Kanon soared into the sky in a single bound as a violent tempest erupted, the sheer force of her power propelling her hundreds of meters into the air.
In her hand, a terrifying, unparalleled Great Spiralling Ring manifested. If a technique of this magnitude were to crash into the battlefield, it would utterly obliterate the entire region.
"Minato, don't let that jutsu land!" Hiruzen roared.
Hiruzen, Minato, and Hashirama leapt toward the sky in unison. Minato was already preparing to use the Flying Raijin: Guiding Thunder to warp the Great Spiralling Ring away.
But in the next instant, something completely unexpected happened, catching everyone off guard, even Tobirama, who was still halfway through reforming on the ground, widened his eyes in disbelief.
At the exact moment Kanon hurled the Great Spiralling Ring from high in the air, she used the Flying Raijin Technique to flash instantly down to the Kusanagi Sword she had driven into the ground.
"Oh no!" the three Hokage gasped in horror.
The moment Minato tried to turn around, a compressed Rasengan from the sky blasted the Flying Raijin kunai he had just turned toward into splinters, and he began to plummet.
Indeed, taking advantage of the split second when the four Hokage's attention was diverted, Kanon had manifested a clone to unleash that celestial strike.
Down below, the real Kanon's lips curled into a faint smirk. Looking up at the three descending Hokage, she spoke indifferently.
"This is how I use the Flying Raijin. Die."
Boom!
The Great Spiralling Ring chased the three Hokage back up into the sky. Having been struck by the compressed Rasengan, Minato's body couldn't break its momentum in time. Massive natural energy and violent air currents tore out of the earth.
As if struck by a missile, a mushroom cloud erupted right next to the God Tree, spinning upward like a roaring tornado.
The three Hokage were reduced to Reanimation dust and vanished from the spot amidst the expansion of the Great Spiralling Ring, yet the devastation caused by the technique continued to spiral upward.
Even Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode and Sasuke's Susanoo were forced back several steps by the sheer force of the gale.
Everyone turned their eyes toward the Hokage's battlefield. From the heart of the explosion, Kanon stepped forward, slowly walking out of the flames as she sheathed her Kusanagi Sword.
Clad in her crimson trench coat, her expression was completely nonchalant, her ninja boots crunching against the rubble.
At this point, three of the Hokage on the field had been obliterated, leaving only the newly reformed Tobirama.
"You Reanimation corpses of the Senju clan... how are you even weaker than the five reigning Kage?"
With those words, Kanon vanished, turning into a flash of pink light. Her movements were like successive teleportation flashes. She leapt into the air, spun her body, and drove her heel straight down toward Tobirama Senju.
Tobirama raised both hands to block, but the overwhelming impact brought him to his knees instantly, a brutal display of dominance that sent dense, web-like fractures spidering across the entire ground.
The sheer terror of the force behind Kanon's kick was undeniable. Meanwhile, Hashirama's Wood Clone, Minato, and Hiruzen were still reconstructing their bodies.
Shortly after, Kanon formally engaged Tobirama and the other three Hokage in close combat.
Concurrently, Hashirama and Madara were locked in their own titanic clash. Surveying the state of the battlefield, Hashirama shouted to Madara, "Madara, hold on! Your descendant is way too strong!"
"It doesn't matter, Hashirama! Let her run wild! We continue!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Naruto and Sasuke had finally engaged Obito in combat.
The duo's attacks were repeatedly deflected by Obito. In his Six Paths Mode, Obito's Truth-Seeking Balls and Six Paths Sage Staff proved to be exceptionally formidable weapons.
Standing before the Allied Shinobi Forces, Hashirama observed the three distinct battlefields. Kanon was handling the four Hokage with room to spare, even managing to support Madara and Obito from time to time.
Meanwhile, Naruto's Tailed Beast Sage Mode and Sasuke's Curse Mark-infused Susanoo were giving Obito a fair amount of trouble.
As for Madara and Hashirama, they were at a stalemate, though Hashirama was faintly being suppressed by Madara.
But in that moment, Hashirama turned and roared to the Allied Shinobi Forces behind him:
"I beg of you, my dear children!"
"Right now, let us weave the true dream of the shinobi out of our pain, our suffering, and our frustrations!"
The only living, reigning Kage present on the field, Gaara the Kazekage, gave a firm nod. Compared to the Hokage of the past, his words carried the most weight for the living ninjas present.
"We must win this war! If we cannot achieve victory, our dreams will never become reality!"
Rallied by Gaara, the members of the Allied Shinobi Forces raised their weapons once more, prepared to risk it all in a final, desperate stand.
Near the God Tree, Obito's figure blasted out from a cloud of dust, with Naruto and Sasuke hot on his heels. A massive Tailed Beast Bomb was charging inside the jaws of Naruto's Tailed Beast form.
"Sasuke!"
"Right! I'll back you up!"
In a flash, the Tailed Beast Bomb and a Curse Mark-infused Arrow of Kagutsuchi flew concurrently toward Obito.
