"What do we do now? Should we retreat? Aburame Shiken and Ryoha are already done over there, and Hyūga Hiyasu's side isn't in too much trouble either. How about we pull back for now and come back later to settle things with them?"
Taking advantage of a moment after exchanging powerful attacks,
Senju Hideki and Uchiha Kamito regrouped.
"Alright, we retreat."
Uchiha Kamito agreed.
"Okay."
"Earth Style: Great Wall."
The ground surged violently, and a towering wall rose up,
blocking the advance of the tailed beasts and the Hidden Stone Village forces.
Though honestly, in a situation like this, wouldn't a large-scale Earth Flow Wall have been enough? Was there really a need to sculpt it into the shape of a fortress wall?
It didn't add that much defensive power anyway.
Senju Hideki: Don't question it. Some people treat chakra like a unit of measurement, always running out every day, yet they still insist on carving dog heads into their Earth walls. Compared to that, what I'm doing is nothing. This is called art—you people just don't understand.
"Amaterasu."
Uchiha Kamito used Amaterasu to force Ōnoki back.
Taking advantage of that moment—
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation."
A massive blaze swept across the sky, successfully blocking the Seven-Tails' attack.
"Retreat! Everyone, fall back!"
Uchiha Kamito shouted.
"Don't let them escape."
"Stop them here."
Ōnoki and Kitsuchi both issued orders.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—if they missed it, when would they ever crush the Hidden Leaf Village again?
Kitsuchi hardened his resolve.
Twenty thousand Hidden Stone ninja surged forward.
If some Earth Style techniques couldn't be used, it didn't matter—use whatever could be used.
If techniques failed, use kunai and Explosive Tags.
If those ran out, pick up rocks and throw them.
Friendly fire from the Seven-Tails didn't matter either.
With twenty thousand ninja, even a four-for-one trade would still be worth it.
This time, they had to completely crush the Hidden Leaf Village here.
The village's defenses might look flawless, but once a single link failed, their forces would be stretched thin, and the entire situation would turn upside down.
The battle that would decide the fate of the ninja world—was happening right here.
Kitsuchi understood. Ōnoki understood. The Hidden Stone understood. And the Hidden Leaf understood even more clearly.
They could lose—but they couldn't afford devastating casualties, let alone total annihilation.
Otherwise, the next ones sent to the battlefield would be their children.
At this moment, Tsunade also gave up on healing.
They had to cut off the Hidden Stone's pursuit.
With one kick, Tsunade smashed down, sending a group of Stone ninja flying.
But these ninja had received a death order.
They didn't care about the comrades being blasted away, nor did they care if they themselves would be killed by Tsunade.
Right now, they had only one objective—stop that group of Hidden Leaf ninja.
"How… how did it come to this…"
Tsunade felt utterly useless.
She couldn't stop the tailed beasts, couldn't hold back Ōnoki, couldn't save the Hidden Leaf ninja, and now couldn't even stop the Stone ninja.
What purpose did she even serve on this battlefield?
Medical ninjutsu couldn't save the Hidden Leaf.
Senju Hideki watched as his Great Wall was about to be broken through by the Five-Tails, while massive numbers of Hidden Stone forces continued to stall the Hidden Leaf troops.
"Kamito, there's no other way—make sure you run later!"
Senju Hideki shouted.
Then he withdrew the chakra sustaining the Rock Demon Colossus, and descended to the ground.
In the sky, Uchiha Kamito heard his words, and immediately felt something was wrong.
That idiot—
"Hideki, you idiot! Don't throw your life away for the Hidden Leaf!!!"
His shout left Ōnoki, who was entangled with him, utterly confused.
Don't throw your life away for the Hidden Leaf?
Uchiha Kamito's shout reached Senju Hideki—but how could he stop?
He bore the name of the Senju.
Though his four friends didn't feel strongly about the Hidden Leaf, he truly loved it.
Thinking back to his previous life, chasing Naruto updates obsessively—it felt a little foolish now.
But since he had already been foolish once, he might as well stay foolish to the end.
The glory of the Senju could not end with him.
"I am the head of the Senju clan—Senju Hideki!"
With a roar, the earth around him surged upward in massive quantities, forming— an enormous, unimaginably colossal thousand-armed Buddha.
The tailed beasts, usually seen as massive monsters, were nothing more than ants before this statue.
Even the Seven-Tails flying in the sky barely reached its fingertips.
"What… what is this?"
"Can we even win this?"
The Hidden Stone ninja dropped their weapons, collapsing weakly to their knees.
"What kind of monster are we even fighting…"
Kitsuchi stood frozen in shock.
"This… this has to be fake. How could a ninja reach this level?"
The Four-Tails and Five-Tails exchanged glances.
That damned, familiar feeling.
We have to go all out.
Otherwise, we're finished again.
The two tailed beasts opened their mouths, pouring all their chakra into a final Tailed Beast Bomb.
Who would've thought their first use of it—would also be their last?
The Seven-Tails quickly descended, doing the same.
It didn't want to experience being grabbed like a toy again—too humiliating!
Ōnoki no longer paid attention to Uchiha Kamito.
He flew to the front of the Hidden Stone formation.
A massive Dust Release barrier formed.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique."
They had to block this.
Damn that Senju—how could he possess power comparable to the First Hokage?
Ōnoki recalled the Wood Style: True Several Thousand Hands he had once witnessed, then looked at the current thousand-armed Buddha.
Was the Hidden Leaf truly untouchable?
Atop the Buddha's head,
Senju Hideki's body was already covered in deep yellow cracks, on the verge of bursting apart from the overwhelming Earth Style chakra.
Ten thousand massive palms pressed down simultaneously.
What could possibly stop this?
The thunderous crash of impact, explosions, roaring destruction, and screams echoed endlessly.
Most of the Hidden Stone forces were subjected to unbearable devastation.
Meanwhile, on the relatively safe Hidden Leaf side, everyone stood in stunned silence.
Tsunade and a masked, heavily wounded Senju ninja: So this… is the power Grandfather once wielded?
The other ninja were overjoyed, especially the older generation, who fell to their knees as tears of joy streamed down their faces.
"He's back… he's back… the First Hokage has truly returned…"
The same Buddha, the same selfless devotion to the Hidden Leaf, the same Senju clan leader— it was impossible not to think of that man.
At this moment, time seemed to overlap, as the figures of Senju Hashirama and Senju Hideki merged.
Deep within the ninja world, an old man silently observing the battle paused for a moment.
"Very similar… but ultimately not him. This Buddha is inferior to Hashirama's."
After the rumbling subsided, though the Hidden Stone had suffered heavy losses, the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails had been forced back into human form,
Ōnoki was heavily drained, and high-ranking figures like Kitsuchi, Hanzan Yūga, and Gengan were still alive— the core structure of the Hidden Stone remained intact.
"Still… acceptable. After all, he's not Senju Hashirama."
Ōnoki sighed.
"Stone, I'm not done yet!"
Senju Hideki revealed a crazed expression, forcing his nearly shattered body as he descended to the ground.