The Battle of Gods and Asuras (Part 1)

Soaring into the sky to overlook Konoha, Hyuga Hoshishaku felt his heart surging with excitement.

Although it lacked the shock and aesthetic beauty of looking down at a modern city from an airplane in his past life.

Still, viewing a small-scale civilization from a low-to-medium altitude at such close range could be considered a novel experience.

Yet, while admiring the scenery, he couldn't help but feel a sense of distrust toward the original work.

A place this large, comparable to a small county seat and likely housing at least a hundred thousand people, was only depicted as a tiny speck in the original story?

Unlike Hoshishaku, Senju Yuto, sitting on the back of the Ink Wash Flying Bird, was so excited his little face had turned red.

He first tried hard to identify the few buildings he recognized, then grew curious about the villagers who looked like ants, and soon gazed dreamily at the endless stretch of forest in the distance.

Hoshishaku could understand this child.

Born when Konoha was first established, it was the busiest period for his parents.

His two older brothers were also rarely home; one was stationed long-term at the Land of Fire Daimyo's palace, and the other had gone off to travel the Ninja World without sending word.

Because of his mental energy issues, he had been paralyzed since childhood and couldn't even walk; the world to him had been nothing more than that small courtyard.

Out of inferiority and timidity, he hadn't even been willing to leave that courtyard.

And because he didn't leave, he had no playmates or anyone to talk to.

Even so, whenever he wanted to explore his own little world, he faced countless difficulties because his wheelchair wasn't advanced enough.

Hoshishaku thought to himself, if he hadn't stumbled upon that Fate Commission mission, this poor soul would have likely departed this world half a year ago, right?

That was why the original work never mentioned him.

Looking at the cute little boy with red hair before him, Hoshishaku felt a sense of pity for his young nephew-like junior and ruffled his hair, deciding to take him out to properly enjoy the beauty of the land today.

And so, after circling Konoha for over ten minutes, the Ink Wash Flying Bird flew toward the south.

There was a lake over there; it would be a perfect place to visit.

Thus, the two of them arrived on the back of the bird at a lake not far from Konoha.

They took off their shoes and played by the lakeside for over an hour, and it wasn't until the sun set and the sky grew dark that they headed back to Konoha, still feeling unfulfilled.

However, an accident suddenly occurred.

When Hoshishaku saw the barrier solidifying over Konoha below, emitting a faint green glow.

He knew immediately that the village must have encountered an emergency during their absence that required the activation of a high-level defensive barrier.

Therefore, they probably couldn't return for the time being.

Yuto, sitting beside him, was also well-versed in Sealing Technique.

Upon seeing the barrier, he reached the same conclusion.

"This is a sealing barrier that requires twenty ninja to maintain together; something must have happened to the village."

He said this with deep concern, his tone filled with helplessness.

Because the barrier carried a hint of illusion, and with night falling, the two couldn't see the actual state of the village beneath it, only its blurry outline.

Just as they hesitated in the sky, a muffled sound suddenly erupted from the direction of the lake where they had just been playing.

The two turned their heads to look.

They saw a palm-sized red creature clashing with a Wood Golem, accompanied by constant booming sounds.

Senju Yuto suddenly exclaimed: "That is my father's Wood Golem technique!"

"Father is fighting a monster!"

"Hoshishaku, let's go take a look quickly!"

Hoshishaku, who was staring in the same direction, suddenly thought of something.

What was the biggest event to happen in the seventh year of Konoha?

It was, of course, the battle between the famous Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.

Uchiha Madara had come this time mainly to consume a piece of Hashirama's flesh and blood, so as to combine it with his own Eternal Mangekyo and obtain the Power of All Creation—the Rinnegan.

Secondly, he genuinely wanted to fight Hashirama; if he couldn't win, he could fake his death to escape, as he believed his good brother would preserve his corpse.

And this battle would carve a valley directly into the map, creating the Valley of the End for future generations.

So, was this event happening today?

Could it really be such a coincidence that if he hadn't taken the kid out on the Ink Wash Flying Bird, Uchiha Madara wouldn't have shown up?

Truly, the Uchiha old ghost was evil by nature.

At this moment, Senju Yuto couldn't wait for Hoshishaku's reply and, growing anxious, reached out to grab Hoshishaku's arm and shook it:

"Hoshishaku, Brother Hoshishaku, take me there! My father is there, I want to go see!"

Xingzhuo wanted to say that if the Nine-Tails fired a single Tailed Beast Bomb, the two of them would be blown to bits on the spot.

But as the words reached his lips, he changed his tune: "If we go over there, the Hokage might get distracted and be ambushed by that monster."

Upon hearing this, Yuto realized the truth of the matter and fell into a state of hesitation.

Xingzhuo watched the battle in the distance while keeping a close eye on Yuto's reaction.

By the time Yuto had thought it through, although he felt a bit dejected, he agreed with Xingzhuo's perspective and decided against checking out the situation.

The two of them then circled the village in the air, confirming that there were no enemies below.

Just as he was preparing to descend toward the gates of Konoha, his arm was tightly gripped by Yuto.

Xingzhuo glanced at Yuto, then followed his gaze toward the direction where Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were fighting.

Even from such a great distance, he still witnessed the scene of the Wood Golem being shattered by the Nine-Tails.

Seeing this, the child Yuto turned pale, clutching Xingzhuo's arm with a death grip, his eyes filled with pleading.

Seeing that Xingzhuo remained silent, his voice became laced with anxiety:

"Brother Xingzhuo, could you paint the Flying Bird black with ink, and then we can watch from a distance? Is that okay?

Or you can drop me off, and I'll go take a look myself. It looks like my father has been defeated."

Defeated? That was impossible.

In the original story, this fight lasted until dawn, and in the end, it was Senju Hashirama—who didn't want to kill—who ultimately defeated Madara.

But the child Yuto was so anxious now that if he didn't agree, the boy might do something foolish.

With the cover of night, they certainly couldn't return to the village.

Rather than hiding and getting hit by a stray Tailed Beast Bomb, perhaps getting a little closer to watch from the sky wasn't entirely out of the question?

Thinking this, he nodded in agreement with Yuto and prepared to take him to see what was happening.

"Fine, I'll take you to check on the situation, but you must stay calm and not expose our position. After all, the two of us couldn't even withstand the shockwaves of their battle, let alone help out."

"You have to trust your father; he is the God of the Ninja World, the strongest person in the entire world."

Seeing his friend agree to take him to see the situation, Yuto nodded frantically, agreeing to anything he said.

Having secured his promise, Xingzhuo prepared to pilot the Flying Bird to investigate.

However, he still needed to add some insurance.

He first landed with Yuto, expended double the mental effort to draw a Flying Bird that was pure black without a speck of white, and infused it with a large amount of Yin-natured chakra to ensure it would be highly agile during operation.

Only then did he take the anxious Yuto back into the sky, carefully and slowly approaching the battlefield.

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching for the author; perhaps the name has simply been changed!