Elder Brother, You're Not Dead!

At this moment, on the edge of the battlefield, Natsu Yuu and Hashirama were also watching the entire battle.

Seeing Tobirama struck by the strange Six Paths Tools, Hashirama grew somewhat anxious.

"Sir, what exactly are the effects of those [Six Paths Tools]? Was Tobirama defeated by these tools?"

Clearly, this was Hashirama's first time witnessing the [Six Paths Tools] in actual combat.

Back when he was alive, Kumogakure wouldn't dare so much as fart, let alone use these toys against him.

Back then, the entire Kumogakure force couldn't subdue the Nine-Tails and suffered heavy casualties. Hashirama alone could capture all Nine Tailed Beasts alive—the gap was obvious to any fool.

But in this World 2, with Hashirama dead, the lawless Kinkaku and Ginkaku feared nothing and dared to challenge anyone.

Seeing this, Natsu Yuu gave a brief explanation.

The [Six Paths Tools] totaled five items.

The [Amber Purifying Pot] stood alone: 'If it calls your name and you answer, you'll be sucked in and sealed.'

The [Basho Fan] was next: 'The wielder can freely unleash all five elemental attacks.'

The [Kōkinjō], [Seven Star Sword], and [Crimson Gourd] formed a set: 'The first, upon contact, forces the target to speak their verbal tic as a Word Spirit.' 'The second can cut and display that Word Spirit.' 'The third stores the Word Spirit.'

Once the Crimson Gourd stored a target's Word Spirit, it became extremely dangerous: when the target spoke a keyword, remained silent for too long, or uttered a word with a similar sound to the keyword, they would be sucked into the gourd!

Hashirama couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this. He hadn't expected the [Six Paths Tools] to be so bizarre.

Without this knowledge, any ninja facing them would be in grave danger!

Before one's power surpassed a certain threshold, information warfare was critically important for ninja.

Even Hashirama himself might be caught off guard and sucked into that [Amber Purifying Pot].

Of course, Hashirama didn't believe a single tool could seal him.

But for Tobirama, the situation was now extremely dire.

'Damn Cloud Ninja bastards!'

'Love my ass, the Uchiha.'

'Everyone knows I despise the evil Uchiha Clan; well, except for Izuna Uchiha and Kagami...'

'This bastard even dares to mock and laugh at me!'

'He deserves to die!'

Burning with rage, Tobirama was also panicking.

He had no idea what the specific effects of the enemy's [Six Paths Tools] were. Now that his verbal tic 'Word Spirit' had been collected, he didn't know what kind of blow was coming.

If he dragged this out any longer, he might lose immediately.

He had to end the fight right now!

"Whoosh!"

Ginkaku, who was gloating, noticed Tobirama suddenly vanish in the distance.

Did he use that slippery [Flying Thunder God Technique] again? Where did he flash to this time?

No matter where he flashed, with his Word Spirit already collected, he couldn't escape. Even if he didn't speak, he'd be sucked into the [Crimson Gourd] soon enough.

But the next moment.

Tobirama suddenly appeared behind him, a samurai sword piercing straight through Ginkaku's heart!

"Pshh—!"

"You, how could you..."

Ginkaku turned his head with difficulty, staring at Tobirama in utter disbelief.

Tobirama didn't respond. He swiftly withdrew his blade and retreated.

Earlier, during the retreat, he had used a Shadow Clone to deliberately approach Ginkaku and secretly left a 'Flying Thunder God seal' on him.

His original plan was to wait until Kinkaku and Ginkaku were close together, then teleport in and take them both out at once.

But now that his Word Spirit had been collected, he didn't know how much longer he could hold out. He had no choice but to use this killing move and take out Ginkaku first.

It was precisely because he had left this seal that Tobirama dared to stay behind alone to fight the Kinkaku Force.

"Ginkaku!"

"Raaah!"

"You actually killed Ginkaku..."

Kinkaku instantly flew into a rage.

The Tailed Beast Chakra within him erupted, quickly coating him in a dark red Tailed Beast Cloak, with six tails sprouting from his rear.

[Half-Tailed Beast Transformation]

In this state, Kinkaku lost most of his rationality, becoming violent and aggressive.

At the same time, all his physical abilities surged dramatically, his attack power skyrocketed, and protected by the Tailed Beast Cloak, he was nearly invulnerable to injury, reaching peak Kage-level combat power.

"This is... Nine-Tails chakra?"

"How does Ginkaku have the power of the Nine-Tails?!"

Tobirama was startled once more. The Nine-Tails was still sealed inside Mito, so where did this guy get Nine-Tails chakra?

He'd heard long ago that Kumogakure had formed a team to capture the Nine-Tails, but they'd failed.

Could he have obtained it back then?

And in a Six-Tails form at that?

This level was no joke!

If he were at his peak, he could have toyed with this beast to death using just Flying Thunder God.

But not now. The chakra he had left could only fuel one or two more jutsu at most—he couldn't outlast this monster!

Still.

