Chapter 316 – Susanoo Wrapped Around Wood Golem
"Brother… things are getting messier by the minute. Are we really still waiting?"
In the dimensional space, Hamura watched the battlefield below shift yet again into chaos.
He couldn't help speaking with mounting concern.
He knew his brother's plan—
to wait until the new reincarnations of Ashura and Indra were pushed to the brink of life and death.
Only then would the Sage of Six Paths reveal himself, meet them properly, and pass on the power he'd kept sealed for centuries—
giving them both rebirth and the truth they desperately needed.
Only then would they be ready to save the world.
But now?
The entire shinobi world had become a hopelessly tangled battlefield.
The Otsutsuki "Karma" marks were beginning to thaw, the Ten-Tails was roaring like a maddened god…
If they didn't act soon—
what exactly were they waiting for?
"Just a little longer," Hagoromo replied, though his expression remained wooden and numb.
He still hadn't recovered from the psychological trauma earlier, but he forced himself to speak clearly.
"Ashura needs to reconcile with the tailed beasts first…
The previous Ashura walked a path that… diverged.
This time, I can correct it, even just a little."
He paused.
"And besides—Gen will be fine."
"…"
Hamura certainly knew Gen would be fine.
That guy, wherever he stood, was the strongest Otsutsuki in sight.
But fighting one Otsutsuki is one thing.
Three of them preparing to "rise from the grave" at the same time…?
Could Gen really take on three at once?
"Unless…"
A strange thought flashed through Hamura's mind.
He eyed his brother suspiciously.
"Brother… are you planning to let the world witness the power of the Ten-Tails—and the terror of the Otsutsuki—so everyone would finally understand your 'good intentions' behind all this?"
It… wasn't impossible.
Given how Hagoromo's reputation had plummeted recently—
Letting the world "realize the truth" through this catastrophe…
did sound like something he might attempt.
"Brother…" Hamura muttered.
Hagoromo blinked at him in confusion.
"?"
"Your approach may work… but don't you think it's a bit too cold?
Too cruel?"
"…"
The Sage didn't even know what his little brother was imagining now.
He didn't care anymore.
Everyone already thought he had "no humanity left,"
so why bother explaining anything?
Maybe appearing a little later will help clear things up…
Hagoromo thought bitterly.
---
Meanwhile, on the battlefield—
Jiraiya finally made contact with Mount Myōboku.
Fukasaku and Shima stood on his shoulders, their expressions dark and heavy.
"The situation is beyond complicated… especially with Otsutsuki Genshiki descending. And Nagato and Obito…"
"I didn't think it would turn out like this either…"
Jiraiya exhaled, grief pressing into his chest.
His feelings toward Nagato were just as tangled as Minato's toward Obito—sadness, guilt, helplessness.
"Don't dwell on it," Tsunade said firmly.
"You heard Gen—strong willpower can resist Otsutsuki corruption.
Besides, Grandpa and the others are charging Genshiki directly.
That brat Gen is going after Obito's group.
They must have some kind of plan."
"Regardless of their plan, we have our own mission."
Fukasaku exchanged a look with Shima, then spoke quietly.
"The Great Toad Sage is preparing to personally descend.
You must be ready."
"What? The Great Toad Sage himself?!"
Jiraiya nearly jumped, and even Tsunade froze in shock.
She had heard of that ancient toad.
But to think he was coming out at a time like this…
"And these Edo Tensei bodies shouldn't go to waste either."
Fukasaku scanned the soulless reanimated shinobi wandering without purpose.
"They must be mobilized.
Not just them—the entire Allied Army must regroup.
Confusion will kill us."
"Indeed."
Shima sighed heavily as her gaze locked onto the colossal, monstrous Ten-Tails.
"Even if we can't handle the Otsutsuki…
we can still try to seal the Ten-Tails."
"…Understood."
Jiraiya nodded.
Tsunade exhaled deeply beside him.
This battle was far beyond anything they had imagined—
but they were fighting for their world.
They would give everything.
---
"Hey—how are you holding up?"
Sasuke asked grudgingly.
For once, he hadn't rushed into combat.
Not because he lacked the desire—
but because Naruto clearly wasn't right.
Naruto was shaking, sweating, and clearly undergoing… something.
Something like a metamorphosis.
"Kurama's chakra changed?"
Sasuke frowned, sighing in annoyance.
"Hurry up.
Don't waste my time."
---
Battlefield Center — Gen vs. Four Kage-level Legends:
At the heart of the battlefield, Otsutsuki Gen watched the four approaching reanimations—
Hashirama, Tobirama, Minato, Madara—
and let out a small sigh.
"You should all attack together.
Otherwise, you won't get another chance."
His voice was calm, almost bored—
yet carried a natural arrogance that grated even on Madara.
