Naruto: The Senju After the Age of Gods

"Kill!"

At the edge of Kirigakure, in the area sealed off by a barrier, the cries of battle shook the air.

Ninjutsu poured toward the Kaguya Clan like a storm, while the clan’s warriors darted and weaved through the bombardment, charging the Mist forces with savage ferocity.

Perhaps they had known this battle was inevitable. The Kaguya Clan had clearly prepared for it.

They had dug out a number of underground shelters ahead of time, hiding away the women who lacked combat ability and the children who had yet to grow strong enough to fight.

That one measure proved incredibly effective against Kirigakure’s opening wave of ninjutsu.

And with their families secured, the Kaguya warriors had no more reservations.

Blood sprayed through the air.

Even though the Kaguya Clan had all but lost the true power of the Dead Bone Pulse, their naturally terrifying physiques still granted them monstrous strength and dazzling speed. That alone was enough to cause the Mist forces serious trouble.

More importantly, most of the Kaguya shinobi had already been through war. They knew exactly how to handle large-scale encirclement.

Like loaches slipping through a net, they plunged straight into the enemy lines, forcing the Mist shinobi into close-quarters combat.

Once battle turned into a melee, those Mist shinobi could no longer freely unleash ninjutsu.

After all, they would hit their own people too.

Perhaps the ANBU would not have cared. To them, mission completion came first.

But the ordinary shinobi of Kirigakure—those who had not yet been completely molded by the Blood Mist policy—were not so cold-blooded.

And so, for a time, the Mist army was actually held in check by those Kaguya madmen.

"They’re putting on a decent show."

Controlling Yagura from a distance, Obito watched the battlefield and let out a faint sigh.

For a moment, it gave him the strange feeling of being back on the battlefield himself.

Only back then, he had been weak.

Powerless.

If he had possessed even a fraction of his current strength in those days, maybe he would not have had to stand there helplessly and watch Rin die right in front of him.

"They are doing rather well," Black Zetsu said with a sinister grin. "But the better they perform, the greater the Mist’s losses will be. I imagine that pleases you even more."

"It does," Obito admitted with a nod. "But I’m more curious about something else. Do you think that Nine-Tails jinchūriki will actually show up?"

"I don’t know. But I think he will," Black Zetsu replied with some confidence. "There’s no need to be too concerned. I left a clone there. If anything happens, I’ll know."

Obito nodded.

Bringing the Fourth Mizukage here as bait had always been a risky move.

Of course, there were other purposes behind it as well. In Black Zetsu’s words, it was meant to trigger a chain reaction favorable to them.

But Obito didn’t care much about those finer details.

What he cared about were the practical results.

How much damage would this cause?

Would that damned Nine-Tails jinchūriki really take the bait?

At the end of the day, Obito had only been "reborn" for a little over two years.

Two years was nowhere near enough to fully transform a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old former academy dunce into a truly mature, rational, and farsighted schemer.

Some things required time.

Time to temper a person.

Time to force them into clarity.

Obito was still far from that point.

Even if he had started learning seriously, such growth could not happen overnight.

Fortunately, he had Black Zetsu at his side.

Even if he didn’t trust him in the slightest, that didn’t stop him from using him.

To be fair, he didn’t even truly trust Uchiha Madara.

"Hm?" Black Zetsu suddenly let out a startled noise. "That guy’s making his move!"

"Really?"

Obito instantly cast aside his drifting thoughts and focused through Yagura’s senses.

And the moment he did, he felt it.

An overwhelming wave of pressure crashing toward them.

Not only that—

inside Yagura’s body, the Three-Tails itself showed signs of agitation.

It was as though it had sensed something terrifying.

And yet, at the same time, it desperately wanted to draw closer to it.

That contradiction was so intense that even Obito could feel it through the connection.

And that alone made him even more certain—

that power really was the Nine-Tails.

Otherwise, the Three-Tails would never have reacted like this.

Thinking of that, Obito’s body began to blur as he slipped into Kamui, moving toward Yagura’s position.

But at that exact moment—

a vast, despair-inducing chakra suddenly erupted into being.

Obito had once faced the Nine-Tails directly.

The instant he felt that power, he knew exactly what it was.

"Tailed Beast Bomb?"

The thought burst through his mind, and inwardly he began cursing.

That damned bastard was striking that brutally?

Was he seriously planning to blast the barrier apart with a Tailed Beast Bomb?