Tobirama never fought a battle unprepared. Seeing Ginkaku enter Half-Tailed Beast Transformation, he immediately triggered his final trap.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

Three coffins burst from the ground in the center of the battlefield. Three Impure World Reincarnation ninjas shot out from the coffins, lunged straight at Ginkaku, and detonated the explosive tags plastered all over their bodies.

Forbidden Jutsu—Mutual Explosion Tag!

A technique that continuously summoned explosive tags and triggered a chain of concentrated, pinpoint blasts. Its attack range was vast, its duration long, and its power terrifying.

"BOOM—!"

A massive explosion rose in wave after wave, blinding firelight illuminating a vast stretch of the night sky.

The blast lasted over two full minutes.

The intense shockwave nearly flattened the surrounding area for hundreds of meters.

"Is this all the power it has? As I thought, chakra is the limiting factor..."

Tobirama frowned in regret.

Mutual Explosion Tag couldn't be copied out of thin air—ultimately, it relied on chakra to sustain it.

The reason the Impure World Tobirama's Mutual Explosion Tag had unleashed such devastating power during the Fourth Great Ninja War was fundamentally due to the infinite chakra advantage of the Impure World Body.

Right now, Tobirama was crippled by chakra depletion, so naturally he couldn't bring out the full might of the Mutual Explosion Tag.

The explosion ended quickly, but smoke still lingered, and Tobirama couldn't gauge the enemy's condition.

With this level of power alone, he couldn't guarantee killing a Half-Tailed Beast Transformation Ginkaku.

But he had done all he could.

Dragging his heavily wounded body and his meager remaining chakra, he had nearly annihilated the entire Kinkaku Force.

He had achieved his goal.

Monkey and the others should be able to escape safely back to Konoha by now.

"ROAR—!"

From the center of the battlefield, a roar erupted.

A massive surge of chakra blasted outward, scattering all the smoke and revealing the Half-Tailed Beast Transformation Ginkaku.

The Mutual Explosion Tag had taken out every other Cloud Ninja, but it failed to kill Ginkaku.

The latter was still roaring with full vigor.

"As I thought, I couldn't kill this beast!"

"Damn tailed beast, Hagoromo—its defense is absurd!"

Tobirama cursed viciously. If only he'd known, he would have snuck a few more Forbidden Jutsu past Elder Brother back in the day!

But Elder Brother wouldn't allow it!

Sigh. If only Elder Brother were still here, everything would be fine.

On the other side.

The tailed beast Ginkaku opened its massive mouth and spat out Ginkaku, who was barely clinging to life.

Just moments ago, relying on what little sanity remained, he had swallowed the gravely wounded Ginkaku into his belly, barely managing to save his life.

Otherwise, Ginkaku—with his heart pierced—would have been blown to pieces by the explosive tags.

Now, the rampaging Ginkaku locked his target onto Tobirama.

"SWISH—"

One tail instantly extended hundreds of meters, stabbing toward Tobirama at a speed that took only the blink of an eye!

Tobirama activated the Flying Thunder God again, teleporting away.

But the moment he landed, three tails thrust at him once more.

With his chakra completely depleted, Tobirama had no strength left to dodge.

He could only barely block one tail with his ninja sword, but the other two pierced through his left arm and abdomen.

Seeing Tobirama defeated, Kinkaku grew even more arrogant, quickly retracting his tails and beginning to gather a [Tailed Beast Bomb].

He intended to use a single [Tailed Beast Bomb] to utterly annihilate Tobirama Senju!

"Cough--!"

Tobirama spat out a mouthful of blood, more battered than ever before.

It seemed he couldn't escape this calamity.

He never thought he'd end up losing to these two Kumogakure beasts.

When he died and met Izuna in the underworld, he wondered how the guy would mock him.

Too shameful!

"Woom--!"

A fist-sized [Tailed Beast Bomb] took shape and shot toward Tobirama at extreme speed.

This [Tailed Beast Bomb] hadn't been charged for long, nor had it gathered much yin-yang chakra, so its power was limited.

But limited as it was, it was still an S-rank jutsu with the greatest destructive force, easily capable of blowing up several hundred meters around it.

Even at his peak, Tobirama couldn't withstand a Tailed Beast Bomb explosion with his bare body.

Let alone in his current nearly paralyzed state.

Hit it, and death was certain!

"Tobirama!"

On the verge of death, Tobirama thought he heard the most familiar call from his Elder Brother, and saw that familiar figure flash before him.

Was this the life flashing before his eyes before death?

Elder Brother, I've let you down!

I can no longer lead the village forward.

I believe Monkey and the others will surely inherit the Will of Fire and protect the village well!

Tobirama was dejected and resigned, ready to meet his end.

But he suddenly realized that the figure of his Elder Brother Hashirama appearing before him was no illusion.

Instead, he directly slapped the incoming [Tailed Beast Bomb] away.

"Boom--!"

The Tailed Beast Bomb flew off at an angle, exploding violently a kilometer away. The scorching, violent shockwave tore up countless trees, its power terrifying.

Tobirama stared blankly at this scene, his mind grinding to a halt.

This wasn't an illusion?

He wasn't dreaming?

It really was Elder Brother?!!