Ōnoki looked at the two of them, an indescribably complicated feeling welling up inside.

In his mind he had merely been exploiting them.

Yet now these S-class rogue ninja from terrorist organizations had become his last hope of survival!

Orochimaru tilted his head back to gaze at the majestic bulk of the Complete-Body Susanoo.

"Heh…

"So that's the legendary Complete-Body Susanoo?

"They say only Uchiha Madara ever wielded that ultimate power…

"Who'd have thought we'd live to see it with our own eyes in today's shinobi world…

"Quite a spectacle, isn't it?"

Pain remained silent.

He glanced at the jinchūriki who had already fallen, his brows knitting for a moment before smoothing out again.

Perhaps this was for the best…

When a jinchūriki dies, the tailed beast will resurrect somewhere at random.

For Akatsuki, that might actually make capturing them easier.

The only drawback is that the timing becomes impossible to predict.

Of course—

—all of that is premised on killing the man standing before them today.

Otherwise it is nothing more than a fleeting mirage.

…

Neither Orochimaru nor Pain paid the slightest attention to Ōnoki.

They simply walked to the center of the battlefield.

Orochimaru smiled faintly at Uchiha Chiyu.

"Uchiha Chiyu, we finally meet…

"It's our first meeting, yet I've longed to see you for quite some time…

"And you've already witnessed the results of several of my experiments…"

High above, Chiyu cast a disdainful glance down at him.

"Orochimaru, your so-called 'results' are those worm-ridden husks?

"Nothing but trash."

Orochimaru wasn't angered; he chuckled instead:

"Indeed, my earlier Edo Tensei lacked precision and never drew out their full living strength.

"Calling them trash is only natural.

"But this time is different…I've prepared a most lavish gift just for you…"

Chiyu of course knew his trump card—his final play.

"Edo-Tensei Hashirama Senju, is it?

"If you think that will astonish me, you're far too naïve…"

Ōnoki and the remaining Iwagakure forces went white at Hashirama's name.

"Hashirama Senju?

"The First Hokage, the so-called God of Shinobi?!"

"The legend who single-handedly ended the Warring States era, founded the villages and set the shinobi world's order?!"

"Even that near-mythic figure…"

Ōnoki was even more shocked that Chiyu showed not the slightest concern at hearing Hashirama's name!

What unimaginable confidence was this?!

He knew that even Uchiha Madara, the man he feared most, had never been a match for the God of Shinobi.

In their lifetimes, Madara had always been completely suppressed!

Did that mean—

Uchiha Chiyu believed himself already stronger than Madara?

Perhaps even…

Stronger than Hashirama himself?!

…

Orochimaru didn't mind that Chiyu had exposed his hand; the mocking smile never left his face.

"Uchiha Chiyu—no, perhaps I should call you Hokage-sama now…

"You killed Lord Third, and for that I'm actually grateful…

"But I didn't expect you'd deem yourself a worthy rival to the God of Shinobi.

"That is a touch arrogant, don't you think?"

He moved at once to cast Edo Tensei.

Just then Pain raised a hand to stop him.

"Wait, Orochimaru. Let me test his strength first."

Orochimaru smiled. "Leader, better bring him out now; if you lose, I'll have no chance to summon anything."

With his pride Pain would normally retort, but facing Uchiha Chiyu he had no certainty of victory.

"Do as you please."

Orochimaru pressed his palms together.

Clap!

"Summoning Technique: Edo Tensei!"

A coffin burst from the ground, its lid shattering. Out stepped the legendary God of Shinobi—

Hashirama Senju!

The battlefield fell utterly silent.

Every Iwa-nin strained to catch a glimpse of that divine figure.

Even Ōnoki's eyes widened.

"It really is…

"The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju!

"Indeed, only he could suppress Uchiha Chiyu now…"

Kitsuchi frowned. "Father, Hashirama was Konoha's First Hokage—will he really fight Uchiha Chiyu?"

Ōnoki chuckled. "You don't understand Hashirama at all…"

At that moment the Edo-reanimated Hashirama strode forward lightly and at once saw Chiyu's Complete-Body Susanoo.

To everyone's surprise, a smile curved his lips.

"Complete-Body Susanoo, eh?

