Chapter 22: A Kage's Final Stand
"Water Style: Water Deity Descends!" Tobirama's voice was a low roar, filled with his final resolve.
As he finished his hand seals and slammed his palms onto the water's surface, the entire ocean he had created seemed to draw inward. The water churned and surged, rising up in a colossal pillar that solidified into a giant human figure, a titan of water standing fifty meters tall.
Tobirama now stood on the shoulder of this aqueous giant, facing down the two monstrous forms of Gold and Silver Horn. The three behemoths began to clash, their blows creating shockwaves that sent water spraying in every direction.
From his distant tree branch, Tenchi's Sharingan whirled, capturing every detail. "I'm impressed," he murmured. "To gather this much water into a controllable form... it's like a weaker version of the First Hokage's Wood Golem. It seems you can't become Hokage without a few tricks."
He couldn't help but reflect on the legacy of the Senju. "Two true giants came from that clan. Hashirama, the God of Shinobi, and Tobirama, who could be called the God of Water. It's a pity... such a shame their line has ended." He shook his head, a faint, cynical smile on his lips. "How fate loves to play its cruel games."
On the battlefield, Tobirama's water giant initially held its own, its massive fists meeting the chakra-clawed swipes of the brothers. But the numbers were against him. One man, no matter how powerful, could not match the synchronized fury of two. A well-timed double kick from the brothers sent the water giant stumbling back, its form rippling.
*'This isn't working,'* Tobirama thought, his mind racing even as he stabilized his giant. *'I'm on the defensive. I'll lose if this turns into a battle of endurance. Is there really no other path? Do I have to use* that *technique?'*
Seeing their opponent knocked off balance, Gold and Silver Horn seized their chance. They opened their mouths, but instead of one massive Tailed Beast Bomb, they began to fire a rapid volley of smaller, faster orbs.
"Continuous Tailed Beast Bombs!" they roared.
The barrage of dark energy spheres shot towards Tobirama like a hail of meteors.
"Damn it! Water Shield!" Tobirama reacted instantly. A massive, disc-like shield of swirling water formed on the giant's arm, and he raised it to block the onslaught.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The explosions were deafening. Each impact shook the water giant violently, sending massive waves across the artificial sea. Tobirama held his ground, but the relentless assault forced him back a hundred meters, his chakra draining with every blast he blocked.
"They're trying to wear me down," he gritted out. "Fine. If that's their game, I'll show them a technique they can't simply punch through!"
"Water Style: Thousand Flying Water Projectiles!"
As his hands flew through the seals, hundreds of sharp, cone-shaped water spikes materialized in the air around the water giant. With a final seal, they all shot forward at once, a deadly storm of high-pressure water aimed directly at the two brothers.
The Gold and Silver Brothers didn't bother with a shield. They met the watery barrage head-on, using their powerful arms to swat and smash the projectiles out of the air. Their movements were a blur, but there were simply too many. Dozens of the water spikes slipped through their guard, slamming into their chests with enough force to stagger them.
But when the spray cleared, they were still standing. The thick cloak of the Nine-Tails' chakra had absorbed the impact. They were bruised and angry, but far from defeated.
Tenchi sighed in exasperation from his seat. "What is he doing? It's obvious. In this form, their raw power and defense surpass his. He can't win a direct fight, and he can't win a battle of attrition. Dragging this out is pointless."
He glanced at the darkening sky. "Just use your strongest move. Go out in a blaze of glory. If you all die together, I can at least collect your bodies. I need to get back to Konoha after I'm done here, you know."
Seeing his ultimate assault fail to cause critical damage, Tobirama's shoulders slumped for a moment. A deep, weary sigh escaped his lips.
*'It's truly the end of the road,'* he thought. *'If this continues, they will grind me down. There's only one choice left.'*
He straightened up, his expression settling into one of grim finality. He looked directly at the two brothers, his voice carrying across the water, strong and clear. "You want my life? Then come and take it! Today, you will learn the true meaning of the Will of Fire!"
