Scarlet Rot, Heaven’s Will’s Exit

Pfft!

Emerald-green blood sprayed out like tree sap. The Impure World Reincarnation Senju Tobirama had no need to hold back. Gripping his long sword with both hands, he sliced through space in an instant and pierced Heaven’s Will’s body.

Seeing that green fluid, he turned his head. This was another clone.

This woman’s cloning ability was even stranger than his elder brother Hashirama’s Wood Clones. Until they were smashed apart, it was impossible to tell whether they were her true body.

This woman possessed special Chakra. That aura was even purer than the senjutsu Chakra Senju Hashirama wielded after entering Sage Mode.

Senju Tobirama turned around expressionlessly and looked behind the Erdtree once more.

There, a massive wooden humanoid stood amid a forest-like realm of ancient trees. Facing it was a colossal monster whose body resembled black mist, with golden radiance flowing within it.

The monster was long and slender, even taller than the wooden humanoid. Its movements were bizarre, and every gesture exuded terrifying pressure.

Seeing that his elder brother still had not sealed the thing away, Senju Tobirama knew it was probably more troublesome than an ordinary tailed beast.

Perhaps he should use that move alongside his brother to defeat this thing first, then search for that woman’s true body.

As he pondered, an icy hand suddenly pierced through his chest from behind.

His Impure World body shattered instantly.

This was bad!

Senju Tobirama’s pupils trembled as he looked behind him. The woman whose waist and abdomen he had pierced with a sword had not shattered and vanished like the other clones. Instead, she stood behind him, her joined hand formed into a blade as it pierced his body.

Her hand was wrapped in dense natural energy, and that power made his Impure World Reincarnation body difficult to restore after it was shattered.

In an instant, he understood this woman’s battle plan.

She had actually disguised her true body as a clone and taken advantage of his habit of seeing green blood whenever he destroyed a clone, making him believe this one was a clone as well.

That choice was no different from dancing on a knife’s edge. He was certain this woman could not clearly perceive the speed of his Flying Thunder God Technique either.

In other words, if his sword had struck a vital point like her throat just now, she might truly have been killed in an instant!

Heaven’s Will lowered her eyelids and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

She knew very well that her frontal combat strength was lacking. Although she ranked quite well among her peers, facing these two powerful Impure World Reincarnation Hokage at once had already exceeded her limits.

But…

The moment she pulled out her right hand, intense natural energy instantly destroyed over half of Senju Tobirama’s body.

Heaven’s Will exhaled a breath of foul air. She rarely placed herself in such a predicament, one where she had to engage in close-quarters combat herself. This was probably the most disastrous situation possible.

Yet when she recalled Mercenary Tao’s terrifying appearance across the hundred-odd timelines she had seen, she was certain this course was already the most perfect choice.

Though she did not understand exactly what was special about Mercenary Tao, the fact that, across every timeline and under every choice and maneuver she made, he had ultimately torn apart everything through sheer violence could no longer be explained by strength alone.

Bang!

Natural energy exploded. Heaven’s Will dropped a seed, and nourished by the natural energy, it swiftly grew into a Man-eating Flower four or five meters tall that swallowed Senju Tobirama’s remaining body.

She looked at the Clow Card: Mirror in her hand. Its energy was nearly depleted. The incomplete Elden Beast she had copied could not possibly defeat Senju Hashirama completely.

She watched the battle from afar. At this point, stalling for time benefited her.

Within the Erdtree, both Children of the World were being cleansed by the Golden Order. As long as she could make at least one of them fully accept the Golden Order, then forcibly take away the other with shackles—

Then this world’s storyline would collapse completely, and her losses could be made up for. By then, she could naturally withdraw from this world.

Whatever choice Mercenary Tao wished to make afterward would have nothing to do with her.

Boom!

The ground exploded as a gigantic snake nearly a hundred meters long burst from beneath the earth and coiled around the Elden Beast. Senju Hashirama instantly pressed his hands together.

Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!

Massive red torii gates descended from the sky, pinning the Elden Beast beneath them.

Senju Hashirama did not stop moving. Intense senjutsu Chakra gathered completely in an instant.

True Several Thousand Hands: Summit Enlightenment!

A colossal Buddha statue a thousand meters tall began to manifest with a thunderous roar. Its height was already close to that of the still-growing Erdtree.

This was the power of the ultimate ninja who had once subdued an entire era.

