章節 5: The Hokage Battle
Fang Yuan stood amidst the towering trees, their leaves rustling in the wind, casting dappled shadows across the forest floor. He was genuinely impressed by Orochimaru. Initially, he had assumed the snake-like shinobi would be easy prey, an insignificant obstacle from which he could extract all the jutsu he desired using mind-reading. Yet, to his surprise, Orochimaru had actually used Soul Path techniques against him.
"Interesting," Fang Yuan mused, watching the shinobi from a distance.
Orochimaru's soul was fractured and tattered, like a cracked mirror reflecting distorted images of its former self. In Fang Yuan's previous world, such a broken soul would have instantly crumbled into nothingness. However, this world was different. Chakra bound these souls to their physical forms in ways Fang Yuan had never encountered before. It was as if the soul wasn't simply housed within the body but was intertwined with it, giving Orochimaru the ability to chip away at his soul and still survive.
And there was something else, something fascinating about this world's connection to the afterlife. Souls here didn't fade upon death. They were bound to somewhere else, continuing their existence, and even able to come back as Fang Yuan had already experienced with his recent "visitors."
As the wind stirred, carrying the scent of damp earth and forest, Fang Yuan refocused his thoughts. He now had the opportunity to extract techniques from some of the greatest shinobi to have ever lived. Orochimaru's reckless gamble had granted him access to such power. For that, the snake deserved some thanks. But gratitude could wait, now was time for battle.
The three Hokage moved swiftly, their presence heavy with the weight of legends. Minato, the Yondaime, began by hurling several kunai in all directions around Fang Yuan, clearly preparing to use his infamous Flying Thunder God Jutsu. But Fang Yuan, having read Yamato's memories, already possessed most of the available knowledge on Minato. Still, knowing all of that hadn't helped anyone on the battlefield.
Minato vanished and reappeared in a flash, teleporting dangerously close, as the Yellow Flash engaged the enemy, Hashirama acted. The First Hokage clasped his hands together, summoning thick wooden tendrils from the ground. The forest itself came alive, the wood catching and tossing Minato's three-pronged kunai, sending them spiraling in unpredictable directions while also bombarding Fang Yuan with wooden spikes from all directions.
Hashirama's wooden tendrils twisted and writhed, creating a chaotic web of redirected kunai around Fang Yuan. The sheer mastery of this display was remarkable, even the famed Uchiha clan, with their Sharingan, would struggle to follow such complexity yet this was just a glimpse of the skills of the legendary God of Shinobi.
Minato continued his assault, teleporting in and out, appearing above and below Fang Yuan in rapid succession. Each movement was calculated, each strike aiming for a moment of vulnerability. A single mistake could mean a Rasengan to the face, and Fang Yuan valued his life far too much to take any chances.
Tobirama, meanwhile, was far from idle. He summoned forth multiple water dragons, each swirling and roaring as they circled the battlefield, poised to strike. He had already created several shadow clones, which helped him establish a Four Elements Barrier around the battlefield, sealing them inside to prevent any collateral damage from reaching Konoha. The barrier shimmered with energy, isolating the chaotic scene within. And he was spamming kunai shadow clone jutsus on top of all of that.
The kunai web, orchestrated by Hashirama, grew tighter by the second, each kunai clashing with another in perfect synchronization. Tobirama's clones' water slashes whistled through the air, striking with pinpoint precision, adding more pressure to Fang Yuan's defenses. The strikes were fast, calculated, and lethal. After a short while, Tobirama joined the assault aiding Minato, he wasn't as fast but he was even more cunning. Small cuts appeared on Fang Yuan's body, evidence of the Hokage's combined prowess.
Yet Fang Yuan was quite the dancer. Weaving through the wood and water, deflecting 2 hokage at the same time. Perhaps no one in the shinobi world could boast about such a feat yet Fang Yuan didn't even consider retreat. But facing such pressure, even the best would crumble.
Minato appeared in front of Fang Yuan, aiming a rasengan at his face. Fang Yuan quickly ducked but Hashirama bursted from the ground, aiming to catch Fang Yuan's feet while Minato's rasengan was getting closer from above. Just as Fang Yuan was about to jump forward, Tobirama appeared, effectively destroying the single blind spot of the now flawless attack. Fang Yuan had to get creative. He did a mid-air spin horizontal, grasping Hashirama's hand, hurdling him at Minato. At least attempted to. Hashirama suddenly turned into wood, he was a clone from the start, fixing him into place.
As Minato closed in for the decisive strike, he was sure of victory. Second-sama had already covered the single escape route. The enemy couldn't go underground as the ground was made of wood for some reason which made it First-sama's domain. He was guarding above and multiple wooden spikes were ready to launch at all other directions, a preparation made by Hashirama. Yet the young man didn't seem to panic. Just as the strike was about to connect, when the rasengan was mere centimeters away from the target, Fang Yuan suddenly disappeared.