With a silent exchange of glances, Hashirama and Madara moved first—
a bizarre moment of perfect synchronicity between eternal rivals.
No words needed.
Hashirama sprang forward.
Madara followed instantly, chakra roaring through him.
"We move."
Tobirama muttered to Minato, though his irritation at his brother and Madara teaming up was obvious.
The two shot in from the flanks.
In barely one breath, the four legendary shinobi had completely encircled Gen.
A perfect formation.
A perfect trap.
Gen smiled faintly.
"There's some elegance to your coordination…
but tell me—"
He raised his hand slightly.
"—do you truly believe it will matter?"
Gen raised an eyebrow—but before he could react, Hashirama was already on the move.
The First Hokage surged forward head-on, Wood Release chakra flooding into his arm.
At the exact same moment, Madara leaped skyward, Susanoo bursting to life around him in a flare of azure light.
Vmm—
Two kunai crossed in midair as they flashed past Gen's side—
and in the next heartbeat, Tobirama and Minato materialized simultaneously.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
"Sage Art: Rasengan!"
Both struck in the same instant.
From beneath Gen's feet, a forest of roots and vines erupted violently, twisting upward to bind him.
Above, Madara's Susanoo expanded in size, gathering power for a crushing blow.
"Die!"
Their combined attack unfolded in a single instant—
four legends coordinating with flawless accuracy, their synergy polished by decades of rivalry and war.
Anyone else in the entire shinobi world—anyone—
would have been instantly overwhelmed.
Even an Otsutsuki caught off-guard might've been in trouble.
Unfortunately for them…
They were fighting Gen, who knew all four of them down to the smallest habit and nuance.
Vmm—
Gen let out a soft laugh.
All four attackers felt their expressions twist.
"W–what…?!"
Their movements distorted—
their senses twisted—
the entire battlefield warped around them.
The direction they had been attacking shifted.
Not an illusion.
Not a trick of perspective.
He had rewritten the rules of space itself.
Their perfect attacks were now redirected—
straight toward one another.
"Damn it—!"
Hashirama's punch drove into Minato.
Minato's Rasengan smashed into Susanoo's armor.
Madara's Susanoo blade slashed toward Tobirama—
and Tobirama's blade arced straight toward his own brother.
BOOM—
The collision sent all four figures flying in different directions.
Only then did they truly understand what had just happened.
"The laws of space… were altered?" Minato gritted out mid-air.
"Unbelievable—he can do that?"
Even Tobirama, master of space-time ninjutsu, felt his scalp prickle.
"Tch!"
Madara didn't fully grasp the mechanics—
but he certainly wasn't about to waste an opening.
Even as he was still spinning through the sky, his hands flashed through seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A blazing sphere—like a meteor forged of flame—erupted from his lungs, streaking toward Gen.
"Madara!"
Hashirama reacted instantly.
He slammed a hand down, pouring an ocean of chakra into the earth.
A massive surge of vines erupted around Gen—
joining with the space-twisted vines from earlier, forming a small forest around him.
The meteor-fireball crashed into the woodscape—
igniting it instantly, and hurling a wave of scorching fire toward Gen.
"What incredible coordination…" Minato murmured, unable to hide his awe.
But Tobirama's face only grew darker.
"Brother and Madara are working together far too well…
And Otsutsuki Genshiki won't be bothered by something like this."
He was proven right in the next breath.
The inferno flickered—
then vanished, swallowed into nothingness.
Gen stood untouched, white robes fluttering in the heat waves, expression unchanged.
In his hand, a sphere of crimson chakra formed—
growing larger, brighter, heavier—
until its power felt suffocating just to look at.
"That's… my technique?"
Madara muttered in disbelief.
Gen smiled faintly.
"Correct. So I'll return it to you."
He flicked his wrist.
The crimson sphere dropped like a meteor—
screaming through the air—
KABOOOOOM—!
The explosion split the earth open, sending a tidal wave of fire roaring outward.
The night sky turned orange.
The Ten-Tails, bathed in flame, howled in agony—
but did not dare act recklessly, as if something far more terrifying was looming over it.
"Just one casual attack… and this happens…"
Shinobi across the battlefield turned pale.
Many could no longer even process what they were seeing.
"Can the three Hokage… and Madara… actually win?"
Hope trembled on the verge of collapse.
And then—
from within the raging sea of fire—
something colossal stirred.
A gigantic wooden warrior rose from the flames, unburnt and immovable—
and layered over its form was an imposing suit of blue Susanoo armor.
Multiple blades hung at its waist.
A crystal-like core shimmered atop its head.
Within that crystal—
Hovering side-by-side—
Madara and Hashirama, perfectly synchronized.
Gen blinked once.
Then twice.
"…This isn't the Susanoo-Buddha fusion.
What is this… Susanoo-Armored Wood Golem?"