"Time…?"
Tobirama Senju's eyes widened to their limit.
His face—already shaken—turned outright horrified.
As the man who developed the Flying Thunder God Technique, he understood better than anyone what "time" and "space" represented.
Those two were the most terrifying kinds of power in existence.
"I see…"
Standing atop the True Several Thousand Hands, Hashirama Senju finally reacted as well.
He had to admit it—
from the very beginning, he had underestimated Uchiha Ren.
Everything Ren had revealed so far had already been shocking enough.
And now…
Ren had shown the ability to interfere with time itself.
"First Hokage… you really are strong."
Boom after boom shook the battlefield.
After smashing hundreds of the statue's massive arms into splinters, Ren spoke with blazing battle intent, controlling his Perfect Susanoo as he did.
"It's been a long time since I've fought like this… since I've enjoyed myself this much."
For years, Ren had kept growing through the System's sign-ins.
Especially after fully unlocking and fusing the prime Whitebeard template—
he hadn't had a single battle that truly satisfied him.
Most of the time, he didn't even need his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Prime Whitebeard's power, his Sage Body, top-tier Armament Haki…
That alone was enough to crush almost anything.
But Hashirama Senju—
the legendary God of Shinobi—
finally forced Ren to go all out.
And the reason the True Several Thousand Hands had slowed…
while Ren's Susanoo strikes kept accelerating—
was simple.
Ren was using his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan's innate abilities.
Left Eye: Time Acceleration.
Right Eye: Time Reversal.
In other words—
he was dragging time around the True Several Thousand Hands into a heavy crawl…
while forcing his own Perfect Susanoo's movements into an accelerated flow.
That was why the battlefield had turned into a one-sided suppression.
"I don't believe it…"
Hashirama drew in a deep breath and clasped his hands together.
His senjutsu chakra surged again—exploding upward.
The slowed True Several Thousand Hands barrage… suddenly sped up slightly.
In the next instant, countless enormous arms struck again, throwing out endless fist-shadows.
Air detonated.
Even space itself seemed to tremble under the pressure.
"You're still too slow."
Ren's lips curved.
His will moved—
and his Mangekyō's power surged once more.
Too many arms?
Good.
I'll smash every last one of them.
The Perfect Susanoo's gigantic fists became coated in thick Armament Haki—dense and brutal—interwoven with tremor-force.
With Susanoo's monstrous strength and Ren's Sage Body chakra reinforcing it…
the fists drove forward.
The moment they punched—
pale-white tremor rings erupted wildly.
And this time, it wasn't just the air cracking—
space itself split.
Yes.
Space.
In full view of everyone watching, the blue Perfect Susanoo's twin fists slammed forward at terrifying speed—straight into the ocean of wooden fists.
BOOOOM—!!
A world-ending roar exploded across the battlefield.
The shockwave swallowed everything like a tidal wave.
At the collision point, words failed.
From afar, the sky looked filled with spiderweb fractures—so dense it felt like reality might collapse at any second.
The earth cracked open like the end of the world.
And under that overwhelming impact—
Ren's Perfect Susanoo fists only trembled a few times…
while the True Several Thousand Hands—
its thousands of arms—
shuddered—
and then exploded one after another.
"…He blew them apart. Head-on."
Tobirama was the first to truly process what he'd just seen.
He stared at the blue Perfect Susanoo that looked like a god descending upon the world—
and his expression turned almost childlike with shock.
Monster.
He didn't just crack space—
he shattered the True Several Thousand Hands' countless arms.
What kind of power was that?!
"This level of battle…"
Even from far away, Kakashi, Might Guy, Jiraiya, and Tsunade swallowed hard.
Their hearts felt like they were being squeezed.
As for the rest of Konoha's shinobi—
most of them had already gone numb.
Staring.
Dumbfounded.
Like their minds had simply stopped working.
There were only two exceptions.
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha—both around six years old—still had a trace of awareness left.
Maybe it was the invisible pull of Asura's chakra and Indra's chakra…
but even while they were stunned—
their hearts were screaming the same thing:
So damn strong.
Meanwhile—
atop the gigantic head of the True Several Thousand Hands,
Hashirama looked down at the shattered arms.
For a moment, he seemed… dazed.
Then he slowly exhaled—
and let Sage Mode fade.
Even in Edo Tensei form…
Hashirama understood clearly.
He had lost.
Ren's strength and abilities had surpassed even Uchiha Madara of the past.
And that final clash—
was stronger than Madara's Susanoo-enhanced strikes had ever been.
"…You win."
After a few seconds, Hashirama spoke, his expression complicated.
"Even in the Warring States era… you would have been unbeatable."
"Win…?"
Ren stood atop his Perfect Susanoo's head and shook his head slightly.
This time, he had gone nearly all out:
Perfect Susanoo.
Sage Body.
Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Top-tier Armament Haki.
Prime Whitebeard's power.
And even then—
he had only taken the First Hokage by a narrow margin.
So it's not enough yet.
If he wanted true ease…
he needed to reach the level of the Six Paths.
Only then could he finally relax.
"Konoha having you… is Konoha's blessing," Hashirama said quietly.
"And Hiruzen Sarutobi… deserved to die."
"Is that so?"
Ren folded his arms, meeting Hashirama's gaze across the distance with a faint smile.
"Then do you still object to me abolishing the Will of Fire?"
"…No."
Hashirama gave a bitter smile, admiration mixed with resignation.
"This era has no one who can challenge you."
"You'll get bored."
"I won't."
Ren thought for a moment, then spoke calmly.
"This world may be small… with barely any land worth conquering…"
"…but it's still enough for me to stir up."
Hashirama frowned slightly, studying him.
For an instant—
he thought he saw the shadow of Madara in Ren.
But then he shook his head, dismissing it.
Maybe it was just his own nostalgia.
And stopping Ren?
That was a joke.
Hashirama and Tobirama were already dead.
Their era had ended.
This era—
belonged to the Fifth Hokage.
Uchiha Ren.
So wherever Ren chose to lead Konoha…
Hashirama no longer had the right to interfere.
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