"I thought that after injecting the First Generation Cells, you could give me a little surprise, but it seems I was too naive. Your limit stops here," Naruto's disappointed voice echoed in the sky, making Tsunade's expression grow darker.
She could sense the strange glances directed at her.
Is Wood Release strong? Of course, it is! It's the renowned ninja art of Hashirama Senju, the God of the Shinobi World.
Back then, Hashirama Senju had shaken the entire Shinobi World with his Wood Release, making all the other ninja villages think twice before harboring any ill intentions towards Konoha.
Even now, no ninja village would dare challenge Hashirama Senju's legacy.
It was as if he and Wood Release were already one.
So when Tsunade unleashed her Wood Release, all the ninjas were filled with excitement.
They saw Tsunade as the second coming of Hashirama Senju, the second God of the Shinobi World.
But the final result left them disappointed.
Wood Release was almost useless against Naruto.
And what was even more unacceptable to them was that Tsunade's Wood Release had awakened through the injection of First Generation Cells.
"Is it possible? The Hokage actually defiled the body of the God of the Shinobi World?"
"I remember she's the granddaughter of the God of the Shinobi, right? If the First Hokage knew about this, wouldn't he be so angry that he'd crawl out of his grave just to die again?"
The entire Shinobi Alliance's morale reached an all-time low.
Human experimentation had always been strictly prohibited in the Shinobi World, but it was done in secret.
Defiling a corpse was considered unethical and disrespectful to the deceased.
From a ninja's perspective:
"I was born for my village, ready to die for it, and I gave my all in life and death. But even in death, you won't let me rest in peace; you want to dig me up and study my body. How can you expect other ninjas to sacrifice for the village?"
And now, Tsunade had undoubtedly committed this grave offense.
Even the eyes of the Leaf Village ninja were filled with disappointment.
Who would dare to continue fighting for Konoha now?
Who would want their bodies to be subjected to various experiments after death?
"I am a princess of the Senju Clan, awakening Wood Release is not such a rare occurrence, is it? How dare you directly accuse our Senju Clan like this!" Faced with Naruto's words, Tsunade had obviously been prepared for this and angrily retorted, "If it weren't for you killing so many of our Leaf Village ninjas, I wouldn't have awakened Wood Release due to emotional distress. From this perspective, I should thank you. I will use my Wood Release to kill you and prove the dignity of our Shinobi Alliance cannot be offended!!"
Tsunade's words shattered the doubts.
Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. The Senju Clan's bloodline was the purest, so awakening Wood Release was only natural.
"Is that so? Interesting. Do you know, even your awakening of Wood Release was under my control?" Naruto's mouth curved in a disdainful arc, saying, "From the beginning, I planned to have you research the First Generation Cells, inducing you to inject them through Jiraiya's death and the failure of the war. In my eyes, you were just a pawn."
Naruto's words made everyone uneasy, and Tsunade erupted in anger, "Attack together."
They couldn't follow Naruto's rhythm now; they had to take him down as quickly as possible.
The other three Kage exchanged glances and understood that Naruto's words might be close to the truth, but they couldn't let such an incident affect the morale of their forces on the battlefield.
They all moved towards Naruto.
At the same time, the ninja alliance in the rear launched their ninjutsu attacks against the Gotei 13.
The battlefield was instantly divided.
Army against army, and the four Kage against Naruto.
Among the ninja alliance, high-ranking ninjas led by Killer B and Itachi temporarily held back the top forces of the Gotei 13: Yamamoto, Byakuya, Sui-Feng, and Kenpachi Zaraki.
Neither Minato nor Nine-Tails had appeared yet.
Clearly, for the current Gotei 13, there was no need to deploy so many top-tier forces.
The ninja facing Water Gate and the others immediately felt unprecedented pressure.
Killer B continuously jumped through space, and his Flying Thunder God technique terrified all high-ranking ninjas. Almost every time he struck, someone died.
Suì-Fēng was even more formidable; her Bankai could summon countless evil spirits, making it challenging for even Itachi to deal with her.
As for Byakuya, while his abilities were not as eerie, he could directly manipulate the weather, freezing everything. A moment's inattention could lead to frostbite.
In this situation, the Gotei 13 had a significant advantage.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Raikage roared, filled with anger towards Naruto.
Because of the Gotei 13, his adopted brother had almost lost his life.
Because of the Gotei 13, the once-peaceful Hidden Cloud Village was forced into a war.
Because of the Gotei 13, the entire Shinobi World was on the brink of chaos, and countless civilians would be displaced.
For all these reasons, he had to defeat Naruto, no matter the cost.
The Raikage entered the Lightning Chakra Mode, his entire body enveloped in blinding lightning.
