Konoha's First Training Ground.
Kitazawa looked toward Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki not far away.
Hinata Hyuga wasn't there.
Because during this period, she had been staying at home, waiting for the Tenseigan to awaken.
Sasuke Uchiha was training in Yin Release Chakra Mode.
Out of the three of them, he was the busiest.
Because besides Yin Release Chakra Mode, he also had to train a Complete Body Susanoo and the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Chakra Mode.
But once he learned Yin Release Chakra Mode, he would be able to unlock the Complete Body Susanoo very quickly.
At his current pace, Kitazawa estimated he'd master it next month.
Naruto Uzumaki, on the other hand, sat in place with his eyes closed, completely motionless.
In reality, he was playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with Kurama.
This wasn't wasting time—it was his way of getting closer to Kurama, so he could become a perfect jinchūriki and unlock Nine-Tails Mode.
Kitazawa suddenly thought of the Big Ball Rasengan.
There were many variations of the Rasengan, but they were all built on the basics: Rasengan, Big Ball Rasengan, and Rasenshuriken.
And he had only learned the Rasengan and the Rasenshuriken.
Kitazawa recalled how the Big Ball Rasengan was described in the original work.
The Rasengan compresses chakra and makes it spin irregularly.
The Big Ball Rasengan also compresses chakra, but there's one key difference.
After it hits the target, it releases all its chakra at once, creating astonishing destructive power.
Without a doubt, it was an enhanced version of the Rasengan.
Kitazawa extended his hand.
Chakra gathered in his palm, and in the blink of an eye, it formed a chakra sphere more than a meter in diameter.
With Kitazawa's current strength, creating an A-rank jutsu was honestly trivial.
And since he'd seen the Big Ball Rasengan in his previous life, that only lowered the difficulty further.
He waved his hand and dispelled the Big Ball Rasengan.
But the commotion was still big enough to wake Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki from their training.
"Keep training," Kitazawa said, waving them off.
He was just dropping by to check on Naruto and Sasuke's progress.
After all, their training pace was tied directly to his system missions.
After that, Kitazawa returned to the Hokage's Office.
It had been half a month since the Five Kage Summit ended.
In those two weeks, the ninja world had fallen into an unprecedented quiet.
The four great ninja villages acted as if they'd completely forgotten their tailed beasts were in Konoha—everything on the surface continued as usual.
But in the shadows, they were working overtime to manufacture chakra cannons and stockpile war supplies.
Takigakure had previously sent people to Konoha to retrieve Fū.
Kitazawa simply had Itachi Uchiha take a trip to Takigakure.
After that, Takigakure never sent anyone again.
"Hokage-sama," Konan said as she stood up. "A ninja from the Science Department came by just now."
"What for?" Kitazawa asked casually.
"Orochimaru's clone is complete," Konan replied.
Kitazawa narrowed his eyes.
Orochimaru's clone was the vessel for his Living Corpse Reincarnation.
In other words, he could use the Reaper Death Seal to release the Yin Nine-Tails and Minato Namikaze's soul from the Reaper's stomach.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
Naruto still wasn't a perfect jinchūriki yet—should he give him the Yin Nine-Tails now?
But after thinking it through, it didn't really matter.
Because once the Yin Nine-Tails and Yang Nine-Tails merged into one, only a single consciousness would remain.
"Go inform Orochimaru. Have him come to the clearing in front of the Forest of Death tomorrow morning," Kitazawa ordered.
The Yin Nine-Tails was enormous—releasing it inside the village wasn't suitable.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Konan nodded.
But she didn't leave immediately. Instead, she changed clothes right there.
After all, she was currently wearing a secretary outfit—a skirt suit with black stockings.
She only dressed like that in front of Kitazawa.
Around anyone else—even if Nagato came—she would switch into her Anbu gear.
After changing, Konan left the Hokage's Office.
Kitazawa suddenly thought of Madara Uchiha.
In half a month, Nagato would be using Edo Tensei.
Edo Tensei required a sacrifice, and the quality of the sacrifice determined how strong the resurrected Madara would be.
Kitazawa considered one question:
Should he let Madara be as close as possible to his prime?
Kitazawa mainly worried that if Madara was too weak, it might affect his system mission.
After a brief pause, he decided to use a special White Zetsu infused with Hashirama's cells as the sacrifice.
Prime Madara was powerful, sure—but Kitazawa was even stronger now.
If he still lost, he might as well slam his head into Tsunade's chest and die of shame.
Not long after, Konan returned to the Hokage's Office.
"Thanks for the trouble, Konan," Kitazawa said without even looking up.
"It's what I should do," she replied.
Her gaze fell on the ball of chakra in front of Kitazawa.
She couldn't help feeling surprised.
This wasn't chakra as she understood it—it felt like a fusion of chakra from seven different natures.
