"Impure World Reincarnation!"
Senju Tobirama, striking first, pressed his hands together. A series of tadpole-like patterns immediately spread across the ground beneath his feet, forming a huge Summoning Jutsu formula. Then four coffins rose from its markings.
"Playing with the souls of the dead again, Senju Tobirama? You really are despicable."
Kinkaku was so disgusted he felt like throwing up.
Senju Tobirama's Chakra couldn't compare to Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who possessed Nine-Tails Chakra. Half the reason he'd managed to hold out against them for so long was the [Impure World Reincarnation], which feared no death and gave its users unlimited Chakra.
On top of that, Senju Tobirama had no shortage of supplies. His space scrolls were stuffed full of Explosive Tags.
The [Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags] technique had been developed to work alongside [Impure World Reincarnation]. Like a reanimated corpse bomb, it kept summoning and detonating Explosive Tags as soon as it touched its target, continuing until the target was blown to ashes. It had left the two brothers covered in dust and looking utterly bedraggled.
"Despicable?"
"You two rebels, who betrayed your village's leader and tried to seize power, have the nerve to call someone else despicable?"
Senju Tobirama sneered in disdain. He controlled the four reanimated corpses in the coffins, all covered in Explosive Tags, and sent them rushing toward Kinkaku and Ginkaku. The dead were the perfect counter to their Six Paths Sacred Treasures.
If not for the brothers' Tailed Beast Cloaks, which made them tough-skinned and quick to react, one of them would have already fallen to Senju Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Technique.
It was just like when he'd first used it to kill Uchiha Izuna, Madara Uchiha's younger brother, who had also awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Space-time ninjutsu had the advantage of catching an opponent off guard; even the slightest delay in their reaction meant defeat and death.
"Basho Fan!"
As four reanimated corpses rushed toward them, each with strength barely on par with an Elite Jonin, Kinkaku stepped forward. He held the Six Paths Sacred Treasure known as the Basho Fan, which resembled a peacock's fanned tail and was colored red and white.
This powerful weapon could release all five nature transformations—fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth—regardless of the user's own Chakra nature. Its only drawback was that each use consumed half a Jonin's Chakra.
Kinkaku swung the Basho Fan hard toward the front.
A raging sea of flames burst out from the fan. The four reanimated corpses all spat Water Dragon Bullets, which crashed into the flames and evaporated into a cloud of scorching mist.
The reanimated corpses had unlimited Chakra and released one ninjutsu after another in an attempt to get close to Kinkaku and Ginkaku, but Kinkaku's Basho Fan blocked them all. As long as they kept the reanimated corpses covered in Explosive Tags from getting close, the threat to the brothers was practically zero.
Ginkaku watched Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Takeyasu with interest. He preferred fighting the living to fighting reanimated corpses.
But there was no need to hurry. Though the brothers were reckless and quick-tempered, they weren't fools. Konoha's deadly infighting would save them a great deal of effort.
In a way, Kinkaku and Ginkaku both wanted to cheer Uchiha Takeyasu on. They were worried that Senju Tobirama, with his endless forbidden techniques, might find a way to take them both down before he died.
More importantly, having achieved their strategic objective for this mission by killing the Second Raikage, the brothers didn't actually have to kill Senju Tobirama—unless they got carried away in the heat of battle.
What they wanted most was to return and take control of Kumogakure.
"Now it's your turn, you evil Uchiha brat!"
With his deep understanding of human nature, Senju Tobirama left Kinkaku and Ginkaku to the reanimated corpses and focused his attention on Uchiha Takeyasu.
There were really two choices before him.
The first was to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to retreat. Without the burden of anyone slowing him down, even with little Chakra left, Senju Tobirama could safely make it to the edge of the forest and be met by the Konoha Military.
The second was to kill Uchiha Takeyasu with a single slash, just as he had killed Uchiha Izuna, seize or destroy his Mangekyō Sharingan, and then leave in style.
He had to prevent the emergence of another Uchiha powerhouse like Madara Uchiha, with his Eternal Mangekyo. Without Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, all of Konoha might sink beneath the Uchiha Clan's evil rule.
Driven by decades of combat experience and his sense of duty, Senju Tobirama chose the second option without hesitation. He repeatedly threw kunai inscribed with the Flying Thunder God Formula at the annoying Uchiha brat.
Senju Tobirama, whose strength was close to that of a Super Kage, was no match for the six who had yet to reach their peak, including Hiruzen Sarutobi. Uchiha Takeyasu didn't dare let his guard down for a moment. Before coming, he had already sent Tachibana back through Summoning Jutsu.
His Katana kept knocking aside the incoming kunai, either with a parry or a slash. At the same time, the map ability of his left eye, [Amenotokotachi], was fully activated, and he concentrated on gathering information about his surroundings. The space-shifting ability of his right eye was also ready at any moment.
(For now, the enemy knows where I am, but I'm still in the dark. Senju Tobirama has no idea I can shift through space.)
In a clash between space-time teleportation ninjutsu, life and death were decided in the blink of an eye. If he failed this time, his next chance to kill with a single strike would be vanishingly slim.
Uchiha Takeyasu kept his composure, deliberately controlling where the kunai landed as he moved toward Senju Tobirama. He also threw out some taunts, unsure whether they'd work, hoping to distract Senju Tobirama and draw his hatred.
"Come to think of it, your Senju Clan really is pitiful, saddled with a Clan Head like Hashirama Senju."
"You had the strength to sweep through the chaotic age, yet you chose to establish Konoha in the Land of Fire. Wouldn't it have been better to found a nation that unified the entire Ninja World?"
"Look. The moment Hashirama Senju died, the Land of Lightning jumped at the chance. How many of your Senju Clan have died in this Ninja World War?"
"One incompetent general makes the whole army suffer."
"You're a fool too, Senju Tobirama. If I were the Second, I'd mobilize every shinobi clan in the village and crush Kumogakure with overwhelming force. Not only would that completely intimidate the other villages, it would also reduce the number of casualties among our own shinobi."
"Take a look at the Senju Clan Compound in Konoha. How many young men are even left?"
"If all your young men are gone, we Uchiha would be more than happy to help the Senju Clan continue its lineage. For instance, Tsunade..."
"Shut up, you evil Uchiha brat!"
When he heard him bring up Tsunade, the Senju Clan's only remaining direct descendant, Senju Tobirama's expression darkened at once. His killing intent nearly condensed into a tangible current of air, chilling the surroundings by several degrees.
"Don't get so worked up."
Uchiha Takeyasu smiled without warmth. "Speaking for myself, I wouldn't mind gaining the Senju as in-laws. Once we have children, they'll be Konoha's natural heirs. No one else will even be qualified to challenge them."
"The Hokage Position will be passed down from generation to generation through Senju and Uchiha bloodlines. If they awaken the Mangekyo and Wood Release, they'll be the Ninja World's natural emperors. With such a bright future laid out before you, Second, don't you think it sounds wonderful?"
"Dream on, you Uchiha brat with your wolfish ambitions!"
Senju Tobirama calmed himself and studied the kunai's positions, simulating the battle in his mind. A cold glint appeared in his eyes.
(So what if you know about my Flying Thunder God Technique? Killing you will still take only an instant!)
Feeling Senju Tobirama's presence grow increasingly imposing, Uchiha Takeyasu prepared himself as well.
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