Kuzan appeared to be strolling casually, yet each step took him over 100 meters, leaving the pursuing Konoha shinobi in agony trying to keep up.
In less than half an hour, most of them had lost sight of him entirely.
Only a few with strong taijutsu skills—
—could barely make out the distant white silhouette when sprinting at full speed.
Another hour passed, and no ninja remained behind him.
Yet five kilometers ahead, Kuzan sensed a formidable presence.
The aura felt incredibly warm, which made Kuzan instinctively feel a bit of goodwill before even meeting the person.
Before long—
Their gazes met across a distance of about 200 meters.
This area had clearly once been a forest—
But now, all that remained were shattered and collapsed trees—a scene of utter devastation.
Convenient, at least, for the conversation to come.
"You must be the Navy Admiral of the World Government—Aokiji, is that correct?"
In his Edo Tensei form, Senju Hashirama spoke while scanning Kuzan's exaggerated physique up and down.
"Yes," Kuzan replied, a faint smile on his face.
"I hope our battle can bring an end to this war between our sides."
Hashirama looked slightly surprised, but then broke into a bright smile.
"You're certainly more pleasant than that Lieutenant General Aramaki was."
"Ara ara~ that's a bit embarrassing to admit. Aramaki's personality really is… unusual. Still, he acted without authorization, so I imagine he's already been reprimanded by Akainu."
Kuzan's attitude was friendly—completely unlike someone arriving for a battle.
"Akainu…"
Senju Hashirama's heart sank.
Even someone as powerful as Aramaki could be scolded in their ranks?
"Then, shall we begin?" Kuzan asked.
"Please wait a moment. I feel quite embarrassed, but I have two requests. Would you be willing to hear them?"
Seeing how agreeable Kuzan was, Hashirama quickly voiced what was on his mind.
"Go ahead."
Kuzan nodded.
Truthfully—
He didn't fully agree with Sakazuki's decision to have Aramaki lead a combat brigade on a flanking assault against Konohagakure.
Sure, it was a tactic that could bring the war to a swift end.
But knowing Aramaki's nature… Kuzan had a gut feeling something would go wrong.
Unfortunately, it was a decision made internally by the Army.
As a Navy Admiral, he was merely here to lend support.
"First, could we move our battlefield to the southern coast? There are many towns filled with civilians across the Land of Fire, and I fear the damage might spread."
Hashirama's tone was earnest as he looked at Kuzan.
"Of course."
"The World Government has always tried to prevent civilian casualties whenever possible."
Kuzan agreed without hesitation.
That response delighted Hashirama.
"Hahahaha! That's wonderful news. If we ever get the chance, let's share a drink!"
Kuzan chuckled as well. "Gladly. I enjoy drinking too. I'll bring you a bottle of sherry from Starfish, my homeworld. It's a favorite of mine—and my teacher's, too. And once you join the World Government, you'll be able to try liquors from all kinds of worlds."
"Oh?"
"Hahahaha! Liquor from other worlds? That sounds amazing!"
Hashirama's eyes lit up the moment he heard that.
Rather than getting angry at the idea of conquest, he burst into hearty laughter.
After all, he had two great passions in life—
Gambling and alcohol.
"And your second request?"
Kuzan wasn't in a rush to fight.
His main mission was to stall Hashirama and buy Aramaki more time.
If the enemy was offering to walk farther away before the fight—
All the better.
"I'd like to ask about my granddaughter—Tsunade. How is she doing, in your world?"
At that—
Hashirama's expression grew serious.
"Ah, sorry. I don't know your granddaughter personally, but if you tell me what happened, I can ask around later."
Kuzan offered sincerely.
"I don't know all the details either. From what I've heard, Tsunade was captured in the Land of Snow by one of your World Government's airships."
Hashirama thought for a moment and added, "And according to intelligence gathered by our ANBU, the one who defeated her was a woman with long blue hair."
"…"
Kuzan fell silent.
Esdeath?
Why would Lord Imu's empress be here—on a world still in the middle of conquest?
"Admiral Aokiji?"
Noticing the shift in Kuzan's expression, Hashirama frowned inwardly.
Did something happen to Tsunade?
"Ahem. I'm not sure about the specifics. But if that woman didn't kill your granddaughter on the spot and took her onto a ship instead, then she's probably not in any immediate danger," Kuzan replied after thinking it over.
Though he hadn't interacted much with Esdeath personally—
His adjutant, Liver, had once served as Esdeath's own adjutant.
So he'd heard quite a few things about her.
He now had a better grasp of her personality.
"I see. That's a relief. May I ask who the woman was that defeated Tsunade?"
Hashirama let out a breath of relief.
Although he had just met Kuzan, he instinctively felt the man was trustworthy.
