonlight.
Besides...
This new white hair doesn't suit you well, Lord Hashirama Senju."
"Six Paths Sage's power?"
Haseo didn't explain further. He didn't understand why Hashirama Senju had become a Six Paths Sage, but a man like him truly had no need to become one.
"Lord Hashirama Senju, I'm somewhat confused. What's your objective behind using such a jutsu?" Haseo approached Hashirama directly and asked.
"To... put a full stop on the Ninjutsu World, reclaim all chakra, then use genjutsu to erase part of everyone's memory. That way, ninjas themselves can exit the stage."
"In other words, you'll have to undo these two jutsu later too, right?" Haseo didn't know what kind of inner struggles the other had experienced, but one thing was certain: "Lord Hashirama Senju, for you, casting such jutsu might be relatively easy, but reversing them won't be simple at all... Not everything can be decided purely by willpower—even if you are the 'Ninja God.'"
Without doubt, Hashirama had interacted with Black Zetsu. How could Black Zetsu allow [Infinite Tsukuyomi] to be easily undone?—Resurrecting his mother was the ultimate goal; everything else was just necessary procedure.
Thinking of this, Haseo directed his gaze toward Hashirama's right sleeve. Through his half-accomplished Six Paths sensing ability, he clearly perceived the "foreign presence" from there.
"Eradicating ninjas, what an ahead-of-its-time idea.
Although ninjas have caused tremendous chaos in this world, they aren't entirely without merit. Complete annihilation seems excessive... Without ninjas, the world would undoubtedly become overly monotonous and dull."
Whether ninjas got destroyed wasn't particularly important to Haseo. What mattered most was concluding his own story... Moreover, things wouldn't proceed as the First envisioned. The upcoming conclusion facing this world would be world destruction—not mere ninja eradication.
The annihilation of ninjas didn't concern Haseo, but global destruction was an entirely different matter.
"This is gonna be a real pain—you're stronger than I thought," the First Hokage said, scratching his head as if facing some dilemma.
"Regardless of anything else, only the strong can enforce their will and establish rules.
If you truly intend to end the wars between ninja, then another war is inevitable."
"War... I've lived a full life, and even been brought back from death itself, yet in the end, I still haven't figured out exactly what war really is."
Though the situation was extremely urgent, these two seemed to have started chatting casually again. "Putting that kind of thing into words isn't easy for me either, but I once heard a pretty interesting way to explain it… 'The weak lose everything while the strong trample over everything.' That's war."
"Hmm, that does sound interesting."
Under the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the hanging illusion of the moon represents the final verdict upon this world.
Haseo lightly shifted his steps. In the next instant, he dashed toward the First Hokage at an incredible speed barely visible to the naked eye.
He extended his fingers like blades directly toward the Hokage's throat.
The First Hokage wore a surprised expression, yet his right hand precisely seized Haseo's wrist mid-attack, simultaneously throwing a punch straight into Haseo's chest.
Even more dangerous, however, were his lower body movements — the First performed a small kicking motion aimed at Haseo's shin.
Haseo quickly sidestepped to avoid the attack. At the same time, he raised his left arm and placed his left hand on the opponent's right shoulder. Then he leapt up, using his arm strength as if trying to shove the First Hokage forcefully into the ground.
Yet, the First remained firmly rooted, his stance completely unshaken no matter how hard Haseo pushed… In that moment, Haseo realized: This guy had far more brute strength than his granddaughter ever did.
Even though Haseo could access the Six Paths Sage state, defeating the First Hokage wouldn't be something accomplished easily or quickly. Fortunately, he still had other help available.
After landing from his flip, Haseo immediately sensed vibrations coming from the earth beneath him. Moments later, enormous hands burst forth from underground.
Fingers thick as pillars, palms broad as prisons — they erupted from all directions, trying to trap Haseo within their grasp.
[Wood Release: Complete Capture Technique]
Generally, large-scale techniques like this should take some time to prepare, yet this one was executed at an unimaginable speed.
With no other options, arcs of bright lightning wrapped around Haseo's body. He dodged a heavy strike just before launching a lightning spike mine into the air. As a thin bolt of lightning flashed by, one of the massive hands fell heavily onto the ground.
Right after, a thick beam of pure white light shot directly toward the First Hokage:
[Sage Art - Dust Release: Split Detachment of the Primitive World Technique].
Even the First Hokage didn't plan to withstand such an attack head-on. As if he had anticipated it, he instantly formed the required seals, bringing forth several enormous barriers directly into the path of Haseo's technique.
[Summoning: Quintuple Rashomon]
Still, the Rashomon gates were pierced one after another.
Haseo's figure passed through each opening until, once again, he reached the side of the First Hokage… For some reason, he seemed oddly fixated on close combat now.
This fight clearly could've taken the long-range route, focusing on powerful moves.
Or perhaps he should first launch a few rounds of heavy attacks, then switch to different attacks. That would be the proper procedure. But Haseo... he wasn't the kind of ninja who was obsessed with Taijutsu and insisted on showing off how superior his Taijutsu skills were.
What was the goal here anyway? The limits of Taijutsu were clear enough—did Haseo actually believe he could prove his Taijutsu was better than Hashirama Senju's?
Yet he kept persisting with this close-range fighting. What for?
Rushing forward, breaking through, then rushing again—it was like dealing with a nuisance that wouldn't go away.
Then, the clash eased momentarily.
"Your chakra is rapidly depleting. It seems your unique Six Paths state isn't sustainable for long," the First Hokage slightly reined in his aura and said to Haseo, who stood not far away and already looked somewhat disheveled.
Haseo didn't bother explaining why his strength was fading gradually—he wasn't bound by any time limit of the Six Paths Sage state—and instead turned to ask the First Hokage, "Lord Hashirama, from time immemorial to today, from void to creation, do you think the total amount of chakra in the Ninjutsu World has ultimately decreased... or increased?"
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