"The gap is too wide... far too wide. Can we really defeat a monster like this?"

Watching his comrades fall one after another while he could do nothing to stop it, one Mist shinobi finally muttered in a daze.

At that moment, fear quietly began to spread through his heart.

And he wasn’t the only one.

No one knew how many Mist shinobi were thinking the exact same thing.

Most of them had heard of tailed beasts.

Some had even seen them before.

But never—

never had they seen a tailed beast like this.

A tailed beast completely given human form.

They had no idea what the true power of a form like this was supposed to be.

But now, they understood.

This colossal Nine-Tails did not only possess strength beyond imagination—

it also possessed terrifying agility.

At first, many of them had assumed that with a body so large, no matter how monstrous its power was, its movements couldn’t possibly be that fast or flexible.

Now they realized how disastrously wrong they had been.

With its giant legs bursting with speed that left people in despair, the humanoid Nine-Tails was an outright nightmare.

The slaughter continued without pause.

No one could stop it.

And standing atop the Nine-Tails’ head, hikaru watched the Mist shinobi continue to die beneath his hands, unable to stop himself from sighing inwardly.

Especially when he saw those shinobi who had already been butchered to the brink of collapse still forcing themselves forward, step by step, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

Tailed beasts truly were weapons of war.

That much was beyond doubt.

And Susanoo, in a sense, was an even more terrifying weapon of war.

Madara Uchiha had already proven that with his own actions.

hikaru could not recreate the full catastrophe of a tailed beast rampage.

But he could force a tailed beast into a Susanoo-like shape.

And when the forms of those two war machines overlapped—

their killing power became even more horrifying.

"Little guy, when will you let me fully master this power?"

As he controlled the towering Nine-Tails and continued sweeping through the surrounding Mist shinobi, hikaru couldn’t help asking silently.

"This power is unbelievable. I’d rather not stay shackled to a battle limit of only a few minutes forever."

"There’s nothing I can do about that."

Kurama’s voice sounded tired, though it was still steady enough.

"The power I’ve absorbed does help me grow, but it doesn’t match my nature very well.

"If it were just ordinary chakra, that would be one thing.

"But there’s far too much natural energy mixed in.

"That’s why I can’t fully control it.

"After all... I’m not you."

"Fair enough. Looks like I’ll just have to wait for you to keep growing."

Hearing Kurama’s explanation, hikaru could only sigh.

Still, his mood was good.

At the very least, he had finally experienced the second stage of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode!

And now that his arsenal had become more and more complete, there was even less reason for him to bet everything on a single power.

Under the identity of Senju hikaru, he had Flying Thunder God, Sage Mode—and soon, Advanced Sage Mode.

On top of that, he had Wood Release.

Whether it was single combat or crowd control, the "Senju hikaru" identity was already well-rounded.

Its only weakness was raw destructive intensity.

It required more thought, more planning, and more technical execution in battle.

But this mask identity was different.

At first, it could rely only on taijutsu.

Then it learned to compress and control Tailed Beast Bombs.

Now it could directly enter tailed beast form.

From that perspective, its toolkit was just as complete.

And even without using full tailed beast form, hikaru still had a Bloodline Elimination as his final trump card.

In terms of simple overwhelming power, this identity didn’t need complex strategy at all.

It could just crush forward with brute force.

Just like now.

The more clearly hikaru saw all this, the more he understood how to split these two identities apart.

Maybe it really wasn’t a bad thing if his real identity was just a little weaker.

But "a little weaker" didn’t mean giving up on improvement.

hikaru wanted both identities to stand at the very top of the shinobi world!

"Still... this alias probably shouldn’t use Aizen’s name after all. The personality gap is too big."

hikaru muttered inwardly.

At first he had considered using Gintoki, but once he changed his hair to black, that idea died instantly.

Later he’d considered Aizen, but he didn’t use hair gel, and this persona’s attitude didn’t quite fit either.

Soon enough, though, he thought of someone else—

a man from another world of soul manipulation who had nearly ascended to a heavenly level himself.

Since hikaru had already borrowed that man’s catchphrases so many times, borrowing his name didn’t seem like a big deal.

"But for now, let’s finish what’s in front of me first. The second stage of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode won’t last much longer."

After briefly gauging Kurama’s state, hikaru decided it was time to accelerate.

Controlling the giant Nine-Tails, he slammed both fists down into the ground.

The immense force made the earth quake violently.

Countless shinobi lost their footing and crashed to the ground.

