Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

"untie!"

Faced with an unprecedentedly powerful enemy, a solemn-faced Hashirama Senju made a desperate gamble, choosing to dismantle the wood clones left behind in Konoha.

When creating that wood clone, Hashirama Senju deliberately gave away half of his chakra to ensure its long-term strength.

Unexpectedly, it has now become his lifeline. With the abundant chakra of the Wood Clone, Senju Itama is confident that he can turn the tide and successfully defeat this strange monk with the pointed head in front of him.

"Is there any other trick up your sleeve?"

Seeing the confident look on Hashirama Senju's face, Jigen frowned. His eye technique's cooldown wouldn't be over for a while.

"Haha~ They're back! Everyone's back?"

Hashirama Senju grinned, about to utter a harsh remark, but his smile froze, and large beads of cold sweat poured down his face like rain.

No,

Where is my stored chakra?

Where did that huge mass of chakra go?

The next moment, the clone's memories flooded in like a tidal wave.

"Hehe."

Jigen, using his Byakugan, observed that Hashirama Senju's chakra had only increased by less than ten percent, and only then did his tense expression relax.

"bluff."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he brandished his black club and thrust it at the sweating Hashirama Senju.

"Glug~"

Hashirama Senju dodged Jigen's attack with a scramble, then got up and began cursing his brother for letting him down.

"Tobirama! You bastard!"

In just a few seconds, he had absorbed the clone's memories and also learned that he possessed Konoha's chakra, which had been used by Tobirama Senju to repair the Hokage Rock in order to save money.

"Phew, now we have no choice but to go all out."

After a few seconds of frustration, Hashirama Senju recovered and a resolute expression appeared on his face. He clapped his hands together, and a surge of energy, unfamiliar to Jigen, erupted forth.

"After all, Madara is still waiting for me!"

[Immortal Techniques - Immortal Mode]

Red markings appeared on Hashirama Senju's rugged face, and his exaggerated eyeshadow gave him a slightly bewitching look, causing Jigen to frown.

"This power"

"Luckily, I had accumulated Sage Chakra beforehand."

After successfully entering Sage Mode, the wounds sustained during his battle with Jigen healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As wisps of white smoke rose, Hashirama Senju, restored to his former self, once again assumed his classic stomping stance.

"Sorry, I might lose control from here on out."

Hashirama Senju slightly bent his knees, and the rock beneath his feet instantly shattered. Jigen's unusually large pupils contracted slightly.

The next moment, a fist glowing with blue light appeared before his eyes.

So fast!

This was the first thought in Cixian's mind.

Then came the next one.

That was really strong!

"boom!"

Before he could react, Jigen was punched in the face by Hashirama Senju, dislocating his jaw and sending him spinning rapidly through the air in a 3600° rotation.

Seeing that his attack had hit, Hashirama Senju immediately pressed his advantage, leaping high into the air and stomping down with his 42-yard-long foot.

"Bang!~"

Jigen, stunned by Hashirama Senju's punch, finally came to his senses. Ignoring the need to fix his dislocated jaw, he conjured several black rods from his hands and hurled them at the falling figure.

However, what happened next was something Cixian couldn't understand.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The black rods that had previously been invincible were all blocked and sent flying by Hashirama Senju.

Seeing this, even if Cixian was arrogant, he was unwilling to take the blow head-on. He raised his hand and summoned a dark red black hole next to him, then quickly went inside.

"Boom!"

Hashirama Senju landed, his massive foot, imbued with the monstrous power of Sage Mode, stomping out a crater tens of meters wide where Jigen had just stood. A hint of surprise and disbelief flickered in his eyes.

Space-time ninjutsu?

"Boom!"

"It has been enhanced in all aspects; it's truly an amazing method."

Cixian emerged from the nearby black hole, looked at the giant crater where the smoke and dust had not yet dissipated, and reached out to close his dislocated jaw. He couldn't help but look at Sage Mode with newfound respect.

After their brief exchange, Jigen gained a general understanding of Sage Mode. In this mode, Hashirama Senju's four dimensions were dramatically amplified, making him completely different from his previous frail appearance.

"Hand over Tobirama now, and I might spare your life."

Hashirama Senju spoke with a tense expression.

"Heh heh, what an arrogant ant."

Jigen, possessing the pride of an Otsutsuki, would never submit to a native. He immediately sneered twice, raised his hands, and conjured several black rods out of thin air.

"You should worry about your own safety."

Looking at the menacing Jigen, Hashirama Senju gently shook his head.

