Early in the morning, Iwagakure's main encampment in the Land of Grass.
~Onoki POV~
"Lord Tsuchikage! An urgent message from our scouting units!"
Onoki, who had just woken up, scrunched his face in annoyance before turning towards the unnamed special jonin and saying, "Report it quickly then… such an annoyance so early… Making me strain my back…"
The man nervously passed a report and Onoki read silently, 'Eastern Frontal Scouting units 1-21 have failed to report one after another.'
'Damn Konoha… Are they beginning their assault? So confident? And attacking our more fortified area? Not going for the bait regions? Is this stupidity or sheer unadulterated confidence? No matter, our goal is simply to wear down Konoha… Kumogakure will begin their assault soon enough and we'll follow suit… Though…'
Onoki's eyes turned towards another report, and his eyes hardened, 'Third Kazekage… Hanzo… Both dead, one after another… Killed by Mito Uzumaki… She not only regained her youth… but her level of power…. Our reports from the Sunagakure battlefield… ridiculous… We simply need to bog down Konoha here and I'll head to the kumogakure battlefield and I, the Raikage, and Mizukage will have to jointly confront Mito. There is no choice-'
The ground began trembling and Onoki immediately shot out of his tent, 'Earth Style: Light-Weight Rock Technique!'
Floating above the camp even without focusing his gaze, his eyes landed on a massive wooden golem and the red armored figure standing at its top arrogantly.
'T-this! Wood Style? Dammit! Is Soutarou Senju this strong already? We're too late! Dammit! Dammit!'
Onoki infused chakra into his voice and roared, "ALL UNITS BRACE! EVASIVE MANEUVERS! ALL EARTH UNITS RESPOND WITH A JOINT EARTH CORE IMMEDIATELY! FORM UP! NOW-"
Onoki's eyes widened as he turned back to meet with a golden sheened chakra armament that began to cover the Wooden Golem…
'S-susanoo?!?'
Onoki saw the red glow of Soutarou's eyes and shook in horror.
As Shinobi formed up underneath him he gritted his teeth and yelled, "ALL TROOPS AWAY FROM THE WALL!"
Special Jonin, Jonin, Elite Jonin, Chunin, Genin, and Onoki himself dropped down as they all slammed their hands down.
"Earth Style: Great Moving Earth Core!"
Just as they forced the ground in front of them to collapse downwards creating a massive pit, a cracking sound rang out, causing Onoki's eyes to constrict.
~Soutarou POV~
Closing his eyes and muttering, "Sorry… Forgive me… This is for Konoha! For the people I love and care for!"
'I'm a hypocrite aren't I? I promised I wouldn't slaughter like that… yet here I am… Well no point in regretting it now I suppose…'
As his eyes snapped open and his sword completed its massive swing his gaze hardened as he saw the massive gorge that dropped off below.
Halting the massive Wooden Human, Soutarou formed a few signs before the Giant then threw the wooden dragon curled around its waist into the pit in front of him and it exploded.
'Wood Style: Dragon's Bridge.'
The giant then took two massive strides arriving right before the Iwa shinobi who all looked up at the being in fear with Onoki resolutely flying upwards the giant's swords faded back into chakra and its hand reached up for Soutarou as he left behind a singular wood clone to maintain the Susanoo. Standing with his arms crossed, Soutarou looked down at Onoki arrogantly and declared, "Little Onoki… Last offer… Join Konoha's might or be erased with your pride."
Onoki's teeth clenched together and he gritted harder and harder as the two figures overlapped in his mind and he said, "GO TO HELL!"
Soutarou smiled and began laughing arrogantly like an Uchiha would or so he tried, and said, "Very well. It seems my mercy was misplaced. I will erase the error my ancestors left behind. Do not misunderstand… this is not an attack. It is simply a correction."
Soutarou jumped down from the Giant and landed slightly beneath Onoki and said, "Now then…"
Dusting off his armor as it was sullied by the mere presence of the Iwa Shinobi, Soutarou continued, "Do you wish to dance one last time little Onoki?"
