Chapter 189: Battle of the Four Deities
Roar!!
A Wood Dragon bellowed, as though recalling an ancient nemesis. No longer merely the Wood Dragon Technique, it now genuinely possessed the spark of life.
Yin–Yang Creation.
Sensing a faint trace of Kagami's aura in the newly empowered Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara recalled something he had once said.
> It's not that you've become like us; rather, it's we who are following after you.
…
"I heard from Black Zetsu that, after being kicked out by Kagami, you built something called a 'Fire Shadow Village?'"
Madara, though having gained unprecedented power, did not rush to show it off. Instead, he spoke calmly to Hashirama.
Scratching his head in slight awkwardness, Hashirama replied,
"Well, it's just something to occupy myself… Actually, I was going to ask you about your revival, but seeing as I'm also revived, I've lost the right to question you."
Madara gave a dismissive sneer.
"You'll understand soon enough why I returned.
First, I'll take out those nuisances—then, I'll deal with you."
Whoosh!
Even with Momoshiki's acute perception, he failed to track Madara's speed. Madara's hand clamped onto Momoshiki's face in an instant.
"That big brute must be Kinshiki, right?
I hear from Kagami that you can devour him to restore chakra… Then do it.
Right now, you don't qualify to dance with me."
Momoshiki tried to retort angrily, only to receive a titanic force slamming his face.
Boom!!!!
His body lost control, smashing into Kinshiki. Together they tumbled dozens of kilometers, tearing apart much of Nagato's final Flower Tree World.
…
Hashirama frowned, muttering.
"There are still many people… Let me move them away."
He formed quick hand seals; countless tendrils of wood spread like serpents, cocooning the populace and carrying them to safety in every direction.
Nagato's sacrifice had not been in vain. He had exchanged his life to secure the survival of many citizens in the Land of Rain.
One branch coiled around Jiraiya, hidden in the shadows. Hashirama's gentle voice emerged through the leaves:
> "Little Jiraiya, I know about Nagato… Anyway, this battlefield isn't for you. Please go."
Jiraiya gripped that branch tightly, trying to break free.
It was so before…now again…
Never had he so wanted strength as he did at this moment.
Another branch entwined Shisui, flooding him with warm chakra to stabilize his ragged breathing.
"Shisui, will you go as well?"
Shisui rubbed his eyes, letting a faint grin show.
"I'm Kagami's younger brother…
At least allow me to witness whether you're worthy of challenging him."
…
"I see…"
Hashirama lightly sighed as he turned his eyes to that solitary figure facing down the Ōtsutsuki—Uchiha Madara.
> My brother… Madara, you also place your trust in me as a comrade, correct? This time, I'll try to comprehend you—stand by you. After all, we are brothers.
---
Konoha.
While the Land of Fire's borders were consumed by war, Konoha remained as calm as usual.
At the Uchiha district—Kagami's residence:
A board with black and white Go pieces scattered wasn't Go, but Five-in-a-Row.
Playing were Zuo-Lun and Namikaze Karin.
Plop!
Karin placed down a white stone, making five in a row.
"Yay, I win!" she said, raising her arms.
Zuo-Lun scratched his face in dismay. Having once lost to four-year-old Konohamaru, now losing to three-year-old Karin set yet another record.
Inside the drawing room, Kagami and Minato sat opposite each other.
Minato wore a faintly worried look. He could sense, via the Nine-Tails, much was transpiring in the Land of Rain. The Ten-Tails' reappearance had the Nine-Tails on edge.
Orange chakra oozed from Minato's body, forming a fox-like head.
"Uchiha Kagami, do you not realize how severe this is?!
I can sense Uchiha Madara!
And…"
"He's become a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, just like the old man once was!"
…
"And so what?" Kagami muttered, teasing a small orange kitten that Zuo-Lun had brought over. The kitten mewed softly, far cuter than some fox in Kagami's eyes.
"He's still not enough. Madara at this stage is lacking something."
Kurama frowned. "Kagami, you're toying with fire!"
Kagami gave a half-smile, glancing up.
"You fear Madara, yet raise your voice at me. Because I'm gentle enough not to punish you, is that it?"
"How about I erase your consciousness, you ignorant beast?"
He lifted a hand slightly.
"Calm down, Kagami!" Minato hastily withdrew Kurama's chakra into his body, giving a wry grin. "You know he's just anxious—no disrespect intended."
Kagami lowered his hand, unconcerned.
"I'm not so petty as to bicker with a mere fox. Actually, he's voicing your question, correct?"
Minato paused, then spoke:
"Kagami… You want to gather all enemies at once for a final sweep. I'm certain you'll win, but can the ninja world withstand your fight?"
Kagami kept scratching the kitten's fuzzy ears, making it squirm.
"Relax. Even if it is destroyed, I can recreate it."
Minato's pupils shrank.
Kagami smiled.
"I'm joking. Don't worry.
Who'd blow up his own home just to kill some petty thieves?
I merely plan to…
…completely purge the ninja world."
---
Inside Kagami's mental space—utterly silent.
In the golden ocean of spiritual power, Kagami's spirit form stood before a bright red door.
His Elysium Box, Dragon Vein, and Six Paths Stele had all been ground away into primal energy, merging with the golden sea.
Only this door remained.
Once it had helped Kagami seal Sukuna at his weakest.
Now, with his power grown so vast, he recognized its origin…
…
"All-Powerful,"
the remnant of the Ōtsutsuki God's authority.
When that "god" transcended space-time and ascended to a higher dimension, some bits of leftover essence scattered. One portion drifted into the ninja world.
In the original timeline, that wandering power would eventually respond to the Ōtsutsuki's genes and choose a girl named "Eida," giving her the "All-Powerful" ability to manifest reality from her mind.
By some quirk of fate, it fell into a young Uchiha child's body.
Obeying his innermost longing, it turned into that crimson gate, imprisoning demons.
Kagami lightly rested his palm on the red door, giving a wry smile.
"How ironic. I insisted I surpassed the Ōtsutsuki, yet my beginnings relied on that lineage's power.
In the end, after all that effort, am I just another silly product of bloodline destiny…?"
The door glowed, as though whispering.
"All-Powerful… you're calling to me, wanting to merge fully, so I might follow the path of the Ōtsutsuki God, letting my spirit transcend this plane into a higher dimension, right?"
Kagami gently stroked the door.
"For decades, I thank you.
Without your help, I'd never have possessed the power to reshape it all.
I understand your wish to reunite with your 'master,' and I do appreciate you chose me.
But…"
"I utterly loathe any 'predestined' road."
"Say I'm arrogant… For this last stretch, I want to walk alone.
Though I'm grateful, I don't need you anymore.
I will personally…
slash apart this world!"
Kagami's spirit emitted dark aura, forming a slash far beyond anything before.
Shhk—
That slash carved out, devouring all in its path, quietly striking the vermilion door.
Dazzling radiance flared, like the birth of a cosmos. In an instant, infinite light swallowed the mental domain, annihilating it.
…
Flesh and spirit merged as one.
At the far end of the shattered golden sea stood a lone, black-clad figure atop a summit of many peaks.
---
(End of chapter)