Mangekyō Sharingan

The two men faced off, their sharp gazes brimming with murderous intent toward their enemy.

"—That armor looks kind of familiar. It's a lot like the armor worn by that guy I smashed to pieces a long time ago."

"Oh..."

At Kinkaku's words, the expression vanished from Diejian's face.

A bone-chilling, honed-to-the-limit killing intent spread through the area.

Diejian's armor was a relic of the Second Hokage, Tobirama.

Wearing Tobirama's armor on this particular day was no coincidence.

Suddenly, Kinkaku looked down at his feet.

He spat out a curse and quickly leaped backward.

Countless human arms burst out of the ground.

The hands reached for Kinkaku as he tried to leap away, missing him by a hair and grasping futilely at the air.

It was a surprise attack launched by Diejian's Shadow Clones, which had been lying in wait underground.

Without pausing, Diejian hurled a Shuriken at Kinkaku as he leaped.

The next moment, Diejian formed the Shadow Clone Hand Seals at an astonishing speed, and the hurled Shuriken instantly multiplied into a barrage of hundreds.

"Don't try those cheap tricks on me!!"

The gust Kinkaku released with astonishing force blew the Shuriken barrage away.

It was unclear whether it was Wind Release or simply his lung capacity, but it was clear that this opponent wouldn't fall for cheap tricks.

Diejian stamped hard on the ground.

The earth buckled beneath his powerful step, and Diejian vanished from where he stood.

Kinkaku kicked off a branch almost at the same time.

He kicked with just enough finesse to make the branch bend without snapping under the strain, yet his charge was no slower than Diejian's.

Their swords collided in midair, but neither sank into flesh. They only cut through empty air.

They landed almost simultaneously, turned without missing a beat, and charged at each other again.

Their collision sent sparks flying.

The clang of metal rang through the area.

Diejian ducked beneath Kinkaku's strike.

The instant his hand touched the ground, he clenched his free hand into a fist.

Kinkaku brought his blade down toward Diejian's bent back, but Diejian swung his own sword at the same time, trying to sweep Kinkaku's ankles.

Kinkaku noticed and leaped backward, giving Diejian a chance to rise.

Diejian flung the contents of his clenched fist... at Kinkaku, who was still in midair.

"Ugh!?"

A clod of dirt struck Kinkaku in the face, and he reflexively shut his eyes.

Diejian tried to slash the blinded Kinkaku across the neck.

But Kinkaku, eyes still closed, met the strike with his own sword.

The two halted, their sword guards pressed together.

"Kid, you don't seem cut out for swordsmanship. You're good at Taijutsu, but your swordplay is easy to read. You're trying so hard to imitate your master... It's touching enough to make a man cry. But don't forget: the one who killed your master... was me!"

"!!"

Provoked by Kinkaku, Diejian's eyes widened until they looked ready to pop out.

The muscles in Diejian's arms swelled, and the veins stood out.

He held their locked sword guards with one hand, raised the other, and struck Kinkaku across the face.

As Diejian's fist sank into Kinkaku's cheek, Kinkaku's fist sank into Diejian's cheek as well—a simultaneous counterattack.

—Kinkaku and Diejian smashed through trees and went flying.

"As I thought... Even a dying camel is bigger than a horse. I can't underestimate him."

He'd lost some of his composure in front of the man who'd killed his master.

He'd rushed into the duel—buried amid the shattered trees, Diejian first realized he needed to check his condition.

Since the battle a year ago, Diejian had grown several times stronger.

He still wasn't a monster on the Kage Level like Hashirama or Tobirama, powerful enough to seal the Nine-Tails alone, but he should have no trouble facing an enemy on the level of the Three-Tails by himself.

And yet Kinkaku was a man who had survived even after facing the Nine-Tails, despite being weaker than it.

Without firsthand experience fighting him, it was hard to gauge his strength based on the Second Hokage's intel alone.

If Diejian underestimated him without even knowing the difference in their strength and got killed for it, that would be a serious problem—not something to joke about.

Diejian got to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a finger, then spat out the blood in his mouth.

"What...?"

The trees ahead were being felled at an astonishing rate—

The bizarre sight came into Diejian's view.

An invisible blade was approaching from afar: a powerful storm brought on by Wind Release.

The cross-sections of the trees looked as if they'd been cut by a sharp blade, testament to its terrifying sharpness.

