Miracle

The Truth-Seeking Orb exploded the moment it touched the ground, the Six Paths power contained within scattering in all directions, reducing everything it touched to nothingness!

The terrifying energy fluctuations spread over a vast area, even reaching the four Kage who were already halfway through their departure.

Ishikawa slammed both hands onto the ground, causing countless Earth Style Walls to rise, yet these walls vanished bit by bit under the erupting energy waves. Stroking his beard, Ishikawa said helplessly, "We can only do our best to minimize the impact. To unleash such a terrifying ninjutsu in the Land of Iron... it seems we must leave at once."

Ishikawa turned his head to the bewildered Mu and said, "Mu, after returning to the village, take the delegation to Takigakure. The two countries share a border; it is necessary to foster good relations."

"Understood." Only then did Mu realize that this terrifying energy fluctuation was likely caused by the Takikage. He knew both Hashirama and Tobirama, and they were not capable of such ninjutsu; this power of total annihilation was even stronger than his own Particle Style.

In another direction, Retto and Shamon exchanged glances, both seeing deep apprehension in the other's eyes. They had the deepest understanding of the Land of Waterfalls and were most concerned about the policies Ruri had proposed during the meeting. They knew well that those development policies would inevitably be highly effective. Once that happened, the national strength of the Land of Waterfalls would not be inferior to any other nation, and with Ruri, an extremely powerful Takikage, it was hard to guarantee that it wouldn't once again give birth to a behemoth like Konoha in the Land of Fire.

Byakuren, walking with his hands behind his back, trembled slightly after feeling the energy fluctuation. As the eldest of the six Kage, Ruri's age was likely not even half of his, yet this strength seemed to completely surpass his own. If, before this energy wave, Byakuren had still intended to find time to go to Takigakure to demand the source of their Water Style, he had now completely abandoned that thought.

A's pace as he left became even faster, so fast that his guards could barely keep up. The series of footprints half a foot deep left on the ground revealed the turmoil in his heart.

"Let's go." Ruri panted heavily several times. The final explosion of the Truth-Seeking Orb had exhausted his chakra, even overdrawing the Seven-Tails' chakra. Aside from being slightly off-target, this strike had been his all-out effort. Accepting compensation from Hashirama might have yielded a large amount of supplies or even various S-rank ninjutsu and forbidden techniques, but he was the Takikage, one of the six Kage. If someone tried to kill him, did they really expect him to swallow his pride?

"Let's go? But..." Kakuzu looked toward the center of the smoke raised by the explosion, the place where Hashirama and Tobirama had been. After such a shocking explosion, could they still be alive?

"You've fought Senju Hashirama; he isn't that easy to kill. Even an explosion of this magnitude might not necessarily injure him." Ruri sighed. He still had a gap between himself and existences at 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 definitely belonged to the Six Paths level, but he could only fire such a major move once.

"Is he really that strong..." Kakuzu said dejectedly. If that was the case, then in their previous battle, Hashirama probably hadn't even used one-tenth of his strength. Perhaps from start to finish, the one fighting him had only been a Wood Clone.

"It's good that you know the gap. Don't let his somewhat goofy temperament fool you; a man standing at the pinnacle of the ninja world is not so easy to deal with." Ruri said as he walked. It seemed he had to accelerate the development of the village. He estimated that there were no achievements he could complete in the near future, so he could only rely on developing the village to exchange for strength improvements.

"Yes, Big Brother, I will definitely train hard!" Kakuzu ignited an unprecedented fighting spirit. It seemed the Land of Waterfalls had limited him. Having already fought everyone in the Land of Waterfalls without finding a match, only after seeing Hashirama did he realize he was merely a frog in a well.

Kakuzu looked earnestly at Ruri walking beside him. This big brother who had accompanied his growth until now was becoming increasingly unfathomable. He was so strong that one could only look up to his back, but he could not afford to fall too far behind!

Long after Ruri and Kakuzu had left, there was finally movement in the city.

Most of the samurai had never left the Land of Iron in their lives, and their understanding of ninjas was basically hearsay, limited to occasional conversations with passing ninjas they encountered in the country. Battles between ninjas were also strictly kept away from the Land of Iron, which led to this group of samurai having a very one-sided understanding of ninjas. Some old-fashioned samurai even believed that ninjutsu was nothing more than magic tricks that could be cleaved in two with a single blade.

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

By the time this forest was burned to nothing in an instant by a black flame, they no longer knew what expression to use to face it. Black flames, that terrifying aura—was it the fire of hell?!

When the explosion occurred afterward, they were already numb. Even the aftermath causing half of the city wall to vanish into thin air could not cause the slightest ripple in their hearts. In just one day, they had endured everything that the profession of a samurai could not bear. People in the houses subconsciously left to gather together, fearing that something even more terrifying would happen.

After the dust raised by the explosion settled, a giant crater the size of a football field appeared on the ground outside the city. This patch of land seemed to have vanished into thin air, and the crater was incredibly smooth. At the very edge, there were two people.

It was Tobirama and Hashirama. Hashirama was fine; his eyeshadow was gradually fading. Relying on Sage Mode, Wood Style, and his massive chakra, he had barely managed to block the explosion of the Truth-Seeking Orb. He knew Ruri had held back, changing the position of the Truth-Seeking Orb at the last moment to avoid them being at the center of the blast. Of course, even if they had been at the center, he could have survived this attack, but Tobirama might not have.

Even though they were only at the very edge, Tobirama still suffered serious injuries. He did not have Wood Style or Sage Mode to protect his body like Hashirama, nor did he possess chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast. Therefore, even though Hashirama had taken the brunt of the energy impact for him, he was still grazed by the energy explosion, and that arm was gone.

In other words, Senju Tobirama, who would later become famous for his vast array of forbidden techniques and space-time ninjutsu, was now a disabled man. Having lost an arm, he could no longer even weave hand seals.

Tobirama could not feel the pain of his severed arm at all, his eyes hollow as he numbly stared at the limb that no longer existed. For a ninja, losing an arm and being unable to weave seals was equivalent to ending one's ninja career.

Hashirama patted Tobirama's shoulder, brushing the dust off his body. To say he felt no hatred in his heart would be a lie. Even with his carefree personality, he could not help but hate someone who had severed his own younger brother's arm. But he could not act on that hate, and he certainly could not start a war because of it.

For the sake of this hard-won peace, Hashirama had to prioritize the big picture. Call him pedantic or naive, but the current peaceful situation was something he had worked for many years to achieve; it could not be ruined because of an 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! It's my arm that's broken, not my legs!" Tobirama regained a bit of vitality and struggled, but it was of no use.

"When you were a child, you always wanted me to carry you like this! Father even scolded you for it all the time!"

Tobirama froze, then stopped struggling, whispering, "Big Brother, let's go back to Konoha. I really don't know how Madara is going to mock me this time."

"Let's go! Thinking too much makes your brain slow. We should enjoy this hard-won peace!"

After the two left, the samurai in the city finally dared to come out. Looking at the giant crater on the ground, they kept muttering things like "the gods have descended." Some busybodies, after making inquiries, erected a sign nearby, writing words like "First Takikage" and "Miracle" on it.