Others were even less fortunate, tumbling directly into the deep fissures hikaru had carved into the battlefield earlier.

Taking advantage of the opening, hikaru leapt backward.

The massive Nine-Tails landed heavily on the ground, and hikaru raised his right hand.

Black chakra once more gathered wildly.

Under the second stage of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, that suffocating force of destruction bloomed to its fullest.

The black sphere condensed rapidly.

In only an instant, a large Tailed Beast Bomb had formed in his palm.

"Get out of the way!"

The moment the Mist shinobi saw this, every single one of them sensed disaster.

Especially those who had already witnessed a Tailed Beast Bomb collision before—they fled faster than anyone.

Even Genji’s expression changed.

He immediately moved as well, not daring to remain where he stood.

Yet even as he moved, he carefully tracked the direction of hikaru’s aim.

"Damn it!"

Only a moment later, he seemed to realize something.

His face instantly turned extremely ugly.

"That bastard’s target is the Mizukage Building!"

The instant Genji roared those words, every Mist shinobi realized the same thing.

But it was already too late.

Because hikaru’s Tailed Beast Bomb had already fully formed.

"Ninja Art: Tailed Beast Bomb!"

With the violent surge of chakra under his control, the black sphere shot forward like a star of annihilation.

It smashed through everything in its path.

Anyone or anything it touched was instantly shredded into powder by the densely compressed chakra.

Death and destruction loomed above every head, yet none of them had the power to stop it.

They could only watch as that massive black sphere, large enough to devour all things, blasted across the battlefield and tore through everything in front of it—

before finally hurtling straight toward the Mizukage Building in the distance, standing tall within the mist, the very symbol of Kirigakure’s highest authority and spiritual pride.

Inside Kirigakure, the civilians and lower-ranked shinobi who lacked the strength to join the front lines had all remained indoors.

None of them dared approach the battlefield.

They had no idea what exactly was happening.

Some shinobi with better access to information knew only that tonight, one clan in Kirigakure was likely about to vanish forever.

The village was too chaotic now.

The atmosphere too oppressive.

But even they were confused.

Did the Kaguya Clan really still have some hidden card left to play?

After all, the battle had dragged on for so long.

And earlier, there had even been that terrifying white flash that had turned night into day.

Coupled with the violent tremors, the entire situation felt deeply unsettling.

Still, whether they knew the details or not, most of them believed the village would handle it.

After all, so many shinobi had already rushed to the scene.

"Hm? What is that?"

Yet at that moment, some shinobi standing in the streets suddenly saw a black sphere flying straight toward them from afar.

The aura of death and destruction radiating from it seemed ready to swallow everything whole.

That black orb tore through everything in its path.

Houses and trees alike were no more than illusions before it.

The shinobi in the streets froze, stunned out of their wits.

The civilians looked on in complete confusion, having no idea what was happening.

Only when that black sphere blasted past them and slammed into the towering Mizukage Building—

only then did they begin to understand.

But by then, it was already far too late.

BOOM—!!!

A thunderous explosion shook the heavens.

Once again, the dark night was lit up in a blinding daylight.

For several long seconds, that false daylight remained.

Then orange and black fire burst into view, and the whole world seemed to fall silent.

An incomparably searing light flared into the sky.

A beam of pure destruction spread in all directions.

Everything touched by that light was consumed.

Everything touched by that light was destroyed.

The majestic Mizukage Building vanished in an instant.

The shinobi nearest to it were reduced to nothing at all.

And still, the wave of annihilation continued to spread, devouring and crushing everything around it.

From a distance, Genji watched the scene unfold.

At that moment, he was filled with uncontrollable rage—

but beneath that rage lay an even heavier sorrow.

Kirigakure had truly been humiliated by a single man.

Its pride had truly been ground into the dirt by a single enemy.

That bastard had, through his own strength alone, completely erased the spiritual symbol of Kirigakure.

And Genji was not the only one.

The surviving Mist shinobi felt no better.

Their hearts were filled with confusion, grief, helplessness, and despair.

This power had gone beyond all understanding.

This power had completely shattered their faith.

But after that confusion came something else—

something even stronger.

A towering flood of hatred surged through them.

Every single one of them turned back to glare at hikaru.

Their hatred and fury had become almost tangible, as if they wanted nothing more than to tear him apart on the spot.

"Do you understand what you’ve done?"

Genji’s voice rang out slowly and heavily.

