As towering trees rose from the ground one after another, the lava-filled space quickly transformed into a forest.
"Hmm~ not bad at all,"
Hashirama clapped his hands with satisfaction as he looked around at the completely renewed surroundings.
He was pleased.
But Kaguya, who had been beaten up by Madara and forced to flee here, definitely was not.
Kaguya: Where are my rocks and lava? Why are there trees everywhere now?
Kaguya stood there, completely confused.
She clearly remembered this place being filled with flowing lava and heat-resistant rocks—so how did everything change in an instant?
"Mother, be careful."
Just as Kaguya was lost in confusion, Black Zetsu sensed something was wrong.
Thinking of Hashirama Senju's Wood Style ninjutsu, he immediately warned her.
"What?"
But Black Zetsu's warning was incomplete, and Kaguya didn't react in time.
Let's not talk about her age or identity for now—Kaguya, standing there all dazed, actually looked kind of cute.
But Hashirama didn't care whether she looked cute or not.
Stepping on a tree branch, he leapt up and smacked Kaguya right in the face.
After taking a hit like that, the already confused Kaguya was now even more stunned.
Luckily, Black Zetsu was still somewhat reliable.
When Hashirama launched his second attack, Black Zetsu threw itself in front of Kaguya with its pitch-black body and took the hit for her.
Black Zetsu wasn't a normal person—most ninjutsu and similar attacks didn't work on it. But that didn't mean it was immune to taijutsu.
Besides, this was Sage Mode Hashirama.
Every one of his strikes carried the power of the Six Paths.
He couldn't kill Black Zetsu, sure, but he could definitely make it hurt.
"Ah~"
Black Zetsu's miserable scream finally snapped Kaguya out of it.
She panicked for a moment when she saw Black Zetsu get blasted away.
With a flick of her hair, she wrapped it around him, pulling him back. Then she turned and glared fiercely at Hashirama, who was right in front of her.
"Hm?"
Seeing her twisted expression, Hashirama immediately took a defensive stance.
He might act all goofy outside of battle, but once the fight began, he was absolutely dependable.
Just when Hashirama thought Kaguya was about to attack—
She used Yomotsu Hirasaka to teleport away.
Hashirama: ???
"Wait, what? You're supposed to be the final boss of the ninja world! Can't you at least fight me a little?"
He looked around, scratching his head helplessly, then lowered it in thought.
"Speaking of which… how the heck do I get out of here?"
"Phew~"
Taking Black Zetsu with her, Kaguya arrived in the Core Dimension.
Now that she was far away from Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, and Madara, she finally let out a long breath.
But just as she looked up—
She saw Tobirama Senju and Fifth Hokage Tsunade, along with a few others, all watching her warily.
"How did you get in here?"
Kaguya remembered very clearly—she had only banished those four.
So how did these people get in?
"Mother, it must've been that traitor Obito who brought them in."
Tobirama Senju and the others didn't respond, but Black Zetsu noticed Obito lying on the ground, barely alive.
In an instant, it realized—this two-faced bastard must've used Kamui to help them get inside.
"Mother, don't think too much. Just kill them."
"This..."
Black Zetsu's urging made Kaguya hesitate a little.
She had only been "asleep" for a thousand years, and right after "waking" up, she got beaten up over and over.
Even if this was her weakened state, she was still the true origin of chakra.
Getting smacked around so much had made her paranoid.
"Mother, don't be afraid. These people in front of you aren't as strong as those four."
Kaguya's hesitation almost drove Black Zetsu crazy.
If it were anyone else, it would've said screw it—whoever they are, not my problem.
But this was its mother. It couldn't just back out.
"Zetsu, I've only just woken up. Don't lie to me."
"... Don't worry, Mother. I won't lie to you."
With Black Zetsu's reassurance, Kaguya finally launched an attack on Tobirama and the others.
But it was only a long-range attack, which showed just how cautious she was right now.
"Rabbit Hair Needle!"
This move was a lot like Jiraiya's Needle Hell—both used hair to attack enemies from afar.
The difference was that Kaguya had the aid of the Byakugan, allowing her to lock onto the enemy's weak points more easily—and her hair quality was far better than Jiraiya's.
"Swoosh~"
The Rabbit Hair Needles had great range and could cover a wide area.
Without hesitation, Tobirama Senju used the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape the attack zone, taking with him the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, the unconscious Obito lying on the ground, and Sakura, who barely had any presence.
"Mother, see? I told you they weren't that strong."
"You're right."
Tobirama's retreat made Kaguya even more confident.
A smile played on her lips as she excitedly launched a barrage of Rabbit Hair Needles at Tobirama.
Once. Twice.
Three times. Four times.
As the attacks piled up, even Black Zetsu started to worry—would his mother go bald from this?
The thought of a bald Kaguya made Black Zetsu quickly speak up to stop her wild attack strategy.
"Mother, this won't work. The enemy uses space-time ninjutsu. No matter how many Rabbit Hair Needles you throw, you won't hit them."
"Then what should I do?"
"...Rush up and beat them yourself!"
Hiding inside Kaguya's sleeve, Black Zetsu subconsciously covered his left chest.
It didn't have a heart, but that didn't stop it from feeling like its heart was in pain.
"...Fine, I'll listen to you."
Kaguya accepted Black Zetsu's advice. She stopped using the rabbit hair needles and instead moved in, aiming for close combat.
"Eighty Gods Vacuum..."
But Tobirama Senju didn't give her the chance.
Just as she prepared to strike with the Eighty Gods Vacuum Fists, Tobirama ignored her completely and used the Flying Thunder God Technique again, reappearing at a distance.
Kaguya: "Stop dodging!"
Tobirama: "Only an idiot wouldn't dodge."
He ran, she chased, but he was still hard to catch.
Kaguya wasn't stupid. She had long since noticed Tobirama's teleportation relied on marked coordinates.
While she chased him, she made sure to erase those marks one by one.
After several minutes of nonstop pursuit, she finally cornered him.
"Hahaha, let's see where you run now."
Black Zetsu poked his head out, smugly looking at Tobirama.
"Shinobi world rules—duel means one-on-one! No cheating!"
Right after saying that, Tobirama told Tsunade and Sakura to retreat with Obito.
"Shinobi world rules, my ass. I've lived this long and never heard of such a rule!"
Tobirama glanced at Black Zetsu with disdain. "Of course you haven't. I made it up."
Black Zetsu's eyes widened as he glared at Tobirama, then turned to Kaguya and said, "Mother, he's messing with you."
Kaguya didn't waste words. She flicked several bones toward Tobirama.
"Crap."
The space was sealed by the All-Killing Ash Bones. All his Flying Thunder God coordinates had been erased.
At the critical moment, Tobirama noticed the space in front of him begin to twist, slowing down the incoming bone attacks.
Seizing that tiny gap, Tobirama narrowly avoided death.
"Nice timing, Kakashi. One second slower and you guys would be collecting my corpse."
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