After a moment, the battlefield fell into uneasy silence.
The land was scarred and battered, rivers of molten rock scattered in jagged patches, remnants of the earlier chaos.
At the center of it all, Yui Xuanyue stood behind a massive protective barrier that still held firm.
Footsteps echoed from within the barrier, and a crack slowly split it open. Yui Xuanyue emerged from the barrier, completely calm and unhurried.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Volley!"
The First Kazekage, Retsuto, wasted no time. Hands flashing through a rapid series of hand seals, dozens of spinning wind blades, each as tall as a man, shot from every direction toward Xuanyue.
Xuanyue didn't even glance at them. With a flicker of speed, they vanished, effortlessly evading every razor-sharp gust.
Meanwhile, the First Tsuchikage, Ishikawa, slammed his hands against the ground.
"Earth Release: Nether Swamp!"
In an instant, the earth within several hundred meters of Xuanyue turned into a massive, sucking quagmire.
Moving through the mud, Xuanyue slowed, their steps hampered by the treacherous terrain.
"So quickly you've adapted?" Xuanyue murmured, halting, twisting their torso and delivering a brutal punch toward the suddenly appearing First Mizukage, Byakuren.
Bang! Water splashed everywhere.
Byakuren's head cracked open like a watermelon, and their body collapsed, flowing like liquid.
"Water clone."
Xuanyue's eyes flicked over the aftermath, ready to turn away.
But the dissolving water clone began to coalesce unnaturally, twisting into long, whip-like streams that wrapped tightly around Xuanyue's body.
"Got you!"
Byakuren's figure rose again from the muddy river below, one hand gripping the end of a water whip, eyes icy, fixed on Xuanyue.
Xuanyue glanced down at the water whip, coiled around them like a binding seal, and then back at Byakuren, a smirk tugging at the corner of their mouth.
"Oh? Really?"
Byakuren instinctively tightened their grip.
A pop!—Xuanyue vanished into a wisp of white smoke.
"A shadow clone? When—?"
"Shadow clone?"
From outside the battle, Senju Hashirama and the others exchanged surprised glances.
The shadow clone was an invention of Tobirama. He knew it well—but when had it spread beyond Konoha?
Tobirama ignored Hashirama's questioning eyes. His face was impassive, but inside he seethed:
That's my jutsu! My shadow clone!
For the first time, Tobirama felt the sting of someone freeloading off his invention.
Of course, this wouldn't be the last time. Xuanyue's shadow clones hadn't been "licensed" or paid for—they had merely learned by watching, with talent enough to mimic bloodline abilities effortlessly.
Indeed, it was a remarkable cloning technique. Sharingan or Byakugan couldn't distinguish the fake from the real, and Byakuren was no exception.
For now.
Ishikawa, still bracing against the ground, turned his gaze sharply.
"The earth is my domain. Xuanyue, you dodged once, but you won't escape twice."
The ground trembled. Massive hands of earth burst from below, clawing at space.
Xuanyue appeared again, shaking their head in mock admiration.
"Retsuto, the glory of your Wind Release stops here," they murmured.
With a clap of their hands, Xuanyue shouted,
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
A towering wall of water surged behind Xuanyue, sweeping away the mud hands and turning the bubbling lava beneath them into a vast, calm sea.
Ishikawa retreated quickly.
Byakuren slammed both hands into the water. Unlike most Fire Shadows, whose mastery of Fire Release was unmatched, Byakuren's Water Release was unparalleled, befitting his title as Mizukage.
"Water Release: Water Fang Barrage!"
Whirlpools erupted around Byakuren, spinning rapidly and solidifying into dozens of water pillars that surged toward Xuanyue.
But this was only the beginning.
Leveraging the battlefield advantage Xuanyue had created, Byakuren could maximize his power while expending minimal energy.
Yet Xuanyue anticipated it.
Calmly, they formed a single hand seal.
"Ice Release: Ice Fang Barrage."
Crack! Crack! Crack!
All the incoming water pillars froze midair, turning into lethal ice pillars. At Xuanyue's command, the frozen projectiles reversed course, hurtling toward Byakuren, Ishikawa, Retsuto, and A.
Boom! Heavy ice spikes slammed into the water, sending torrents of spray skyward.
Byakuren grimaced, dodging furiously, thoughts racing:
The Ice Release of the Yukino clan… How many bloodline limits does this Xuanyue possess?
It wasn't just him. Retsuto, Ishikawa, A, the observing Tobirama, and five future Second Generation Kage were stunned.
Xuanyue's talent exceeded even their wildest expectations.
Bloodline limits—just one could make a clan formidable, a power to shape the shinobi world. Yet Xuanyue wielded five in rapid succession: Steel, Speed, Lava, Intangibility, and Ice.
Before this, the maximum anyone had ever mastered was two.
The contrast was staggering, unprecedented.
"Unbelievable… how can someone like this exist in the shinobi world?"
Hoto Gengetsu, the future Second Mizukage, scratched his head, astonished. At first, he and the other future Second Generation Kage had doubted that five Kage fighting a single opponent was necessary—it felt like firing a cannon at a mosquito.
Now, they understood. Against Xuanyue, only the current Fire Shadow might be an even match. The rest would falter.
Tobirama spoke, nodding rarely:
"Precisely why someone like this must be eliminated."
He respected Xuanyue's achievements as a prodigy but understood the political reality: such a young, powerful figure could not exist unchecked.
Xuanyue was too young. By the time their generation faded, no one could restrain them.
"Blame it on being born in the wrong era," Tobirama muttered, eyes shifting toward the observing Hashirama.
With a brother like him, even the most dazzling talent would eventually fade. Tobirama knew this truth well.
End of Chapter