Inadvertently

The enormous Three-Tails was forced up out of the lake by countless trees. Countless roots wrapped directly around its body, constantly draining its chakra to power the Wood Release technique.

"Ah... ha!!!"

Senju Tobirama roared, his hands clasped together. The Wood Golem beneath Li Ke grew larger and longer once more. And as he continued using Fuinjutsu, he began to sense something interesting...

The Senjutsu chakra made him realize that the Fuinjutsu he was releasing through Li Ke's body had taken on some of the Uzumaki Clan's traits.

In that case...

"Let me give this a try!"

Senju Tobirama could no longer stop the corners of his mouth from rising. Countless golden chains suddenly appeared behind him!

This was the special Fuinjutsu that members of the Uzumaki Clan used with their Kekkei Genkai: Adamantine Chain. It could be used for both offense and defense, and was a technique far more deserving of being the Uzumaki Clan's signature than the Reaper Death Seal!

But the Adamantine Chain that burst from Li Ke's body was different from the ones used by the Uzumaki Clan members in his memories. When it landed on the Tailed Beast, Senju Tobirama noticed that its power had already taken effect before the chains even touched the Three-Tails! Its chakra had already been drained and sealed!

"Even this technique can be used to such an extent?! Amazing!"

Unable to help himself, Senju Tobirama clasped his hands together once more, drawing countless amounts of chakra out of the Three-Tails.

"In that case, you can draw out and use a Tailed Beast's chakra without becoming a Jinchuriki. All you need is to use the Wood Golem as a new chakra network..."

It was his first time personally controlling Wood Release to fight an enemy, and Senju Tobirama could finally understand how his older brother felt.

Looking at the surviving Mist Shinobi, Senju Tobirama spoke, delivering words that filled them with despair.

"Come on! Show me what you can do!"

In the next moment, the Wood Golem beneath him swiftly moved its body and clasped its hands together. The Tailed Beast Chakra drawn from the Three-Tails quickly formed a technique inside the Golem, and the technique instantly took effect across the land.

"Ha!!"

Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!

The cavern, already filled with countless trees, was smashed apart by a mass of towering trunks. One enormous flower bud after another burst up from the ground, and then clouds of pollen spread through the air.

The moment the shinobi barely clinging to life beneath the Deep Forest Emergence realized something was wrong, they had already inhaled a great deal of pollen. Their heads quickly began to spin.

"And then—"

The Mangekyō Sharingan kept spinning, but at that moment, Li Ke's other eye also transformed into a Byakugan.

A boundless gale appeared from nowhere, while the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release Ninjutsu was being prepared.

Watching the wary Mist Shinobi rushing toward them in the distance, Senju Tobirama unleashed his technique.

A violent wind swept countless clouds of pollen toward the Mist Shinobi. The hallucinogenic pollen surrounded them in an instant, and in the next moment—

Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!

Senju Tobirama spewed a fierce blast of Fire Release from his mouth. What was more, the moment the flames burst forth, streaks of black fire appeared, quickly forming into arrows. Carrying the chakra-made flames, they swiftly spread into great nets, sweeping over the shinobi engulfed in pollen.

In an instant, the pollen caught fire. The gale drove the pollen and flames forward, and the flames set the pollen alight.

A firestorm erupted.

One deafening explosion after another rang out ahead of him. For several kilometers in every direction, the land became a roaring sea of fire.

But through Li Ke's Byakugan, Senju Tobirama saw that quite a few Mist Shinobi had survived by using Earth Release and Water Release.

And so—

"Even beasts have their uses."

Under the seals of Wood Release and Senjutsu: Adamantine Sealing Chains, the Three-Tails was completely incapable of resisting. The Mangekyō Sharingan controlled it, and it immediately opened its mouth as chakra began to gather inside.

So when the Mist Shinobi reinforcements waited for the flames to die down and were just about to survey the scene, what they saw was the Tailed Beast Bomb gathering in the Three-Tails' mouth.

The next moment, the Tailed Beast Bomb hurtled toward them.