Onoki's face went dark and he gritted out, "Do not think you are Madara Uchiha, arrogant brat! This shall be your grave! ALL IWAGAKURE NINJA ATTACK!"
Onoki's hands began forming a white cone shaped attack and Soutarou merely glanced around and waited calmly.
Onoki's attack launched as he screamed, "PARTICLE STYLE: DETACHMENT OF THE PRIMITIVE WORLD!"
Soutarou did not move.
The attack struck. Dust erupted into the air, and dozens of Iwa shinobi began cheering—only for the dust to slowly settle, revealing Soutarou still standing, unscathed in the exact same spot.
He plucked a speck of dust from his armor and flicked it away without a glance, as though it were more worthy of his attention than the jutsu itself.
"Is that all?" he said calmly. "Your words do not match your ability. Your arrogance seems to know no bounds. Allow me to show you what power truly is."
The color drained from Onoki's face as he began to shout only for Soutarou to clap and black markings to show up around his eyes in the exact manner of Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode.
"Sage Art- Wood Style: Deep Forest Bloom."
Massive roots shot out of the ground collapsing the Iwagakure formations as pollen began to spread across the entire battlefield.
Onoki shouted out, "DON'T BREATHE IN THE POLLEN! IT'S POISONOUS-!"
Unfortunately for Onoki, Soutarou replied with a wave of his hand causing the massive Wood Golem to take steps forward and for swords to form once again in its hands. It began slashing in each direction without rhythm or reason, completely deliberate chaos. Iwagakure shinobi began dying by the hundreds without any ability to resist. Earth Walls? Destroyed. Earth Styled attacks? Broken apart and splintered against the hard wood of Soutarou's wood release.
Soutarou waved his hand once more and a small branch formed under him as if forming a throne. Forming a grand and tall throne, Soutarou slumped arrogantly onto his right fist and said, "Well get on with it. Show me a good show, you wouldn't want to disappoint your village… Little Onoki. Dance for me."
Onoki's expression fell further as he watched the chaos around him the numerous Iwa shinobi strangled by the newly raising branches and roots, the sheer pressure of the wood human's swords, the mere size of the giant's feet crushing Iwa shinobi as if they were ants, and the dozen or so newly formed Wood Clones that ran amuck Iwa ranks, slaughtering them like animals.
Onoki struggled for a moment before his expression tightened and his resolve hardened only for Soutarou to interrupt, voice calm and final, "The Will of Stone was it..? A will meant to endure, to shape the world ...."
Soutarou's eyes turned mocking as he continued, "Then let it disappear. Your will ends here. What remains belongs to the hidden leaf, as it should've years ago at the hands of Madara-sama."
Soutarou crumbled a rock he had picked up as fire chakra transformation lit up on his hands causing a flame to form as he said, "Burn with your village."
Onoki's eyes remained resolute, as the flames flickered in the background and the two faced each other. Onoki grimly said, "The Will of Stone will endure. No matter what you say, no matter what you may think you know, no matter who you pretend to be… My resolve will not falter."
Soutarou's eyebrow raised and he slowly clapped and said, "As expected of one of the five kage… Even in the face of assured defeat, you don't back down…. Then let me show you despair."
In Soutarou's hand a pure white cube formed and Soutarou said, "Particle Style: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique."
The Jutsu slammed into a dead body one of Soutarou's wooden clones had brought forth. It was a younger, but rounded-faced man, Kitsuchi who was missing limbs and whose neck was completely crushed.