"The Strongest Armor of Lightning Release." This was Raikage's full power state. When in use, all of his hair stood on end, and the power of his Lightning Release was maximized.
His speed reached an extreme level, and his figure was like a blue lightning bolt, leaving a dazzling trail in the sky. Even someone with the Sharingan would find it difficult to capture his speed.
"Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique." Ōnoki's assistance came in time, reducing Raikage's weight and further increasing his speed to its peak.
But even with all these enhancements, Raikage was still unable to touch Naruto, let alone land a blow on him.
"Heavy Thunder." Raikage concentrated his Lightning Release chakra on his elbow and struck at Naruto. The lightning and the sound of breaking wind surrounded his elbow, creating a deafening roar.
This strike was capable of shattering a person's internal organs.
From a physical perspective, Raikage's physical abilities had already surpassed those of Might Guy when he opened the Eight Inner Gates.
Raikage even felt that this strike was the strongest he had ever delivered in his life.
However, he saw a strange smile on Naruto's face, and Naruto's figure disappeared before him, leaving behind afterimages.
At the same time, excruciating pain shot through his right hand. He turned his head to see Naruto had already snapped his arm.
"How is it possible to have such speed!" This thought flashed through Raikage's mind, and then he plummeted to the ground like a cannonball, his body disappearing into a crater.
"Dissolving Jutsu: Dissolving Technique." Rōmaji Minamino immediately spewed out a sticky, corrosive acid from his mouth.
"Mizukage, using this kind of jutsu doesn't seem suitable for your identity, does it? It's quite unsightly," a gentle voice whispered in Rōmaji Minamino's ear, and then he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
He lowered his head and saw that a blade had pierced his chest.
The Zanpakuto was slowly withdrawn, and Rōmaji Minamino lay weakly on the ground.
"Wood Release: Great Forest Jutsu." Tsunade immediately extended multiple wooden vines from her arm, grabbing Rōmaji Minamino and dragging him to her side, providing rapid treatment.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique." Enraged, Ōnoki floated in the air. He clasped his hands together, creating a transparent cubic barrier between them.
"Oh? What kind of jutsu is this?" Naruto looked curiously at it, not dodging, and allowed the transparent barrier to imprison him.
The barrier disintegrated into atomic states, then exploded inside.
"It has a terrifying power." Naruto's voice of amazement sounded, and his spiritual pressure surged once more, reaching a new level. When the explosion subsided, Naruto appeared unharmed, his clothes even as clean as new, without a speck of dust.
"This jutsu is really dangerous," Naruto said with a serious expression.
"Are you kidding me? My Dust Release has no effect at all?" Ōnoki was stunned.
He was confident that not even someone like Uchiha Madara could calmly withstand his Dust Release.
At this moment, Tsunade had already recovered from her injuries after receiving treatment. The four of them exchanged glances, and their determination was evident in their eyes.
They all ran towards Naruto simultaneously.
"Boom!" In less than two minutes, with a loud explosion, the Four Kage were once again sent flying, with varying degrees of injuries. The current Naruto had firmly reached the level of Six Paths, making it as easy as drinking water to deal with the Four Kage.
Looking at Tsunade's hateful gaze, he chuckled and said, "Nice look in your eyes. It seems you're really not convinced. With the precedent set by Jiraiya-sensei, you should understand the gap between us better."
Naruto pressed his right palm downward, and in the next moment, a terrifying spiritual pressure tilted out, causing the entire world to shake. The ground instantly shattered, and the dark clouds in the sky became even more profound. Tsunade was directly crushed by the invisible spiritual pressure, her face pressed against the ground.
Naruto's cold voice echoed in her ears, "In my eyes, even if you awaken Wood Release, there's still a significant gap compared to Jiraiya-sensei. He couldn't harm me even a bit, let alone you."
The gap was evident, and everyone could see it.
The other three Kage were panting, and they too felt powerless.
Among them, Ōnoki was the most deeply affected.
He had fought against Uchiha Madara in the past.
Or rather, it wasn't much of a fight.
It was more accurate to say that a single glance from Uchiha Madara had completely robbed him of his fighting spirit, becoming the nightmare of his life.
And now, he felt the same oppression and despair in Naruto.
But.
They represented the intermittent combat power of the Shinobi Alliance, and they couldn't back down.
"The era representing the Shinobi World is over, and the era of endless strife is coming to an end. I will use your lives to write the opening of a new era, with your blood, as the sacrifice for the beginning of an era of peace," Naruto's voice echoed across the battlefield.
Some ninja glanced over and saw the four powerless Kage, their hearts in turmoil, their fighting spirit gone, and they even dropped their weapons.
A sense of sadness pervaded the air.
The war hadn't even started, but was it about to end?