Since that's the case, he had no choice but to persuade them with reason.

He clapped his hands together, and a surge of Sage Chakra poured into the ground. The entire forest trembled with Hashirama Senju's movement. Jigen, who was running, felt the violent shaking beneath his feet and frowned in confusion.

Then, he suddenly realized that the entire sky had darkened, and the sun, which had been radiating heat just moments before, had vanished.

"What is it?"

Cixian raised her head, her gaze gradually becoming vacant.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands".

A Buddha statue, comparable in size to a fully grown ten-tailed fox, stands between heaven and earth, lifelike and majestic.

"call"

Hashirama Senju, who had summoned the Thousand-Armed Buddha from beyond his limits, let out a long sigh, clasped his hands together again, and an endearing wooden Arhat figure appeared at his feet.

He manipulated the wooden figure, leaping several times until it successfully reached the top of the Thousand-Armed Buddha's head, where the Thousand-Armed Pillar stood. He nodded in satisfaction.

"It's a bit smaller than before, but it's still usable."

Since recovering from his strange illness, Hashirama Senju's strength has been significantly weakened, and even the power of his Sage Mode has been reduced. The Buddha he summons is less powerful than at his peak, but it is still incredibly intimidating.

"Hehehehe Sbalashi!"

Facing the towering Buddha, Jigen's expression shifted rapidly, finally settling on a maniacal smile. His eyes, fixed on Hashirama Senju, were filled with possessiveness.

"This is truly a perfect collectible!"

Although Hashirama Senju didn't possess flashy eye techniques or elegant white hair, the power he displayed deeply moved Jigen.

If I could recruit Hashirama Senju and use him as a model to create a massive army of wooden Buddhas, wouldn't I be able to trample Kaguya underfoot and beat the tall and short sugar figurines?

"What are you babbling about?"

Standing atop the Buddha's head, between the thousand-armed pillars, one naturally couldn't hear Cixian's murmured self-absorbed thoughts.

"Forget it, I won't earn the money from this mission. Tobirama's safety is the most important thing."

After only a second of contemplation, Hashirama Senju made his decision. Compared to the reward for the missing person ad, he was more worried about his younger brother's safety.

Only by completely and physically eliminating Jigen can Tobirama Senju's shadow clones remain unharmed.

He clasped his hands together again, pouring Sage Chakra into the giant Buddha beneath his feet as if it were free.

"A Buddha image appears on the crown of the head!"

"not good!"

Sensing imminent death, Cixian abruptly looked up and saw countless arms hurtling towards him. Terrified, he immediately summoned a black hole, preparing to flee.

"How could I possibly grant your wish! Immortal Technique - Bright God Gate!"

Before Jigen could even step into the black hole, a red torii gate descended from the sky.

"Tsk!"

Sensing the sealing power contained within the Ming Shen Gate, Ci Xian had no choice but to take a step back.

The Buddha's fist was already inches away, and Cixian, with no way to dodge, let out a glint of light in her beige pupils.

"His childhood name was Biguna."

"Boom!!!"

"Ora ora ora~"

A series of booming sounds echoed across the sky, and the golden light from the explosions was clearly visible from a hundred miles away.

The explosion lasted for several minutes. After the final punch landed, the Thousand-Armed Hashirama on the Buddha's head showed a hint of exhaustion.

It took quite some time for the dust to settle, and a somewhat impatient Hashirama Senju leaped into the drastically altered battlefield. With the enhanced sensory abilities of Sage Mode, he carefully searched the area but found no trace of chakra.

"If this could live, I'd eat it alive, Da Lei!"

In Hashirama Senju's view, no one could survive this attack; all enemies who had seen the Thousand-Armed Buddha were dead.

"call"

Feeling much more relaxed, Hashirama Senju let out a long sigh. His chakra reserves were starting to dwindle, so he closed his eyes and exited Sage Mode, the red mask disappearing completely.

Hashirama Senju casually sat down on a protruding rock, his brow furrowing slightly.

"By the way, why haven't Tobirama and the others arrived yet?"

Logically speaking, since his wood clone was dispelled during the handover ceremony, Konoha should have been in complete chaos, and Tobirama should have come looking for him immediately.

"Forget it, I'll just go back and apologize myself."

Feeling deeply guilty for missing his best friend's most important ceremony, Hashirama Senju decided to set off immediately, dragging his weary body away.

"Pat~"

Just as Hashirama Senju turned around, a soft footstep sounded behind him, and alarm bells went off in his head instantly.