But almost immediately, Obito realized something was off.

This Tailed Beast Bomb didn’t feel like the wild, unstable one he had once controlled through the Nine-Tails.

This one was terrifyingly restrained.

Contained.

And yet its power had lost none of its lethality.

That realization made Obito understand something else as well—

whoever controlled the Nine-Tails possessed a frighteningly precise grasp over its power.

It was not only Obito who sensed it.

Every shinobi currently fighting on the battlefield felt the change as well.

The moment that terrifying force began condensing, all fighting instinctively halted.

Everyone turned toward the area outside the barrier.

There, in the distance, stood a figure wrapped in golden light, one hand raised.

In his palm floated a black sphere of chakra, pulsing with a pressure so suffocating it made breathing feel impossible.

Then, under that figure’s control, the sphere shot toward the sealing barrier.

In that instant, the scent of death spread across the entire battlefield.

Boom—!

The barrier shattered like glass.

An invisible shockwave exploded outward in every direction.

The shinobi closest to it had no time to react at all before they were blasted away.

They crashed to the ground, blood spilling from their noses, ears, even their eyes.

Not one of them got back up.

Those farther away fared slightly better. Though they too were thrown back, they at least survived the first impact.

But now their eyes were filled with terror.

No one could understand what kind of power this was.

No one knew what kind of person had just stepped into their midst.

The golden figure slowly walked forward.

Only then did they clearly see the fox mask on his face.

His gaze swept across the battlefield before locking onto the Fourth Mizukage.

The pressure of his chakra grew even heavier.

"So, you’re the Three-Tails jinchūriki? I’ve been looking for you for quite some time..."

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire battlefield fell silent.

The posture hikaru displayed was impossibly lofty.

The strength he radiated was the kind that inspired dread.

And what he had just said was enough to chill everyone present to the bone.

The Three-Tails jinchūriki.

That was his target.

No one here was ignorant enough to not understand who that referred to.

That was their Mizukage.

Their Fourth Mizukage.

Coming here to target the Fourth Mizukage—saying those words openly in front of the entire Mist force—

that wasn’t merely disrespect.

That was a direct denial of the entire Kirigakure system.

A declaration that he did not even acknowledge their village.

It was true that many of the Mist shinobi present were deeply dissatisfied with the current Fourth Mizukage.

But dissatisfied or not, he was still their Kage.

Both nominally and practically, he was the highest authority in the village.

For hikaru to act this way was, in a very real sense, a challenge to the entire structure of Kirigakure itself.

The way the shinobi looked at him began to change.

First stunned.

Then silent.

Then cold.

Then furious.

The shift took only a few seconds.

And within those few seconds, they had all made up their minds.

Seeing those looks, hikaru inwardly sighed.

But from the moment he stepped out, this had always been inevitable.

To be honest, if this had happened in Konoha instead, and he were acting solely as a Konoha shinobi, then no matter how dissatisfied he might be with Hiruzen, he would still have had to defend the authority of the Hokage for the sake of Konoha’s stability.

If he stood by and did nothing, he would never be forgiven for it.

Nor would any Konoha shinobi who did the same.

"But I already came prepared for that," hikaru thought to himself. "After all, this is still me doing Konoha a favor."

Maintaining the same aloof, arrogant bearing he had always used with this identity, he began walking slowly toward the battlefield.

He didn’t even glance at the surrounding shinobi.

His gaze remained fixed on Yagura.

The Mist shinobi moved quickly, splitting off from the Kaguya remnants.

A smaller group stayed back to keep the Kaguya in check, while the rest focused entirely on hikaru.

"So what’s the matter?" hikaru laughed lightly, the golden chakra around him growing denser by the second. He lifted his chin slightly, looking down on the battlefield as if from above. "As a Three-Tails jinchūriki, you don’t even have the courage to fight me yourself?"

He let out a low, amused breath.

"I have to admit, I’m disappointed. Are these insects really all you intend to send at me?

"It seems that even those who possess Tailed Beasts are unworthy of them in spirit.

"Still..."

At that moment, his aura climbed even higher.

Every Mist shinobi on the field reacted differently.

Many unconsciously tightened their grip on their kunai.

Some had cold sweat dripping down their temples.

Even they didn’t understand why such fear had taken root in their hearts.

There was only one person standing in front of them.

And yet that lone figure felt like an Asura of war, calmly waiting to reap their lives.