Looking at Naruto's imposing gaze from above, Tsunade angrily spoke, "Ninjas have always been in constant internal conflicts, fighting for their own interests, disregarding the feelings of other ninja villages and nations, only knowing how to plunder."
"Hatred constantly grew among us, anger sprouted. For this, we have had several Shinobi World Wars. No one desires war, but we have had to fight! All of this is indeed due to human selfishness and greed."
"With hatred constantly growing, we've fought again and again. But this time, we Shinobi are united for peace because we have all felt pain and longed for peace. All the conflicts will come to an end with the conclusion of the Quincy War."
"Because we've felt and understood pain, the Shinobi World will move toward peace with time."
Undoubtedly, the former Four Kage, except for Tsunade, had been greedy and full of selfish desires.
For their own villages, they would readily initiate wars without hesitation.
But people change.
At this moment, they realized how foolish their previous pursuits had been.
When everyone understood each other, when everyone fought for a common goal, everything became meaningful.
"Everyone, please help me!!" Tsunade suddenly stood up, breaking free from Naruto's oppressive spiritual pressure.
It should be noted that Naruto had reached the level of Six Paths, and even if he held back, the oppressive feeling of his spiritual pressure was something a mere Kage level ninja could not withstand.
This also meant that Tsunade had erupted with an extraordinary power at this moment.
"Uzumaki Naruto, I, Tsunade Senju, will defeat you!"
At this moment, Tsunade was not the Hokage of Konoha but the leader of the Shinobi Alliance. She swiftly formed hand seals, and her chakra underwent a qualitative transformation.
"Wood Release: Birth of Dense Forest."
Numerous trees rapidly grew from the ground, piercing through the sturdy terrain, lifting up large chunks of rocks and causing earthquakes. The trees, intertwined and thick as a person, crisscrossed the area.
"Boom, boom, boom." As the earth trembled and a deafening noise rang out, a vast forest was created in an instant. Everything within the forest, offense and defense, was under the control of the caster.
Although not as awe-inspiring as the Wood Release of the First Hokage, it still gave the Shinobi Alliance a glimmer of hope.
The forest swayed, and several large trees shot towards Naruto.
"Do you know that wood is the best fuel for combustion?" Naruto chuckled.
"Destructive Art Number 33: Blue Fire, Crash Down." Explosive flames fell from the sky.
"Don't underestimate us just because we're Kage."
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet."
"Water Release: Water Formation Pillar." At the side, a prepared Itachi shouted angrily and sprayed a powerful stream of water from his mouth.
The water twisted in the air, forming a water dragon that met the Blue Fire, Crash Down.
However, a single Water Dragon Bullet was not enough, and Itachi also used Water Formation Pillar.
The two Water Releases intertwined in the air and barely blocked the Blue Fire, Crash Down.
Steam filled the air, quickly obscuring the view.
"Now it's starting to look better, but it's still not enough." Naruto formed a Rasengan in his hand and casually threw it into the forest.
Endless light and heat burst forth, and everything visible to the naked eye was instantly reduced to ashes.
The forest that Tsunade had created, with great effort and chakra expenditure, could not withstand the high temperature and disintegrated in an instant, not even lasting a second.
The mushroom cloud of the explosive blast rose into the sky, and the shockwave it generated quickly spread in all directions.
Passing by the forest, passing by the Four Kage.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall." The Four Kage's expressions changed, and they immediately used their defensive ninjutsu.
After the explosion ended and the dust settled, what appeared before them was a ruined landscape.
"Crack, crack, crack." Even the Earth Flow Wall shattered under the shockwave and crashed to the ground.
Such a powerful Wood Release was completely ineffective against Naruto, even someone as strong as Nagato wouldn't dare to underestimate it.
But in front of Naruto, it was indeed a negligible attack.
Seeing Naruto still had energy left, Tsunade's expression darkened. She knew she had to use her trump card.
"Naruto, with your strength, you might really be able to conquer the entire Shinobi World and write your own rules," Tsunade said with a heavy tone, using ninjutsu to quickly heal her body's injuries.
"However, from today's battle, it's clear that the nature of this war has shifted from a normal defense to a human perspective."
"Human beings cannot be enslaved by Shinigami, and human beings cannot bow to other species."
"Now, I don't want to fight as the Hokage of Konoha. I want to fight as Tsunade Senju, the leader of the Human Alliance. The once-divided Shinobi World has now become a whole and is moving towards true peace."
"To end this long-standing hatred and pain, this will be the final battle between humans and Shinigami!"
Tsunade quickly formed hand seals, and in the next moment, a strong wind blew, and several coffins slowly emerged from the ground.
"This will be our all-out attack, the last reserve of humanity!"