The sun was setting, and the battle is nearing its conclusion.
The Ninjutsu battles have come to an end at that point, and it gradually turned into a physical confrontation.
Masahiko didn't really have the time to think about his three disciples. In the face of Madara relentless assault, Masahiko's physical strength seemed to reach its limit.
"Oh man…! if I just started training my body sooner…" Masahiko sighed in his heart.
He could only feel grateful to his disciple for losing that bet and for Madara, who was having problems with his eyes.
Although he was facing death head-on, Masahiko stayed calm, because he could notice that the Senju have managed to gain the upper hand.
In the distance, Uchiha Izuna was fighting Tobirama.
Clang
The sound of their blades clashing was echoing through the battlefield. Tobirama seemed to gain the upper hand in this battle.
Clang
Izuna's sword suddenly got broken; Tobirama was in an advantage because he was using the Raijin No Kin that Masahiko has forged for him.
Desperately, Izuna could only use his Genjutsu to avoid Tobirama attack, the latter's movements got stagnated because of it, and Izuna managed to dodge the falling sword.
"Katon-Great Fire Ball!"
Facing the incoming fireball, Tobirama used a hand sign, "Suiton-Water Dragon Bomb!"
Their two Jutsu collided. The water and flame explosion created a mist, which obscured their vision.
Tobirama threw some Kunais, but Izuna avoided and blocked it with half of his broken sword using his Sharingan.
"Damn it! My eyes are at its limits…" As he barely manages to avoid the Kunai, he suddenly noticed that one of them had strange symbols on it.
"Flying Thunder God!" Tobirama shouted, crossing through the plain.
"Surely, this is it…" Masahiko murmured, "It's the end…"
Initially facing Masahiko, Madara stopped his attack, his eyes now fixated on his brother.
Masahiko saw that the story seems to be going back on its right track. Thus, he couldn't help but sit on the ground regardless of the situation around him. Tired, relieved, excited, he had mixed feelings that he couldn't express, but Masahiko knew one thing, he really needed to put his butt on the ground, and rest for a moment.
"This fight is the most dangerous fight I've ever faced, if it continues just for another 10 minutes, I would have really died…"
Masahiko shook his head, then smiled bitterly, "I've never fought this serious, all that I was doing in my entire life was running away using my perception ability, but this time…"
Masahiko fainted out for a moment, thinking about this, but he suddenly realized that he could no longer see Madara. He turned to see the latter rushing toward Tobirama while using some hand signs.
"Damn it! This is bad! Hashirama isn't here, no one can stop his charge, but me…" Masahiko got terrified, he gathered all of his strength to get up and help Tobirama.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice emitting from the side of the battlefield, "Mokuton-Wall of Tree!"
"Ahh… So this is really the end…" His butt, which was half step away lifted from the ground fell back again. Hashirama's stupid voice sounded at that moment as if it was the voice of an angel!
Masahiko sat there for the rest of the battle; he watched the Uchiha slowly crumbles. And watched the fight between Hashirama and Madara, then he saw latter retreating, crying his brother Izuna.
"Sure enough, even with such a big advantage, Hashirama still let Madara escape, Ahhh… The story is finally returning to the right track…"
Masahiko recalled carefully what he has done in the past few years, looking for the thing that has caused this change, looking for the thing that caused him this crisis!
"Did this happen because I forced Hashirama to learn the Sage Mode earlier?" Masahiko murmured, "I hope if the system could give me more explanations…" Masahiko then looked back and saw Sora unconscious and sealed by Hashirama's wooden release.
The battle was over, Madara has already escaped, and Hashirama came to see Masahiko.
"Second grandpa, thanks for what you did, you've bought me a lot of time… Are you ok?"
Masahiko shook his head and teased him, "I'm fine, you're not getting rid of me yet…" He didn't explain his appearance and then asked. "What's the deal with Sora?"
When Masahiko asked this, Hashirama answer with a little bit of confusion, "I don't know either… Sora suddenly went crazy! He attacked me on the road, and he kept murmuring about how he was always an Uchiha."
"But that's impossible. His parents are both from the Senju. Also, I'm not feeling any kind of Genjutsu placed on him."
Masahiko suddenly got shocked, then though out loud, "Could it be the Kotomatsukami technique?"
Hashirama asked, "What Gods?"
(T/N: The Kotomatsukami: Literally meaning: Distinguished Heavenly Gods.)
"Ah… Forget it, after a second thought, it cannot be that technique." Masahiko replied explaining his thoughts. "If one of the Uchiha somehow managed to awaken that technique, they wouldn't use it on Sora, but on Hashirama and end this war.
Masahiko thought about something from five years ago. At the Daimyo palace, he remembers he saw something that concerned him at the time but forgot about it later. One of the attendees was from the Kurama Clan; this clan has only been mentioned in the anime as he recalls.
"Hashirama, have you heard about the Kurama clan?"
Hashirama thought for a moment then answered, "The Kurama clan, huh? I heard of such clan located at the west side of the Land of Fire."
"Sure enough…" Masahiko sighed and didn't know if he should laugh or cry.
He always thought that he did something wrong that changed the plot of the story, but now he found out that it had nothing to do with him. "Damn you, TV TOKYO! Now I even need to deal with your shitty fillers…"
(T/N: TV TOKYO: Naruto's Animation Studio.)
Masahiko looked at Hashirama then explained, "The Kurama Clan is not that strong. But every few generations, there will be someone from their family who will awaken a special Kekkei Genkai with unfathomable power in Genjutsu. This power can control other people's five senses."
Hashirama then suddenly picked up, "Ahh… Did Sora got controlled by that technique? Second Grandpa, Can you undo it?"
Masahiko shook his head. "This kind of Genjutsu can only be undone by the caster. I'm afraid you have to go there yourself, you're the only person who could be immune to that Genjutsu."
"Big brother, we've lost 500 men, 1000 people got slightly injured, and 12 suffered serious injuries. I'm afraid we can't return to the family immediately, we need to deal with injuries first…"
After saying this, Tobirama look at Masahiko, "Second grandpa, you're three disciples are fine. You've got injured too, you need to rest…"
Masahiko breathed a sigh of relief, he was gonna rest for a while, but he suddenly hesitated, then jumped up…
He suddenly bit his finger and shouted, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!" Then summoned an enormous slug.
"I've recovered a little bit of my Chakra, I should be able to rescue some seriously injured men, bring them to me."
Tobirama got touched, he glanced at Hashirama and said: "Big brother, Second Grandpa, is now looking more like a Senju's Patriarch than you."
Hashirama seemed speechless; he could only face these words with a smile.
Then the two brothers ordered some of Shinobis to bring the seriously wounded to Masahiko. Seeing all the injured, Masahiko nodded at the summoned slug, then it split into several smaller slugs and treated their wounds.
Twenty-five minutes later, Masahiko reversed summon the slug with a tired look, now he has really exhausted his Chakra.
He looked up to the sky, with Hashirama, Tobirama, and all of his three disciples surrounding him, while his eyes got filled with tears, and said, "Ahh… It seems this is the end…"
Thinking of this, suddenly Masahiko's vision got dark, then he fell on the ground.
The last thing he heard is…
"Second Grandpa!" *2
"Sensei!" *3