At this moment, Senju Haruto was unmistakably the center of the world.
The hero that everyone longed for—
the savior they placed their hopes upon.
And what every single shinobi and villager prayed for… was that Senju Haruto would crush Orochimaru with overwhelming power, and bring this war to an end.
Haruto held the body of the Third Hokage in his arms, his eyes blazing open into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
This moment required no words.
No speeches.
Susanoo… manifested!
"Lord First Hokage…"
Orochimaru's face twisted the moment Susanoo appeared around Haruto. Beads of sweat the size of pearls rolled down his forehead, and his body instinctively staggered backward. In desperation, he dragged forth his Edo Tensei pawn—Senju Hashirama—forcing him into place as a human shield.
"If you kill me, Edo Tensei will never be undone!" Orochimaru roared, voice strained with fear.
"...Hmph."
Haruto responded with nothing more than a cold, dismissive sneer. Controlling Susanoo, he drew forth its titanic chakra blade—then brought it down in a devastating arc.
Hashirama clapped his hands together, unleashing the Wood Release: Nativity of a Tree Wall, a massive wooden bulwark to intercept the attack. Orochimaru, retreating frantically, thought himself safe behind it.
But even so—
he underestimated Haruto's unleashed fury.
In a single instant, the Tree Wall shattered into splinters, crumbling apart under the colossal force.
Hashirama's body itself was cleaved cleanly in two.
And the wave of chakra-infused sword energy didn't stop there—it surged onward, cutting across the battlefield, chasing the retreating Orochimaru with unstoppable momentum.
BOOOOM!
The explosion split the air. Orochimaru's body was torn apart, half of him shredded away, blood spraying as he tumbled violently from the wooden construct's head.
But Haruto moved faster than Orochimaru's fall.
"This… this is impossible…" Orochimaru rasped through clenched teeth, his body plummeting helplessly. He glimpsed Haruto waiting on the ground below, but with his balance broken and an arm destroyed by Susanoo's sword aura, he could no longer weave jutsu midair.
And from Haruto below—
that killing intent.
That overwhelming, suffocating bloodlust…
"Damn it…" Orochimaru hissed, cold sweat chilling his spine. Hashirama's bisected body would take precious moments to regenerate.
In a desperate gamble, Orochimaru shifted his focus onto Senju Tobirama, hoping his army of Edo Tensei clones might intercept Haruto and buy him time to flee.
An army of Tobiramas surged forward, each one weaving signs, launching Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique in perfect unison. The torrent of massive dragons roared toward Haruto, threatening to drown him beneath their scale.
"It's useless."
Haruto's voice rumbled low. Susanoo surged, expanding into its half-complete form, its size doubling as the battlefield trembled beneath it.
"Not good…! Gai! Yamato! Naruto!" Kakashi shouted, panic flashing across his face.
Thousands of Tobirama clones, their water dragons merged into one titanic torrent—larger than even Hashirama's wooden giant—bore down upon Haruto.
In Kakashi's judgment, now was not the time to let Haruto face this alone. They needed to combine every ounce of strength to quell this battle.
But the moment he cried out, Naruto flung a hand in front of him, stopping them all.
In his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto's sensory perception dwarfed every shinobi in the village. He could feel it—Haruto's chakra was not only immense, but terrifyingly pure, sharpened to a lethal edge.
In other words—
This time, Haruto was fighting in earnest.
The last time Haruto had fought like this… had been within Naruto's own inner world.
To rush in now, to "help" him?
Help?
Don't joke.
"With our power right now, we'd only hold Haruto back…" Naruto muttered, fists clenched tight, his teeth grinding.
"Na… Naruto!" Sakura shouted, but her words faltered as she caught sight of his face.
Naruto stood rigid, trembling, his hands balled into fists so tight they trembled, eyes locked on the battlefield. She could feel it from him—that suffocating sense of helplessness.
What he said… wasn't an excuse.
It was the bitter truth.
They really would only be a burden.
For Naruto, who had always been mocked as the dead-last… it was a crushing weight.
"...I see."
Kakashi swallowed hard, his voice barely audible. He, too, realized Naruto was right. Their chakra reserves were all but spent. Charging in would only split Haruto's focus—forcing him to protect them, weakening his edge.
"Then Naruto's right. The only thing we can do for Haruto… is stay here." Yamato collapsed to the ground, his own body drained. His sensory ability wasn't as sharp as Naruto's, but it was leagues beyond most elite jōnin. And what he felt from Haruto and Tobirama's army… was power on a different dimension altogether.
They could only watch.
Nothing more.
But Haruto had never intended to rely on them.
Even as thousands of Tobirama unleashed their colossal water dragons, Haruto's face remained cold and unchanging. Slowly, he raised Susanoo's chakra blade—then cleaved downward.
Sword energy screamed forth.
Haruto didn't even glance at the impact.
KABOOOOOM!
The explosion ripped the sky open, echoing across the entire Land of Fire. The cataclysmic strike obliterated the water dragons into nothingness.
A true warrior didn't need to look at the explosion.
"HAH!!"
Haruto roared, thrusting a finger skyward. Susanoo mimicked his movement, its titanic hand gripping its chakra blade, then driving it forward like a divine spear—straight through the plummeting Orochimaru.
The sword pierced him clean through, flames erupting as chakra fire consumed him.
"AAAHHHHHHHH!"
Orochimaru's screams tore the air. Flesh and blood were seared away, bone gleaming stark white before it, too, disintegrated. His body crumbled into ash midair, scattering to dust upon the wind.
Orochimaru…
was dead.
"One strike to end the crisis. One strike to slay Orochimaru…"
Uchiha Izumi's voice trembled with awe, her breath stolen by Haruto's display. Once again, she was overwhelmed by his sheer might.
In her heart, there was no doubt—
Senju Haruto was the shinobi who had pushed the Uchiha's eye techniques to their absolute limit, wielding them to perfection.
And with Orochimaru's death, the shackled wills of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama finally resurfaced.
"Wha…?"
Hashirama blinked rapidly, gazing at the massive wooden construct beneath his feet and the half-destroyed village around him. A sinking dread settled in his chest.
Both he and Tobirama stretched their sensory perception to its limit—yet no matter how far they reached, they could no longer feel Sarutobi Hiruzen's chakra.
"That is…"
Tobirama frowned deeply. Hiruzen's chakra was gone. Orochimaru's was gone. But his attention was drawn—inescapably—toward the towering Susanoo, and the man standing at its core.
Senju Haruto.