Heaven’s Will could only raise her head at the sight. This was the embodiment of absolute individual might, a power she could never contend with in her normal state.

Bang, bang bang bang bang…

Countless enormous fists descended from the sky, violently striking the Elden Beast and the Erdtree’s roots. Senju Hashirama seemed intent on tearing down the Erdtree directly.

Those attacks made the earth quake without end. Even Konoha, over ten kilometers away, seemed to stand at the epicenter.

The Elden Beast’s copied phantom lasted only a moment before shattering with a crack. Heaven’s Will’s Extremely Rare Clow Card: Mirror then dissipated from her hand as well.

At the same time, behind the Erdtree, an incomparably huge white snake slowly emerged from underground. Long whiskers extended from both sides of its head. Though it was a snake, its movements carried none of the usual chilliness. Instead, they were exceptionally graceful.

It was completely different from the purple-black giant snake coiling around the Elden Beast. This white snake was likely over a thousand meters long. Emerging from beneath the earth, it began winding upward from the back of the Erdtree.

As Senju Hashirama bombarded the Erdtree with terrifying attacks, the golden radiance concentrated entirely at its front. Barrier after barrier lit up, only to shatter one after another.

The white snake silently passed through every barrier, its body wrapped in an aura that was almost like nature itself.

By the time Heaven’s Will noticed it, the enormous white snake had already reached the top of the Erdtree.

The Erdtree’s branches and leaves spread incredibly far, covering nearly several thousand meters of sky as they continued extending outward. Golden motes drifted continuously into the distance. They were the Erdtree’s blessings.

Every living thing touched by those golden motes would receive the blessing of that special power and eventually convert to the Golden Order.

The White Snake Sage felt her scales wriggle and shook off the golden radiance. She would not accept such power.

At the top of the Erdtree, the white snake slowly opened her mouth, until it seemed as though she would devour the world.

To Heaven’s Will, the scene seemed like a symbol carrying a unique metaphor.

"A great serpent gnawing on the World Tree… Does this mean my schemes in this world are destined to fail…?"

In Norse mythology, the World Tree was ultimately gnawed apart by Black Dragon Níðhöggr and countless great serpents. Níðhöggr was also known as the serpent that devoured the world.

Heaven’s Will slowly removed her mask and tossed it aside, then began undoing the clothes over her chest.

"Faced with this kind of power, it seems I can only head toward this ending as well."

After Heaven’s Will removed her upper garments, an alluring flower was outlined upon her jade-like body.

The flower’s petals were the color of flesh and blood. Layer upon layer of petals had not been drawn onto Heaven’s Will’s chest. Rather, her flesh had decayed under corrosion and transformed into the shape of those petals.

A ring of mysterious runes surrounded the petals. They were a seal from the Infinite Dimensional Space.

At this moment, Heaven’s Will pressed a hand against the seal on her chest.

"Seal… released."

The power of Scarlet Rot began to bloom. In an instant, it emptied Heaven’s Will’s dense natural energy. The tree realm beneath her feet and the area nourished by her natural energy and plant magic began to wither at the same time.

All life was being corrupted.

Whoosh~

A gale howled as a figure emerged from the wind. With an interested, teasing smile, he looked at Heaven’s Will’s exposed upper body.

Strictly speaking, he was looking at the Scarlet Rot on her chest.

"Nice tattoo. I like it~"

A finger scorching hot to the touch tapped the Scarlet Rot seal pattern on her chest in an instant. In the next moment, amid Mercenary Tao’s cruel smile—

A golden Dodon Ray burst through her body.

Pfft!

Amid the spray of blood, Heaven’s Will finally shed bright red, scalding blood this time. Yet it soon turned rotten and foul-smelling as well.

Bai Cangshu’s figure naturally fell backward and dissipated into the wind.

Boom!

The power of Scarlet Rot condensed into an enormous flower that contracted upon the ground.

Senju Hashirama sensed the emergence of an incomparably evil and terrifying aura. Looking down at that demonic flower, he extended hundreds of Buddha hands from his thousand-meter Buddha body, each palm inscribed with the character for "seat."

Kōan Entering the Marketplace with Helping Hands

He intended to try sealing this thing away directly.

But before the Buddha hands could approach, the flower of Scarlet Rot had already bloomed.

The destructive power of Scarlet Rot suddenly erupted, indiscriminately spreading toward everything around it.