"Behind you!" Tobirama's voice boomed, a rare moment of urgency in his tone.
Minato had no time to react. And a cold hand pierced through his chest,
"Such an intriguing technique you wield," Fang Yuan murmured, his voice cold as ice. "Just be careful not to get marked again, Yondaime."
"To think that someone else also wielded the flying thunder god jutsu. You are fast too Fang Yuan." Minato said yet there was no joy in Fang Yuan's face. Instead, he suddenly tensed. Hah, there was no such thing as "Minato had no time to react". He was the fastest shinobi alive, not some random unknown scrub.
Seals began spreading through Fang Yuan's arm. He tried freeing it but it was too late. The seals spread, trapping him with Yondaime.
"Tch, Magnet relea--"
Hashirama with his veteran battle instincts, after realizing the success of the plan of Minato, quickly destroyed the kunai web, sealing it beneath layers of wood. Tobirama manipulated the water around them, his chakra-infused waves crashing through the battlefield with destructive force. This wasn't just a rooftop skirmish after all nor a wasteland; the battlefield this time was in the heart of a vast, living forest, teeming with moisture.
Hashirama, aiding his little brother, created numerous wooden canals in all directions to channel the water. The water flowed, the streams thinning and sharpening. The water got sharper and sharper. At the end of the stream, the now pressurised water which could easily cut through diamond was shot at the Yondaime and Fang Yuan. With a huge boom, the water collided at the center with a deafening explosion, a combination of Tobirama's water jutsu and Hashirama's wood release, two legendary brothers working in perfect harmony.
The force of the blast obliterated the ground beneath, leaving a gaping crater where the earth once stood. Even a fully-formed Susanoo, used in battles against Uchiha Madara's brother, would have struggled to withstand only Tobirama's attack, yet this combination jutsu was still used against the enemy. This showed the seriousness of the Hokage when taking on Fang Yuan. Orochimaru, lurking nearby, was nearly caught in the devastation, barely surviving the aftershock of the brothers' combination jutsu. The Four Elements Barrier, which had contained the immense power of the attack, shattered, Tobirama's clones dispelling as they could no longer maintain it.
Minato reappeared, slowly getting regenerated, and teleported back to the other Hokage.
"Good acting Yondaime" Tobirama said.
"I just followed your plan, Second-sama, the praise should go to you."
"Hey, why wasn't I in on this 'plan'."
"Because you would surely blow it brother. You could have ended the battle any time you wanted anyways. The ground is made of wood for fuck's sake."
Hashirama sulked again, he couldn't escape his brother's scoldings even after death.
"Sorry, First-sama. We had to keep it a secret."
"Pay it no mind, Yondaime," Hashirama said, his voice warm despite the battle. "Now, how will we deal with the junior, even if he did it for the good of the village, he shouldn't disrupt the dead about the world's problems."
"About that, First-sama.." Minato was about to speak but...
Their brief exchange was cut short by Fang Yuan's cold voice. "It seems even I can't bring you down just yet, Hokages."
The three Hokage were surprised but not caugh off-guard. They had been on alert from the start, aware that they can't let their guard down in any battlefield no matter what, they were seasoned shinobi after all.
"We will have a rematch, Hokages" Fang Yuan continued, having lost one of his arms yet his eyes gleaming with dark amusement. "With the full set, of course."
"What do you mean?" Tobirama demanded, his voice sharp, but Fang Yuan didn't respond.
Instead, Orochimaru's scream echoed from behind them.
They turned to see his head severed from his body. Orochimaru was dead. Then suddenly, a pale light began to rise from the ground. The light engulfed the Hokage, pulling their souls upward. Minato and Tobirama tried to teleport, but their jutsu failed. After all, the Underworld was calling.
Hashirama, summoning all of his strength, entered Sage Mode, briefly resisting the pull of the pale light. Yet, despite his best efforts, the force was too strong. One by one, their souls were wrenched from their bodies, Minato and Tobirama first, then Hashirama, despite his fierce resistance.
"What do you want from Konoha, Fang Yuan!" Hashirama shouted, his voice filled with worry. "Why do all of this. What is your purpose!"
Fang Yuan's cold and indifferent expression remained as he recited a poem.
"The world bends and breaks, yet I remain,
Risen from the dead, untouched by pain.
Through death I have walked, defying fate,
Immortal in purpose, I claim the new day.
Facing thousands, resisting their cry,
Transcending the heavens, no longer to die.
Villages will fall, yet I will remain eternal,
For now, it is certain, the age of shinobi is over."
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票