"Huh? Six Paths power?"
Hearing this, Hashirama scratched his head in confusion.
Then he laughed heartily. "Hahaha, it suddenly appeared right when you were about to kill me. After that, your Yin-Yang Release could no longer suppress me."
"Tch!" Kaede scoffed dismissively. "That Sage of Six Paths guy… he really will use any trick he can think of to deal with me."
Kaede had probed Asura's soul before, gaining a trace of residual Six Paths power from him, so he was very familiar with the energy now inside Hashirama's body.
When alive, as the reincarnation of Asura's chakra, Hashirama could naturally carry such power.
But Kaede had never expected the Sage of Six Paths' contingency for Hashirama to be Six Paths power itself!
Was that old man trying to give him an opponent on a Six Paths level?
"Sage of Six Paths?" Hashirama tilted his head in puzzlement. "Isn't that just some legendary figure from ninja tales?"
Unable to make sense of it, and with Kaede not intending to explain, Hashirama simply shook his head and dropped the matter.
He then looked at Kaede seriously.
"In our fight just now, you won, but you haven't erased my power."
He gestured to the dozens of miles of ruined land around them.
"If we keep fighting, this destruction will only keep spreading. Whether it's Konoha, your clan, or your followers, they'll all be caught up in it. For their sake, I think we should call a truce."
Kaede smirked and sneered. "Are you joking? I told you—today, you die!"
Kyouka Suigetsu rose once again.
With an incredulous look, Hashirama suddenly saw his right arm sliced clean off!
The Kaede before him dissolved into a phantom and vanished.
Reappearing a moment later, Kaede smiled. "Now, do you really think you can still stop me?"
Hashirama clutched his right arm, pain flashing across his face.
He could feel pain—because Kaede's strike had severed his soul!
Though his Edo Tensei body was trying to repair the arm, the obliterated soul could not recover.
He could no longer use his right arm at all.
"From the start, I told you—I wouldn't use my full power against you. After all, fighting Madara already lost its fun," Kaede said coolly. "Now that the fun's over, there's no reason for you to keep existing. My sword can sever your soul."
A chill shot down Hashirama's spine. Was he really going to die again today—this time permanently?
Pain struck again—this time in his left arm!
Kaede appeared once more, surrounding Hashirama with layers of invisible pressure.
"I… did I fall into a genjutsu?" Hashirama thought in disbelief.
Otherwise, how could the Kaede he saw not be the real one?
And how could the real Kaede attack without him sensing it at all?
Even in the Pure Land, the Sage of Six Paths frowned.
"That sword…" His sharp eyes instantly noticed Kyouka Suigetsu.
Although Kaede had used it from the very beginning, the Sage had never truly paid it any mind—confident in his own strength.
But now, even Hashirama empowered with Six Paths power had fallen victim to this strange technique.
Could he be sure it wouldn't work on him as well?
The Sage's expression hardened, his sensory focus sharpening.
He was genuinely wary now.
Kaede, however, wasn't overconfident.
Kyouka Suigetsu was indeed powerful—so much so that critics in his past life had claimed Aizen was only the top boss because of it.
But they overlooked that Aizen's soul and spiritual pressure were immensely strong on their own. Without Kyouka Suigetsu, he could still crush most captains.
Still, Kyouka Suigetsu had weaknesses—it didn't work on the blind, and if someone touched the blade before it was released, the illusion would fail. Against souls stronger than his own, it would also lose effectiveness.
Kaede's soul, however, far surpassed any ninja in this world, strengthened even further by the Hōgyoku's evolutions.
Even so, he wasn't careless.
The Sage of Six Paths was an ancient monster who had lived for over a thousand years, lord of the Pure Land where souls went after death. Who knew what soul-enhancing methods he might have?
Right now, both were wary of each other—the Sage wary of Kaede's endless tricks, and Kaede wary of the Sage's overwhelming power.
"But for now… I'll cut you down first!"
Kaede shifted his gaze back to Hashirama. He'd had his fun.
In a flash, Kaede's real body appeared at Hashirama's side, while the latter still focused on the illusionary image before him.
"Your Wood Clones… I've seen right through them."
Kyouka Suigetsu's blade swung toward Hashirama's neck!
"Big Brother, watch out!"
Tobirama's urgent shout rang out—but Hashirama didn't react. His five senses were completely under Kaede's control.
"Damn it!"
Tobirama gritted his teeth. Without hesitation, he used the coordinate he'd marked on Hashirama and teleported in with Flying Thunder God, shoving Hashirama aside while reaching for Kyouka Suigetsu.
"You can't block it," Kaede smirked.
The next second, Kyouka Suigetsu sliced Tobirama clean in half!
"Big Brother…" Tobirama looked back at Hashirama one last time as his soul began to scatter.
He knew—this time, he was truly going to die.
"Even if I die… I'm taking you with me!"
With killing intent blazing in his eyes, Tobirama hurled the prepared explosive tags.
"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Technique!"
An instant later, the explosion engulfed Kaede.
It began with just a few tags, then doubled, and doubled again—
Two became four, four became eight… in moments, there were tens of thousands of tags detonating at once, and the number kept multiplying!
This was a jutsu Tobirama had specifically developed to counter an Uchiha's Susanoo—constant, pinpoint explosions to overwhelm its defenses.
In an instant, the repeated blasts covered several miles.
Even Kaede's form was swallowed whole.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]