At Mount Myōboku, beside the waterfall where generations had trained in Sage Mode...
Gamabunta's enormous body stood in the clearing before the falls. Spread out in front of him was an unfurled scroll.
Any shinobi familiar with summoning contracts would immediately recognize the formula inscribed upon it.
It was the pattern of a Summoning Technique.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
Gamabunta suddenly opened his previously closed eyes. As though receiving some kind of signal, he slammed his massive palm onto the scroll.
The seal at the center seemed to come alive, wriggling like tadpoles as it crawled out from the scroll and spread across the ground.
Bang!
At the same time, a cloud of white smoke burst from the scroll.
"Peak, you really went through a lot this time."
Gamabunta shook his head and sighed as he looked at the figure emerging from the smoke.
Many shinobi had come to Mount Myōboku and signed summoning contracts.
But someone like Ning Feng—powerful enough to master Sage Mode while still preparing a contingency plan...
He had never met a shinobi this cautious before.
"Haha... Bunta, sorry for not giving you a chance to fight for so long."
As the dust dispersed, Ning Feng's figure gradually appeared before Gamabunta. He looked slightly battered.
"Wait... Peak, why do you look so miserable?"
Gamabunta had just taken a deep puff from his pipe, but upon seeing Ning Feng's condition, he immediately abandoned any intention of teasing him.
His robes were torn to shreds.
Blood stained many places.
Several wounds were visible to the naked eye.
"What happened to you?"
The hand holding his pipe trembled slightly as he looked at Ning Feng in surprise.
"This time I really got caught off guard."
Ning Feng shrugged.
At the very last moment, he had entered Sage Mode to strengthen his body and escaped the battlefield using one of the trump cards he had left behind.
That trump card was the Reverse Summoning Technique.
By having his summon perform the Summoning Jutsu, he himself could be summoned directly to the summon beast's location.
This allowed him to escape without using Flying Thunder God or any other space-time ninjutsu.
"Got caught off guard?"
Gamabunta immediately leaned forward with interest.
"What happened? Tell me."
"It's a long story..."
"Peak's here?"
A voice from the distance interrupted him.
Ning Feng turned and saw two small figures slowly approaching.
"Lord Fukasaku. Lady Shima."
He nodded respectfully.
The two toads were none other than Fukasaku and Shima.
"Why are you in such a sorry state?"
Shima hopped forward and examined the Sage Mode markings on Ning Feng's face as well as his tattered clothing.
Meanwhile, Fukasaku glanced at Gamabunta and the scroll beside him before smiling knowingly.
It seemed the kid wasn't just powerful—he also knew how to leave himself an escape route.
As one of Mount Myōboku's leaders, he recognized the formula on the scroll instantly.
It was the Reverse Summoning Technique.
He had once advised Jiraiya and Minato to leave behind reverse summoning contracts.
But both had found it troublesome and always said they'd do it later.
Neither had properly established such a connection with their summons.
As a result, even now, they lacked the option of being reverse summoned back.
"I ran into Hashirama Senju and got beaten up pretty badly by his True Several Thousand Hands."
Ning Feng spread his hands helplessly.
"I was careless and couldn't defend against it."
"Hashirama Senju? True Several Thousand Hands?"
For the first time, a look of shock appeared on Fukasaku's normally composed face.
Shima's reaction was even more dramatic as she jumped onto Ning Feng and began inspecting his wounds.
"Hashirama's still alive? No—that's not the point! If you were facing True Several Thousand Hands, why didn't you use Flying Thunder God? It's much faster!"
Fukasaku felt overwhelmed by the amount of information.
"Hashirama was resurrected through Edo Tensei. As for why I couldn't use Flying Thunder God..."
Ning Feng gave a bitter smile and began recounting everything that had happened on the battlefield to Fukasaku, Shima, and Gamabunta.
...
"Not even a corpse left?"
Floating high in the air, Mū stared at the battlefield below and muttered to himself.
The Konoha battlefield was in complete ruin.
Fires still burned everywhere.
The ground was riddled with countless craters and fractures.
After being devastated by True Several Thousand Hands, the terrain looked as though it might collapse at any moment.
And on the ground...
There wasn't even a trace of blood.
Only shattered earth remained.
Every tree had been reduced to ash by Hashirama's technique.
"Looks like he was completely obliterated..."
Hashirama slowly walked through the battlefield he himself had destroyed, speaking with a hint of regret.
He had watched Ning Feng desperately trying to flee beneath True Several Thousand Hands.
But the technique's range was absurdly vast.
There was no way Ning Feng could have escaped.
And under True Several Thousand Hands...
Even Madara's Complete Body Susanoo could barely withstand the assault.
So Ning Feng was likely gone without a trace.
"As expected of the God of Shinobi."
Kabuto clicked his tongue.
Previously, he had only found Hashirama's Wood Release somewhat impressive.
After all, having witnessed countless extraordinary events alongside Orochimaru—and having seen a genius like Ning Feng excel in every field—he felt that Hashirama's Wood Release techniques were merely decent.
But after witnessing True Several Thousand Hands...
Kabuto finally understood why Hashirama had ended the Warring States Era.
It was because of this overwhelming Wood Release.
That gigantic Buddha...
The final shred of doubt in Kabuto's mind toward Madara disappeared.
Anyone capable of fighting Hashirama head-on and surviving was truly terrifying.
"Well done."
Even Madara offered rare praise, a faint smile appearing on his face.
Hashirama had always stood above him.
Even Madara wasn't certain he could withstand True Several Thousand Hands in his prime.
There was no way Ning Feng had survived that attack.
"Though now we'll have to track down the Tailed Beasts one by one."
Thinking about the mess left behind, a cold gleam flashed through Madara's Sharingan.
He could simply leave the task of gathering intelligence on the remaining Tailed Beasts to Obito.
Ning Feng was dead.
The Eye of the Moon Plan was already more than halfway complete.
There was no one left in the shinobi world capable of matching him.
...
"It's healing this fast?"
Ning Feng stared in astonishment as the wounds across his body rapidly closed under the effects of the toad oil.
"The toad oil helps shinobi enter Sage Mode. Naturally, it also aids in wound recovery."
Fukasaku looked at Ning Feng soaking in the oil and spoke seriously.
In truth, toad oil alone wouldn't heal injuries this quickly.
The greater reason was that it amplified the activity of the Tailed Beast chakra within Ning Feng's body.
The combination created an effect far greater than the sum of its parts.
As a result, his body recovered at an astonishing speed.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
Claim early access on Patreon: patreon.com/c/LuneWriter
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:
💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter
🔷 200 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.