Even with hundreds of shinobi gathered here, not one of them felt safe.

Then, in the blink of an eye, hikaru moved.

A streak of golden light carved a visible trail through the air as he shot directly into the Mist formation.

"I suppose this should be enough to warm me up."

His voice drifted calmly through the battlefield.

He gave them no chance to prepare.

He had already begun.

In an instant, explosions erupted.

Mist shinobi screamed one after another.

At most times, numbers mattered in war.

Even shinobi could win through sheer quantity under normal conditions.

But there were always exceptions.

In the past, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama had been such exceptions.

So had Tobirama.

So had the Third and Fourth Raikage.

The reason jinchūriki were considered strategic weapons was because once they truly controlled their beasts, they became existences that could simply ignore numbers altogether.

At that moment, hikaru was exactly that—

a tiger crashing into a flock of sheep.

Golden chakra wrapped around him.

The first instant he entered their ranks, countless Mist shinobi were already hurled skyward.

Every movement he made was light, effortless, and devastating.

Anyone who brushed against him was sent flying.

His motions were clean, concise, natural, and frighteningly fluid.

Nearly every strike hit a vital point.

One punch—

a Mist shinobi shot backward, crushing more than a dozen comrades under the amplified impact of Nine-Tails chakra.

One step forward—

before the enemy’s blade could even fall, hikaru’s fist had already crashed into his chest.

Then a sideways shift—

he slipped past an attack from behind and seized the attacker’s wrist in the same motion.

A slight twist—

the wrist bent into a grotesque angle.

Still holding that mangled arm, he casually used the man’s body to block another strike from the side.

Clang!

Metal rang.

Then both Mist shinobi suddenly felt pain explode in their chests.

Before either of them could understand what had happened, both were blasted backward.

The people behind them suffered too, knocked sprawling by the impact.

And those two were worse off than anyone.

Their chests had caved in.

Blood poured from their mouths without stopping.

"What the hell is this..."

Kaguya Shigeaki, standing amidst his own clan on the battlefield, stared in disbelief at the golden figure.

He and the other Kaguya were still surrounded and isolated, but even they could clearly see what hikaru was doing.

That golden figure darted through over a hundred Mist shinobi like a phantom, remaining completely untouched while inflicting horrifying casualties.

The sheer strength on display was difficult to comprehend.

And strangely enough—

it made his blood boil.

But Shigeaki had become clan head for a reason.

He did have some brains.

He did not join hikaru in slaughtering the Mist while they were under pressure.

Because he understood exactly what that would mean.

If he attacked alongside that golden figure, then whatever pretenses remained between the Kaguya and Kirigakure would be shattered for good.

He might be rebelling against the Fourth Mizukage.

He might want to overthrow him.

But that was still an internal struggle.

The instant he openly coordinated with an outsider against the Mist, it would become open treason against the village itself.

He worshipped strength, yes.

But he wasn’t completely brainless.

Even if, by instinct, he preferred solving most things with violence.

"And that bastard was talking about Tailed Beasts..."

Shigeaki’s mind turned quickly.

He had heard hikaru’s words clearly.

He didn’t understand exactly what they meant.

But he did know this much—

once all of this was over, he might just be able to profit from the chaos.

Moving through the ranks of Mist shinobi, hikaru fought with relaxed ease.

No attack could touch him.

He was simply too fast.

Even when some unusually angled attacks should have hit, the thin layer of golden chakra cloaking him blocked them cleanly.

At this moment, he was close to untouchable.

Only a few short minutes had passed, and already no one knew how many bodies had fallen by his hand.

Worse still, his movements were so fast that long-range ninjutsu couldn’t lock onto him.

And even if they could—

the Mist shinobi hardly dared to use wide-range techniques in the middle of their own formation.

One kick sent another shinobi flying.

Then hikaru reached out with his right hand and casually intercepted a kunai midair.

In the next second, he drove that same kunai straight into the abdomen of a Mist shinobi beside him.

Without breaking rhythm, he spun and kicked another enemy away.

Then, with a pair of smooth sidesteps, he evaded the panicked slash of yet another Mist shinobi before seizing the man by the throat.

His grip tightened.

The shinobi’s breathing cut off immediately.

And hikaru had no intention of letting go.

"Pathetic."

He shook his head with detached calm.

At this point, hardly any Mist shinobi even dared to approach him anymore.

His gaze lifted again toward the Fourth Mizukage.

His fingers tightened further.