The Mist Shinobi's faces filled with terror, but many more were still rushing toward the area.

Looking at their uniforms through the Byakugan, Senju Tobirama recognized them as Kirigakure's true trump cards and elite forces.

The assassination unit and the Anbu.

"Oh? Kirigakure's Anbu? They've even sent out these units... Looks like they really are at the end of their rope."

He rolled his arms. Li Ke still had plenty of chakra, and with the Three-Tails completely under control, he could use large-scale techniques without worry. But at that moment, Senju Tobirama wanted to try something new.

"Disappear!"

He rapidly formed Hand Seals, then pressed his hands against the tree roots beneath him. The power of Transparent Release appeared in an instant, concealing countless roots until they vanished from everyone's sight.

But—

A Flying Thunder God Mark suddenly appeared right in the middle of the approaching Mist Shinobi.

In the next moment, the Mist Shinobi realized that something they couldn't see was attacking them!

One Mist Shinobi merely leaped into the air, only to have his neck snapped in the next instant. Another simply landed on a tree, then was torn to pieces.

Some met even worse fates. They struck something in midair, and the next instant, countless invisible things burst through their bodies, turning them into sieves!

The most horrifying part was that those things remained invisible even when covered in blood!

Seeing their comrades pierced through in an instant, the Mist Shinobi in the assassination unit panicked. But they were elite troops, after all, and someone quickly came up with a solution!

"Quick, use the Mist Technique!"

As soon as the words were spoken, countless water droplets appeared in the air. They could clearly see the tentacles that had suddenly surrounded them!

The Mist Shinobi watched in horror as countless invisible tentacles churned through the mist and swept toward them. And they—

were already right in the middle of this Tentacle Forest!

Seeing this, Senju Tobirama simply clasped his hands together, delight shining in his eyes.

"Bringer-of-Darkness Technique."

The Mist Shinobi, who had still been able to make out the tentacles' movements, were plunged into complete darkness!

"Ahhhhh!!"

Their terrified screams rang out through the forest. Standing atop the Wood Golem, Senju Tobirama watched the Mist Shinobi gradually disappear beneath the trees and couldn't help shaking his head.

"Hmm, this is getting a little boring..."

Hundreds of elite shinobi were nothing more than playthings when faced with enough Kekkei Genkai and chakra.

But this wasn't the limit of Li Ke's body.

"If this kid's body could mature for a few more years and he could unlock all of his chakra, then even if every Kage brought their troops and Tailed Beasts to attack all at once, they still wouldn't stand a chance."

Clenching his fist, Senju Tobirama was absolutely certain of it.

A Kekkei Genkai that was practically useless in the Moonlight Clan, good only for the occasional assassination, and a technique that exposed itself with the slightest movement had become an ultimate ninjutsu when used through Li Ke's body: silent, undetectable, and completely without sensation, with not even the slightest sound when it moved.

"Enough. Time to take care of business."

He'd had his fun, and there really weren't any Mist Shinobi left nearby. Senju Tobirama looked toward the Three-Tails.

This place was quite close to Konoha, so after giving it some thought, Senju Tobirama used the Wood Golem to seize the Three-Tails and applied several seals to its body.

All it would take now was a competent Sealing Squad, or someone of a similar level to him, to easily seal the Three-Tails inside a special chakra vessel and bring it back to Konoha.

That way, Konoha could get a large sum in reparations. As for keeping the Three-Tails, Konoha could do so in its current position, but there was no need.

With Li Ke around, there was no need to worry about the Tailed Beasts. Besides, even if Konoha kept the Three-Tails, the village wouldn't have enough time to catch its breath. Li Ke needed some time to build up his own forces.

Otherwise, he'd probably have to use his Shadow Clones for everything, and that would wear him out.

Besides, Li Ke was far too young. He'd need at least five or six years before he could become Hokage. But this could still help strengthen Konoha, allowing his ideals to take shape more easily in the future.