Yet, an attack of such staggering proportions, one that left the Allied Forces in absolute awe, was effortlessly blocked by Obito using a single Truth-Seeking Ball.
The surrounding peers watched this play out with wide eyes. The heavens trembled as explosions rocked the sky, unleashing a brilliant white light.
However, that particular white light was emanating from Kanon's battlefield.
A massive Rasengan Fire Dance detonated, illuminating the night sky as bright as day.
"What is that?!" Kiba frowned.
"That's probably Kanon's attack..." Hinata reported, observing the scene with her Byakugan.
Watching Naruto and Sasuke match the Six Paths Mode Obito blow-for-blow in the sky, while Kanon handled the four Hokage with absolute ease on the other side, Sakura remained entirely silent.
She lowered her head. Just when she had finally felt like she had caught up to them, Sakura realized that the other three members of Team 7 had long since left her far behind in terms of raw power. She couldn't even catch a glimpse of their backs anymore.
Naruto and Sasuke grit their teeth as they faced Obito. The Truth-Seeking Balls were simply too powerful; they couldn't find a way to pierce through his defense.
Naruto's expression grew solemn, yet a deep anger burned within his eyes. The Nine-Tails surged with power, letting out a ferocious roar.
Even as Naruto fought, the crimson Tailed Beast chakra manifested over the bodies of the Allied Shinobi Forces, acting as a protective shroud for everyone.
"Naruto, go do what you have to do. Leave this place to me..." Sakura muttered under her breath as she witnessed this.
Ino turned her head at that moment, looking toward Sakura.
"You're wrong, Sakura. Naruto is doing this unconsciously."
"His desire to save Shikamaru is so desperate that it's driving his chakra to react."
"Through my Mind Transfer Jutsu, I can feel it with absolute clarity."
Right then, Shikamaru opened his eyes. His mind was in a fierce struggle, deeply worried for Naruto.
At that moment, a trembling voice escaped Shikamaru's parched lips.
"Dad... I'm sorry..."
"Naruto won't let me join you just yet..."
"Shikamaru, don't talk right now. I absolutely won't let you die," Sakura yelled out.
But Shikamaru had already made up his mind. He understood completely. Naruto was definitely going to become the Hokage. And if that was the case, no one was better suited to be Naruto's advisor than him!
He let out a cold chuckle and forced himself back onto his feet. Though incredibly weak, Shikamaru's expression was filled with absolute resolve.
Seeing Shikamaru recover, the rest of their peers smiled in relief. Ino nodded slightly, smiling at Sakura.
"Thank you, Sakura!"
Right at that moment, a figure came crashing through the air toward them. Sakura and the others whipped their heads around as a line of Allied shinobi were sent flying backward, the sheer shockwave of that figure crashing into the ground had blown them away.
A deep trench had been carved into the earth. Rising from the furrow, a crimson ribcage Susanoo manifested, showing a few superficial cracks. Kanon stood there, her lips curled into a slight smirk as she stared at the approaching Wood Clone of Hashirama.
"This isn't enough! Can't you entertain me a little more?!" Kanon provoked Hashirama.
In that exact instant, Minato used the Flying Raijin to flash directly to Kanon's left, while Tobirama appeared concurrently on her right.
Sakura and the others watched the scene unfold in absolute terror. Witnessing a battle of this transcendent, beyond-Kage caliber at such close proximity left them utterly stunned.
The pace of the battle was simply too fast. In that fraction of a second, Kanon slammed the massive skeletal hand of her Susanoo into the ground, propelling herself into the air to completely evade the pincer attack from Minato and Tobirama.
Hashirama leapt up, preparing to smash Kanon's Susanoo with a heavy punch. But no matter how powerful his Monster Strength was, he was ultimately just a clone.
Hashirama's fist passed right through Kanon's form, but in return, Kanon's hand struck Hashirama squarely in the abdomen.
The direct hit from her slender arm doubled him over like a shrimp, accompanied by Kanon's soft murmur.
"Lightning Release: Lariat..."
Boom!
Lightning flashed spectacularly. In the blink of an eye, Hashirama was sent blasting backward, tumbling violently across the ground and carving out a massive crater.
Immediately after, Kanon lunged her hand toward her left. In that identical microsecond, Minato utilized the Flying Raijin to flash exactly to that spot.
"Oh no!" Minato gasped. His Flying Raijin displacement had been completely anticipated by Kanon. In that very instant, Kanon's silhouette vanished.
Behind Minato, a graceful figure materialized, and a Rasengan slammed directly into the back of his Hokage cloak.
Minato was struck out of the air instantly, smashing down to create yet another massive crater as the impact shattered his Reanimation body.
Kanon touched down on the ground, her gaze locked squarely onto Hiruzen and Tobirama ahead of her.
At this point, the Konoha peers were completely stupefied. This entire, god-tier battle had taken place right beside them.
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NOTE: This fic has been completely translated. If you want to read the whole story head over to my p-atre-on: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]