"You still refuse to act?"

His calm, indifferent voice rang out across the battlefield.

He had every intention of stabbing Obito back just as maliciously as Obito had tried to use him.

hikaru had always been vindictive.

That part of him had never changed.

He wanted these Mist shinobi to hear it.

He wanted them to remember it.

"To watch your subordinates die for you," hikaru continued, looking directly toward Yagura, "and still refuse to fulfill the role of a Kage?

"I have to admit, you’ve taught me something tonight.

"So this is what a ’Kage’ really is."

As the last word fell—

his hand clenched hard.

Crack.

With a sharp snapping sound, the shinobi in his grip had his neck broken instantly.

The surrounding Mist forces all went stiff, their expressions ugly.

They hated hearing his words.

But they had also been affected by them.

Unconsciously, they all turned to look at Yagura.

Dissatisfaction.

Suspicion.

Resentment.

All of it surged.

They needed an answer.

"No decision yet?"

hikaru let the corpse fall and sighed, almost disappointed.

"In that case... I suppose I’ll have to get a little more serious.

"After all, a warm-up is only useful up to a point."

Then, with one bound, he leapt clear of the Mist ranks.

His hands flashed through a rapid series of seals.

A vast tide of chakra surged through his body.

At his arm, a golden fox head began to form.

And before everyone’s horrified eyes, a black sphere of destructive force began gathering once more.

That sight alone was enough to make despair spread like wildfire.

"What... what kind of chakra is that? Is he even human?"

"That fox head... it matches the mask... Is that... the Nine-Tails?"

"Is Konoha attacking us? Damn it—what is the Fourth Mizukage doing?!"

"Are we finished...?"

The pressure of that energy was suffocating.

The black sphere only continued to grow.

Many had already seen enough to understand that if it was launched here, they would be annihilated.

At the rear, Black Zetsu’s face turned hideously grim.

"That bastard..."

He understood perfectly.

This was retaliation.

He and Obito had tried to use hikaru.

Now hikaru was using them in return.

Originally, they had baited him out to identify his purpose, test his identity, and conveniently make him help eliminate the Kaguya problem.

Instead, he had seen right through them.

And now, if they still refused to move, one of two outcomes would follow:

Either hikaru would massacre everyone here—

or some survivors would carry back the story that the Fourth Mizukage had watched from beginning to end and done nothing.

Either way, Obito’s control over the village would be shaken.

And once that happened, they might have no choice but to abandon Kirigakure altogether.

Giving up Kirigakure itself was not what Black Zetsu cared about.

What enraged him was being played like this.

Obito, meanwhile, had finally grasped the full intent of hikaru’s move.

For now, he absolutely could not abandon Kirigakure.

Not yet.

He had not finished destroying it.

He had not finished taking revenge.

Leaving now was impossible.

But that damned bastard had forced his hand.

Obito had thought he controlled the board.

Instead, he realized he had controlled nothing.

Everything he arranged had simply become another tool for someone else to exploit.

"...Looks like there’s no helping it."

Obito exhaled heavily.

His exposed Sharingan began to spin.

The three black tomoe merged into the pattern of a Mangekyō.

Black Zetsu sighed as well.

"There’s no choice now."

Then he added quickly,

"One suggestion. Clash with him briefly, then go straight into Tailed Beast transformation."

"I know."

Obito nodded.

He understood exactly what Black Zetsu meant.

If Yagura had remained inactive for so long, then there needed to be a reason.

That reason would be "preparing for full transformation."

In truth, Obito did not need that kind of excuse.

Under his control, forcing Yagura into bijū mode was easy.

But a little theater never hurt.

At least it would reduce some of the political backlash.

With that thought, Obito’s chakra began to surge.

And Yagura’s chakra immediately changed in response.

He leapt from his position, leaving the crowd behind as he rushed straight toward hikaru.

Because hikaru had been fully focused the entire time—especially on Yagura—he noticed the instant Yagura’s chakra exploded.

At once, he knew Obito could no longer stay patient.

A pity, really.

He had fully intended to fire that Tailed Beast Bomb into the Mist ranks.

He had never really gotten to see what a Tailed Beast Bomb did to ordinary shinobi en masse.

Of course, even if he launched it, he would not kill absolutely everyone.

He still wanted survivors.

Survivors would carry the story back and further disgust Obito’s subordinates.

But once Obito moved, there was no point continuing that line.

Still—

this was also good.