Ox, Ox, Goat, Snake...

Diejian formed Hand Seals at astonishing speed.

They were Earth Release Hand Seals.

Diejian's body sank into the earth in an instant, and the storm blades dissipated in the air.

He considered what to do.

Launching a surprise attack from this position with his real body would be a bad move.

Then he could put some distance between them and use a Shadow Clone—

"—Gah!?"

Suddenly, someone grabbed the back of Diejian's collar.

Feeling the pressure around his neck, Diejian instinctively reached to protect it.

"Long time no see."

Kinkaku wore a vicious grin.

He plunged his hand into the ground and forcibly dragged Diejian out from underground.

A sharp blade protruded from Kinkaku's arm.

The blade lunged toward Diejian's flesh, but stopped just before making contact.

Vines had wrapped around Kinkaku's arm.

"T-That's Wood Release!"

Kinkaku exclaimed as he looked at what had coiled around his hand.

Kinkaku had lived through the Warring States Period and was practically a living legend. He knew about Senju Hashirama's Wood Release.

He also knew how dangerous it was, and how it interacted with the Tailed Beast Chakra dwelling within him.

Kinkaku gave up on delivering the finishing blow to Diejian. He swung his arm and snapped the still-weak vines, then hurriedly retreated.

"—Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!!"

As if determined not to let him escape, Diejian clasped his hands together.

That pose, like a prayer to the gods, might have been the unique Hand Seals of Wood Release—a technique that created life from Chakra, a feat close to the work of the gods.

The trees around them suddenly began to move, stretching their branches and vines toward Kinkaku.

Now driven into a corner, Kinkaku ran in every direction, trying to escape the trees closing in from all sides, but he couldn't seem to shake off their grasping limbs.

"Tch, what the hell is going on!? It's like the whole forest has come to life—"

"—I told you, Kinkaku. You were lured into this forest. Everything around you, in every direction, within a kilometer... is my Tree Sea."

It had been two months since Sarutobi Hiruzen had appointed Diejian to the post of Examiner, though he was really the captain of the Genin escort unit and leader of the Kinkaku Extermination Squad.

Every day, Diejian came to this forest and gradually replaced its naturally grown trees with ones created through Wood Release.

Diejian couldn't reshape the land on his own like Hashirama, but he hadn't neglected his preparations.

He was extremely wary of the man who had killed Tobirama, and was determined to kill him for good.

As a result, Diejian had grown overconfident, putting himself in a position where he had to play his trump card quickly or be killed—but that was another story.

One reason Sarutobi Hiruzen had joined forces with Iwagakure was Kinkaku himself.

Having learned of the horrific incident in Kumogakure, Iwagakure had initially tried to weaken the declining Konoha.

They hadn't acted openly because a major conflict would give Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and even Kumogakure an excuse to unite against Iwagakure under the pretext of protecting the declining Konoha.

So, over the course of roughly a year of covert fighting, the overwhelming majority of the rogue ninja hired by Iwagakure had been wiped out.

Diejian's escort unit had eliminated them all.

Just as Iwagakure's elders began discussing whether they should reconsider their relationship with Konoha, they learned that Kinkaku's Unit was fleeing to Sunagakure.

Even Iwagakure didn't want to be friends with a country that would take in an internationally wanted criminal as notorious as Kinkaku. Though they made the choice by process of elimination, they accepted Konoha's call.

At the same time, Sunagakure was hardly pleased by news of Iwagakure and Konoha growing closer.

So Sunagakure planned to slaughter the examinees from every village during the joint exams between Konoha and Iwagakure, under the guise of "assassinating Jonin from each village," making them hate and kill one another.

Sunagakure sent Kinkaku's Unit to carry it out.

After learning of the plan, the Third Hokage decided to fight Kinkaku in the forest Diejian had created.

He set an ambitious plan in motion: send Diejian as an Examiner and hold the regular exams to lull Kinkaku into a false sense of security before he appeared. Once he did, send the children back to the village and use the Jonin who remained behind to defeat Kinkaku's Unit.

"By now, your men should be getting wiped out by the allied forces too. Konoha sent fifteen elite ninja led by White Fang. Iwagakure has fewer men, but the Earth Shadow sent his Left and Right Arms, Ōnoki of Both Scales."

"W-What..."

Bound by Wood Release, Kinkaku groaned in pain.