His hands came together in a final, complex sequence of seals. Then, his entire body was absorbed into the chest of the water giant. As he poured every last drop of his chakra into the construct, the giant began to change. Its light blue color deepened into a menacing, powerful dark blue. An immense, crushing pressure began to radiate from it.
The Gold and Silver Brothers felt the energy spike immediately.
"Brother," Silver Horn said, his voice tense. "He's gathering everything he has left. We can't hold back."
"Silver Horn, stay behind me. I'll take the main force of the impact," Gold Horn commanded.
"No, Brother! You are the stronger one. Even if I fall, you must survive to claim the title of Number One in the Ninja World! Let me do it!" Silver Horn argued.
"We face this together," Gold Horn stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. "We advance and retreat together."
"Very well, Brother. Together, it is." Silver Horn nodded, a look of fierce loyalty passing between them.
Inside the core of the water giant, Tobirama's face was pale as a ghost. He felt his life force draining away along with his chakra.
*'It's still not enough... I need more!'*
With a final, desperate effort, he squeezed out the very last dregs of his energy. The water giant's eyes snapped open, glowing with a furious red light. It threw its head back and let out a ground-shaking roar that tore through the air.
**"ROAR!"**
"Take this, Gold Horn! Silver Horn! The Profound Truth of Water Style: Wrath of the Sea God!"
The dark blue giant lunged forward, moving with impossible speed, a tidal wave given form and purpose.
Facing this final, suicidal charge, the brothers acted as one. They pooled their chakra, their years of battle-hardened allowing them to perform the incredibly dangerous feat of co-creating a single, enormous Tailed Beast Bomb. The sphere of annihilation swelled between them, larger and more volatile than any they had made before.
"Tailed Beast Bomb!" they screamed in unison, unleashing it.
The massive orb of destruction shot straight towards the charging water deity.
*'That Tailed Beast Bomb...!'* Tobirama's mind, even in its final moments, was sharp. *'This is the last of my strength... for the Flying Thunder God.'*
He had just enough chakra for one final teleportation. As the Tailed Beast Bomb was about to make contact, he activated the technique. In a flash, both he and his Water Deity vanished, reappearing right next to the Gold and Silver Brothers—and he brought the Tailed Beast Bomb with him.
"What?! NO! IMPOSSIBLE!" Gold Horn's eyes widened in horror, his roar of denial cut short.
**BOOM!!!!**
The world turned white, then orange, then black. The simultaneous detonation of the Wrath of the Sea God and the Tailed Beast Bomb created a sun at the center of the battlefield. A colossal mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and the resulting shockwave flattened everything for kilometers, scouring the land down to the bedrock.
"Whoa!" Tenchi yelped as the energy wave rushed towards his tree. His three tomoe instantly morphed into the Mangekyo pattern. The space around him twisted, and he sank into the safety of his Kamui dimension just as the destructive force washed over the spot where he had been standing.
A full minute later, the energy subsided. Tenchi reappeared on the scarred earth, looking at the radically altered landscape. A massive, smoldering crater now dominated the view.
"When people fight with their lives on the line, the results are truly terrifying," he muttered, genuinely awed.
He walked to the crater's center. There, he found the three combatants. Silver Horn was clearly dead, his body broken. Tobirama lay on his back, his chest barely moving, his life flickering like a candle in the wind. Gold Horn was nearby, grievously wounded and unconscious.
Tenchi looked down at the scene, his voice quiet. "Why push yourselves to this extreme? Is power and glory really worth all this?"
"Ahem..." Tobirama's eyes fluttered open. He coughed, a trickle of blood leaking from his mouth. Whether he heard Tenchi's words or was simply experiencing a final moment of clarity, he was awake.
Tenchi stepped closer, looking down at the dying Hokage. "I didn't expect you to wake up. I thought you'd die in your sleep."