Soutarou's eyes closed in apparent arrogance, but internally he screamed, 'I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I had to do this… Your… Your resolve must break… You must pull out of this war… I don't… I can't…'
Soutarou breathed softly, but heavily and said, "Well? Has your resolve faltered yet? How many more will you allow to die? How much blood will be on my hands, Onoki? I am not Madara Uchiha, no matter the villain I may pretend to be. So please, give up. Surrender and at least some lives may still, yet be saved. Give in. Or I truly will burn Iwagakure to the ground. I am neither Madara Uchiha, nor Hashirama Senju. I do not believe in fantasies of peace without undying, unfaltering eternal power, but I am also no madman who will slaughter without reason. I wish to unite the world under one banner, I will finish the dream, but only through the correct morals. I am inevitable, the work will always be done. If not me, then the next, and the next after me, none of which may bear my compassion, nor my hesitation. This is the true will, it is why our world fights endlessly, mindlessly, that… and desire, yet it is still the eternal dream of peace that drives us. It was left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, not some false will of stone, will of water, will of lightning, or will of sand. Please… Please make the right choice, Onoki. I don't wish to kill more…"
Onoki's eyes began tearing up as he fell to the ground and clenched the dirt beneath Soutarou's Clone. Onoki's eyes turned dark and he said, "Do you truly believe… Do you believe I will give in? That I will falter? This is a blood feud! I will not rest, nor-"
Soutarou just shook his head and clenched his fist as Wood Roots swarmed and engulfed Onoki and his clone sealed Onoki's chakra and began letting the Wood Release absorb it. Soutarou's eyes turned to the remaining troops with reluctance.
"So be it…"
Soutarou clenched his teeth and made a begging expression towards Onoki. Only to be met with eyes full of hatred and Soutarou closed his eyes in regret and brought his arm down in a commanding wave again. His clones took action immediately and this time the wood golem began move with vigor and the scattered pollen disappeared as roots continuously broke through the ground one after another absorbing the chakra of strangled shinobi all the while roots wrapped around their limbs, necks, and bodies squeezing tighter and tighter. Soutarou's eyes burned with disappointment and he said, "Watch Onoki, watch as your village is returned to the very rock it was chiseled out of, the will you were entrusted with is trampled, and the people you cared so deeply are slaughtered one after another. A kage who cannot see the reality in front of them, no matter how deep their resolve is… Is unworthy of the title of Kage… You should've just surrendered… I… I suppose instead your arrogance will lead to the slaughter of some ten thousand Iwagakure Shinobi. Forgive me, but I will do what I must for my village."
Soutarou clenched his fist and then used a vine to throw Onoki on top of the Wood Human all while Soutarou destroyed the Iwa encampment, leaving behind no escape, no escapees, no remnants, only burning flames and the pungent smell of burnt corpses. The Konoha Jonin and forces finally broke through and had already cleaned up the flanks only to be met with the horrifying scenes of the main Iwagakure camp. With them were many captured Iwa shinobi, who watched in fear and the Konoha shinobi watched in silence. Former ANBU gulped nervously, ROOT members' expressions faltered momentarily, though everyone understood that it had to be done, the four great villages' wills had to be broken and battered to never dare to invoke war again.
Sakumo appeared next to Soutarou's main body and said, "That's enough Soutarou… Iwa… Iwa has surrendered. You can release Onoki from his wooden bindings. I'll seal him."
Soutarou's eyes were glazed over and he instinctively nodded. Kushina rushed over and grabbed Soutarou and pulled him off of the wooden throne putting his arm over her and Tsunade, unable to watch any longer, took his other side and said, "We shouldn't have made you do this Soutarou… I'm sorry… Stop your clones… No more… Let's go back to camp."
Soutarou mindlessly and sadly said, "It had to be done… It's just ripping off the bandaid, peace will come… but is it worth the cost…?"
Soutarou's mumbling continued and the pair of Tsunade and Kushina worriedly took him back and placed him in an infirmary bed as he struggled with it as he stared at his hands in regret, he tried to wipe his hands as if to get rid of the blood, only for a layer of skin to peel back and in the end Tsunade herself had to watch over Soutarou along with Kushina, as he became disillusioned with what he had done…
'Was it really worth it…?'
~Madara POV~
Watching through White Jetsu's eyes Madara sat in silence, but the smile on his lips couldn't be hidden. Madara spoke softly, "The work will always be done…? If not me then the ones after me… Haha… What a good descendant we had, Hashirama… He understands… perfectly. A pity… he's too compassionate… I suppose this is what Hashirama would've been like had he inherited my ideals... No matter, it seems there are more variables to calculate for… Soutarou Senju? No Soutarou Uchiha? No… What are you? Just Soutarou…? No matter, I shall watch your development with great interest… Let me see the world you can create."