At that moment, his chakra was already surging to its absolute limit.

"Do you understand how much destruction you’ve caused?

"How many innocent people will suffer because of what you’ve done?"

"Innocent people?"

hikaru flicked his hand lightly and looked toward Genji with cold amusement.

"Then if we’re going to talk about innocence..."

His tone turned mocking.

"Didn’t your side go much farther than I ever did?

"What about Wave Country?

"What about the Land of Whirlpools?

"So tell me, Elder—

how exactly would you explain that?"

Wave Country—the place where Naruto’s Team Seven had first met Zabuza.

A country of immense strategic value, ravaged by Water Country’s greed and violence.

And the Land of Whirlpools needed even less explanation.

hikaru had personally been there during the Third Shinobi War.

He had seen what that place had become.

And the current tragedy of the Uzumaki Clan—

while Konoha undeniably bore blame for not sending aid—

was also very much thanks to the good work of Kirigakure.

Of course, hikaru had no obligation to avenge those people.

But neither did he care in the slightest about the damage he had just caused.

Because strictly speaking—

they were already in a state of war.

"In war, who doesn’t die?"

Genji barked angrily.

But the moment the words left his mouth, he froze.

Because he instantly realized he had said the wrong thing.

So he didn’t allow hikaru the chance to continue.

He immediately raised his staff high and shouted,

"Brave shinobi of Kirigakure!

"We stand now at the brink of life and death!

"Feel the hatred in your hearts—

and unleash it all!"

"Yes!"

All the Mist shinobi roared as one.

This time, their presence became even fiercer.

This time, their voices became even louder.

Hatred truly was one of the easiest ways to strengthen morale.

Whenever the great shinobi villages wanted war, they always relied on hatred to ignite the masses.

It was the simplest and most effective method.

And now, the Mist shinobi were no different.

They were grieving soldiers.

The pain and humiliation inside them could easily be transformed into ferocious combat will.

"Go back immediately."

After igniting the emotions of the entire Mist force, Genji immediately grabbed one of the shinobi beside him and said in a low voice,

"What just happened will have alerted many others.

"Get everyone into the underground shelters immediately.

"As fast as possible!"

"Yes, Great Elder!"

The jōnin he seized answered immediately and turned at once, sprinting toward the village center.

"ROOOAAAR—!"

At that moment, the Fourth Mizukage—who had been undergoing full transformation behind them—finally moved.

An enormous amount of chakra burst out from his body.

Thick smoke billowed wildly outward, swallowing the battlefield whole.

Both hikaru and the Mist shinobi were engulfed in the haze.

Within that smoke, every one of them could clearly sense that a true monster had emerged.

"The Three-Tails—it’s the Three-Tails!"

"It’s the Fourth Mizukage! He’s finally here!"

"You bastard! You’re not leaving Kirigakure alive!"

As the violent chakra spread outward without restraint, the Mist shinobi could no longer suppress themselves.

In their eyes, only another tailed beast could truly deal with a tailed beast.

As long as the Fourth Mizukage had fully transformed, and they supported him with harassment and suppression, then surely—

surely they could kill this madman who had dared invade Kirigakure.

What they didn’t know was that beneath the fox mask, hikaru was smiling.

Obito was annoyingly slow.

hikaru had waited this long, and only now had the man finally completed the full tailed beast transformation.

For a moment, hikaru even wondered if Obito had deliberately dragged things out, hoping he’d kill off more Mist shinobi first.

Still, hikaru didn’t care anymore.

His objective had already been reached.

As the smoke dispersed, hikaru tilted his head slightly as he looked at the monstrous Three-Tails.

Even lying flat on the ground, its height alone nearly matched the upright height of hikaru’s humanoid Nine-Tails.

Its full body mass was even more absurd.

Still, no matter how massive it was, judging by chakra quality alone, this Three-Tails had not reached hikaru’s level at all.

It was still in a heavily suppressed state.

Under Obito’s forced control, its chakra conversion rate was probably not even fifty percent.

As far as hikaru remembered, the only jinchūriki who could truly reach near-complete conversion in tailed beast form was Killer B.

"Full tailed beast transformation, hm?"

hikaru’s calm voice echoed through the battlefield, still carrying that same mocking edge.

"Then why does your chakra feel so... strange?"

The next second, his body blurred.

The ten-meter-tall Nine-Tails he controlled lunged instantly toward the Three-Tails.

Then, without hesitation, it slammed a fist directly into the Three-Tails’ face.

