Chapter 396: Chapter 396: Mito: Sometimes I suddenly feel like I’m the third wheel
"Hashirama, what would you choose?" Madara softly asked the scene playing in front of him.
In the empty soul space, no one answered. Only as the scene shifted, one voice after another came from it.
During the Warring States period, the Senju and Uchiha clans fought a great battle. He lost. When he hoped Hashirama would kill him, Hashirama didn’t do it. "People trust me, and I trust them. That’s what being Hokage means."
"How subtle. Thinking about it now, what you said sometimes really does make sense." Madara crossed his arms, a faint smile tugging at his lips as the scene showed Hashirama’s figure.
Thinking of this, Madara spoke again. "Believe in this world, believe in everyone, train your best students, and stand in front of them. Is that it?"
On the Hokage Rock in Konoha, Hashirama and Madara stood together. Hashirama grinned as he looked at the buildings below. "Madara, isn’t this a great sight?"
"Hmph." Madara gave a short snort. "Too bad I hate having people stand behind me."
"Come on now, you could at least try not to look so gloomy all the time." In the scene, Hashirama laughed heartily.
Outside the scene, Madara smirked. "Better than your brother, at least."
In the scene, Hashirama paused for a moment, then rubbed his chin in thought. "Now that you mention it, Tobirama might actually be too gloomy. Do you think he can even find a wife like that?"
Outside the scene, Madara let out a mocking laugh. "Unfortunately, he died a single man."
In the scene, Hashirama snickered and nudged Madara in the side with his elbow, teasing, "Don’t tell me you’ll end up like Tobirama and never get a wife either?"
Outside the scene, Madara’s face froze.
In the scene, Hashirama burst into laughter. "I can’t even imagine what you two would look like on your wedding day. Hahahahaha! You really are alike!"
Outside the scene, Madara’s fists clenched. "I really do hate you."
In the scene, Hashirama took a deep breath and gave a thumbs-up. "But I really like you, Madara."
The fist... relaxed.
Outside the scene, Madara gave a soft "hmph," with an unclear meaning.
...
"Up close, this guy is huge." The golden Nine-Tails flew through the air, Naruto’s face full of surprise as he looked down at the Ten-Tails.
From far away, the Ten-Tails seemed about the same size as Kurama, but now that they were close, its size was clearly far greater—like all nine tailed beasts put together could barely compare.
Susano’o flew beside Naruto, one hand holding a purple longsword, the other gripping the red Totsuka Blade. Sasuke gave a small nod. "According to Kurama, the Ten-Tails might grow even bigger once it enters the next stage."
"At this size, normal Ninjutsu basically won’t work." Sasuke measured with his eyes. Against a tailed beast this big, even an ordinary Tailed Beast Bomb probably wouldn’t cause much real damage.
So this is the Ten-Tails after absorbing all nine tailed beasts? Just its defense alone looks way stronger than any normal tailed beast.
While they were talking, the Ten-Tails suddenly looked up. Its single crimson eye, formed after merging, locked onto them. Its huge mouth opened wide in an instant, gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb that wasn’t perfectly round but cone-shaped instead, forming at an unbelievable speed before blasting it at them.
Golden Kurama and Susano’o rolled aside at the same time, dodging the attack, and watched the massive Tailed Beast Bomb shoot into the sky, scattering the clouds completely.
Naruto stared in surprise at the direction the bomb disappeared. "That’s a strange Tailed Beast Bomb. It doesn’t just have tailed beast chakra — it also has natural energy. It’s totally different from the ones me and Kurama use."
Their Tailed Beast Bombs, influenced by the power of the Sage of Six Paths, had already become a mix of tailed beast chakra and Six Paths power, which also contained Senjutsu, but the ratio wasn’t anywhere near as high as the Ten-Tails’.
"So you’re saying the Ten-Tails’ Senjutsu is stronger than ours?" Sasuke frowned.
"No." Naruto shook his head right after speaking. "It’s not Senjutsu. It’s pure natural energy."
There’s no need to explain the difference between Senjutsu and natural energy — the two aren’t the same.
"So that means Senjutsu attacks should work on it."
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance and both smiled.
The next second, Naruto’s pupils changed. The vertical slit in his cross-shaped pupils dimmed slightly, while the horizontal toad-like pupils representing Senjutsu became more distinct. Sasuke’s eyes also shifted to a faint purple, the red of his Sharingan fading away.
Golden Kurama extended his right hand, and black Rasengan began to form. "Sage Art: Big Spiral—"
"—Wheel Rasengan!"
Lightning surged over Susano’o’s hands, and black flames flared up. "Sage Art: Amaterasu Chidori!"
Right after the Ten-Tails fired that shot, Naruto and Sasuke attacked together with powerful Senjutsu chakra.
Two black attacks struck the Ten-Tails at the same time. With the burst of Senjutsu chakra, the massive force blasted the Ten-Tails to the ground. Its left arm shattered, almost completely severed, and its right arm was in nearly the same condition. Worse yet, black flames of Amaterasu kept burning on it.
Perhaps from the pain, the Ten-Tails lay on the ground, roaring at them nonstop.
"Nice one!" Naruto jumped up excitedly. "Let’s keep going and finish it off in one go!"
But Sasuke frowned. "Wait, Naruto."
Naruto stopped instinctively and looked at Sasuke in confusion. "What is it?"
Sasuke shook his head. "That attack didn’t do as much damage as you think."
"What?" Naruto glanced at the Ten-Tails without thinking.
He saw its left and right arms start squirming. In just two seconds — under Naruto’s shocked gaze — the destroyed arms had already fully regenerated. The burning Amaterasu flames were also forcefully ripped off and dropped to the ground.
Still roaring, the Ten-Tails quickly formed another Tailed Beast Bomb, sending its massive power at them again.
But if they wanted to, the two could dodge this kind of attack instantly.
After dodging, Naruto watched the Ten-Tails push itself off the ground with both hands and stand back up. He couldn’t help but mutter, "Is this thing impossible to kill?"
"If it could be killed, Kurama wouldn’t have told us to seal it." Sasuke sighed. "Now I get why Kurama wanted both of us to take it on, even though it’s not actually that strong."
Its recovery is way too strong... or maybe this thing just can’t be killed at all.
"So right now, what we can do is hold it off, let Kurama rescue the other tailed beasts, and then have Granny Mito and Aunt Kushina seal it away." Sasuke had lost his drive—after all, facing something you can’t kill, no matter how many times you beat it, it means nothing.
Naruto scratched his head. "It’s pretty good at being disgusting."
"Can’t deny that," Sasuke nodded in agreement.
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