Cherreads

Chapter 105 - Chapter 105

"Lord First Hokage?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was half-collapsed on the ground, utterly dumbfounded.

The figure before him had long black hair swaying in the wind, clad in red armor — unmistakably the founder of everything, Senju Hashirama.

But in the next instant, Hiruzen's vision blurred. He rubbed his eyes hard… and the First Hokage vanished, replaced by a figure he knew all too well.

Senju Haruto.

"Who is that?"

Yamanaka Haichi, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Chōza all froze in place. If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that the young man before them had just blocked the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.

"It's Senju Haruto!"

Hyūga Hizashi let out a sharp exclamation after confirming the newcomer's identity with his Byakugan. He still vividly remembered Haruto's display of power back when they first crossed paths at the Hyūga compound.

If it was him…

Maybe he could stop the Nine-Tails.

But behind Hizashi, Hyūga Hiashi shook his head. He, too, was using his Byakugan to examine Haruto.

Yes, Haruto's arrival had been stunning, and his chakra reserves were far beyond those of an average elite jōnin.

But the opponent before him wasn't just any shinobi.

It was the Nine-Tails.

Even Namikaze Minato had only managed to stop it by sacrificing himself to seal the beast away.

"We have to—"

Before Hiashi could call for branch family members to assist, veins bulged sharply at his temples.

Haruto's chakra began to swell at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"What is this?!"

It wasn't just Hiashi — every sensory-type ninja present drew in a sharp breath.

Apart from the chakra of a tailed beast, none of them had ever sensed anything of this magnitude.

"Haruto, you…"

Hiruzen swallowed hard, his face a mask of shock. His mind flashed back to the day he first met Haruto, when the young man had unleashed chakra before his very eyes.

But the Haruto standing here now… was a completely different existence.

"Was that… his limit?"

Suddenly, Hiruzen remembered something Haruto had said back then — This is my limit.

He had assumed Haruto meant the limit of his chakra extraction.

But now, looking at the scene before him, Hiruzen couldn't help but consider another possibility.

That Haruto had meant the limit of his precise chakra control — the limit of hiding his true strength.

But… could that even be possible?

No — this wasn't a question of possibility. This was a matter of fact.

In just a few breaths, Haruto's chakra output had soared to dozens of times what it had been before.

And now, a vivid purple chakra shroud coated his entire body — something Hiruzen had only ever seen from jinchūriki.

Just how terrifying was Senju Haruto's chakra?

It wasn't only Hiruzen who wondered. Every ninja present had the same question.

Who exactly was this man? How could he possess such overwhelming chakra?

And more importantly…

From the way Haruto was standing, it was clear — he intended to face the rampaging Nine-Tails alone.

"Nine-Tails — your power is far too great!"

Haruto's voice was low and steady. He pressed his hands together, forming the familiar Snake seal.

"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"

As Haruto poured every ounce of chakra into the jutsu, the earth beneath him let out a deep, rumbling groan.

From beneath his feet, an enormous tree erupted skyward at unprecedented speed, its trunk thick enough to pierce the heavens and earth. It twisted, shifted… and became a towering wooden humanoid.

Hiruzen, Haichi, Shikaku, Chōza, Hiashi, Hizashi — every ninja and villager who could see it froze, eyes wide, mouths agape.

Even the suffocating fear and despair that the Nine-Tails had spread moments ago…

Vanished.

Even the rampaging Nine-Tails himself fell silent, his eyes widening, his jaw hanging slack.

Unwelcome memories flooded the beast's mind.

That massive wooden figure brought back the image of a name that filled him with dread:

The God of Shinobi — Senju Hashirama.

Standing atop the Wood Human's head, Haruto's gaze swept over the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

To a human, the Nine-Tails was an immense, world-shaking monster. But compared to the Wood Human, the beast was barely the size of one of its fists.

Without a word, Haruto moved to prevent any further destruction. The wooden giant reached out toward the Nine-Tails.

The beast stood frozen, crushed under an invisible pressure, as if he'd forgotten why he was even in this form.

"Rrrraaaagh!"

Only when the Wood Human's massive hand closed around him did the Nine-Tails snap back to reality, roaring furiously.

But from the perspective of Hiruzen, the shinobi, and the villagers…

This didn't look like a desperate battle to protect the village.

It looked like Haruto was grabbing hold of an unruly pet.

"Kōan Nyūten Suisho" — the hand that lowers into the market.

Haruto didn't care what they thought.

As the strongest of all the tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails' destructive potential was unmatched.

If Haruto wanted to save the village, he would have to seal it again.

The "Kōan Nyūten Suisho" was the very technique the First Hokage had used to immobilize the Nine-Tails — a derivative of Wood Release that Haruto could use at will.

A large (seal) symbol formed in the Wood Human's palm as Haruto channeled chakra into the beast.

The Nine-Tails thrashed violently, but he couldn't break free.

With a final, painful roar, the beast's chakra was suppressed, and his massive body shrank visibly until, at last, he reverted to Naruto's human form.

Seeing this, Haruto leapt down from the Wood Human's head, landing beside Hiruzen.

Truly worthy of being the strongest tailed beast nurtured by the Sage of Six Paths.

"The Nine-Tails' power is incredible," Haruto murmured with genuine admiration.

"Mm," Hiruzen nodded automatically. Though the crisis had been averted, he understood Haruto's awe — this was, after all, the mightiest of all the bijū.

There was nothing strange about such a comment.

Or so he thought… until Haruto's next words.

"I almost couldn't hold him down with one hand."

Hiruzen: "???"

Yamanaka Haichi: "???"

Akimichi Chōza: "???"

Nara Shikaku: "???"

Hiashi, Hizashi: "???"

Every other ninja present: "???"

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