Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The earth shook violently as the ground within a hundred-meter radius arched upward and exploded. A massive plume of rubble and dust shot into the sky. Through the rolling clouds of dirt and smoke, the outline of a colossal entity rose.
A wooden Buddha.
Standing nearly hundreds of meters tall and sitting cross-legged, a full thousand wooden arms extended from its back. Each arm was as thick as a palace pillar.
"True Several Thousand Hands!"
The moment the statue burst from the earth, Tejima Shinichi leaped onto the wooden figure's head. He traced a graceful arc in the air, landing softly on the ushnisha crowning the statue.
Roar!
The Magnet Wood Dragon, which had been circling nearby, raised its head and let out a deafening cry. Its body swayed, coiling tightly around the statue's neck. Flowing with purple patterns, the dragon wrapped around the Buddha before lifting its head proudly. It hovered beside Shinichi, its eyes blazing with a purple light that mirrored the youth's own chakra.
The Buddha. The youth. The purple dragon. The three stood united in the center of the battlefield, looking down upon the world.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze.
The fighting, the shouting, and the endless explosions of ninjutsu across the battlefield came to an abrupt halt. Konoha shinobi, Sunagakure remnants, and Otogakure survivors alike stopped in their tracks. Everyone raised their heads to stare at the massive wooden Buddha piercing the sky. Their gazes shifted to the black-haired youth atop the statue, whose face was framed by flowing sage markings.
"That... that is..." A Konoha chunin stood with his mouth agape, unable to believe his own eyes.
"A Buddha statue... a wooden Buddha statue..."
"Lord Shinichi... he's standing on top of it..."
"It's so massive... even the Nine-Tails wouldn't compare..."
"And that dragon..."
An inexpressible shock washed over the crowd. Countless shinobi felt a soul-shaking pressure emanating from the construct.
In the ruined exam stadium, Hiruzen Sarutobi straightened his hunched posture. His cloudy eyes fixed on the giant Buddha bathed in sunlight, and the tiny silhouette of the black-haired youth radiating immense power. A breeze stirred his graying hair, brushing across the deep lines of his face, cooling the tears that had suddenly welled in his eyes. He didn't wipe them away, letting them fall onto the still-trembling ground.
"It's back..." Hiruzen's weathered voice cracked with a sob. "The village of the past... everything is back!"
The scene before him violently overlapped with a fading image deep in his memory. He remembered the majesty he had witnessed in his youth, standing beside the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. He had looked up as the First Hokage performed Wood Release, a sight that had seemingly overshadowed the entire world. It was the era of Konoha's founding—a time when everything was waiting to be built, filled with infinite hope and power.
Among the formation of Sunagakure remnants, Baki staggered back. He clutched his chest, still suffering from the severe injuries he had sustained when Hiruzen entered the fray. But right now, his physical pain was nothing compared to his mental shock. He stared up at the giant Buddha that threatened to crush his very courage, his mind utterly blank. Temari and Kankuro stood frozen like stone carvings, while Gaara looked completely dazed.
Why hadn't the One-Tail dared to emerge? Now, they had their answer.
On the outskirts of Konoha, at the village's first line of defense, Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta and looked back. The massive wooden Buddha piercing the sky reflected in his eyes.
The ethereal whisper of the Great Toad Sage echoed in Jiraiya's mind: '...The youth who mastered Wood Release... standing on a wooden Buddha statue...' The prophecy was becoming reality right before his eyes.
....
At the feet of the great Senju Buddha...
"No... impossible..."
Orochimaru stared up at the True Several Thousand Hands, taking in the thousand massive arms fanned out behind the statue. Finally, his gaze locked onto the youth atop the Buddha's head, who was calmly looking down at him.
His lips trembled. His fingers twitched. Even his very soul seemed to quake. As one of the legendary Sannin and a mad scholar who had thoroughly researched Konoha's sealed scrolls, he knew exactly what this Buddha meant.
True Several Thousand Hands. It was one of Senju Hashirama's ultimate techniques during his prime, used to quell the Warring States period and suppress the Tailed Beasts. The absolute pinnacle of Sage Art: Wood Release. Legends called it the 'Thousand-Armed Kan'on,' a construct that could only be summoned by pushing senjutsu and Wood Release to their absolute limits, perfectly fusing the user's will with natural energy.
And now, this jutsu had appeared in the hands of a twelve-year-old boy. A boy who had only awakened his Wood Release legacy a month ago.
"Senjutsu... True Several Thousand Hands..." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse, grinding out a single desperate question. "Shinichi... what kind of monster are you?!"
Orochimaru's trembling voice echoed over the ruins, but atop the Buddha's head, Tejima Shinichi didn't seem to hear him. He raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together in a one-handed seal in front of his chest.
"Sage Art: Magnet Release."
Following his words, the Magnet Wood Dragon hovering proudly beside him let out a high-pitched roar.
Bzzzt! Particles of black Iron Sand peeled off the dragon's body. The sand streamed down the statue's neck, instantly spreading across the thousands of stacked wooden hands on its back. Wherever the black tide passed, the hard wooden arms were plated in a layer of pitch-black armor.
With the transformation complete, Shinichi looked down at Orochimaru, who appeared as tiny as an ant.
"This ends now, Orochimaru." Shinichi clapped his hands together. "Thousand-Armed Strike!"
The moment the words left his lips, a deafening boom echoed out. The world seemed to lose its color. Behind the construct, the thousand arms coated in black iron moved. Not one, not ten, not a hundred—a full thousand arms raised simultaneously and clenched into fists!
They smashed downward with earth-shattering force, raining down toward the center of the ruins like metallic meteors, aiming directly for Orochimaru and the two reanimated Hokage.
Gazing at the descending fists, Orochimaru's eyes widened in sheer terror.
"Block them! Block them for me!" The seals in his hands blurred as he frantically controlled Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, forcing them to defend.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!" The reanimated First Hokage clapped his hands together. Thick layers of wooden pillars burst from the ground, arching over their heads to protect them.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" The Second Hokage completed his hand seals almost simultaneously.
Rumble! The earth quaked again as massive walls of thick, hard rock erupted from the ground. The combined defense of the two former Hokage was formed instantly, raising their protection to its absolute peak.
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