Battle of the Giants

The center of the battlefield.

The forces on both sides had already moved far away, yet the atmosphere here had grown even heavier.

Hashirama faced the five Clan Heads of the Inuzuka, Aburame, and Ino-Shika-Cho alone. Even with great confidence in his own strength, his expression could not help turning grave.

The five Clan Heads exchanged glances. The Nara Clan Head gave the Aburame Clan Head and Yamanaka Clan Head a slight nod, deciding to test him first.

"Shadow Imitation Technique!"

"Secret Technique—Kikaichū!"

"Secret Technique—Mind Disruption Technique!"

The three attacked at once, closing in on Hashirama from three directions.

"Wood Style—Flower Tree World Descends!" Facing their attacks, Hashirama did not dodge. Towering trees erupted upward, attacking the five opponents while also blocking the assaults of the three.

Faced with Hashirama's attack, the others each used their own methods to evade.

The Inuzuka Clan Head's face darkened. Hashirama's attack this time was far too targeted at him. With pollen everywhere, his sensitive sense of smell simply could not endure it. The ninja hound beside him whined as well, clearly suffering just as badly.

The Inuzuka Clan Head stroked his partner's head and gritted his teeth. "Fang Turn Fang!" He and his ninja hound transformed into two human-shaped saws, tearing through Hashirama's forest.

Seeing that his opponents would not be so easily dealt with, Hashirama formed hand seals. "Wood Style—Wood Golem Technique!"

Several hundred meters away, Masahiko watched the dozens-of-meters-tall wooden giant Hashirama had formed in the distance and murmured, "It's my first time seeing Hashirama use this technique. It really is absurdly powerful. Without Sage Mode, this battle should be over—"

Halfway through, Masahiko's face stiffened. "Hey, hey, isn't this a little exaggerated...?"

Seeing Hashirama use the Wood Golem Technique, the Akimichi Clan Head finally made his move. With a Super Expansion Jutsu, he actually transformed into a giant more than a hundred meters tall. Next to him, the wooden giant looked like a child beside an adult.

Seeing Tobirama's worried expression, Masahiko said, "Relax. Maybe it only looks impressive..."

Before he could finish, Hashirama's wooden giant had its head smashed apart by a single punch.

"Holy shit! Was this fat family really this strong?"

In truth, this was Masahiko's misconception. The reason he thought the Akimichi Clan was not particularly strong was because, in the original work, the strongest member of the Akimichi Clan had only been Choji's father, Choza—an Elite Jonin.

The Akimichi Clan's Expansion Jutsu could undergo a qualitative change through sheer quantitative growth. When a Clan Head used Super Expansion Jutsu, the giant they became experienced a qualitative leap in strength.

Tobirama spoke up. "Second Grandfather, why would you think that? The Akimichi Clan is the second-strongest taijutsu clan in the Land of Fire. They are no weaker than the Kaguya..."

"Second-strongest in the Land of Fire?" Masahiko's mouth twitched. "Where did you put the Eight Inner Gates, then?"

"Eight Inner Gates? What is that?" Tobirama asked in confusion.

"I'd like to know what the Eight Inner Gates really are too, and where I can learn them..." Masahiko said slowly.

Before Masahiko found the correct way to use the system, he had once set his sights on the Eight Inner Gates. Back then, he had thought that since he had transmigrated here, even if he could not become strong, he should still blaze brilliantly for one fleeting instant.

In the original Fourth Shinobi War, when Madara first saw Might Guy open the seventh gate, he said, "So it isn't red steam. I've been underestimated." This proved that the Eight Inner Gates already existed during the Warring States era. Madara had likely witnessed the power of all Eight Gates being opened, though that person might not have been as strong as Might Guy. Before Madara obtained the Six Paths body, he had still been able to defeat them.