"How nostalgic…

"Makes me think of Madara right away…

"Never thought another Uchiha besides him could awaken it.

"Uchiha Chiyu, you truly are remarkable."

Though Chiyu stood confident, he treated Hashirama with utmost seriousness.

After all, this man in his prime was the unrivaled Number-One beneath the Sage of Six Paths—the uncontested apex of the old shinobi world.

"Hashirama, spare me the admonition."

Hashirama laughed broadly.

"Ah, sorry, sorry—one does ramble on with age.

"No, wait, I'm not only old—technically, I'm dead!

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

The Iwa-nin: "..."

"So the legendary God of Shinobi…isn't quite what we imagined…"

Orochimaru found the reaction amusing; Pain remained expressionless.

Chiyu said coolly, "From Orochimaru's words, your current strength is near your prime; in theory you could break his control at will.

"He's not using seals to bind you, which means…

"You're standing here of your own accord."

Hashirama sobered a little and nodded.

"Correct.

"Uchiha Chiyu, I do not object to an Uchiha becoming Hokage—in fact, I welcome it; it proves my efforts to bridge clan divisions were not in vain.

"However…

"Your methods are much too extreme."

Chiyu: "Extreme?

"Surely not as extreme as Tobirama's human experimentation and defilement of the dead.

"Nor as extreme as Hiruzen wiping out the Senju and nearly eradicating the Uchiha."

Hashirama's ashen face tightened.

"True, Tobirama and Hiruzen both erred…

"But a village can never be of one mind—I foresaw that when I founded it.

"Your current goal, however, threatens the entire shinobi world.

"Do you realize how much suffering your unilateral 'unification by force' will cause?"

Chiyu remained unfazed.

"Konohagakure has existed only a few decades, yet the shinobi world has already endured three wars blanketing every nation—rivers of blood, mountains of corpses.

"You sought a world where children needn't march to war.

"How did that turn out?

"Your own grandson, Nawaki, died on the battlefield before he was ten.

"Will you really tolerate this carnage?

"Endless wars—a spiral of hatred, a perpetual meat-grinder.

"Kakashi and his peers, barely twelve, faced the bloodiest fronts, watching parents, kin, comrades perish…

"Who will save them?

"You?"

Hashirama fell silent for a long while.

"Creating the villages did reduce clan conflict, but it was only the first step.

"The next, in my view, is dissolving divisions among villages and forging a unified world.

"But Chiyu, you're acting too soon…far too soon…

"The shinobi world is nowhere near ready."

Chiyu sneered. "Then tell that to Nawaki.

"Tell it to every child slain in each shinobi war.

"See whether they are willing to wait for your so-called 'right moment.'"

Hashirama's voice hardened. "Do you think your forced unification won't inflict slaughter?"

"Of course it will!

"But it will be the darkness before dawn—the birth pangs before a future of hope!

"A moment of pain to secure peace for ten thousand years!

"Far better than an endless cycle of war!"

Hashirama shook his head with a sigh. "Even if you succeed, rebellion will breed without end…"

Chiyu: "Minor ailments—nothing that threatens the foundation."

Hashirama: "Everything you envision depends on perpetual suppression by overwhelming force.

"Can you maintain that forever?"

"I can."

With that, Chiyu got tired of arguing.

Then—

Pain stepped forward.

"You are both mistaken.

"Peace can only be purchased with pain.

"First Hokage, your path is too slow.

"Uchiha Chiyu, yours is too extreme.

"Only Pain's path for this world…

"…is the one true road to peace!"

Hashirama glanced at him.

"So that is the legendary Rinnegan?

"Pain, the leader of Akatsuki whom Orochimaru mentioned…

"Indeed, an extraordinary power…"

Pain gave no reply, raising his eyes to Chiyu instead.

"Words are useless. Among the three of us, whose path is correct…

"…can only be decided in battle.

"First Hokage, do not interfere. I will settle this with Uchiha Chiyu myself."

Hashirama nodded.

"Very well.

"At least I can say I agree with neither of you."

…

Facing Chiyu, Pain immediately performed a summoning: the remaining five Paths appeared at his side.

In an instant, an overwhelming chakra erupted.

Ōnoki and the Iwa-nin felt that terrifying pressure…but could Pain truly match Uchiha Chiyu?

