Chapter 187: One Slash to Silence All, Ascending the Summit!
A bestial roar echoed—
The Wood Dragon bellowed, as if recalling its age-old nemesis.
No longer the Wood Dragon Technique of old, it now truly possessed life of its own.
Yin–Yang Creation.
From this newly empowered Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara vaguely sensed a certain shadow of "Kagami's aura."
He remembered something he had once said…
Truly…
It's not you who's become like us, but we who are trying to catch up to you.
…
Madara spoke: "I heard from Black Zetsu that, after getting driven out by Kagami, you built some place called the 'Fire Shadow Village'?"
Having acquired unprecedented power, he didn't immediately flaunt it, instead talking calmly with Hashirama.
Hashirama scratched his head in mild embarrassment.
"Just something to pass the time… Actually, I wanted to question your revival – but seeing how I'm also revived, it'd feel hypocritical to ask."
Madara snorted lightly.
"You'll understand soon enough why I needed to return."
"Anyway… I'll dispose of those nuisances first, then settle things with you."
Whoosh!
With his speed, not even Momoshiki's perception could track Madara. In an instant, Madara's hand clapped onto Momoshiki's face.
"That big brute over there is Kinshiki, right?
I hear from Kagami you can absorb him to boost your chakra. Go do that.
Right now…you lack the qualifications to dance with me."
Momoshiki tried to snap out a furious retort, but a mountain-like pressure slammed his face.
Boom!!!!
His body was launched uncontrollably, crashing into Kinshiki. Together, the two were hurled several kilometers, smashing into countless remains of Nagato's Flower Tree World.
…
Hashirama frowned, muttering under his breath,
"There are so many people in danger…I must move them away."
He formed a flurry of hand seals. Countless wooden branches, like serpents, spread out to envelop the survivors. They whisked them off in every direction for safety.
After all, Nagato's sacrifice had not been in vain.
He'd exchanged his life for the continued survival of so many Rain citizens.
One branch coiled around where Jiraiya was lurking in the shadows.
Hashirama's voice emanated softly through the leaves:
"Little Jiraiya, I know about Nagato…
Anyway, this isn't a battle you can join. Please go."
Jiraiya clung tightly to the branch, as though trying to break free.
Again…
It had been so in the past, and now once more he was powerless!
Never had Jiraiya so desperately longed for greater strength.
Elsewhere, a wooden tendril latched onto Shisui. A warm chakra surged in, easing his frantic breathing.
"Shisui, will you leave?"
Shisui rubbed at his eyes, letting out a small grin.
"I'm Kagami's younger brother…
At least let me witness whether you're worthy to challenge him."
…
"I see…"
"Alright, then," Hashirama murmured, eyes shifting to the solitary figure standing off against the Ōtsutsuki, Uchiha Madara.
My brother…
Madara, you trust me like a comrade, too, right?
This time, I'll try to understand you, and stand by you.
For we are indeed brothers.
---
Konohagakure.
While warfare raged beyond the Land of Fire's borders, the village itself remained peaceful as ever.
At the Uchiha compound, Kagami's estate:
Black and white Go stones were scattered on a board—but it wasn't Go, it was simply Five-in-a-Row.
The ones playing were Zuo Lun (Left Wheel) and Namikaze Karin.
Plop!
Placing a white stone, the girl connected five in a row.
"Yay! I win!" Karin cheered, raising her fists.
Zuo Lun groaned, rubbing his face.
After losing to the four-year-old Konohamaru, now he'd lost to the three-year-old Karin, setting a fresh record.
In the hall, Uchiha Kagami and Namikaze Minato sat facing each other.
Minato wore a troubled expression. Relying on the Nine-Tails' senses, he vaguely perceived the happenings in the Land of Rain.
The Ten-Tails' appearance had riled up the Nine-Tails.
From Minato's body, an orange hue of chakra emerged, forming a fox's head.
"Uchiha Kagami, are you not aware how serious this is?!
I can sense Uchiha Madara—and moreover…"
"He's become a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, just like the old man used to be!"
…
"And so what?" Kagami said flatly, teasing a small ginger kitten that had come along with Zuo Lun.
The little furball was far cuter than a fox in his view.
"Still insufficient. The present Madara lacks something yet."
Kurama the Nine-Tails frowned: "Kagami, you're playing with fire!"
Kagami glanced up with a faint grin.
"You fear Madara, yet you dare raise your voice at me? Because you think me a nice person?"
"How about I just erase your consciousness altogether, foolish beast?"
He raised his hand lightly.
"Easy now, Kagami!" Minato hastily tried to ease the mood, withdrawing Kurama's chakra back inside. He forced a wry smile. "You know Kurama is just anxious. He's not intentionally disrespecting you."
Kagami lowered his hand with disinterest. "I'm not so petty as to fuss with some beast. Really, all it does is reflect your own question, no?"
Minato paused, nodding.
"Kagami… you want to gather every threat, wipe them out in one go. I'm certain you'll prevail, but…
Can the ninja world endure that scale of battle?"
Kagami continued staring down at the kitten, scratching its fuzzy head, making it wave its tiny paws in protest.
"Relax. Even if the world is destroyed, we can always recreate it."
Minato's pupils shrank sharply.
Kagami smiled.
"I was joking. Calm yourself."
"Who would blow up their own home for a few petty thieves?"
"I only intend…"
"…to thoroughly clear the ninja world once and for all."
---
In Kagami's spiritual domain…
It was utterly silent.
In the golden sea of mental energy, Kagami's spirit stood before a bright red door.
His Extreme Bliss Box, the Dragon Vein, the Six Paths Stele…all had been ground away, merged into that golden ocean of primal energy.
Only this door remained.
It was once the key to sealing Sukuna, at Kagami's weakest. Now, with his power grown, Kagami recognized its origin.
…
"All-Powerful."
It came from the remains of the Ōtsutsuki God, who transcended worlds and ascended to a higher dimension, leaving behind scattered vestiges…
In the normal timeline, this drifting power would be drawn by the God's gene resonance and eventually land upon a girl named "Eida."
"All-Powerful" let its wielder actualize anything they imagined—a power to shape reality with a mere thought. The very force by which a "god" forged worlds.
A quirk of fate had placed it in the body of an Uchiha child.
Obeying his innermost wishes, it became a gateway that imprisoned evil spirits.
Kagami lightly placed a hand on that red door and gave a slight, wry smile.
"How ironic. I, who believed I'd surpassed the Ōtsutsuki, owed my beginnings to an Ōtsutsuki power.
Is this an example of 'No matter how we strive, it all reduces to bloodline farce?'"
The door shimmered softly, as though whispering to him.
"All-Powerful…you're calling me, to merge as one, right?
That way, maybe I could follow the same path as the Ōtsutsuki God—
spiritual transcendence beyond this world, ascending higher dimensions…"
Kagami slowly stroked the door.
"These decades, I thank you for all you've done.
Without you, I'd never have gained the power to reshape everything.
Yes, I understand your longing to find your true master. I appreciate that you chose me.
But…"
"I truly hate…
any predestined road."
"Call it my arrogance if you will—this last stretch, I want to walk alone."
"I'm grateful, but I have no more need of you."
"I will do it with my own hands—
I will slash through this world!"
Kagami's spiritual self emanated black aura, forming a slash the likes of which had never existed.
Zzt—
A single cut fell, as though tearing and devouring everything in its path—landing on that vermilion door.
Radiance flared, bright enough to suggest cosmic creation.
In an instant, infinite light swallowed the mental realm, annihilating it.
…
Body and spirit became one.
At the end of the shattered golden sea was a black-clad figure on a summit of many peaks.