Miracle

The Truth-Seeking Orb exploded the instant it touched the ground. The Six Paths Power contained within scattered in all directions, reducing everything it touched to nothingness!

The terrifying energy waves spread over an enormous area, and even the four Kage who had already made it halfway down the road sensed them!

Ishikawa slammed both hands against the ground, raising countless Earth Style Walls. Yet under the expanding energy waves, those walls gradually vanished. Stroking his beard, Ishikawa said helplessly, "We can only do our best to reduce the affected area. To use such a terrifying ninjutsu in the Land of Iron... it seems we need to leave quickly."

Turning to Mu, who still had no idea what was going on, Ishikawa said, "Mu, once we return to the village, take the diplomatic delegation to Takigakure. Our two countries share a border, so it is necessary to establish friendly relations."

"Understood." Only then did Mu realize that this terrifying energy wave had most likely been caused by the Takikage. He knew about Hashirama and Tobirama, but neither of them possessed such a ninjutsu. This power that annihilated everything was even stronger than his Dust Release.

In another direction, Retto and Shamon exchanged glances, each seeing deep apprehension in the other's eyes. They knew the Land of Waterfalls best and had paid the closest attention to the policies Ruri had proposed during the meeting. They knew those development policies would surely prove highly effective. Once that happened, the Land of Waterfalls would not be inferior to the other nations in national strength, and with an immensely powerful Takikage like Ruri, it might very well give rise to another colossal force like Konoha of the Land of Fire.

After sensing the energy wave, Byakuren, who had been walking with his hands behind his back, trembled slightly. As the eldest among the Six Kage, Ruri was probably not even half his age, yet his strength seemed to have completely surpassed Byakuren's. Before this energy wave, Byakuren had planned to find time to visit Takigakure and force an answer about the source of its Water Style. Now, he had completely abandoned that idea.

A quickened his pace even further, so fast that his guards could barely keep up. A trail of footprints half a foot deep in the ground revealed the unrest in his heart.

"Let's go." Ruri panted heavily several times. The final explosion of the Truth-Seeking Orb had exhausted all his chakra, even overdrawing the Seven-Tails' chakra. Aside from the attack being slightly off target, he had gone all out. The compensation Hashirama had promised might bring him a great deal of supplies, perhaps even all kinds of S-rank ninjutsu and forbidden techniques, but he was the Takikage, one of the Six Kage. After the other side had tried to kill him, were they expecting him to swallow his anger?

"Go? But..." Kakuzu looked toward the center of the smoke thrown up by the explosion, where Hashirama and Tobirama had been standing. After such a horrifying blast, could they still be alive?

"You fought Senju Hashirama before. He won't die that easily. Even an explosion of this magnitude might not be enough to injure him." Ruri sighed. There was still a slight gap between him and beings on the level of Hashirama and Madara. Even using the Truth-Seeking Orb and the Seven-Tails' chakra, he could only unleash an attack capable of threatening their lives. Such an attack was undoubtedly stronger than any ninjutsu in the world today and absolutely belonged to the Six Paths Level, but he could only use that ultimate move once.

"He's that strong..." Kakuzu said in shock. If that was the case, then during their previous battle, Hashirama had probably not even used a tenth of his strength. Perhaps the one who had fought him from beginning to end had merely been a Wood Clone.

"It's good that you know the gap. He might seem a little goofy, but a man standing at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World won't be easy to deal with." Ruri spoke as he walked. It seemed he needed to speed up the village's development. There probably would not be any achievements he could complete anytime soon, so he could only rely on developing the village to gain more strength.

"Yes, big brother. I'll definitely train hard!" Kakuzu's fighting spirit flared like never before. It seemed the Land of Waterfalls had limited him after all. He had once believed himself invincible within the Land of Waterfalls, but after meeting Hashirama, he realized he had been nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.