Diejian steadily tightened the Wood Release's grip, slowly drawing him toward a crushing death.

"I wanted to kill you with the Second Hokage's technique... but never mind."

With that, Diejian turned his back on Kinkaku.

Perhaps he really couldn't bear to look at that face any longer.

"Keep repenting to my master in hell, Kinkaku."

"—Gin's... voice? You... where... Didn't you... tell me... to stay alive? You... said that..."

Kinkaku's voice was slurred.

Diejian turned back in confusion.

Kinkaku's body had already been swallowed by the Cocoon of Wood. Not even a single hair remained.

A mutter came faintly from within the cocoon.

Had he gone mad? Diejian wondered.

Something like that was impossible.

"GRAAAAAAAAH!!"

A scream that shook heaven and earth.

A roar.

With a thunderous blast, the Cocoon of Wood exploded from within.

"What? You've got to be kidding..."

Emerging from behind the blast and splintered wood was a Red Chakra Monster, waving six tails—

What was this? Diejian took a step back.

It was something once regarded as the embodiment of fear by the ninja of the age before villages were founded.

Though sealed away in the various villages now, the Tailed Beasts were still feared and revered as Jinchuriki—the Tailed Beasts.

Diejian had seen this during the Kumogakure coup.

But Kinkaku before him now seemed far more ominous than he had back then.

They had built the forest's massive barrier precisely with this form in mind.

Talismans that suppressed the Nine-Tails' power had been placed everywhere—

"Stop, Kinkaku!"

Diejian formed a Hand Seal with one hand and channeled Chakra into it.

The Chakra-sealing barrier arranged around the area activated, and pillars of light rose into the sky from several points.

But—

"Tailed Beast Bomb!!"

As if to say "You're annoying," Kinkaku roared.

A mass of dark Chakra shot straight from Kinkaku's mouth toward Diejian.

Diejian ducked at once and evaded it, but the next moment, an explosive roar came from the forest behind him.

Diejian looked back in shock. Beyond the dust stood a gigantic Meteor Crater.

The once-lush vegetation had vanished, leaving nothing but dead earth.

The barrier had been destroyed with a single blow, too.

A direct hit from that technique would kill him.

Diejian's spine shuddered.

Kinkaku, having fired the Tailed Beast Bomb, slowly closed his mouth.

Looking at Diejian's shocked expression, he curled his lip.

The slow movement only made Diejian's fear grow.

"Senju Diejian. I hear you're the Second Hokage's student!! In that case, I can get revenge one more time—for my little brother, Ginkaku!!"

The Kumogakure Retreat Battle of the past.

The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, had held off Kinkaku's Unit of twenty men all by himself and killed Ginkaku, who had arrived as reinforcements.

Afterward, enraged by his brother's death, Tobirama had suffered fatal wounds in a battle against Kinkaku after he transformed into the Nine-Tails. Then Tobirama suddenly disappeared from right in front of Kinkaku.

Therefore, Kinkaku didn't know what had happened to Tobirama at the end.

He carried the pride of believing he'd killed Tobirama, along with the resentment of never having buried him with his own hands.

Perhaps killing his student would ease his heart a little.

Even that small measure of satisfaction was enough for an older brother who loved his younger brother dearly.

Diejian sensed instinctively that Kinkaku's transformation could only be bad news.

He felt the same overwhelming pressure he'd experienced during the retreat, when he'd faced the giant Kakuzu.

"Wood Release—!!"

Diejian pressed his palms together and once again brought the forest's trees under his control.

At Diejian's command, the trees surged toward Kinkaku and wrapped around him, trying to restrain him, but—

"Too weak!!"

A sweep of his tails and arms shattered every tree.

Wood Release wasn't working—no, Diejian's Wood Release was too weak.

During the battles of the past, what had been burned away by the Forbidden Jutsu was Senju Hashirama's blessing.

The chakra network that had been woven specifically for Wood Release returned to its original state. Diejian regained the powers of Water and Earth, but lost his talent for Wood Release.

Of course, he could still use Wood Release with considerable skill, but it now required several times as much Chakra.

At the same time, his Chakra reserves, once comparable to the Nine-Tails', had also diminished.

Even so, he still had about five times as much Chakra as Sakumo. But even that wasn't enough to make Wood Release's Chakra consumption negligible.