And they could use the importance of the Tailed Beast to squeeze Kirigakure for all it was worth.

In the end, it was nothing more than a weak beast.

"Monkey, I'm counting on you to pave the way for those who come after us."

As he spoke, he formed Hand Seals once more, deepening the Sharingan's hold on the Three-Tails' consciousness.

What he did was simple: when the Three-Tails was ordered to attack Konoha, it would instead send its Tailed Beast Bomb toward Kirigakure.

He'd wanted to use the Sharingan to do this for a long time, but his older brother had stopped him back then.

But now...

"So I told you! Madara, your plan was wrong! Children can gain nothing and learn nothing in a world of illusions! And how could you, alone, take the place of an entire era's progress?! What about the advancement of skills and techniques?!"

Hashirama Senju grabbed Madara Uchiha by the shoulder and roared. Madara narrowed his eyes, glaring at Hashirama in displeasure, then poked him in the chest.

"And this is all because you, you bastard, thought you were about to die! You kept saying all you had to do was protect the village! If it weren't for wanting to cultivate power that could surpass you, I could've lived for over two hundred years just by transplanting your cells! But you thought you'd die at forty, so you stayed home to look after the kids! You gambled with little kids and nearly lost your pants! If you'd come out to fight with me, I wouldn't have needed to use Infinite Tsukuyomi!"

Hashirama Senju pressed on, "But you can't do this! Humanity won't have a future!"

"Bullshit! You betrayed me, of all people! Who else could I trust?! Your brother?!"

"But your idea is wrong!"

Hashirama Senju repeated himself, and Madara Uchiha was now absolutely furious. He grabbed Hashirama Senju by the collar.

"Then give me a plan that will make sure war never happens again! If you're not going to do anything, shut up!"

"But you really are wrong! We should discuss other solutions! People can always come to understand one another!"

"I'm starving. Someone in your family is hungry, and you've only got one piece of food in your hands. What good is understanding one another then?! That's why there's only my Infinite Tsukuyomi..."

Hearing Madara Uchiha say that, Li Ke was wide awake. Sitting on the ground and listening to the two old ghosts argue and curse at each other, he raised his hand.

"Um... actually, if we developed the productive forces, I..."

But it was obvious that the two of them had no interest in talking to him right now.

"Shut up, evil little Murata! I'm talking to Hashirama! He's always so self-righteous, making up his mind and then going ahead without caring whether anyone else lives or dies! If you don't convince him, you'll never get anything done!"

Madara Uchiha spoke furiously, and Hashirama Senju wasn't about to back down.

"Wait a little longer! Qingtan, I have to make Madara understand that he's wrong!"

Then the two of them continued arguing. When neither could win the argument, they grabbed and punched each other. But because Li Ke had forbidden them from using chakra, they quickly devolved into swinging wild punches.

That's right: a ninja's flashy Taijutsu relied entirely on chakra. Without chakra, it was all show and no substance.

And so Li Ke watched as the Uchiha Clan's Battlefield Rose and the Senju Clan's God of Shinobi began an utterly pointless brawl.

Li Ke: "..."

With a sigh, Li Ke looked at Izuna Uchiha, who was off to one side yawning in boredom.

"Was it always like this?"

Izuna Uchiha looked at him, then nodded.

"Pretty much. Whenever those two got together, no one else could get a word in. So most of the time, all I could do was fight that bastard Senju Tobirama!"

The first half of his answer had been fairly mild, but by the end, his tone had turned intensely bitter.

He certainly wore his heart on his sleeve.

"I see..."

Li Ke nodded and was about to force the two of them to stop fighting when he heard Senju Tobirama's voice.

"Your friends are here."

Li Ke quickly opened his eyes. He saw Rin Nohara and Kakashi staring in stunned silence, along with the Three-Tails, bound like a dumpling and held captive by a gigantic Wood Golem. Countless seals covered its body, and it was completely unable to struggle.

Li Ke: "..."

When did this happen?!

Where were the Mist Shinobi?!

Where were all my war merits from fighting them?!