"It's best not to ask about that for now. Once this ninja world becomes part of the World Government, you'll naturally come to know."
With that, Kuzan vanished from his original spot in an instant, flying southward.
His meaning was clear—
Now that everything that needed to be said had been said, it was time to get down to business!
Hashirama understood immediately. A torrent of violet chakra erupted from his body.
The moment he used the Body Flicker Technique, he pushed off from the tree beneath him, turning into a purple meteor and chasing after Kuzan.
Both of them moved at astounding speeds.
Each sonic boom they triggered shattered trees and cracked the ground beneath their path.
They traveled several hundred kilometers—
Until finally reaching the sandy shores near the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire.
As another sea breeze swept in—
Hashirama suddenly raised his hands to form seals.
[Rumble rumble rumble—]
The earth around them quaked violently, heaving and rising in successive waves.
[Boom boom boom—]
Massive, thick trees burst from underground.
They surged forward in a mighty tide, charging toward Kuzan's position.
[Shhh—]
But this terrifying onslaught, for all its grandeur, was instantly silenced by a sweeping wave of white energy.
In the blink of an eye, everything fell into a deathly quiet.
The rustle of leaves—gone.
The chirping of insects and birds—gone.
Even the crashing waves, which had come in steady cycles before, had vanished.
Because in that single moment—
Within a 10-kilometer radius centered on Kuzan—including the sea itself—everything had been covered in a layer of crystal-white frost, transformed into lifelike and exquisitely detailed ice sculptures.
At the same time—
Across from him, Senju Hashirama was also completely encased in ice.
"Whew—your chakra didn't shift in the slightest. You can drop the act."
Kuzan exhaled a frigid breath that could freeze a man to death.
As expected—
Shards of violet light burst forth, and the ice encasing Hashirama shattered completely.
But his face was filled with astonishment.
"What an incredible Ice Release…"
Hashirama spoke with genuine admiration.
Kuzan chuckled lightly.
Hashirama's hands clenched tightly in front of his chest.
In the next moment,
As violet chakra surged forth,
Four thick tree trunks, wrapped in coarse bark and ending in sharp tips, struggled to break through the hardened frozen ground.
But just as they breached the surface and lunged toward Kuzan—
Frost visibly crystallized across their bark in real time.
And before they could close the gap, roughly twenty metres from Kuzan, they froze mid-air into solid ice pillars and halted completely.
Hashirama's brow furrowed. Then, with a quick glance downward, he noticed frost beginning to form around his feet as well—albeit at a slower rate.
The temperature's already dropped this much... and it's still falling.
Hashirama realized he had to end this quickly. The longer the fight dragged on, the worse it would be for him.
[Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!]
At that moment, twelve glimmering ice spears tore through the air toward him.
Hashirama instantly shattered the frost beneath his feet and nimbly dodged the first three.
But evading the next ones became increasingly difficult.
By the tenth spear, he found himself with nowhere left to dodge.
The final three had completely sealed off every possible escape angle.
"Rrrah!"
Since dodging was no longer an option, Hashirama stopped trying.
He gathered chakra into his fist and threw a powerful punch forward, unleashing a turbulent blast of air that shattered all three spears on impact.
But his expression grew even more grave.
Kuzan—radiating cold from every pore—had somehow appeared behind him, the blade of ice in his hand already mid-swing.
A second later—
With a chilling shhk, Hashirama's body was sliced clean in half, icy frost spreading rapidly from the point of impact.
Yet Kuzan didn't even glance at the 'corpse'.
His calm gaze shifted slightly—toward the 10 o'clock direction.
There, another Hashirama had suddenly appeared—only to be ambushed by seven or eight jagged ice spikes erupting from the ground.
And just then—
Kuzan's body burst into motion. His blade of ice slashed swiftly toward the 3 o'clock direction.
Yet another Hashirama emerged from that very spot.
"Hrah!"
With nowhere to dodge—
He met the flying, frost-laced slash head-on with a full-force 'monster punch'.
Violet energy collided violently with the white-blue arc of the blade.
The shockwave of icy air that erupted from their clash shattered and tore open the frozen ground.
[Whoosh!]
"Haaah... What a formidable opponent."
He winced slightly as he inhaled the freezing air and glanced at the gash across his right hand—already coated in a layer of frost.
Though there was no blood due to his Edo Tensei state,
He noticed something unsettling—the damaged area wasn't regenerating.
Hashirama surged chakra into his hand and shattered the frost instantly.
But even without the frost hindering it,
The Edo Tensei regeneration still didn't activate.
"Ara ara~ Looks like you've mastered both Armament Haki and Observation Haki."
"But with your current level of Haki... in a battle of this magnitude, it won't make much difference."
Kuzan once again stepped calmly in front of Senju Hashirama and spoke.
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