Of course, Kinkaku's strength was also a factor—specifically, the extraordinary power of the Nine-Tails' Chakra, a kind of "Chakra nature" for ninjutsu.

A Tailed Beast wielded its overwhelming power directly, while a Jinchuriki concentrated that power into a single point to increase its destructive force.

"Monster..."

Diejian's face twisted in pain.

Kinkaku, covered in a Chakra Cloak, grinned with his monstrous face as he lunged at Diejian.

With the Chakra Armor and that enormous body—

Judging that close combat would put him at a disadvantage, Diejian immediately sheathed his sword.

Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.

It was shattered by a single punch.

Water Release: Water Shark Bomb.

It was knocked aside.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

It was shot down.

Diejian kicked off the ground and opened up some distance.

Kinkaku pursued him.

Diejian's body entered Kinkaku's attack range.

"ORA!!"

Kinkaku swung his clawed arm sideways, trying to smash him.

Diejian leaned back and dodged by half a step.

The claw that skimmed past his nose made a sound as it tore through the air.

A fist came hurtling toward his face, trying to knock it away.

Diejian took one step to the left and dodged.

The sound of the punch striking empty air hammered against his eardrums.

But Diejian didn't flinch. His hand flashed to his waist and drew a Kunai.

He stabbed Kinkaku's arm, then leaped backward.

Kinkaku didn't seem to feel the Kunai embedded in his arm. He showed no sign of being shaken.

If anything, he seemed furious that Diejian had dodged so easily.

Like a raging beast, he lunged at Diejian, who had retreated.

This time, Kinkaku swung both arms like pincers, trying to crush Diejian between his fists.

Diejian deliberately stepped forward and slipped beneath them.

Once he'd made it into Kinkaku's guard, Diejian formed a one-handed seal.

In an instant, the Explosive Tag attached to the Kunai in Kinkaku's arm detonated.

Kinkaku couldn't help turning his face away.

That instant was his opening—Diejian formed Hand Seals at blinding speed.

Diejian's cheeks puffed out.

Then—

"—Water Release: Water Severing Wave!!"

A jet of water shot forth with tremendous force, pierced Kinkaku's abdomen, and punched a hole through the tree trunk behind him.

"Gah!!"

Kinkaku cried out and drove his knee upward.

But Diejian was ready for that attack, too.

He pressed his palm against Kinkaku's incoming knee to soften the impact, then used the momentum to leap into the air and put distance between them.

"—Hah."

Diejian took a deep breath.

The "spherical distortion" surrounding him vanished.

It was a Domain, an original technique known only to Diejian.

By spreading Chakra throughout his surroundings, he could track his enemy's movements with a tiny sensory barrier.

In a sense, it could also be called a zone of control. It was exceptionally effective in close combat, letting him sense an opponent's Taijutsu.

But in return, the technique required him to keep Chakra spread around himself at all times. Against an enormous opponent like Kinkaku, its Chakra consumption was immense.

Diejian was breathing hard, sweat beading on his back.

"That last hit hurt. A little."

"Super regeneration..."

The wound in Kinkaku's abdomen was already trying to heal through Chakra.

It should have been a devastating injury, but the regeneration was keeping pace.

Diejian understood. To defeat Kinkaku, he'd have to kill him with a single blow.

"There's one decisive way."

He knew Water Severing Wave could work.

Diejian murmured.

The Second Hokage's teachings had given Diejian a deadly technique.

But Water Severing Wave had a slow start and required a broad motion.

It would be difficult to create an opening.

This was going to be a grueling battle, one that demanded an exceptionally high level of skill.

Hayate raced forward.

Diejian disappeared.

A fierce wind whirled around.

Kinkaku disappeared.

Kinkaku's fist struck the air above Diejian's head.

Diejian's Chakra-infused blade sliced through the thin skin on Kinkaku's cheek.

Kinkaku twisted around and sent his tail sweeping down at Diejian from above.

But Diejian created a wall with Wood Release and deflected it, disrupting Kinkaku's movements for an instant.

With Kinkaku suspended in midair, Diejian threw all his strength into a punch.

At the instant it connected, Wood Release armor made Diejian's fist swell to ten times its size.

It was a tribute to the partial Expansion Jutsu passed down by the Akimichi Clan, allies of the Senju.

"—!!"

Diejian's full-force punch sent Kinkaku flying. The recoil from the blow sent Diejian surging forward.