One of hikaru’s goals had always been the Three-Tails’ chakra.

And once Obito made his move, getting it would only be easier.

Without a word, Yagura flashed to hikaru’s side in an instant.

His weapon carved a curved arc through the air before him.

"Water Release: Water Mirror Technique!"

Under the activation of his chakra, the arc immediately became a water mirror.

The moment hikaru saw it, the black chakra sphere in his hand vanished under his control.

He knew Water Mirror Technique.

That technique was ridiculous—arguably even more absurd than the Uchiha gunbai.

He didn’t know for certain whether it could reflect his Tailed Beast Bomb.

But there was no reason to test it carelessly.

At this moment, Yagura moved like a puppet.

His eyes held no emotion at all.

In that state, he could probably ignore pain completely.

But by the same token, he couldn’t use anything subtle.

Fine technique, nuanced timing, adaptive combat—

those things were all beyond him.

What he could do was unleash overwhelming force.

Above all—

the power of a Tailed Beast.

"Interesting," hikaru muttered.

He slipped past Yagura’s strike, stepped forward, and let a kunai appear soundlessly in his hand.

Pshk.

The blade sank straight into Yagura’s abdomen.

Yet Yagura’s face didn’t change at all.

He simply stared at hikaru without emotion.

Then suddenly—

his chakra ignited.

Three dark red tails erupted behind him.

That same red chakra spread rapidly across his body, wrapping him in a corrosive, beastly cloak.

"It’s tailed beast transformation!"

"So that’s why the Fourth Mizukage wasn’t moving earlier!"

"He was preparing for this all along!"

"So the Fourth Mizukage meant to fight seriously from the very beginning!"

"In that case, we can’t disgrace ourselves either!"

"Everyone, help the Mizukage kill that monster!"

A Kage was still a symbol.

And symbols could not easily be replaced.

Earlier, while Yagura had stood still and watched his men die, the morale of the Mist forces had hit rock bottom.

Now that he was finally moving, their morale surged back visibly.

Some of them even began finding excuses for him in their own heads.

And before long, they were ready to throw themselves at hikaru again, determined to support their Kage.

Unfortunately for them—

they were thinking too much.

hikaru had to admit that their interference was mildly troublesome.

But only mildly.

Because he remained glued to Yagura’s side.

And no matter how many grievances they had, the Mist shinobi still feared accidentally injuring their own Mizukage.

"Not bad," hikaru said lightly as he caught Yagura’s arm mid-strike. "Trying to use my hand to thin your own ranks. You’re overestimating yourself."

Yagura gave no response.

Under Obito’s control, he shoved hard, then slammed a palm toward hikaru.

The strike carried a strange force within it, enough to make even hikaru step back.

But in the process, several Mist shinobi rushed up behind him.

hikaru’s chakra moved instantly.

Golden chakra shot backward, snagging one of the approaching shinobi.

In the next moment, hikaru activated the Substitution Technique.

And Yagura’s palm landed.

"AAAGH!"

The unfortunate Mist shinobi screamed as blood erupted from his mouth.

Coral began rapidly growing out of the body part Yagura had struck.

His flesh stiffened.

Death was clearly not far off.

Coral Palm.

One of the Fourth Mizukage’s signature techniques—

or rather, one of the Three-Tails’ signature techniques.

At that point, hikaru was certain of it.

Obito’s plan here was to draw out the maximum possible combat power from the Three-Tails through Yagura.

And he could already sense that Yagura’s chakra was still climbing.

"He’s going all the way into full transformation?"

hikaru thought to himself, then ruthlessly cut down the Mist shinobi around him.

But right then—

a familiar surge of energy rose nearby.

He turned immediately.

Dark red chakra swirled violently around Yagura.

The man tilted his head back slightly.

At his mouth, a black sphere of chakra began gathering.

hikaru recognized that sight at once.

Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Well. This just got interesting."

He raised a brow.

Then, at the same time, black chakra began forming in his own hand.

The gathering force was nearly identical.

Because while Yagura prepared his Tailed Beast Bomb—

hikaru calmly formed one of his own.

A few moments later, Yagura’s gathering was complete.

hikaru tilted his head slightly.

Then he vanished in a flash of body-flicker, a streak of gold appearing at Yagura’s side.

The overwhelming destructive force in his hand had reached its peak.

And the moment of collision had arrived.

◇ One bonus Chapter will be released for every 150 Power Stones.

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