"The first time using this—my control isn't exactly refined, so forgive me."
At that moment, Kitagawa Gen's voice drifted across the sky. Standing atop the Buddha's head, he looked impossibly small.
But his chakra shone like sunlight—dazzling, blinding.
His tone carried a trace of regret, and indeed he was regretful. After all, he did not know how to use Susanoo.
A Susanoo overlaid on the Great Buddha—that was something he would have liked to do. But unfortunately, it wasn't within his power.
"But it doesn't matter. Are you ready?"
Ready?
The words struck like a death curse. In the next instant, the colossal Buddha moved!
Arms that reached sky and earth swung forward, and under the dense eruption of Sage chakra, a barrage of fists came crashing down.
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
The deafening thunderclaps resounded through the heavens. In that moment, it felt as if the sky itself was collapsing!
"Argh!"
The Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails roared in defiance, struggling desperately against fists nearly equal to their own size.
At the same time, they strained to gather and fire their Tailed Beast Bombs.
But the moment their orbs formed and were launched, the Buddha's fists smashed them to pieces!
[Boom—]
The shattered blasts tore outward with ferocious force, yet before that towering Buddha they seemed pitifully small, utterly meaningless.
Even when an arm or two was blown apart, new ones immediately surged forth, and the broken limbs regenerated at once.
Countless fists rained down like a storm, endless and unrelenting. Under the Thousand-Armed Buddha, the earth quaked and cracked, fissures racing in every direction.
"Roar—!"
The Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails let out sky-shaking howls of agony, their cries echoing even over the thunderous explosions.
Mountains collapsed, the ground split apart, and the chakra of the two tailed beasts crumbled rapidly under the relentless onslaught!
[Boom—]
Another colossal detonation shook the world. The towering peaks shattered and fell away.
In that instant, heaven and earth seemed to tremble as one!
Amid crashing boulders and sky-high clouds of dust and roar, the two tailed beasts were finally pounded into complete dissolution.
...
"What's happening?!"
On the border of the Land of Lightning, assembled shinobi staggered at the violent tremors beneath their feet and the chakra flooding the heavens.
Bewilderment spread through their ranks—they had no idea what had just occurred!
"Commander! Bad news!"
Inside the command post, several jōnin were in the middle of a meeting when a shinobi rushed in, panic in his voice.
"Something terrible has happened!"
"What is it? Is it Konoha?"
The commander shot to his feet at once, his expression heavy and grim.
The Chūnin Exams had already cost them their Kage, and now war loomed over their heads.
But as a militaristic nation, they had never feared war. For them, war was a thrill.
Still, even they knew to remain cautious this time—because now they faced the combined assault of three great villages.
No matter what, this was an opportunity. If they succeeded, they would surely dominate the shinobi world.
Because of that, every single one of them was on edge. They let nothing escape their notice, not even the slightest disturbance.
"N-no… it's not from Konoha."
But to their surprise, the sensory-nin shook his head, his face pale with terror as he turned toward the rear.
"This fluctuation—it's coming from the village… from Kumogakure itself!"
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the command post erupted in chaos. The commander himself seized the sensory-nin by the collar, his skin flushing red with fury as he roared, "Do you know what you're saying?! How could anything be wrong with Kumogakure? Don't forget, the village still has two tailed beasts to protect it!"
"They… they…"
The sensory-nin could barely string his words together. Finally, he gritted his teeth and forced them out in a trembling voice.
"Their chakra flared as well… but they failed too."
"What?!"
Those words stunned everyone into silence.
They didn't know what had happened, but one thing was certain—something catastrophic had struck Kumogakure!
And it wasn't just them. On the side of the Land of Hot Water, the Konoha forces had also sensed the disturbance.
They too didn't know what had happened. All they could do was send urgent reports back to Konoha while tightening their defenses even further.
...
Inside Kumogakure—
Smoke and dust smothered everything. Desolation spread in every direction.
After the rampage of the True Thousand Hands, only endless devastation remained.
The land was scarred and broken, the terrain warped beyond recognition.
The once-lofty mountains had collapsed. What had once seemed a prosperous village now lay in ruins.
Ninjas lay scattered across the ground, some dead from the relentless onslaught, others reduced to nothing, not even corpses left behind.
The ones who survived stared blankly at the towering Buddha, their eyes full of despair. All will to fight had left them.
"What kind of… power is this?"
Darui knelt among the ruins, gazing into the distance. C, Samui, and the other shinobi wore the same vacant look.
All of this was far, far beyond anything they could have imagined.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… I guess this counts as art too, doesn't it?"
From above, Deidara clicked his tongue twice as he looked down at the devastation. But even he felt his scalp crawl, unease gnawing at him.