Diejian used his momentum to adjust his posture and accelerate, pursuing Kinkaku.

"!!"

The moment Kinkaku hit the ground, Diejian caught up to him.

Diejian leaped into the air and, using his own weight, swung down a powerful punch as if to smash Kinkaku into the ground.

His fist struck Kinkaku in the back of the head, driving him into the earth.

Without pause, Diejian kicked Kinkaku's body into the air and formed Hand Seals at incredible speed.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!"

A torrent of water poured from Diejian's mouth, gradually taking the shape of a dragon.

The Water Dragon swallowed Kinkaku with tremendous force, spun through the air, and slammed him into the ground once more.

A brief opening.

Feeling a chill across his back, Diejian turned around. A red tail was rushing straight toward him.

He'd probably extended its reach by changing the shape of the Nine-Tails' tail Chakra.

Kinkaku was on all fours where he'd been slammed down, glaring at Diejian.

Diejian twisted instinctively to dodge the tail.

But another tail came at him from a different direction.

Diejian ducked beneath it, then stomped hard against the ground.

At this rate, Chakra would surround him.

Worried about that, he chose to retreat for the moment.

Diejian slipped past two tails, but four more waited in the direction he tried to escape.

He controlled the trees to raise a wall, then shifted them to try to bind the tails—but he was too slow to react to Kinkaku's arm rushing toward him.

Kinkaku's fist struck Diejian in the face.

Diejian's neck snapped sharply to the side, and he was sent flying.

His body crashed through several trees before rolling along the ground.

"Ah... gah..."

Diejian let out a strangled groan.

One blow had left him like this.

But he didn't even have time to berate himself for his weakness.

His enemy was the Second Hokage's nemesis.

He had to defeat him.

Bracing himself with trembling arms, Diejian pushed himself up.

But Kinkaku wasn't going to wait for him to recover.

He gathered all his strength to create a Tailed Beast Bomb and fired it without hesitation.

Feeling the huge mass of murderous intent rushing toward him, Diejian made up his mind.

Diejian tore off the Forehead Protector he'd inherited from Hashirama and tucked it into his clothes.

On the exposed forehead was the Senju clan crest.

"Yin Seal: Release. Dojutsu: Sharingan."

The Senju crest gradually faded, and Diejian's eyes turned red.

Diejian had awakened the Sharingan after the battle a year ago. To undo the Sealing Jutsu, he'd consulted Mito Uzumaki.

Under Mito's guidance, Diejian had tried using the Sharingan many times, but two problems had emerged.

The first was physical.

Using the Sharingan brought side effects equivalent to those of using the Eight Inner Gates.

That was manageable for Diejian.

Actually, it wasn't. But as a shinobi who lived in the moment, he had no time to worry about the aftereffects once a battle was over.

The second problem was mental.

Whenever Diejian used the Sharingan, he entered a state of heightened excitement, and his emotions became violently intense.

He couldn't control the surging hatred, and it could even spill over onto those around him.

With great reluctance, he'd used his own Chakra to seal away the Sharingan, a power that could have been a weapon in battle.

This Sealing Jutsu automatically activated its resealing formula after a certain amount of time. Tobirama and Mito had created it together while he was alive.

Tobirama believed that one day, Diejian would accept the darkness within himself and soar into the sky.

The Tailed Beast Bomb was only a few centimeters from Diejian's face.

At the moment of impact, Diejian disappeared.

"Flying Thunder God—"

"Behind me!?"

Diejian had "flown" above Kinkaku's head.

He'd planted a mark during their exchange just moments ago.

Diejian formed the Hand Seals for Earth Release.

It was a nostalgic technique he'd created with his Grandfather when he was young, and Tobirama had scolded him for it.

"—Earth Landslide Technique!!"

After enduring the passage of time, the Turbid Current had changed beyond recognition in both quality and scale. It swallowed Kinkaku and swept through the forest.

But after Diejian landed, he thought regretfully, Crap.

He hadn't used any major techniques before because he didn't want to interfere with the allied forces, who might be fighting somewhere in this forest.

Although he had successfully awakened the Sharingan, the effects had begun to show immediately.

"I need to finish this quickly..."

Diejian stepped onto the sand and brought his hands together.

The sand that had swallowed Kinkaku had been created from Diejian's Chakra.

It was easy to sense where Kinkaku was.