In fact, that was exactly what it was.
Kitazawa was attempting to use Yin–Yang Release to create ninja tools.
Konan didn't disturb him—she simply watched quietly.
Time quickly reached evening.
Kitazawa went home with an expectant look.
After all, every night lately it was two-versus-one, and he'd been having a great time.
The only pity was that he couldn't get Konan to join in.
If she did… now that would be exhilarating.
The next day, 9:00 a.m.
"Naruto."
Kitazawa appeared at the First Training Ground.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto Uzumaki asked excitedly. "Is there a new mission?"
"Did you know the Nine-Tails inside you is only half?" Kitazawa asked instead.
"I heard from my dad. The other half was sealed in the Reaper's stomach," Naruto answered.
"Then I don't need to explain much. I called you here today to help you take back the other half of the Nine-Tails." Kitazawa grabbed his shoulder. "Come with me."
With the Flying Thunder God Technique, the two of them arrived at a clearing in front of the Forest of Death.
Orochimaru was already there, waiting.
When he saw Kitazawa and Naruto, he took out a summoning storage scroll.
The scroll opened, and a clone identical to Orochimaru appeared.
Naruto looked confused, his eyes darting between the two Orochimarus.
He had absolutely no idea what was going on.
"Begin," Kitazawa said, tossing out a Reaper mask.
Orochimaru caught it and put it on.
He formed hand seals and used: Reaper Death Seal: Release.
A chilling aura spread through the air.
Behind him, the Reaper appeared at once.
It wore a robe, its hair hanging loose, its entire body radiating danger.
Kitazawa narrowed his eyes.
He couldn't see the Reaper.
More accurately: other than the caster, no one could see the Reaper at all.
But Kitazawa could sense it.
It was like an essence of natural energy, refined to an extreme purity.
Kitazawa thought: So it's true.
In the original work, the Reaper's origins were mysterious, yet it was clearly unrelated to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Now it seemed the Reaper was likely a native deity of the ninja world.
Like the summons of the Three Great Sage Regions, it had existed long before Kaguya's arrival.
The most direct proof was the Pure Land.
Normally, the Reaper should govern the Pure Land.
But the reality was completely different.
The Reaper's stomach could store souls, and the Pure Land could store souls—like two unrelated systems.
As the seal was released, the Reaper's stomach was cut open, and Minato Namikaze's soul and the Yin Nine-Tails were released.
Kitazawa activated the Rinnegan and instantly controlled the Yin Nine-Tails.
As for Minato's soul, it would naturally proceed to the Pure Land on its own.
At that moment, the Reaper reached for Orochimaru.
Whether casting the Reaper Death Seal or undoing it, the technique demanded the caster as a sacrifice—an exchange of one life for one.
Orochimaru immediately used Living Corpse Reincarnation.
By the time the Reaper's hand pierced through Orochimaru's body, his soul had already transferred into the clone.
The Reaper grabbed twice, failing to catch his soul, and its expression turned extremely ugly.
But it seemed bound by its own rules—it couldn't strike again. In the end, it vanished unwillingly.
Kitazawa formed hand seals and sealed the Yin Nine-Tails into Naruto's body.
Once it entered the seal space, it merged with the Yang Nine-Tails into one.
In an instant, boundless chakra erupted, surging against the seal space.
Kitazawa casually added an Eight Trigrams Seal layer on Naruto.
The seal space immediately returned to calm.
"I'll take you back," Kitazawa said, bringing Orochimaru and Naruto back to the Hokage Tower.
Orochimaru said nothing and headed straight for the Science Department.
Naruto greeted Kitazawa and then went back to training at the First Training Ground.
Half a month passed quickly.
August 31.
The first film produced by Konoha's Film Department officially premiered.
It was originally planned for September 1, but September 1 was the Ninja Academy's opening day, so they moved it up by one day.
At Kitazawa's suggestion, Kurenai Yuhi hosted a premiere event.
Kitazawa and Tsunade and the others watched the film.
The clan heads of the major ninja clans, and any jōnin who had time, also attended the premiere.
How was it?
Pretty decent.
After all, Hashirama Senju's life was basically a power fantasy.
Especially the parts where he steamrolled the ninja world—completely unstoppable.
Kitazawa figured the box office wouldn't be bad.
Because the special effects—or rather, the ninjutsu showcases—were abundant.
Older films rarely had much of that, and it never looked impressive.
The reason was simple: ninja didn't go act in movies.
But this film was different—since Konoha made it, plenty of ninja participated.
The main audience for films was actually nobles, merchants, and civilians from various countries.
Their numbers far exceeded the number of ninja.
But they rarely got to witness jōnin-level battles firsthand.
This film was a rare chance.
Still, given the era's environment, it wasn't possible for it to explode at the box office like in his previous life.
But the production cost was well-controlled—making a modest profit wouldn't be a problem.