I turned around abruptly, only to find nothing there.

"Is it an illusion?"

Hashirama Senju felt a sense of relief.

"You're scaring yourself."

puff!

The next second, a black rod that appeared out of nowhere pierced through his hard armor and stabbed into his lower abdomen, causing the chakra in his meridians to surge wildly.

Enduring excruciating pain, Hashirama Senju gripped the black rod, preparing to pull it out, when he discovered a figure had appeared out of nowhere in the open space before him.

"Cough cough cough, what terrifying power."

Covered in blood, Jigen stared intently at Hashirama Senju, whom he had successfully ambushed with his enlarged black rod.

Even though he avoided 90% of the damage by shrinking under the influence of the young Vikanna, he was still severely injured by the impact of the top-down Buddha.

"You...you're still alive?"

Hashirama Senju looked surprised, but his movements didn't falter in the slightest. Even though the black rod had the ability to disrupt chakra flow, he still managed to pull most of it out of his abdomen using only brute force.

"Become my collectible, my little one."

How could Jigen allow Hashirama Senju to escape? He had already used all his trump cards and could not afford to make the slightest mistake.

He leaped into the air and landed in front of Hashirama Senju, his yellow, cross-shaped eyes radiating astonishing ocular power.

"Mahakkoten!"

Hashirama Senju had expected this and closed his eyes, but what awaited him was still endless darkness.

The eye technique takes effect the instant the two people make eye contact.

despair!

The blood-stained black staff fell to the ground, but Hashirama Senju had vanished. Jigen, battered and bruised, slowly closed his stinging eyes.

When Cixian opened her eyes again, her pupils had returned to their normal black color, the black marks on her face were gradually fading, and the pointed horns on her head were beginning to shrink.

"We really shouldn't underestimate the natives of this planet."

Once everything returned to normal, Cixian touched the wedge-shaped indentation on her chin with lingering fear.

The native Hashirama Senju greatly shocked him, and Jigen couldn't help but feel fortunate for his thousand years of seclusion.

Let alone ten or eight, if there were three or four humans of Hashirama Senju's level, the Otsutsuki duo coming to this planet would be like the Calabash Brothers rescuing their grandfather—they'd be sent home one by one.

After finishing his sigh, Cixian waved his hand and summoned a new set of clothes. His eyes were filled with a strange look. He vaguely remembered that the human he had just imprisoned in the time-stopping space seemed to be quite famous.

"After we get back and gather some intelligence, there shouldn't be any more humans of this level, right?"

In the Pure Land.

"Huh? Is Ashura's previous reincarnation dead?"

Hagoromo Otsutsuki, who was enjoying himself in the massage chair, opened his eyes in confusion.

"Oh, why are you worrying about this? Didn't all of Ashura's chakra come to the Pure Land to report for duty?"

On the massage chair next to him, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, looking completely relaxed, rolled his already pale Byakugan. Without Ashura's chakra, his reincarnation was no longer within their surveillance range.

"That's true, but that brat Ashura, just like his brother, has become a real handful."

The younger brother's words, though rough, were reasonable. Otsutsuki Hamura nodded slightly, and when he spoke of Ashura, his purple-rimmed eyes were filled with helplessness.

"What's wrong now?"

He said he wanted to visit Indra's family.

"That's great, just like the two of us brothers are now. Speaking of which, I have to thank my filial descendant~"

"They are my descendants, so the moon people shouldn't get involved, okay?"

"I even gave him my Tenseigan, what about you?"

"I"

Seeing his younger brother's mocking glare, Otsutsuki Hamura curled his lip, raised his hand and released a wisp of purple chakra, adding an extra hour to the massage chair that was about to stop operating.

Leaf.

Madara Uchiha, who had been waving for a long time on the rooftop of the Hokage Building, steadied the straw hat on his head that symbolized the supreme power of Konoha. Amid the cheers of the crowd below, he smiled and turned to walk into the building.

"Big brother! When are you going to appoint me as the Jonin team leader?"

Throughout the journey, Izuna Uchiha, who was closely following behind Madara Uchiha, completely disregarded Tobirama Senju, who was standing beside him, and immediately demanded power.

"Izuna, I have something to talk to him about. You can leave now."

As Madara Uchiha entered the Hokage's office, he turned around, his smile long gone, replaced by a suffocatingly cold expression.

Uchiha Izuna felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this. His older brother had actually excluded him, even though he was the younger brother!

"By the way, guard the door. No matter what screams you hear, don't come in."

"Mission accomplished!"