Tobirama Senju drew in the Water Release chakra around him. His stern face was grave as he stared at the center of the golden halo. He could sense that the power held no hostility, yet it carried an absolute authority capable of suppressing everything.
The pale golden halo grew brighter and brighter, gradually taking shape as a tall, upright figure.
The figure slowly rose from the halo, clad in a white robe embroidered with intricate golden patterns. His long, snow-white hair fell to his waist, and faint golden motes of light swirled around him. His face was gentle yet solemn, and his eyes held the profound insight of one who could see through all the cause and effect, all the cycles of rebirth in the world.
He was not corporeal. His body was translucent, and the motes of light drifting around him made it clear that he was in spirit form.
Even so, the pressure emanating from his very bloodline and essence made everyone present lower their heads instinctively—including the four Hokage, the rampaging Ten-Tails, and even the mysterious young man in midair, whose killing intent faltered for an instant.
"Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki...?" Hashirama Senju stared at the figure, his pupils shrinking as his voice trembled with disbelief.
He had read accounts of the legendary progenitor of the shinobi in ancient texts. Hagoromo and his younger brother, Hamura, had sealed Kaguya and created order in the Shinobi World. He was the source from which all shinobi descended!
"Progenitor of the shinobi... the legendary Sage of Six Paths!?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged body trembled, his eyes filled with reverence as he bowed in greeting.
The other Allied Shinobi Forces were too stunned to speak. They fell to their knees, their faces filled with awe and shock. They had never imagined they would live to see a being as godlike as the one from the legends.
The mysterious young man in midair watched Hagoromo's spirit rise. His Nine Magatama Sharingan shifted slightly, a complex look flickering in his eyes—wariness, killing intent, and a fury that seemed to engulf the heavens.
Unlike the others, he did not bow. He stood coldly atop the Ten-Tails, staring fixedly at Hagoromo's spirit as he spoke in an icy voice. "So you've finally decided to show yourself, old man. I thought you'd hide until you completely faded away in the underworld."
"Who are you?" Hagoromo's voice was gentle, yet carried an unquestionable authority. It pierced the battlefield's silence and rang clearly in Genki's ears. "I can sense it clearly. The aura of your soul and the source of your chakra are both incompatible with this world's laws—you do not belong here!"
He paused, his gaze growing sharper as he pressed on, each word measured. "Why have you come to this world?"
His words exploded like thunder in the ears of the people below. Everyone's gaze snapped to Genki, their shock deepening.
"He doesn't belong to this world?" Naruto Uzumaki's pupils contracted as the golden chakra around him surged beyond his control. "He's from another world? No wonder his techniques and chakra are so strange!"
Hashirama Senju nodded gravely, the chakra of his Sage Mode remaining taut. An outsider with such terrifying power could hardly have come here for any simple reason.
Faced with Hagoromo's questions, Uchiha Genki merely lowered his eyes a little. The crimson light in his Nine Magatama Sharingan slowly turned, and his face remained utterly impassive, as though Hagoromo's scrutiny and wariness were nothing more than the needless anxiety of an insect.
His dark red robe stirred without a breeze, and his black hair whipped wildly. His icy killing intent spread once more like tangible, frigid mist, making the people below catch their breath.
After a moment, Genki slowly raised his eyes and met Hagoromo's gaze. There was no reverence in them, only pure indifference and undisguised killing intent.
His thin lips parted. His voice was as cold as an ancient frozen lake, without the slightest inflection, yet every word was laced with venom as it rang across the battlefield. "Me?"
He drew out the word, his tone edged with languid mockery, as if answering a question that didn't matter.
Then he slowly gave his name, every syllable carrying a resolve that cut to the bone. "My name is Uchiha Genki."
As the words fell, Genki's gaze turned fierce. The light in his Nine Magatama Sharingan blazed, and his chakra erupted like a volcano. The Ten-Tails' rigid body trembled as the force pulled at it.
He stared at Hagoromo, his indifference turning to undisguised savagery as he spoke, each word distinct. "I came here for one simple reason—to kill a few vermin who owe a blood debt. Then, while I'm at it, I'll take care of you!"
"What?!" The Allied Shinobi Forces below erupted in uproar, their faces filled with disbelief and fear.
Kill vermin?
Did this young man see all of them as vermin he could kill at will?
And he planned to take care of the legendary Lord Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki while he was at it?
It was sheer arrogance!
Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki furrowed his brow. The golden chakra around him grew heavier, and for the first time, a trace of anger showed in his gentle eyes. "Do you understand what you're saying? I am Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. I uphold order in the Shinobi World, sealed Kaguya, and protect the cycle of life and death. You are merely an outsider, yet you dare speak so arrogantly?"
"Order in the Shinobi World? Protecting the cycle of life and death?" Genki let out a low laugh, full of scorn and contempt. "What a ridiculous excuse! The order you speak of is nothing but a fig leaf, letting those scum kill as they please;
"Your so-called protection is just standing by as the Uchiha Clan is wiped out, watching my loved ones die without a care!"
His voice suddenly rose, and his killing intent swept across the battlefield like a tidal wave. "You owe me. You owe the Uchiha. Today, I'll make you pay your blood debt!"
As Hashirama Senju watched Genki grow more and more agitated, a nameless guilt welled up inside him. Though he had not personally witnessed the pain of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, he knew how horrific it had been.
And Lord Hagoromo, progenitor of the Shinobi World—perhaps he truly had reasons he could not explain? Nearby, Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged body trembled. The "vermin who owe a blood debt" Genki spoke of was likely referring to him—to those who had taken part in suppressing the Uchiha.
The atmosphere on the battlefield plunged to freezing point.
The golden motes around Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki stirred violently, and a sacred, immense pressure spread outward;
Uchiha Genki's killing intent surged skyward, his Nine Magatama Sharingan locked firmly on Hagoromo, his chakra raging at its peak.
The air between them seemed to solidify. A battle that could overturn the entire Shinobi World was about to begin.
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