Spatial Imprisonment

"Then watch closely!"

Mirai spread his legs wide, his body standing straight.

Seeing how familiar Mirai's stance was, Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama's pupils suddenly contracted.

Why did this look so familiar? It was clearly...

"Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands, Top Transformed Buddha!"

With a clap, Mirai pressed his palms together.

Rumble...

The ground began to shake again, not only more violently, but across a much wider area.

"This brat!"

Orochimaru's vertical pupils constricted sharply. Clearly, Mirai had frightened even him.

It was the first time Orochimaru had seen such a monstrous brat. Even Uchiha Shisui, once hailed as a genius, was no match for Mirai.

"Wood... Wood Release!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was too stunned to speak. He could only stare blankly at Mirai.

"It really is my brother's Wood Release ninjutsu: True Several Thousand Hands, Top Transformed Buddha!"

Whether he believed it or not, the truth was right before his eyes.

Senju Tobirama could only watch Mirai in shock as his Wood Release ninjutsu slowly took shape.

"I never expected you to know Wood Release as well!"

Hashirama did not move. He merely watched Mirai quietly, wanting to see just how powerful Mirai's Wood Release could become.

Wood twisted and coiled through the air, forming a massive wooden Buddha in an instant.

The Buddha stood over a hundred meters tall, with thousands of enormous wooden palms supported behind it.

Mirai stood atop the wooden Buddha's head, looking down upon everything below.

Looking at the two-hundred-meter-tall wooden Buddha, Senju Hashirama could not help but be stunned.

"I never expected your strength to be this great! With you in Konoha, I can rest easy!"

As he spoke, Senju Hashirama smiled with gratified delight.

Mirai looked utterly helpless. "Are we fighting or not? You're the First Hokage of Konoha, so hurry up and help me win back my pride!"

Hashirama's face twitched slightly, and he looked extremely embarrassed.

"Sigh, looks like we really have no choice but to fight! Then come!"

Hashirama's wooden Buddha charged toward Mirai, while Mirai's wooden Buddha charged toward Hashirama.

Rumble...

The large and small Buddha palms began clashing head-on. Shockwaves rolled outward, accompanied by continuous sonic booms.

Wooden palms of vastly different sizes collided, sending countless wood chips flying.

Most of those wood chips came from Hashirama's wooden Buddha.

Clearly, in this clash of techniques, Hashirama's Wood Release could not match Mirai's Wood Release.

This was not merely a difference in size, but a difference in actual power.

Boom!!!

A thunderous explosion rang out as Senju Hashirama's wooden Buddha shattered.

Senju Hashirama himself was also blasted into fragments by a single palm strike from Mirai's wooden Buddha.

"Brother!"

Senju Tobirama frowned, somewhat tense.

"I never expected Konoha to produce a wildcard like you. It seems this plan has failed!"

Orochimaru looked at Mirai, his eyes filled with wariness.

"I'm fine, Tobirama!"

The fragments of Senju Hashirama, who had originally been blasted apart, slowly gathered together, and he came back to life once more.

"Mirai, right? Good kid, your strength is enough to hold up Konoha's skies!"

Senju Hashirama did not feel discouraged by his earlier defeat. Instead, he was even happier.

Happy that Konoha had such a powerful ninja watching over it.

"Forget it. I'm determined to become a salted fish!" Mirai said as he picked at his ear.

"Salted fish?" Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Enma beside him.

"Salted fish? What does that mean?"

Unable to understand what "salted fish" meant, Senju Hashirama spoke up to ask.

"A couch potato is someone with no dreams, who doesn't want to work or move, and just wants to coast through life waiting to die!"

Mirai gave a fairly convincing explanation.

After hearing this, Senju Hashirama burst into hearty laughter.

Senju Tobirama and Hiruzen Sarutobi, meanwhile, were both covered in black lines. What kind of person was this?

"I didn't expect us to think alike. I used to want to be a couch potato too, but I never managed it!"

Senju Hashirama sighed wistfully as he recalled the old days.

"Mirai, this isn't over yet. Don't celebrate too soon!"

Orochimaru sneered coldly. Although his plan had failed, he had not yet revealed all his trump cards.

"Oh? Do you still have some trick you haven't used?"

Mirai was puzzled. Normally, Orochimaru's trump cards should have been these two Hokage summoned through Edo Tensei.

Other than that, there should have been nothing else.

Yet Orochimaru looked so confident now. Did he have another trump card?

"Summoning Technique!"

Orochimaru summoned once more, this time bringing out the last coffin from before.

"Edo Tensei!"

With a bang, the coffin lid opened, and a figure stepped out from within.

"The Fourth Kazekage!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the familiar face, his eyes filled with shock.

"Second Hokage, perhaps you created Edo Tensei, but the next technique was developed by me!"

"Please, everyone, enjoy the experience!"

"Edo Tensei—Sacrifice—Dance of Demons!"

With a bang, Orochimaru's entire body suddenly exploded into a spray of blood.

The blood sprayed toward Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, and the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.

"This is..."

As Senju Tobirama watched the blood approach, a terrible premonition suddenly rose within him.

"Argh..."

Rasa let out a roar as the blood fused into his body.

As the blood merged with him, Rasa began to go berserk.

"Magnet Release—Gold Dust Billows!"

Rasa waved both hands repeatedly, and countless grains of golden sand flew from his body, transforming into surging sand waves that rushed toward Mirai's wooden Buddha.

"Water Release—Raging Tides!"

Rolling waves surged forward under Senju Tobirama's control, crashing toward Mirai's Wood Release.

"Wood Release—Wood Dragon Binding!"

Dozens of wooden dragons burst out from beneath Mirai's wooden Buddha, coiling around it and locking the giant statue in place.

Mirai watched the three suddenly berserk figures, and his expression finally turned serious.

Chakra surged from within him as the wooden Buddha began struggling fiercely against the wooden dragons' restraints.

Boom!

The wooden Buddha broke free from the wooden dragons' bindings, and a thousand Buddha palms shot forth toward the incoming waves and sand tides.

Rumble...

The waves and sand tides were smashed apart by the Buddha palms, scattering across the ground.

Amid a series of loud booms, Senju Hashirama's wooden Buddha appeared again.

Taking advantage of Mirai's attack against the waves and sand tides, it struck from behind him.

Wood chips flew from Mirai's wooden Buddha as its body began to sway.

"Orochimaru ran off, and these three are all nearly insane. How did this situation suddenly become such a mess?"

Mirai frowned. It was obvious that he had fallen into a trap.

If he had known, he would not have shown off. This was just great.

"Right, I still have that ocular technique ability!"

Mirai's furrowed brow relaxed. He had clearly thought of a way to resolve the current situation.

"Flying Thunder God!"

Standing atop the swaying wooden Buddha's head, he flung a Flying Thunder God kunai toward Senju Hashirama behind him.

With a whoosh, Mirai vanished without a trace.

When he appeared again, he had arrived beside Hashirama along with the Flying Thunder God kunai.