As the towering white figure plummeted from the sky like a giant hammer, Rei didn't stick around to play target practice. With a smooth, fluid motion, he simply sank straight down into his own shadow, submerging into the darkness beneath his feet and slipping away across the ground like a ghost.
Meanwhile, looking up at the ten-meter monster diving directly at his head, Hiruzen's heart practically leaped out of his chest.
Swish!
With rapid-fire instinct honed through wars, Hiruzen executed a quick Body Replacement Jutsu at the very last microsecond. A heavy wooden log appeared in his place, instantly getting smashed into splinters by Mahoraga's descending weight.
A short distance away, Hiruzen reappeared in a puff of smoke.
"You mannerless little brat!" Hiruzen cursed under his breath, his eyes fixed firmly on the towering white entity. "At least give an old man a second to get into a stance first!"
Though he was grumbling, Hiruzen's expression was deadly serious. The moment that monstrous shadow had appeared on the field, his sensory instincts had alarm bells ringing violently in his head. This was no ordinary summon or bloodline construct. The sheer density of energy radiating off the creature was oppressive, carrying a genuine, dangerous threat to his life.
Internally, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel a sudden wave of bitterness.
It was completely beyond his wildest expectations. Normally, if a bloodline limit allowed a five-year-old child to summon combat entities, hitting Chunin-level strength would already make it a legendary, world-shaking ability. But this damn kid? He didn't just skip the Chunin level—he completely skipped Jonin, passed right by Elite Jonin, and straight-up summoned a fully realized, Kage-rank powerhouse!
Why the hell was the world so utterly unfair?!
A five-year-old brat who hadn't even spent a single day in the Ninja Academy had just casually gained the power to threaten the Hokage of Konoha, all because his bloodline decided to awaken. What kind of cheat-code bullshit was that?!
Before Hiruzen could finish processing his existential crisis, the white monster turned its head. Four wing-like appendages twitched on its face as its pale face locked straight back onto the old man.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Mahoraga lunged forward, closing the distance in a blur.
This time, instead of using another Substitution Jutsu to back off, Hiruzen made a split-second decision. He wanted to test the waters. He needed to gauge this thing's physical stats, weight, and reaction speed up close.
As Mahoraga reached him, it swung the lethal, arm-mounted blade down toward Hiruzen's neck with terrifying, air-cleaving force.
Hiruzen bent his knees deeply, dropping his center of gravity into a low crouch as the heavy blade whistled harmlessly through the air right over his head. Before Mahoraga could recover its balance from the heavy swing, Hiruzen gathered a massive surge of chakra into his right fist, pulling his arm back and unleashing a lightning-fast, chakra-enhanced uppercut straight into the monster's chin!
BOOOOM!
The explosive impact sounded like a cannon going off at point-blank range.
The sheer force of Hiruzen's punch lifted Mahoraga's massive ten-meter frame clean off the ground, sending the creature flying backward like a rocket. It violently smashed through three thick oak trees at the edge of the training ground before finally plowing into the earth, kicking up a massive, blinding cloud of dirt and debris that completely obscured its figure.
Silence fell over the arena for a brief second before the spectators erupted into loud, excited whispers.
"Holy shit... did that thing just die?!"
"It has to be dead, right? It took a direct, full-power hit from Hokage-sama!"
"Yeah, look at that impact! Hokage-sama clearly didn't hold back at all. That monster is definitely down for the count!"
Standing casually near the edge of the crowd, having popped back out of a shadow near the wooden barricades, Rei listened to the audience's blind confidence with a lazy, amused smile playing on his lips.
Idiots, Rei thought to himself, shaking his head.
If Hiruzen had used his most destructive, high-tier Ninjutsu to completely incinerate Mahoraga right off the bat, the old man would have had a 100% chance of winning this fight cleanly. But trying to play a slow, defensive game of hand-to-hand brawling against the Divine General?
The old man was literally playing with fire.
In fact, Rei knew that if this dragged on even a little bit, it was going to be an open question whether Hiruzen could last more than a few minutes against Mahoraga once the wheel above its head started adapting.
Out on the field, Hiruzen didn't lower his guard for even a fraction of a second. He ignored the cheerleading from the audience, his sharp eyes remaining glued to the thick wall of dust hovering over the tree line.
He knew better than anyone that a single punch wasn't going to finish a creature like that. Hell, judging by the sheer density of its body when his fist made contact, that monster probably wouldn't even die after taking a hundred of those strikes. Its natural physical durability was barely any lower than his own fully buffed state. Sure, by pouring massive amounts of chakra into his muscles, Hiruzen could output explosive, heavy-hitting power—but against a giant tank, brute force meant nothing if it didn't deal lethal damage.
Fuuuush!
A split second later, a violent wave of pressure erupted from the center of the dust cloud. With a single, casual sweep of its massive arm, Mahoraga blew away the entire wall of dirt and debris like it was nothing more than thin smoke.
The dust cleared, revealing Mahoraga's towering, pristine white figure. It stood completely unscathed, without a single scratch, dent, or speck of dirt on its body.
Before Hiruzen's brain could even register the lack of damage, his eyes widened to their absolute limit.
SWOOSH!
Mahoraga completely vanished from his field of vision!
"What?!" Hiruzen's mind screamed.
It wasn't a teleportation jutsu—it was sheer physical speed. The giant entity appeared directly in front of Hiruzen's face in the span of a single heartbeat, its massive fist already crashing down toward his skull like a falling meteor!
Caught completely off guard by the sudden explosion of speed, Hiruzen didn't even have time to dodge. He hurriedly crossed both arms in front of his chest, channeling every drop of available chakra into his limbs to form a desperate defensive block.
KABOOOM!
The moment the fist made contact with his arms, Hiruzen felt like he had just been slammed by a full-power, bloodlust-driven punch from an enraged Tsunade!
The sheer shockwave blew the surrounding dirt into the air as Hiruzen was sent flying backward across the field. His sandals dug deep into the soil, tearing open a long, jagged trench across the arena before he finally managed to kill the momentum and come to a halt several dozen meters away.
His arms were completely numb, trembling slightly beneath his sleeves.
Impossible! Hiruzen thought, his heart hammering against his ribs in sheer shock. It clearly wasn't anywhere near this fast or strong just a few seconds ago! Was it hiding its true physical power earlier?! Was it intentionally holding back just to test my strength... the exact same way I was trying to test it?!
Cold sweat broke out on the back of the Third Hokage's neck.
Just how much power was this damn shadow hiding?!
A sudden, horrifying realization struck Hiruzen right in the gut. If something completely unexpected happened today and he—the undisputed Third Hokage—ended up getting beaten senseless by a five-year-old kid's summoned shadow in front of half the village... where the hell was he supposed to hide his old face ever again?!
If he lost this fight, he wouldn't even have the face to walk around Konoha anymore! He'd have no choice but to retire early and go cry in Mia's lap for comfort!
No way in hell! I can't let that happen!
Taking a deep breath, Hiruzen's eyes sharpened into deadly seriousness. No more holding back. No more testing the waters. He was going to treat this creature as a genuine, life-or-death Kage-level threat.
His fingers blurred into a blinding sequence of rapid hand signs.
Rat — Snake — Dragon!
Without a moment's delay, Hiruzen slammed his palm violently onto the earth beneath him.
BOOM!
A massive cloud of dense white smoke erupted over the ground, rolling across the arena. A second later, a solid, gleaming object extended out from the heart of the smoke, snapping firmly into Hiruzen's grip—the legendary, indestructible Adamantine Staff!
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