After the premiere ended, Kitazawa returned to the Hokage's Office.
Not long after, there was a knock at the door.
"Hokage-sama."
Nagato pushed the door open and walked in. "I've learned Edo Tensei."
"Then we won't waste time. We start now," Kitazawa said, standing up. "I'll take you to the Valley of the End."
Fighting Madara inside Konoha was obviously impossible.
The Valley of the End was perfect—and it carried special meaning.
Kitazawa used Flying Thunder God.
In the next second, he and Nagato appeared at the Valley of the End.
Kitazawa casually took out the White Zetsu sacrifice and the coffin holding Madara's corpse.
Nagato took a deep breath and formed hand seals.
A black ritual array spread out, dense and intricate, centered on the White Zetsu.
Soon, the White Zetsu was covered by mud-like chakra.
With a bang, the coffin opened, revealing Madara Uchiha inside.
Madara opened his eyes. Seeing Nagato, he immediately realized something was wrong.
According to his plan, Nagato should have used Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive him.
But Nagato was standing right in front of him—alive and well.
"This is Edo Tensei?" Madara moved his body and sensed something off.
He glanced around and frowned.
This was the Valley of the End?
"Nagato," Madara asked coldly, "what is this?"
"Madara-senpai," Kitazawa said with a calm smile. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Konoha's Sixth Hokage, Kitazawa."
Madara looked at him instinctively.
Sixth Hokage?
He was even more confused now.
"Sorry, but your Eye of the Moon Plan has already failed," Kitazawa said bluntly. "Black Zetsu has been sealed, Obito Uchiha is dead, and the Akatsuki has joined Konoha."
Madara's expression shifted.
With Kitazawa's reminder, he finally noticed that Black Zetsu and Obito weren't here.
Under normal circumstances, they would definitely have come to see him.
Unless, as Kitazawa said—one sealed, one killed.
"The reason we summoned you is because Nagato wants to know the truth about his parents' deaths," Kitazawa continued.
"These kids are really something," Madara commented, now understanding the cause and effect.
In his entire life, he'd only ever been defeated by Hashirama Senju.
But what Kitazawa had done inflicted losses no less severe than Hashirama's.
"But you miscalculated one thing," Madara snorted and immediately formed hand seals.
Yet his face quickly froze.
He couldn't break Edo Tensei's control.
"I used a special sacrifice," Kitazawa explained.
Back then, Tobirama Senju had also been unable to free himself for the same reason—because Orochimaru had used a special sacrifice.
"Madara-senpai, let's make a bet," Kitazawa said. "If you beat me, I'll release Edo Tensei's control. If I beat you, you tell Nagato the truth."
"You think you can beat me? Hahahahaha!" Madara paused, then burst into wild laughter.
Everything about him radiated extreme confidence and pride.
In his eyes, besides Hashirama, there was no ninja in the world who could be his match.
"Fine. I accept!" Madara agreed without hesitation. "Even if I can't use my full power right now, beating you will be easy!"
"Please," Kitazawa said, raising a hand.
Nagato retreated to the side.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!
Madara opened his mouth and spewed raging flames.
In an instant, half the Valley of the End was swallowed by fire.
Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
Kitazawa stood his ground, calmly forming seals.
Endless seawater appeared out of thin air like a tidal wave, extinguishing the flames.
Madara's eyes narrowed.
Kitazawa was stronger than he'd expected.
He had actually countered Great Fire Annihilation all by himself.
In the original, it took more than twenty Mist ninja combining Water Release: Water Formation Wall just to block it.
Almighty Push!
Madara stopped probing and raised his hand.
A terrifying repulsive force surged out. The ground split apart wherever it passed, sweeping everything away.
Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!
A massive wooden shield rose in front of Kitazawa.
Boom!
The repulsive force slammed into the shield with an explosion-like roar.
The air tore apart as countless air currents went wild.
"Wood Release," Madara said expressionlessly, spitting out the two words.
Now he understood why Black Zetsu and Obito had failed.
Being able to use a high-level technique like Great Wooden Barrier meant Kitazawa was most likely a Senju—someone who had naturally awakened Wood Release.
"You're qualified to be my opponent now!" Madara declared, and an extremely ominous aura erupted from him.
A blue war god manifested behind him.
This was the Complete Body Susanoo.
Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!
Kitazawa slapped his hands together.
A towering wooden arhat erupted from the ground, rising into the sky.
Madara looked at that familiar wooden giant and controlled his Susanoo to swing both swords down.
The wooden arhat responded simply: it grabbed both swords.
A colossal clash of force erupted.
The wooden arhat sank toward the ground—but quickly stopped.
Madara's heart jolted.
Kitazawa's strength was far beyond his expectations.
That wooden arhat wasn't inferior to his Complete Body Susanoo.