But Masahiko had searched bitterly for two years without discovering where the Might Clan was. Perhaps they passed down their art through a single line, with only one person in each generation; or perhaps, judging by how Might Guy passed it on to Rock Lee, they only taught it to people with thick eyebrows?

In the end, Masahiko had nearly pasted on a pair of thick eyebrows and gone wandering around...

As Masahiko thought about the Eight Inner Gates, he gradually forgot about Hashirama's ongoing battle until a tremor jolted him awake.

Looking up, he saw that Hashirama had formed an even larger wooden giant, nearly as tall as the Akimichi Clan Head. The two giants traded blows.

The other four Clan Heads could not intervene for the moment and could only interfere from the side.

"Wood Style—All-Binding Sack Technique!" Hashirama formed hand seals again, and dozens of arms grew from the wooden giant's body, reaching for the Akimichi Clan Head.

"Super Push Hand!" the Akimichi Clan Head shouted. His palms enlarged further, smashing the wooden hands apart one by one.

"Secret Technique—Shadow Sewing Technique!"

"Secret Technique—Fang Shatter Fang!"

"Secret Technique—Insect Jade!"

The three Clan Heads attacked simultaneously, instantly destroying more than half of Hashirama's wooden giant.

Hashirama was about to form another one when the Yamanaka Clan Head shouted, "Secret Technique—Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"

Though it could not control Hashirama, it dazed him for an instant. Faced with the Akimichi Clan Head's attack, there was no longer enough time to form another wooden giant.

"Summoning—Five Layered Rashomon!" Using the Five Layered Rashomon to block the attack for an instant, Hashirama formed another wooden giant.

The battle afterward fell into a deadlock. The other four clans provided support while the Akimichi Clan Head led the offense. The Battle of the Giants continued for half an hour without a victor.

By then, the Chakra of all six had been nearly half depleted, and they tacitly stopped fighting.

"Senju Clan Head, it seems our sides are evenly matched. We likely won't determine a victor anytime soon. How about we split the Chakra Conducting Metal equally? There is no need to fight to the death," the Nara Clan Head said after some thought.

Yet Hashirama sat cross-legged atop the wooden giant with his eyes closed, offering no reply.

"Senju Clan Head?" Seeing that Hashirama did not answer, the Nara Clan Head asked softly again.

"Not good! Attack him quickly, Akimichi Clan Head!" The Yamanaka Clan Head sensed something unusual in the Chakra emanating from Hashirama.

Hashirama opened his eyes. Two pale cyan markings appeared around them as Sage Mode activated!

"Sage Art—Gate of the Great God!" Several gates descended from the sky, firmly suppressing the Akimichi Clan Head. Even after shrinking his body, he could not escape.

"Not good, everyone be careful!" The Nara Clan Head was horrified and warned the others.

But against Hashirama, who had activated Sage Mode, it was useless.

"Sage Art—Wood Style—True Several Thousand Hands!" Hashirama pressed his palms together, creating a colossal Buddha hundreds of meters tall, covered in arms.

"Attack on the Gods!" Hundreds of enormous arms slammed down toward the ground.

In the distance, Masahiko smiled. "The battle is over!"

Sure enough, once the smoke cleared, the battlefield had become an enormous valley. Hashirama had already released Sage Mode and sat atop a tree root, regulating his breathing. Though the other four Clan Heads had avoided Attack on the Gods, its shockwaves had knocked them unconscious. The Akimichi Clan Head had suffered the worst. Pinned beneath the Gate of the Great God, he had endured the greatest force. Fortunately, the gates had also shielded him from most of Attack on the Gods, allowing him to survive.

After Hashirama regulated his breathing for five minutes, Tobirama had once again led his men into a standoff with the allied forces. All five Clan Head-level members of the alliance had fallen unconscious, and the allied army was on guard against the Senju Clan taking the opportunity to attack.

Hashirama looked at the opposing side and smiled. Rather than attacking again, he said:

"Let's go. Return to the clan and celebrate!"