Kinkaku covered himself with Chakra Armor and forced his way through the Turbid Current.

He was gradually closing in on Diejian's position.

Diejian felt the same fear he would have felt facing a beast.

"Stop...!!"

The instant he pinpointed Kinkaku's position, he poured Chakra into the sand.

The viscous Turbid Current around Kinkaku solidified at an astonishing speed, and trees sprouted from it, layering over the surrounding area.

But Kinkaku kept struggling.

Unable to move freely in the sand, he swung his tails, claws, and powerful arms, destroying everything that tried to restrain him.

A thunderous blast.

One section of the sand exploded, and a red Chakra monster emerged.

But much of its cloak had been torn away. Human skin was faintly visible on half its face and parts of its limbs.

Diejian realized that this damage couldn't have been caused by the Earth Landslide Technique.

That technique specialized in crushing its targets; it wasn't capable of causing this much destruction.

Then it had to be—

"A Tailed Beast Bomb?"

Kinkaku had deliberately detonated a Tailed Beast Bomb at close range to escape his restraints.

It took immense resolve to do something like that.

Realizing that Kinkaku was also fighting with the determination to die, Diejian increased the amount of Chakra he poured into his eyes.

Diejian's Three Tomoe began to spin faster and faster.

At last, they merged into a circle, becoming a Mangekyō.

"Isn't that the Uchiha's Sharingan? I see... No wonder you had the nerve to boast that you'd stop someone like me all by yourself."

Kinkaku grinned, looking battered all over.

But it wasn't because he acknowledged Diejian.

He was smiling confidently because he judged that Diejian had already used up his trump card.

At the same time, Kinkaku's wounds were gradually healing.

Diejian could feel it: this was his only chance to defeat Kinkaku.

"You couldn't even protect your little brother. Don't put on airs like some big shot."

"I'll kill you!!"

"Third Gate of Life: Open!! Let's go, ora!! Our master was killed too, by you bastards!!"

He hadn't yet mastered the Eight Inner Gates to the point of opening the Fourth Gate, but his control over the Gate of Life was nearly perfect.

There were still side effects, of course, but the risk of suffering intense pain in the middle of a fight had been greatly reduced.

So Diejian started at full speed, stomping hard against the ground.

Furious that Diejian had struck a nerve, Kinkaku charged toward him, shouting in rage.

Kinkaku's fists attacked from the front, while six arms swung at Diejian from all sides.

His attacks had become faster and more numerous, but his rage made them wild, lacking their earlier precision.

Diejian expanded his Susanoo around himself, then equipped it with Wood Release Armor and formed four arms.

—The fistfight began.

In a battle where they used their fists to knock aside each other's blows, their hands would have shattered at once if they'd been fighting barehanded.

Kinkaku and Diejian stood locked in a stalemate.

Six tails against six arms, pounding away at each other. Focusing all his awareness on the Mangekyō Sharingan's ability to "see through" his opponent, Diejian spotted an opening.

"Mangekyō Sharingan—Omokane."

"W-what is this?!"

Kinkaku suddenly lost his balance.

As if something were dragging him, his body moved toward Diejian.

Kinkaku dug his claws into the ground with both arms, trying to stop himself. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he shouted.

"Th-this power belongs to Uchiha Izumi—"

"Die!!"

The instant Kinkaku's attention wavered and his punches weakened, Diejian poured all his Chakra into Susanoo.

His punches grew heavier with each blow, raining down on Kinkaku.

"Gaaahhhh!!"

Kinkaku's scream rang out.

But Diejian didn't stop attacking.

He kept punching, enduring the physical pain caused by Susanoo's side effects, until Kinkaku died and his cries finally ceased.

"—It's over."

Several minutes later, Diejian murmured, his shoulders heaving.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and swept his damp hair aside.

The Senju Clan crest appeared once more on his exposed forehead.

At the same time, the red faded from Diejian's eyes.

The Susanoo he had summoned collapsed, and the trees equipped as armor fell to the ground with a dry clatter.

The Senju Chakra seal was complete. Diejian reflected on what had happened.

As expected, his emotions had gotten the better of him, making his attacks sloppy.

A shinobi must never show his emotions—he repeated Tobirama's lesson to himself, trying to stay calm, but it was harder than he'd thought.

He sighed and turned his gaze toward Kinkaku's "corpse"—

"—Crap."

