Finally Settling on the Eight Trigrams Seal

Hibari's eyes flickered, and he answered softly, "A-rank non-seal ninjutsu, the Rasengan. I figured it out myself a while ago."

"Heh... Rasengan, is it?" Blood seeped from the corner of Madara's mouth again, his voice faint. "You created it yourself? Hibari, you brat... you certainly learned a lot from that bastard Tobirama."

"I haven't fallen behind in Fire Style either, Lord Madara." Hibari's lips curled into a faint smile.

Uchiha Madara's hand moved with great effort, finally coming to rest on Hibari's head. Hibari didn't dodge this time, letting the palm, now devoid of strength, press down.

"You still haven't grown any taller... that's why I underestimated you, Hibari." Madara pulled at the corner of his mouth, forcing a small smile.

Senju Hashirama stood behind Madara, his face still set in that resolute expression, yet the grief in his eyes was impossible to hide. The blade in his hand had long since pierced through Madara's back, the sharp tip now protruding from his chest.

Blood dripped along the blade, pattering onto the ground. The few specks of blood on Hibari's face were from the spray moments ago.

"You've changed too, Hashirama." Madara sighed, his voice drifting.

He felt a wave of weakness and pain coursing through his body—he knew better than anyone that in the past, Senju Hashirama would never have delivered such a clean, decisive blow. But now, the reality was right before his eyes.

"The village..." Senju Hashirama spoke, his voice heavy and trembling slightly if one listened closely. "Anyone who wants to be an enemy of the village, an enemy to us... no, to my village, I will treat them as an enemy. Just as you said earlier, Madara, we are both people who crawled out of that chaotic era. How could we ever go soft on an enemy?"

He saw things with perfect clarity. With the five great nations and five great villages keeping each other in check, and with him at the helm, this fragile peace was barely maintained. He wanted to make this peace more stable and long-lasting.

Therefore, Konoha could not afford any mishaps. Otherwise, this balance would shatter instantly, war would break out, and the good days would come to an end.

For the sake of this, he had to be ruthless; he had to end his old friend here, with his own hands.

Madara's eyelids began to droop, and his Mangekyo Sharingan slowly faded, returning to ordinary black pupils. His knees gave way, and he slumped forward, falling straight toward Hibari, his head hanging on Hibari's shoulder.

This movement nearly drove the tip of the blade protruding from his body into Hibari's chest.

"You've got your priorities backward... Hashirama." Madara pressed his forehead against Hibari's shoulder, whispering into his ear with his last breath. "Peace... is not so easily attained. Sooner or later, all of this will turn into darkness and swallow everything."

After saying this, he went silent.

Hibari, being the closest, could clearly feel it—this Uchiha Madara, who had shaken the ninja world and stood alongside the "God of Shinobi" Senju Hashirama, was truly gone.

Over there, Senju Hashirama should have been exhausted as well, but his legs only buckled and swayed; he didn't collapse, nor did he faint.

Seeing this, Hibari felt a sense of relief. Regardless of anything else, had he truly changed something?

But thoughts aside, while Senju Hashirama didn't look severely injured, his internal state was a mess. His foundation was damaged, and a vast amount of life force had been consumed to heal and maintain his chakra; whether he could recover in the future was hard to say.

"Lord Hashirama... Lord Madara is..." Hibari looked at the frail Senju Hashirama and spoke softly.

A flash of pain crossed Senju Hashirama's eyes. He nodded, saying nothing. He knew, of course, that Uchiha Madara had died by his own hand.

Just then, the figure of Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared with a "swish."

Seeing the scene before him, his eyes nearly popped out of his head—what the hell was this? He was only a few steps behind, and this brat Hibari had actually helped the Hokage take down Uchiha Madara??? This was too absurd! There had to be a misunderstanding!

But there was no time to ask. He hurried forward to support Senju Hashirama, then turned to shout at Hibari: "Hibari! You bastard, acting recklessly again! Are you alright??"

Hibari, still supporting Uchiha Madara's corpse with one hand, replied casually: "Nothing major, just broke an arm..."

Confirming that Hibari's life was not in danger, Sarutobi Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief and turned to ask Senju Hashirama: "Lord Hokage, Lady Mito is handling the situation with the Nine-Tails... how should we deal with Uchiha Madara's body?"

Senju Hashirama looked at Madara, who was being supported by Hibari, and remained silent for a moment.

"Bury him here," he said in a low voice. "And... don't let word of this spread."

Uchiha Madara's attack on Konoha had been witnessed by many villagers and ninjas, and Tobirama had confirmed it as well.

Although he had left suddenly in the past, he was still considered a ninja of Konoha. But after today's events, the nature of his status had changed entirely—he was now a traitor to the village.

A traitor's body naturally could not be given a grand funeral. Besides, he hadn't been well-liked in the village; if they brought him back, there was no telling what kind of absurd and troublesome chaos might ensue.

Even though Senju Hashirama had ended his old friend himself, he couldn't bear to leave him out in the wilderness. Even if they weren't friends, he was still a legendary figure; to be too cold-blooded felt wrong.

