Meanwhile, Ryuu tried everything he could to throw the first Hokage off, he even took them to the one place he knew would bring up some memories. The Final Valley.
While on the water above, Ryuu found himself struggling against his challenging opponents. Hanzo's swift and accurate swings left Ryuu struggling to defend himself...
In a display of agility, Ryuu managed to evade Hanzo's blade aimed at his head, swiftly teleporting behind him. Seizing the opportunity, Ryuu prepared to seal Hanzo away, but suddenly, he felt a tremor beneath his feet.
Without warning, the ground shook as towering trees emerged with tremendous force.
'Wood Style: Forest Destruction!'
The colossal trees lunged toward Ryuu, one of them piercing through his gut and lifting him into the air.
Helplessly suspended in the middle of the raging river, Ryuu's situation became worse. Hashirama unleashed another technique,
'Deep Forest Emergence!'
Thick branches and trees rapidly grew and engulfed him.
Vegetation surrounded Ryuu, attacked from every angle.
"Ryuu, snap out of this, they aren't your parents," Nobu told Ryuu.
"I-I can't…
I can't fight them…"
'The people I viewed as my heroes…
My mother…
My father…
The Hokage…
I just can't do it.' Ryuu frowned and turned away. His mindscape caved in as he looked away.
'Perhaps I should combine our power once again?' Nobu suggested,
'You could use that obnoxious god complex and overly arrogance right now.'
"I can't fight them." Ryuu's Sharingan turned off.
"Ryuu, you have to do this."
This time it was Hanzo who spoke.
He was attacking, his blade charged with fire as he tried to drive it through Ryuu.
"This isn't us, we aren't alive, you just have to seal us away, my son."
Ryuu skillfully evaded Hanzo's attack, stepping aside to avoid being hit.
Yuri launched a surprise attack on Ryuu from behind, but he effortlessly dodged each strike. Despite his proficiency in evading, Ryuu refrained from launching a counterattack.
"He's right…
We're only a shadow of our true selves, I know you have the strength to do it.
You're our son, aren't you?"
Ryuu's face contorted in horror as Yuri and Hanzo closed in on him,
illustrating the intense struggle he was enduring.
"Wood Style: Wooden Dragon Jutsu!" Multiple dragons burst forth from the ground, striking Ryuu with tremendous force and lifting him into the air.
"I understand why you hesitate to attack your son. However, I will not permit anyone to bring destruction upon the Leaf Village," Hashirama declared, riding on a dragon that raced towards Ryuu.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!" With a resounding rumble, the earth split open, and colossal trees and forests emerged with remarkable speed.
A towering tree shot up from the ground, reaching toward the sky in this extraordinary place.
"Even as a hybrid of two noble clans, you remain an enemy of the Leaf! As Hokage, it is my duty to protect our- no, my village!" Hashirama commanded, directing the dragons downward.
Leaping from his dragon, Hashirama propelled his fist with an overwhelming surge of chakra, creating a visible aura of power.
"Aaaaargh!" Hashirama bellowed as he drew nearer to Ryuu.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion resonated as Hashirama's punch connected, causing Ryuu's eyes to bulge and a sharp crack to reverberate through his chest. The impact forcefully sent him hurtling toward the ground.
Hashirama landed gracefully and approached Ryuu, who was firmly embedded in the earth.
As Hashirama took another step forward, an unexpected warmth filled the air. The atmosphere grew denser, making it increasingly difficult to breathe. He was compelled to halt his advance solely by the weight of the aura.
"What is this?"
'That chakra...'
The crater was illuminated with a fiery red glow, mirroring the intensifying radiance of the sun. Hashirama furrowed his brow, sensing an unsettling familiarity.
'This is reminiscent of the Nine-Tails' chakra... It possesses an immense...'
Boom! Whoosh!
Crimson chakra surged upwards from the ground, reaching out to ensnare Hashirama. However, he swiftly leaped away, managing to evade its grasp.
Maintaining a safe distance, Hashirama cautiously backed away, on high alert.
"That can't be…" Yuri couldn't recognize Ryuu's chakra anymore.
"If you won't fight them…
I will…" A deep voice spoke through Ryuu.
Boom!
The ground almost fully shattered as a red blur passed through it.
Ryuu was floating in the air, red chakra covered his body like an aura of flames,
His body was coated in red flames and chakra, and his eyes were slit with flames surrounding them.
"This chakra is so evil…
This can't be our son." Hanzo frowned, seeing Ryuu like that.
"Hmph.
Ryuu isn't here anymore."
Ryuu's voice sounded deeper, he sounded like a mixture of his and Nobu's speaking at once.
"What do you mean Ryuu isn't here anymore?"
Nobu didn't respond.
Hashirama watched with a grim look on his face.
'With that chakra, he's much more powerful than even I was when I was alive.
But I'll find a way to end this quick.'
Hashirama made some hand signs.
"Wood style: Deep forest bloom!"
Giant trees and plants sprouted from the ground and released poisonous pollen.
"Hmph."
Nobu took a deep breath of the pollen with a smug on his face.
Nobu breathed out black smoke, and it quickly filled the surrounding air.
"Cough! Cough!" Hashirama violently coughed out a black sap-like substance.
Hashirama turned into a Wood clone and sunk into the ground.
"Hahaha! Hashirama, you're almost as good as Ryuu-sama believes you to be, if only you were at 100% right now.
I'd consider that a good use of my power.
However, until then…"
Nobu descended, and the red aura surrounding Ryuu's body vaporized.