Kakuzu looked seriously at Ruri walking beside him. This big brother, who had accompanied him as he grew up, had become increasingly unfathomable. Ruri was so strong that Kakuzu could only look up to him, but he could not allow himself to fall too far behind!

Only long after Ruri and Kakuzu had left did the city finally stir.

Most samurai had never left the Land of Iron in their lives. Their understanding of ninja came almost entirely from hearsay, with only the occasional conversation with passing ninja encountered within the country. Ninja also went to great lengths to avoid fighting near the Land of Iron. As a result, these samurai's knowledge of ninja was extremely one-sided. Some old-fashioned samurai even believed ninjutsu was nothing more than magic tricks that could be cut apart with a single blade.

But everything that had happened today utterly shocked them. From the moment Hashirama unleashed Deep Forest Emergence, the samurai in the city had been too frightened to speak. Creating an entire forest out of thin air—that was a miracle!

When that forest was burned completely clean in an instant by black flames, they no longer knew what expression to wear. Black flames, that terrifying aura... was it the fire of hell?!

By the time the explosion came, they had already gone numb. Even the shockwave making half the city wall vanish into thin air failed to stir their hearts in the slightest. In a single day, they had endured everything the profession of a samurai was not meant to endure. The people inside their homes instinctively came outside and gathered together, terrified that something even more horrifying would happen.

After the smoke and dust raised by the explosion dispersed, a giant crater the size of a football field appeared in the ground outside the city. It was as though that stretch of land had simply vanished, and the inside of the crater was incomparably smooth. At the very edge stood two people.

They were Tobirama and Hashirama. Hashirama was relatively fine, the markings around his eyes gradually fading. Relying on Sage Mode, Wood Style, and his immense chakra, he had barely managed to block the Truth-Seeking Orb's explosion. He knew Ruri had held back. At the last moment, Ruri had changed the Truth-Seeking Orb's position, keeping them out of the center of the explosion. Of course, even if he had been at the center, Hashirama could have withstood this attack, but Tobirama might not have.

Even though he had only been at the very edge, Tobirama was still seriously injured. Unlike Hashirama, he did not have Wood Style or Sage Mode protecting him, nor did he possess chakra comparable to that of a Tailed Beast. Thus, even though Hashirama had taken most of the energy impact for him, his arm had still been grazed by the explosion—and that arm was now gone.

In other words, Senju Tobirama, who would later become famous for his many forbidden techniques and space-time ninjutsu, was now disabled. Having lost one hand, he could no longer even form hand seals.

Tobirama felt no pain from his severed arm. His eyes were empty as he stared numbly at the arm that no longer existed. For a ninja, losing an arm and being unable to form hand seals was equivalent to ending his ninja career.

Hashirama patted Tobirama's shoulder, brushing the dust off him. It was impossible to say he felt no hatred at all. Even with his carefree personality, he could not help hating the person who had severed his younger brother's arm. But he could not allow himself to hate, much less start a war over it.

For the sake of this hard-won peace, Hashirama could only put the greater good first. Call him stubborn or naïve if one wished, but this peaceful situation was something he had strived for over so many years to achieve. He could not let it be destroyed over one arm.

"Tobirama, let's go home." Hashirama walked in front of Tobirama, crouched down, and carried him on his back.

"??? Big brother, what are you doing?! My arm is broken, not my legs!" Tobirama regained a bit of his spirit and struggled, but it was completely useless.

"When you were little, you always wanted me to carry you like this. Father used to scold you for it all the time!"

Tobirama froze, then stopped struggling. In a low voice, he said, "Big brother, let's go back to Konoha. I really don't know how Madara will mock me this time."

"Let's go! Thinking too much makes you stupid. This hard-won peace should be enjoyed!"

Only after the two had left did the samurai in the city dare to come out. Looking at the enormous crater in the ground, they kept muttering things like "the descent of a god." After asking around, some busybody even erected a sign nearby, writing things such as "First Takikage" and "Miracle" on it.