Therefore, he decided to bury him on the spot. As long as those present kept their mouths shut, there would be no fear of anyone disturbing the peace of the deceased.

Neither Hibari nor Sarutobi Hiruzen had any objections. Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly formed hand seals and shouted: "Earth Style: Earth Core!"

As soon as he finished, the ground in a secluded corner nearby rose and sank, forming a pit just large enough for one person.

Hibari endured the piercing pain in his right wrist, lifted Uchiha Madara, and laid him flat on the ground. Looking at Madara's eyes, which seemed to still be open, he couldn't help but sigh.

Although he knew this guy would eventually come back to life, seeing him like this still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He reached out, intending to close Uchiha Madara's eyes.

However, the moment his palm covered those eyes, a sudden, inexplicable craving surged within his body, and his own eyes began to itch.

But the feeling came and went quickly. As soon as he moved his hand away from Madara's face, the craving and the itching vanished without a trace.

"Strange..." Hibari stared at Uchiha Madara's face, filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Could the Mangekyo Sharingan be playing tricks? Was something wrong with him?

He speculated wildly in his mind. But this wasn't the time to dwell on it. Hibari used force and finally managed to close Uchiha Madara's eyelids.

At this moment, Senju Hashirama gathered his last bit of strength, stumbled over, and bent down to pick up his former friend.

He walked unsteadily to the prepared pit, placed Uchiha Madara's body inside with his own hands, and covered it with soil.

Hibari watched quietly from the side, using his functional left hand to channel medical chakra into his sprained right wrist to soothe the pain.

At the same time, his mind kept replaying that sensation—the itching in his eyes and that instinctive craving.

Looking back, a thought had even emerged: he wanted to gouge out Uchiha Madara's Mangekyo Sharingan.

But this dangerous thought was suppressed by his reason as soon as it surfaced.

Setting aside how despicable such an act would be, the consequences alone were terrifying: Uchiha Madara would eventually be resurrected, and if he opened his eyes to find them missing, wouldn't he hunt Hibari to the ends of the earth? Hibari knew that even if Madara were blind, beating him up would likely be child's play.

Moreover, Lord Hashirama and Master Hiruzen were standing right there; how could they watch him commit such an act of grave robbing?

"Besides," Hibari glanced toward the direction of Konoha, muttering to himself, "Madara isn't the only one with a Sharingan. Why the rush? There will be time to figure it out later."

After burying Uchiha Madara at the Valley of the End, Hibari, Senju Hashirama, and Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to the Nine-Tails.

Uzumaki Mito had already laid out dense formations around the Nine-Tails Fox, the ground covered in complex sealing scripts.

Hearing footsteps, she turned around and saw the three people she had been worried about returning, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Although her husband Senju Hashirama's face was as pale as paper and that brat Hibari was injured, they had all returned in one piece. It wasn't the worst-case scenario, and for that, she was thankful.

"Grandma Mito, need a hand?" Hibari asked with a grin.

Uzumaki Mito glared at him immediately, her tone filled with reproach but unable to hide her concern: "You little brat, if you could worry me less, that would be the biggest help! I'll settle this score with you when we get back to the village."

Hibari could only smile awkwardly, not daring to say anything more.

At this time, although Senju Hashirama could still walk and talk, his body was extremely weak.

To avoid wasting time, Uzumaki Mito quickly checked the ritual, her expression turning stern as her chakra surged violently.

"Eight Trigrams Seal!" she shouted, forming hand seals.

This Eight Trigrams Seal was formed by overlapping two Four Symbols Seals. Ever since the Five Kage Summit ended and it was decided to bring the Nine-Tails into Konoha, Uzumaki Mito knew she would likely become the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki.

For this purpose, she had studied a vast amount of sealing jutsu and finally settled on the Eight Trigrams Seal.

It had to be said that this technique was indeed suited for dealing with the Nine-Tails. It wasn't just her choice; later, Uzumaki Kushina and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, would use this same technique to seal the Nine-Tails.

As a secret sealing technique of the Uzumaki Clan, besides these few, there were few in the world who could use it, and even fewer who could break it.

As Uzumaki Mito shouted, the Nine-Tails Fox was sucked into the sealing formation and then into her body. But at this critical moment, the Nine-Tails suddenly regained consciousness, and seeing it was about to be stuffed into someone else's belly, it immediately understood what was happening.

"Damn humans, I will slaughter you all sooner or later!" After the Nine-Tails roared this, it vanished completely.

Subsequently, the two Four Symbols Seals merged into the Eight Trigrams Seal, spinning twice on her abdomen before fading away.

Hibari had been wondering if Grandma Mito would be weakened, but she acted as if nothing had happened, casually patting her stomach and saying: "The Hokage's injuries cannot be delayed. We'll talk in detail when we get back, let's go!"

Hibari and Sarutobi Hiruzen exchanged glances and nodded. Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't say a word and immediately carried Senju Hashirama on his back.

Senju Hashirama struggled, saying: "Little monkey, put me down..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen lowered his voice: "Lord Hokage, don't force yourself right now." With that, he took off running toward the Hidden Leaf Village.