That world-shattering power—it left even him doubting if it was truly real.
"Enough nonsense. Hurry and regroup with Gen."
Terumi Mei cut him off in a low voice.
"This needs to end."
Truthfully, her heart was also heavy. That terrifying power filled her with despair.
She had only one thought now: no matter what, she had to ensure that the alliance between Kirigakure and Konoha remained unbreakable.
That alliance had to stand firm—absolutely unshakable.
"So, you've arrived?"
Just as the two of them were lost in thought, a voice suddenly came from behind them.
They turned—and somehow, Kitagawa Gen was already standing there.
"Huh? Gen!"
Deidara's eyes lit up with excitement the instant he saw him. Terumi Mei, still a little dazed, quickly found her voice as well.
"You all right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."
Kitagawa Gen shook his head, then after a moment's thought added, "It's just the drain was a bit heavy. I'll need a good rest."
Here he paused.
Rest—yes, but the one who needed to recover was the "Divine Tree's Source" within him, not himself.
'Pushing the Divine Tree's Source to its maximum worked well enough, but the cost to it was massive. Still…'
[Side Mission Complete: Kumogakure Crush Plan]
[Reward Calculating]
Glancing at his panel, Kitagawa Gen gave a satisfied nod. Seeing the devastation he had wrought filled him with countless emotions.
The "versions" kept evolving, and all he had done was step onto the "latest version."
But in this version—or in any version, really—the "True Thousand Hands" was undeniably a power worthy of being on the board!
"Um, Gen… those two…"
While he was lost in thought, Terumi Mei cautiously spoke up, instantly piquing Deidara's curiosity as well.
"Yeah, the two you were fighting with—what about them? Don't tell me they're dead?"
"Those two, huh?"
Gen tilted his head. Even from the clouds, it was as if he could still see the ruined earth below.
"They're not dead, but I doubt they're in good shape either. Still…"
He gave a faint smile.
"Congratulations to us—the mission's complete."
"Kumogakure has fallen!"
...
At the same time that Kitagawa Gen was conquering Kumogakure, a full-scale meeting was being held inside Konohagakure.
This meeting covered a wide range of issues, and since it involved three villages convening together, Sarutobi Hiruzen regarded it with great importance.
"Gentlemen, Konoha can ensure the defense this time, but as for the attack on Kumogakure—I wonder what your thoughts are?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke as he unrolled and glanced through a scroll.
Everyone here was already an old veteran. After all, a lifetime of wars had long since made them accustomed to such matters.
"My troops are already assembled," Ōnoki replied bluntly without the slightest courtesy.
"Konoha should already be prepared in the Land of Hot Water. From here, things should be quite straightforward."
"I think rather than talking about that, we'd be better off discussing other matters—such as the purchase of supplies," Genji spoke up then, his wrinkled face covered with a genial smile.
"I propose that we buy again from the Land of Water. Their quality is absolutely guaranteed. It may be farther, but it won't affect anything at all!"
"You're going too far, Genji."
Ōnoki raised a brow and scoffed.
"Everyone knows the Land of Earth has the best mineral resources in the entire shinobi world. And besides, the Land of Earth is closer to Konoha—why go to the trouble of seeking from afar?"
"All right, let's put this matter aside for now. The supplies will be divided among all of us."
Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his brow. Meetings like this often turned out this way.
After all, in an alliance of three, aside from military matters, the distribution of benefits also had to be negotiated.
"Better to focus first on quickly resolving Kumogakure. Only by defeating them will we have a bigger cake to divide."
"Kirigakure can land from Turtle Island, use it as a base, and strike their western coast along the way," Genji added directly. He had been in contact with his village these past few days and was already prepared.
Ōnoki shot him a glance.
"I'm afraid once you take Turtle Island, you won't want to give it up. But no matter— Iwagakure can attack from the eastern sea and complete the encirclement."
"No problem. But I expect intelligence to be shared," Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, and neither of the other two voiced any objections.
War was no game. Even if their alliance was entangled with countless disputes over interests, they still had to take it seriously—none of them wanted their own people suffering too many casualties.
But just as they were still discussing various details, suddenly there came a knock on the door.
"Hm?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was puzzled, but gestured for whoever was outside to enter.
Moments later, Jiraiya and Tsunade came rushing in.
"You two… why are you here?"
Hiruzen's face was full of confusion. Wasn't Jiraiya supposed to be researching Naruto's seal?
And Tsunade—shouldn't she either be with her two grandparents or handling other affairs?
For the two of them to show up here now… could it be—?
As the thought struck him, Sarutobi Hiruzen tensed at once and asked, "Has something happened?"
"Something has indeed happened—but not to the village."
Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances. On each other's faces, they both seemed to read the same expression of shock.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---