Which meant Kitazawa was already close to Hashirama Senju.
That was absurd!
How could a second Hashirama exist in the ninja world?
Chibaku Tensei!
Madara's face darkened as he formed seals.
The sky dimmed.
A small black sphere floated into the air.
With a howling wind, an immeasurable gravitational pull erupted.
The earth shook violently; everything was dragged upward into the sky.
Tenseigan Chakra Mode!
Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!
Wrapped in green chakra, Kitazawa swung his arm.
Nine Truth-Seeking Orbs transformed into golden sword-light.
Boom!
The core sphere of Chibaku Tensei shattered.
The world returned to calm.
"What kind of eyes are those?" Madara asked, confused.
He could tell the Tenseigan was not inferior to the Rinnegan.
That exceeded his understanding.
Yasaka Magatama!
Without waiting for an answer, Madara formed seals again.
His Susanoo moved.
Fourteen magatama linked together, like a miniature sun smashing toward Kitazawa.
Complete Body Susanoo!
Kitazawa switched from the Tenseigan to the Rinnegan.
"Rinnegan?!" Madara shouted in shock. "Impossible!"
He knew how hard it was to awaken the Rinnegan.
Even he had only awakened it late in life.
Yet Kitazawa didn't look even thirty—and he'd awakened the Rinnegan already?
And it had to be awakened, not transplanted, because Nagato still had the Rinnegan—ruling out the possibility that Kitazawa had taken it from him.
The moment Kitazawa's Susanoo appeared, it raised twin swords and slashed at the fourteen magatama.
Sword afterimages flickered—then every magatama was knocked away.
"I never imagined a kid like you would appear," Madara said, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
Kitazawa now looked like a fusion of himself and Hashirama Senju.
Tengai Shinsei!
Madara formed seals.
The sky abruptly darkened as an enormous meteor appeared.
It fell from above, blotting out the sky like a mountain crashing toward the wooden arhat and Kitazawa.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
Kitazawa leapt up.
When he reached the meteor, he vanished with it.
In the next moment, he reappeared—yet the meteor was gone.
"Flying Thunder God…" Madara said grimly.
His younger brother, Izuna, had died to Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God.
A ninja with the Rinnegan, who had mastered Wood Release, and also learned Flying Thunder God?
As irritated as he was, Madara also felt the situation turn thorny.
An opponent like this—even at his prime—he wouldn't be confident of victory.
How could the ninja world produce a monster like this?
Tengai Shinsei!
Madara immediately drew on all his chakra.
A second meteor appeared.
It was twice the size of the first.
The instant it manifested, its massive shadow covered Kitazawa's Susanoo and the wooden arhat.
Madara stared at Kitazawa.
Wood Release was powerful, but without Sage Mode, you couldn't bring out its full might.
And Sage Mode was extremely difficult to train.
At that moment, Kitazawa clapped his hands together, and dark markings appeared around his eyes.
Madara froze.
He could actually use Sage Mode?
Then next—
Madara's eyes widened unconsciously.
A colossal Thousand-Armed Kannon statue—so huge its end couldn't be seen—filled his vision.
The Kannon moved.
Countless fists hammered the meteor.
Crack after crack rang out.
In an instant, the meteor shattered into pieces.
"Impressive… the younger generation," Madara said after a long silence. "Your strength is no weaker than Hashirama Senju's."
At this point, his earlier confidence and arrogance were gone.
He had acknowledged Kitazawa's power.
"Madara-senpai," Kitazawa chuckled. "Then take a look at this."
As his words fell, his Susanoo suddenly transformed into armor and fused onto the Thousand-Armed Kannon statue.
"Susanoo-clad Buddha…" Madara's eyes flickered with memory.
He and Hashirama had been enemies—and also kindred spirits.
"Seems it's time to end this," Madara said.
His body trembled, and four invisible shadows appeared.
This was Limbo: Border Jail.
But he had no intention of using them for a sneak attack.
After all, Kitazawa had the Rinnegan—he could see the shadows.
The four shadows immediately activated Susanoo.
In a flash, five Susanoo giants stood towering between heaven and earth.
Madara raised his hand.
All five Susanoo charged the Thousand-Armed Kannon.
An unimaginable battle erupted.
The earth split and the heavens shook.
Countless chakra torrents intertwined like a storm.
Nagato's breathing stalled as he watched.
Only now did he fully understand: he truly wasn't the rightful master of the Rinnegan.
Because whether it was Limbo: Border Jail or Tengai Shinsei—he couldn't do either.
But the most terrifying one was Kitazawa.
Under the Thousand-Armed Kannon's relentless barrage, the five Susanoo gradually shattered.
In the end, Madara was utterly defeated.
[Current Mission: Defeat Madara Uchiha.]
[Mission Reward: Limbo: Border Jail.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa smiled when he saw this.
~~~
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