"Big brother!"
Seeing the battlefield fall silent, Tobirama was the first to rush forward.
"Did we win?"
"We won!"
Hashirama nodded in response.
But as he looked around at the devastated battlefield—like a scene from hell—he still felt bitterness in his heart and a deep sense of melancholy.
"At least we won."
"This... is the trump card you mentioned earlier?"
"What incredible power!"
"It seems this strength has already surpassed your peak state, right?"
Feeling the immense power radiating from Hashirama, Tobirama couldn't help but exclaim with rare astonishment.
"Indeed it has!"
"The one who developed such a taijutsu style truly is a genius!"
"Perhaps our pursuit of ninjutsu wasn't the only path all along."
"The mysteries and limits of the human body are boundless!"
"Tobirama, from now on, you should focus more on this area. Maybe develop some taijutsu techniques..."
Hashirama muttered with admiration.
Clearly, after experiencing it firsthand, even he was deeply impressed by the might of the [Eight Gates].
The three major systems—taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu.
Each held infinite mysteries within!
"I understand. I will definitely conduct further research in the future!"
Hearing this, Tobirama's eyes lit up with excitement.
After all, this was the first time his older brother had ever actively encouraged him to explore new jutsu!
He couldn't wait to unravel the secrets of the [Eight Gates] and create even more kinjutsu.
"Oh right, big brother, what about Lord Madara Uchiha?"
"He's not dead—he escaped..."
"He blocked my final punch using his invisible 'shadow,' so I couldn't kill him..."
Hashirama sighed regretfully.
Of course, he couldn't say that he never really intended to kill Madara Uchiha at all.
Otherwise,
Tobirama would start nagging him again for hours on end.
Still, Hashirama hadn't lied either.
That last strike had indeed been mostly blocked by Lord Madara Uchiha's Wheel Demonic Shadow, further weakened by the damage reduction from repeatedly breaking through Susano'o and the Demonic Statue.
So even if that fist had landed directly on Madara Uchiha, it probably wouldn't have been enough to kill him.
Not like that kid Shimoku Uchiha, who crushed me completely with a single punch...
Certainly, the damage inflicted upon Madara Uchiha must have still been massive.
After all, it was an attack reaching Six Paths Level.
No ordinary flesh and blood could withstand that!
If Madara Uchiha had delayed retreating by just a second or two,
Hashirama feared he could've used a sealing technique to imprison the severely injured Madara Uchiha,
trapping him beside himself forever...
And then,
if he kept showing Madara Uchiha affection and support, he believed that one day, Madara Uchiha would snap out of it and return to the right path.
Alas...
It was such a pity he managed to escape.
"Tsk... letting evil Madara Uchiha escape."
"Big brother, if he recovers and makes a comeback,
it could cause real trouble..."
Tobirama clenched his teeth in frustration.
Honestly, he wished nothing more than for that bastard Madara Uchiha to drop dead already.
That way there'd be no risk of another surprise assault on Konoha ever again.
"We'll think of something when that time comes."
"As long as I'm still here, Madara won't be able to act recklessly!"
Hashirama firmly declared.
His naturally optimistic disposition made him unlikely to worry excessively.
In his mind, he'd already beaten Madira more than enough times.
So the next fight would just be another chance to show who's boss.
However, at this very moment,
before Hashirama's words had even faded away, the powerful chakra and vitality surrounding his body rapidly began to diminish.
Within just a few seconds,
the effects of the [Eight Gates] technique completely wore off.
The residual heat from his physical energy evaporated moisture in the surrounding air, forming a hazy vapor.
"Whoosh—"
Piece by piece, the Impure World body peeled away from Hashirama's original corpse, then reformed into an Impure World body beside it.
Meanwhile, the original corpse used as the fusion vessel was finally exposed.
Right now, anyone could feel
how this once-life-filled corpse had become utterly lifeless, like a statue...
It was clear at a glance.
All remaining vitality within the corpse had been completely drained.
Even the active cells of the [Sage Body] had lost all signs of life.
And with that, this Hashirama Impure World body
had finally completed its final mission—once again saving Konoha from annihilation!
At the same time, the now-ordinary Impure World Hashirama's aura weakened significantly.
He only retained strength roughly at the level of a Kage now.
Of course, driving Madara away was already the best possible outcome under terrible circumstances.
Next, the village should enjoy some safety for a while...
However, right now, Hashirama didn't realize that in a distant forest,
another threat no weaker than Madara was quietly stirring.
...
"Big brother, what about this corpse of yours?"
Tobirama rubbed his hands together, intentionally feigning nonchalance as he casually asked.
"If you want to study it, go ahead. Anyway, all the cells have already died—they're not useful anymore."
Hashirama waved his hand in agreement.
After all, the consecutive crises recently
had been increasingly severe.
This made Hashirama realize clearly that he shouldn't keep holding back Tobirama's research anymore.
Perhaps his research could create one or two powerful kinjutsu techniques that might save the village?
Right now, the village was simply too weak!
"By the way, do you recognize this abomination?"
Hashirama pointed at the [Demonic Statue of the Outer Path] on the ground, asking Tobirama.
A creature capable of matching his Sage Art Wood Release was truly shocking!
In fact, his recent punch had only pierced half of this statue's head, failing to completely destroy the thing.
Enough evidence of how powerful and strange it was!
"This should be some kind of demonic statue..."
"It's said that when particularly strong creatures have their chakra extracted, they might leave behind such remnants."
"But something this massive—I've honestly never even heard of before..."
"I'll need to return and carefully review our ancient texts to identify it."
Tobirama explained while carefully examining the [Demonic Statue of the Outer Path].
The glow emanating from his pair of Impure World eyes shone brightly, like spotlights.
It was clear from his expression how excited and curious he felt at this moment.
"Still, Brother, this thing is just too big to seal away easily!"
"We don't have time to perform a full sealing anymore..."
"Madara summoned it here using the Summoning Technique. I can sense how important it is to him! And there's even the aura of tailed beast chakra coming from inside..."
"He might summon it back any moment now..."
"There's no way we can prepare a large-scale sealing jutsu in time."
"You collect those broken pieces first and temporarily seal them away."
"They can serve as research material later."
Hashirama calmly concluded.
Preparing a sealing technique capable of containing such an enormous statue would be no easy task.
This was a physical body,
not a compressible chakra mass like the Tailed Beasts'.
It'd be similar to the [Four Symbols Seal].
It would require complex inscriptions and extremely long preparation time.
Even after activating the sealing technique, there would be a noticeable delay...
If they weren't careful, Madara would take the entire [Demonic Statue of the Outer Path] back before their sealing was ready.
Leaving them with absolutely nothing...
They might as well gather up the shattered fragments first for study.
"Got it!"
Tobirama didn't hesitate and immediately sprang into action.
Although he was far more interested in the entire [Demonic Statue of the Outer Path].
What his older brother said made sense.
Greed might lead to ruin...
Might end up losing everything in the end.
Anyway, looking at the outcome of today's major battle,
even though he had been randomly slapped in the face earlier,
when considering everything together, Tobirama was ultimately the biggest winner of all.
The [Eight Gates], [his older brother's remains], [fragments from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path]...
In just one day, he obtained so many precious research materials.
That was incredible!
Tobirama could already picture it—once he thoroughly studied these materials, he'd create powerful new kinjutsu!
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