Chapter 8: Kinkaku vs. Senju Tobirama
By dusk that day, Senju Morin and his companion finally crossed the entirety of the Land of Frost and entered the Land of Lightning, territory belonging to Kumogakure.
Compared to the grueling sprint that had brought them here, locating Senju Tobirama after infiltrating the Land of Lightning turned out to be remarkably easy.
In fact, there was no need to search at all.
One side of the battle was Senju Tobirama, unleashing large-scale Water Release techniques so massive that they reshaped the terrain itself.
The other was the Gold and Silver Brothers, wielding the chakra of the Nine-Tails.
Under Uzumaki Chizawa's perception, the battlefield—also near the border—burned like a fallen sun upon the earth.
"So much tailed-beast chakra… that must be Kinkaku. I can't sense Ginkaku anymore! And—yes! That's Lord Tobirama's chakra!"
"Lord Tobirama is fighting Kinkaku!"
Eyes closed, Chizawa formed no hand seals, activating Kagura's Mind's Eye to track the distant clash.
"Excellent."
A smile crept onto Morin's face as he leapt in the direction Chizawa indicated.
Ever since Kinkaku and Ginkaku entered their partial tailed-beast transformation, drastically boosting their speed, Tobirama could no longer rely on short-range Flying Thunder God jumps to maintain distance.
The Second Hokage knew this better than anyone.
His chakra reserves could never match those of two inhuman monsters—beings with strange bloodlines who had devoured the flesh of a tailed beast.
If the battle dragged on, he would be the first to run dry.
And so, dozens of miles from the Lightning Country border, Tobirama was finally caught.
He chose to fight.
By now, the battle had long since reached a fever pitch.
Rumble—!
As Morin drew closer, the roar of surging water grew louder, interwoven with deafening explosions.
There was no need to approach further.
From the branch of a towering tree, Morin could already see it—
a vast, unnatural body of water carved into the forest ahead.
The pinnacle of the current shinobi world was unfolding before his eyes.
Dropping silently from the canopy, Morin landed lightly on the ground.
"Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage Technique…"
The jutsu activated instantly.
His body sank smoothly into the earth.
---
When Morin surfaced again, the battle was right in front of him.
Senju Tobirama had become streaks of white light, flashing endlessly through the forest.
With only two or three swift hand seals, he unleashed Water Release techniques of flawless execution—
At times forming circular water barriers that left no blind spots,
at others summoning massive water dragons that tore forward with fangs bared.
Compared to Tobirama's almost artistic combat style, Kinkaku's fighting was brutally savage.
Cloaked in tailed-beast chakra, he dodged most ninjutsu with feral agility—
and the few he couldn't avoid, he simply took head-on, relying on his monstrous body to endure the impact.
Beyond his terrifying speed and destructive power, Kinkaku occasionally swung the Banana Fan, its crude, sweeping attacks somehow achieving a casting frequency almost on par with Senju Tobirama's jutsu.
"Water Release: Tearing Torrent!"
Seizing the moment while Kinkaku was still unaware of him, Senju Morin burst from the ground and began forming seals at once.
A stream of highly compressed water flattened into a straight line in midair—
like a horizontal slash from a ninja blade—
and tore toward Kinkaku's unguarded back at astonishing speed.
The name was unremarkable, but this was a genuine high-level Water Release technique, involving both chakra nature transformation and shape transformation.
The sudden ambush left Kinkaku no time to evade.
The compressed water was sharper than steel, slicing straight through part of the tailed-beast chakra cloak.
The instant it made contact, it detonated—
what had been a thin blade of water exploded into a roaring flood, hurling Kinkaku violently through the forest.
Yet Morin's gaze darkened.
Ideally, the technique should have maintained its compressed form, only detonating once it could no longer cut.
That it burst so early meant something was wrong.
"Morin? What are you doing here?!"
Tobirama noticed the jutsu immediately.
For the first time, clear shock crossed the usually impassive face of the Second Hokage.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no reason for that brat Morin to cross half the shinobi world and appear here—
right now—
at such a delicate moment.
Morin didn't answer.
He wore the focused expression of someone fully absorbed in combat, as if facing Kinkaku left him no room to spare for conversation.
But behind the mist stirred up by the Water Release, a shadow flickered through his eyes.
I might have arrived… a little too early.
After assassinating Uchiha Kagami, Morin and Uzumaki Chizawa had pushed themselves relentlessly forward, afraid that Tobirama might already be dead—
that even his corpse and the Sage Tools would have been recovered by Kumo's reinforcements.
Instead—
There were no Kumo pursuit forces in sight.
And Tobirama… still seemed to be holding on.
This white-haired old monster… is he really that strong?
Fighting the Gold and Silver Brothers alone for an entire day—and killing Ginkaku without serious injury?
But in the very next instant, the gloom in Morin's eyes vanished as if it had never existed.
On Tobirama's lower back, just behind the waist, gaped a blood-soaked wound.
Traces of crimson tailed-beast chakra still clung to the flesh.
Morin recognized the location instantly.
A kidney.
Possibly even damage to the abdominal aorta.
Destroying a single kidney wouldn't kill someone outright—but the kidneys were richly supplied with blood. Massive hemorrhage was likely.
Add tailed-beast chakra corrosion to the mix…
As the mist dispersed, Morin's expression transitioned seamlessly—
shock → rage → concern—
all within a few seconds.
"Clan Leader Tobirama! You—!"
"Don't get distracted," Tobirama cut him off coldly.
"Help me finish this one first."
A true veteran of the Warring States Era.
With an injury this severe, he showed almost no change in expression. A normal man would have collapsed screaming long ago.
Only after careful observation did Morin notice Tobirama's face was unnaturally pale—
a detail easily hidden beneath white hair and the reflective metal forehead protector.
"Yes, Clan Leader."
Once Tobirama's condition was confirmed, Morin shifted most of his attention back to Kinkaku.
The tailed-beast chakra cloak—combined with what seemed to be a special constitution inherited from the Sage of Six Paths—granted Kinkaku an absurd level of defense.
After taking Morin's Water Release head-on, he showed almost no visible injuries.
In fact, Kinkaku was already back on his feet.
Wrapped in seething chakra, his face had grown even more feral, his eyes transforming into narrow, fox-like slits.
It wasn't that his defense was truly invincible—
more likely, his wounds were already regenerating under the influence of the tailed-beast chakra.
Still, looking at his current appearance, Morin couldn't help but wonder how much rational thought remained in that mind.
"A Senju brat…?! Then I'll kill you too!!!"
The words dripped with malice, squeezed out through clenched teeth.
Crude and unpleasant—
but they proved one thing:
Kinkaku was still fully conscious.
"Then I'll have to be faster… and sharper…"
Morin silently adjusted his approach, his hands never stopping their seals.
There was no need for Tobirama to issue orders.
Tearing Torrent was already Morin's strongest single-target Water Release.
If even that couldn't cut Kinkaku down, then his role was clear—
Control. Restrain. Limit movement.
And leave the killing blow—
to the true Water Release master.
Because once Senju Tobirama's monstrously refined Water Release landed cleanly—
Forget a tailed-beast cloak or special bloodline.
Even the branches of the legendary God Tree would be sliced clean in two.