No one knew.

"Uchiha Chiyu—these are the Six Paths of Pain."

Chiyu: "I'm aware.

"Come."

…

The battle began!

Pain instantly pushed his chakra to the limit—full power from the outset.

Summoning Technique!

The Animal Path acted first, calling forth enormous, nightmarish creatures—

The Giant Multi-Headed Dog that splits and multiplies when struck;

The swift bird with a gaping beak that launches explosive bombs;

A huge bull with scything horns;

A colossal rhinoceros whose single horn pierces all;

A giant crab, a chameleon, even a monstrous centipede the size of a dragon…

Alone, the Animal Path's menagerie left even Ōnoki aghast.

Most ninja handle one or two contract summons at best; even Jiraiya could only call the toads of Mount Myōboku.

But the Animal Path had conjured a small army in an eyeblink, each beast terrifying in its own right.

Sky and earth alike erupted as they stampeded and bombarded Chiyu!

The Asura Path snapped its wrist, launching a chain of missiles like firecrackers into the head of the Susanoo, then opened its puppet carapace to fire a massive laser cannon.

At the core, the Deva Path inhaled deeply, siphoning thirty or forty percent of the other Paths' chakra—then unleashed a fearsome technique—

"Shinra Tensei!"

In a thunderous instant—

Boom!

Boom-r-r-r-r!

Pain's combined assault crashed down in relentless waves, hammering the Complete-Body Susanoo, ripping the ground open, kicking up clouds of dust and stone, even forcing Ōnoki's troops to stagger back under the shockwaves.

Yet—

—to Chiyu almost all of it felt like scratching an itch.

Only the augmented Shinra Tensei bore watching, and even that fell short of the blast that leveled Konoha in the canonical timeline.

It could not threaten him.

KRA-KOOM!

When the smoke cleared the Susanoo still towered spotless save for superficial chips.

Ōnoki scowled.

Hashirama nodded. "The Rinnegan truly is formidable, yet that strike could not shake a Complete Susanoo.

"He seems unable to wield the Rinnegan's full power…"

"The divine eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—did this man called Pain really awaken them himself?"

Beside him Orochimaru's pupils shrank. "As expected of the God of Shinobi—he can sense even that much… Still, unless the leader speaks, no one will know the truth."

Chiyu snorted.

"Pain, is that all?

"To possess the Rinnegan yet remain so weak—what a disappointment."

KRAAA-KA-BOOM!

Chiyu casually swung one of the colossal blades behind the Susanoo.

A lazy strike on the surface—but packed with force to cleave mountains and sunder seas.

Ōnoki and the others, having felt its earlier might, knew terror anew…

The twin blades crashed down in a scissor strike!

Pain's eyes went wide.

No shared vision or coordinated defense could withstand that power!

In a blink—

Devastation.

First the Asura and Animal Paths were smashed to dust.

Next the Preta Path and Naraka Path were likewise obliterated.

Only the Deva Path threw up a Shinra Tensei at the last moment, yet it merely flung him away, battered and broken.

The Deva and the crippled Human Path crashed to the ground, grievously wounded.

"What…"

Deva Path stared at the ravaged landscape—two intersecting chasms gouged so deep the bottom could not be seen.

Four of his bodies annihilated in a heartbeat.

One glance at the Naraka Path told him resurrection was impossible under this pressure.

If so, he had to wager everything on one final strike.

Closing his eyes, he drew every drop of chakra and ocular power into the Deva Path.

Behind him the Naraka Path collapsed lifeless.

Clap!

"Chibaku Tensei!!"

This Pain, unlike the manga counterpart exhausted from a village-leveling Shinra Tensei, still had ample chakra—as a result his Chibaku Tensei dwarfed the original many times over!

Earth ruptured; boulders tore free; the ground beneath Chiyu's Susanoo crumbled upward, dragged toward the black-orb core.

Even Hashirama's expression shifted.

Ōnoki, Orochimaru, the Iwa-nin—all gaped in dumbstruck awe.

Yet…

Chiyu merely laughed.

"Pain, so this is your limit.

"How tedious…

"Very well.

"I'll show you now—

"what true godhood looks like!"

~~~

Patreon(.)com/Bleam

— Currently You can Read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Others!