The giant golden fist ripped through the air with a deafening howl.

BOOM!

A heavy impact exploded across the battlefield.

At the point of contact, a visible pressure wave burst outward in every direction.

The gigantic Three-Tails let out a furious roar and was knocked several steps backward.

But it clearly had no intention of letting things end there.

Though its head had taken that brutal blow, its will was completely under Obito’s control.

With another roar, one of its tails swept savagely toward hikaru.

A hurricane-like gust exploded outward, blasting away even more Mist shinobi who had already been thrown off balance.

hikaru reacted instantly.

Before the gale even reached him, he had already jumped back.

Even if he didn’t fear such an attack, he had no reason to take it head-on.

The tail struck nothing.

But the Three-Tails didn’t care in the slightest.

Obito had anticipated that attack missing from the start.

So the moment the beast stabilized itself, it opened its mouth at once.

Another Tailed Beast Bomb.

Obito clearly had no concern whatsoever about fighting inside Kirigakure.

Of course, as an outsider—and in truth, as someone whose real allegiance lay with Konoha—hikaru had no reason to hold back.

But Obito’s position was completely different.

Which only proved one thing:

his hatred for Kirigakure had reached the extreme.

Buzz—!

The enormous Tailed Beast Bomb shot from the Three-Tails’ mouth.

This time its formation speed was vastly faster than before.

hikaru, of course, was no slower.

He raised a hand again, and a massive amount of chakra condensed in an instant.

A black Tailed Beast Bomb rapidly formed in his palm as well.

But this time, his brow furrowed slightly.

Because he could feel the second stage of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode beginning to stiffen.

"Is it reaching the limit already?"

He thought to himself.

The second stage really was beyond imagination.

Even leaving everything else aside, the ability to manifest this giant Nine-Tails construct alone was enough to solve countless problems.

But sadly, it could not be sustained.

At least, not yet.

"Even I’m disappointed," Kurama said in his mind, "but it can’t be helped.

"It took me months to gather enough chakra for this.

"You burned through it in a few minutes.

"I think you’re in no position to complain."

"I’m not complaining.

"I’m just regretting it."

hikaru silently replied, a little annoyed.

"It’s just that stopping right after you finally start having fun feels awful."

"When my strength recovers more fully, maybe you won’t have to feel that way."

Kurama clearly failed to catch the second layer of meaning and answered him completely seriously.

"Enough. That Tailed Beast Bomb is coming.

"From here on, you’ll only be able to maintain the first stage."

hikaru didn’t answer.

He simply launched his own Tailed Beast Bomb forward.

He truly did not care how much damage he caused in this village.

If Obito wanted to play this game, then he would accompany him to the end.

"Run! Fall back!"

"Earth Release users—get together and use defensive walls! Stop the shockwave from spreading into the village!"

The moment the second pair of black spheres appeared, the Mist shinobi were no fools.

They immediately scattered in all directions.

And as they ran, they rapidly regrouped, concentrating toward the line leading into the center of the village, where they began erecting their strongest defensive jutsu.

When the two Tailed Beast Bombs collided once more, the resulting explosion was even more monstrous than before.

hikaru himself was forced back several steps.

Then he focused all his chakra on defense, bracing against the aftershock.

Fortunately, even at the edge of collapse, the defensive power of second-stage Nine-Tails Chakra Mode remained incredibly strong.

It still shielded him from the full force of the blast.

Rumble... Rumble—!!!

The explosion tore across the edge of Kirigakure once again.

The entire earth shook madly.

This time, even the areas outside the village could feel it.

In the nearest small town, people sensed the tremor clearly, though by the time it reached them it was much weaker.

"What’s going on? That’s the third or fourth shake tonight. This one was the strongest."

"No idea. Hopefully it’s just an earthquake..."

The shinobi stationed there looked at one another in confusion.

They had no idea what was happening, but they knew this was no ordinary incident.

As for the civilians and shinobi already gathered in the underground shelters after the Mizukage Building was destroyed, especially following Genji’s urgent warning—

when they felt this second wave of terrifying tremors, many of them could only cling to one another in terror.

Despair of this kind was not something anyone could endure calmly.

Standing amid the ruins, hikaru’s once flowing chakra cloak had disappeared.

What remained was the golden fitted chakra attire of the first stage.

His body still showed no visible injuries.

But all around him was utter ruin.

After the Tailed Beast Bombs’ destruction, what remained was only devastation.