"Ryuu, man up and face your fears, you always talk so big when you're addressing the others, prove it or die.
I won't heal you, I'm going to sleep until you get up." Nobu dispersed into Ryuu and fell asleep in his mindscape.
Ryuu opened his eyes, they were different now; they had gone back to his normal black eyes.
"You're right, I have to fight back." Ryuu clenched his fist and glared at Hashirama.
Ryuu activated the seal on his palm.
Whoosh!
Just as he did that, a flying Katana grazed his cheek, which healed up in seconds.
"Sorry Ryuu, I can't help it." Hanzo swung his fist towards Ryuu.
Ryuu went to grab Hanzo's hand.
"Ugh!" Ryuu grunted as he moved his hand went limp all of a sudden.
Whoosh!
Ryuu jumped back.
"The fuck was that?"
"Ryuu, be careful, that's your mother's jutsu," Hanzo said to Ryuu as he started running towards Ryuu with great speed.
"Her jutsu?"
Hanzo quickly attacked with a kunai which Ryuu replied by using his kunai on his other hand,
"Yes, she can use a special seal and once she activates it, it will distort your chakra like a genjutsu for individual parts of your body."
"Tch!
This is bad…" Ryuu clicked.
"Ryuu, a sudden burst of chakra should be enough to stop the damage."
Ryuu was dodging his father's attacks.
He slipped away from all the swings he saw, and he stomped his foot on the ground.
Whoosh!
A giant wave of Ash rushed toward Hanzo.
'What? He can control this place?'
Hanzo blocked most of the impact, but he was still trapped under the wave.
'So… heavy…'
Ryuu had moved back, and he was panting.
'A surge of chakra should heal this.
I just need to-'
Ryuu's eyes widened as he dodged to the side.
Hashirama was standing in front of him now, while his mother was standing behind him.
'I thought my dad would be the first one I'd get rid of, but I was wrong, Mom has put a chakra erasing seal on Lord first.
This is bad.'
Ryuu activated his Sharingan.
Hashirama frowned and clapped his hands together, making a hand seal,
"Wood style: Wooden golem jutsu!"
A giant human-like creature of wood arose from the ground. Its face was almost like an oni, and it wrapped a dragon around its torso.
"Hmph."
'Mangekyou Sharingan!'
Ryuu's Susanoo formed around him and soon his body and soon, a giant dark humanoid formed with armor and a giant Katana and armored legs.
"Nobu."
"Got it."
Red chakra shined at the top of Ryuu's head and stretched towards the entire body and extended his limbs.
Hashirama smirked at seeing this, and he thought of his old friend.
"Using his Susanoo and that chakra? He's making this more exciting than it should be."
"Don't do this, Lord, first, I'm loyal to Konohagakure!" Ryuu yelled.
"I want to believe you, but a shinobi from Konoha wouldn't dare lay their hands on Danzo and the others. You aren't even loyal to your clan from what he told me, so why should I believe you are loyal to the entire village?!"
'Tch! Danzo, you bastard,' Ryuu cursed in his head.
"The truth is, things went just like Madara predicted, the Uchiha were expunged as soon as your brother became the Hokage, it was his only flaw.
Danzo and the elders used the Uchiha's reputation against us and turned the village against us.
Framing us for the calamities that they caused, and after this, they incriminated us and attempted to have my cousin wipe them off.
I'm not loyal to the elders of Konoha, they don't represent a single lesson you taught them, they're pathetic to me, and they'll only hinder my future, which lies with the village. Our village."
For a brief moment, Hashirama believed Ryuu, his eyes stopped narrowing, and he was calmer. 'But that can't be.'
Hashirama's eyes narrowed again.
'I can't use this Wood golem against him. That chakra he has is too potent, especially once he combined that with his Susanoo…'
Hashirama smirked.
'Man, he truly is powerful. But let me see how powerful.'
Hashirama started running towards Ryuu with a fist charged with chakra and nature energy so thick it was visible. His steps shook the ground,
"Damn it." Ryuu charged towards Hashirama with a fist full of Nobu's chakra and Phoenix Flame.
Each of their steps left shockwaves and destroyed their paths because of how heavy and gigantic they were.
Ryuu's footprints left a burnt mark.
"Aaaaargh!!!"
"Aaaaargh!!!"
They both shouted as they charged at each other,
Ryuu and Hashirama clashed fists in the middle of the river.
Boom!!!
A dim light brightened and rippled for a second before a massive explosion of fire and chakra happened, the explosion destroyed everything as it spread throughout the valley.
Tobirama was running ahead with Kakashi, Shisui, and Kagami behind him.
Fwoosh!
Tobirama teleported far from the explosion while Kagami and Shisui covered themselves with their Susanoo.
"Hahaha!!" Ryuu laughed out loud,
"Tch!" A strange grin appeared on Ryuu's face.
"It's almost like I forgot how fun this is, you know." Blood was dripping from Ryuu's head as he smirked.
"Nobu, I don't want you to heal my wounds in this fight," Ryuu said as he wiped his head.
"You know what that means, don't you?" Nobu asked.
"Yeah, now I have to use my chakra, right?"
"Yes, and you don't have enough chakra for the attack you want to use."
"Hey, where's the trust? That's what these Kunai I give are for, too, you know."
"Looks like you've thought this through.
I'll give you some chakra after this fight." Ryuu nodded.
The red chakra from Ryuu's Susanoo slowly vanished.
"Huh? Do you think you can take me on while holding back? Hmph, even I have to admit how gutsy that is." Hashirama smirked.