"You let your guard down, kid."

Kinkaku had lost most of his Nine-Tails Cloak, leaving him with only three tails.

He clenched his fist and aimed it at Diejian.

Diejian hurriedly tried to draw his sword, but he was too slow. Kinkaku's full-force punch struck him head-on.

"Gah!!"

Kinkaku's fist sank into Diejian's abdomen with tremendous force. Diejian was nearly knocked breathless and sent flying.

But Kinkaku caught up with him in midair and knocked him higher with his tail.

Then Kinkaku chased after Diejian as he flew through the air and swung his iron-hard fist down toward the ground.

In a battle of attrition, it was only natural that the real monster, Kinkaku, had the advantage over Diejian, who was merely like a monster.

Diejian, who usually excelled in prolonged battles, had failed to realize that he had to defeat Kinkaku decisively in a short fight, or he would lose.

Diejian's Chakra reserves were monstrous by the standards of other shinobi. He knew it himself, and that had skewed his judgment.

Because his opponent was Kinkaku, Diejian's greatest strength had become his undoing.

"Gah!"

His whole body was wracked with heavy impacts and searing pain.

After using one major technique after another, Diejian had barely any Chakra left. In the midst of this intense battle, he had no chance to escape with Flying Thunder God.

Meanwhile, pain and the threat to his life had brought Kinkaku back to his senses. He had discarded his arrogance toward Diejian, whom he'd considered nothing but a weakling. Even without fighting at full strength, he was beginning to show his true power.

He was going to die.

Under Kinkaku's relentless assault, without even a moment to catch his breath, Diejian's body screamed in protest.

He could no longer even run away. All he could do was be beaten to death.

Was it too soon? As Diejian wallowed in regret, a familiar voice rang in his mind.

—When he came to, Diejian was lying on the ground.

He hadn't lost consciousness.

He understood why he was lying there and what had happened to Kinkaku.

But the whole sequence of events that had just unfolded felt as though his body had moved on its own, without needing his strength.

"M-Master..."

His sword had been unsheathed at some point.

The blade had broken, leaving only a short length of metal and the hilt.

Diejian's hand trembled as he held it.

It wasn't out of fear.

Nor was it out of joy.

He didn't know why.

But the trembling came from something welling up deep inside him.

"You protected me..."

Diejian whispered.

A tear ran down the corner of his eye.

The broken sword had belonged to his master, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It was the ninja sword Tobirama had favored.

Though the sword was connected to the story of how he had killed Diejian in his Previous Life, Diejian had continued to cherish it after Tobirama's death.

"Uncle..."

Just now, as Diejian had taken Kinkaku's attacks, Tobirama's sword had slipped free of its sheath.

It must have slid out as Diejian leaped and twisted through the air, thanks to the force of inertia.

But to Diejian, the way the sword had come free had felt just like someone drawing it.

The sword spun through the air and flew in front of Diejian.

Without thinking, Diejian grabbed its hilt and blocked Kinkaku's most powerful blow.

As a result, the blade had broken just a few centimeters from the base.

But the blade had spun through the air—at incredible speed, it had pierced Kinkaku's eyeball.

"Gaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!"

"Uncle protected me...!!"

Kinkaku writhed in agony, screaming.

Completely off guard and unable to move in midair, he had taken the force of his own blow. The blade that had ricocheted off Diejian's block drove even deeper into him.

"Rrraaaahhhhhhh!!"

Diejian forced his aching body to move and steadied his trembling knees.

With a roar that was barely human, he gripped the broken sword hilt tightly.

He began to mold Chakra inside his body.

For the first time in a long while, he felt the sensation of cold water coursing through him.

Then the broken blade grew longer.

A transparent blade—by coincidence, it was the same technique Tobirama had used at the end of his battle against Madara, when he had risked his life to protect Diejian.

"Flying Thunder God: Water Severing Slash!!"

Diejian pushed off the ground.

He no longer had the strength to reach Kinkaku.

But he had a technique.

He had a treasure inherited from the Second Hokage.

—In an instant, Kinkaku's scream stopped.

Diejian passed by Kinkaku and stood with his back to him.

Unable even to break his fall, Diejian collapsed to the ground.

Something hit the ground with a thud.

Kinkaku's body, headless above the shoulders, fell where he stood.

"Uncle... I avenged you..."

Diejian lost consciousness.