The earth was scarred beyond recognition.

The terrain had become completely twisted and broken.

Shinobi lay scattered everywhere.

Some had already been turned into mangled flesh by the explosions.

Many others no longer had bodies to find at all.

The defensive ninjutsu they had thrown up had failed to protect them.

The distance had simply been too close.

At this point, the number of surviving shinobi was not down to one in ten—

but it was still only around thirty or forty percent of what had gathered here.

Genji sat blankly on the ground.

Looking at what remained of the battlefield, he was heartbroken.

This level of loss was something not even major battles in the Great Ninja Wars always produced.

And yet now, it had happened right in front of him.

How could he not feel grief and fury?

Behind him, at least, the route toward the village center had not suffered severe damage.

The deeper parts of the village were still largely intact.

But that brought him no comfort at all.

That safety had been bought with the lives of his shinobi.

"This... is this the power of a god?"

Turning his head, Genji looked toward the golden figure still standing upright in the ruins and couldn’t help muttering under his breath.

The power of a tailed beast had always been beyond ordinary understanding.

That was why such beings were treated as strategic weapons.

But if one person could use such a strategic weapon to such perfection—

erasing all its weaknesses—

then wasn’t that power fit only for a god?

The thought made Genji’s despair deepen.

He still didn’t know exactly what this man wanted.

But he knew one thing clearly:

if this continued, Kirigakure was truly doomed.

BOOM!

Just as Genji’s despair reached its peak, the ground suddenly began shaking violently again.

The smoke was torn apart as a huge spinning object crashed toward hikaru like a giant wheel.

hikaru immediately leapt away.

Of course he knew exactly what it was.

This was the Three-Tails’ desperate final technique.

Still, the beast’s mobility exceeded even his expectations.

Its enormous body tilted and adjusted in mid-roll, continuing to chase him.

"What a nuisance. Earth Release: Miles-Long Earth Flow Ramparts!"

hikaru was fast and agile, yes—

but the Three-Tails’ size and rolling speed were ridiculous.

One full spin from that thing covered almost as much ground as one of his Body Flickers.

Simply dodging forever was not a solution.

More importantly, hikaru was already growing tired of fighting in this place.

Continuing to waste chakra on the Three-Tails was simply not worth it.

He still had Obito to deal with.

If he continued draining himself here, then the exchange really would become inefficient.

Taking a breath, hikaru stood behind the gigantic earthen wall he had raised and slowly drew his ninja blade.

At that moment, the chakra inside him began surging wildly.

In particular, the power born from the fusion of his three chakra natures began resonating fiercely with Kurama’s chakra.

Then, with one-handed seals, he created a shadow clone.

The clone glanced at him, then gave a silent nod before vanishing in a blur.

BOOM!

The rampart shattered instantly.

The Three-Tails reappeared before him.

Only then did hikaru notice how poor the beast’s condition had become.

Its body was covered in wounds.

Of course, for a tailed beast, those external injuries meant little.

The real problem was almost certainly Yagura himself.

The Three-Tails turned and looked toward hikaru again.

Then it hunched its body and tucked itself behind the heavy shell on its back.

The next second, with a violent burst of strength, it transformed once more into a rolling wheel and charged straight toward him.

This time, hikaru did not dodge.

His blade already shone with interwoven gold and silver light.

Behind him, the phantom of a silver-haired woman silently appeared once again.

She was cold.

Proud.

Remote beyond measure.

At that instant, petals seemed to ripple along his blade.

The Three-Tails noticeably faltered for a fraction of a second.

And in that brief moment, hikaru distinctly sensed something like fear coming from within the beast.

But the Three-Tails could not resist.

It was completely under Obito’s control.

So it could only roar and keep rolling forward like a berserk avalanche.

"Ninja Art: Konohanasakuya-hime."

hikaru gazed at it indifferently and brought the blade down.

The sword tore through the air.

A silver, invisible blade-edge blossomed into existence and cut across the battlefield, racing straight toward the Three-Tails.

The earth once more began trembling violently.

A huge crack appeared noiselessly before hikaru’s feet.

The dazzling slash of intertwined white and gold collided directly with the Three-Tails’ massive body.

At that moment, heaven and earth lost all color.

Genji and the surviving Mist shinobi stared blankly at the scene before them.

And in that instant, all of them became certain of it.

"This..."

Their voices trembled.

"This is the power of a god..."

◇ One bonus Chapter will be released for every 150 Power Stones.

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