"Senju Hashirama, you bastard! I fought life and death at your side, and now you dare set an ambush with them against me?" Sato Ryosuke glared at the man before him.
He looked around and saw that not only was Hashirama here, but the other four Kage of the great villages had also gathered. Fury burned in his chest.
Ever since crossing into this world, the once-mighty Sato clan had been reduced to a single survivor: Ryosuke himself. The Senju had raised him after the war, and he had grown up alongside Hashirama.
When his Devil Fruit ability awakened, Ryosuke carved his name into the bloody Warring States era. Shoulder to shoulder with Hashirama, he became more than a brother.
Unlike the monstrous talents of Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, Ryosuke had spent twenty-six long years developing his fruit, only to reach half its potential. Even so, his power and fame had risen until he stood equal to those two titans.
Yet the man he trusted most now stood at the head of the four Kage and an army of elite shinobi, arrayed against him.
Ryosuke had planned to strike today, to slay the other four Kage while they gathered. He had not realized they too wanted his head.
At twenty-six, he was already ranked with Hashirama and Madara as one of the Three Gods of Konoha, a monster of the shinobi world, an immortal who could not be killed.
For he was a transmigrator who bore Kaido's undying body and the Azure Dragon Zoan fruit. In this age of slaughter, he had reigned as a war god no one could slay.
No blade pierced his flesh. No jutsu broke his defense. To fell him seemed impossible.
But Hashirama knew the secret. To defeat Ryosuke, one had to exhaust him completely. Only when his stamina was drained could he be forced into slumber and sealed away.
At the rear, the Uzumaki sealing corps waited, prepared to strike once the front lines bled Ryosuke dry.
As for killing him outright, not even Hashirama had found a way.
"Ryosuke, it seems you wanted to use today's Five Kage Summit to kill them," Hashirama said with a weary smile.
Ryosuke sneered. "So what if I did? Weren't you supposed to help me? Only by uniting the ninja world can there be lasting peace!"
"Impossible! Endless killing will never bring peace. Ryosuke, give up. If you renounce your ambition to rule the shinobi world, we can still achieve true peace. I will guarantee your life. Your path is too soaked in blood!"
"True peace? Do you really think that exists? Hashirama, your foolish dream is laughable." His lips curled coldly. "Guarantee my life? Are you certain you can kill me? You overestimate yourself!"
Ryosuke's way was conquest: crush the world beneath strength, unify it by force, and then impose order. Only then could peace be secured.
Where there are people, there is conflict. As long as the great nations stood apart, war over profit would never cease. Even from his memories of the future, had not the shinobi world endured three great wars?
"In that case, forgive me, Ryosuke!" Hashirama raised his hand, and the massed elite shinobi surged forward.
"Die, all of you!" Ryosuke roared. His massive spiked iron club swung in a brutal arc. Those who charged in were crushed into paste with a sickening BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ground split into craters under his blows.
His face twisted in bloodthirsty delight as he smashed enemies to pulp, his club never ceasing.
"Why can't we hurt him at all?"
"Even with all our power together? What kind of monster is this?"
Kunai scraped his skin without leaving a mark, their points failing to pierce. Their jutsu shattered against his body. Despair spread among the shinobi.
"Pathetic ants," Ryosuke snarled, each swing claiming another life. Hatred drove the ninja onward, yet fear glimmered in their eyes as his gaze blazed scarlet.
"Then I'll be your opponent!" A thunderous voice roared. A gale of force howled past Ryosuke's ear.
BOOM! A colossal impact struck him, staggering his massive frame.
Before him stood a broad-shouldered man, his body cloaked in crackling lightning, armored in thunder itself.
The Raikage had entered the fray.