Naruto: The Senju After the Age of Gods

Chapter 284: Three Senju, Three Hokage

"Summoning these two really did let me rest without worrying."

Inside the ruins of the moon, Hikaru stretched comfortably, then sank back into the hot water.

Summoning Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, his two predecessors, had truly been the right decision.

He had been far too exhausted.

His chakra consumption had been enormous. In particular, the drain from Yin–Yang Release had left both his body and mind unable to hold on.

But in an environment like the moon, he truly had not dared to be careless in the slightest.

After briefly explaining the situation to the two of them, Hikaru could no longer endure it and fell asleep on the spot.

When he woke up again, he really did find one or two corpses lying around him.

They were Ōtsutsuki.

Who knew how they had managed to run over to his side?

Hikaru could also tell that these Ōtsutsuki seemed to have been interrogated. Clearly, this was the work of the two Hokage.

Although Hikaru had given them an explanation, what he said had been far too fantastical.

They were on the moon?

That statement had stunned both of them, because they truly had never heard that people could live on the moon.

But they had no time to ask more questions before Hikaru collapsed into sleep, leaving them with no choice.

And Hashirama had not lied either. In his current state, the gap between his present strength and his living prime was not small at all.

Of course, even if their current strength was not ideal, if they were thrown into the shinobi world, they would still basically sweep through it.

The sacrifices Hikaru had used were members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan from the moon.

Those people had looked somewhat helpless when facing Hikaru at full power.

But one also had to consider what state Hikaru had been in.

At full power, he was probably already around the level of Naruto and Sasuke before they received their Six Paths inheritance in the original story.

It would not even be an exaggeration to say Hikaru might have been stronger in some respects.

After all, he had far more methods at his disposal.

Most importantly, Hikaru had mastered Yin–Yang Release.

Yin–Yang Release was absolutely a power that could turn decay into divinity.

If he had not been facing Ōtsutsuki Maha’s final desperate assault, he would have preferred to use Yin–Yang Release together with ordinary nature transformations to counterattack.

Not only would that have saved energy, but it would also have allowed him to test the limits of Yin–Yang Release combined with normal ninjutsu.

Hikaru had even considered whether he should split Yin–Yang Release apart and try using Yin Release and Yang Release separately.

Unfortunately, those people had not given him that opportunity.

Yin–Yang Release was such a miraculous power that anyone who mastered it could not possibly be weak.

After all, Yang Release could improve physical quality.

Hikaru himself had benefited from this, so there was no need to doubt it.

His physical quality had already been powerful to begin with. After gaining controllable Yang Release, even if it was only at the beginner level, the improvement was still extraordinary.

Hikaru was certain that if he really wanted to, Ayame and Saya together would not be his match.

Of course, that was referring to certain specific areas.

He was even confident enough to think that even if they summoned a few shadow clones, it would still not be a problem!

Although the Ōtsutsuki on the moon were technically knockoffs and could not compare to true Ōtsutsuki, they were still descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura.

Every one of them had also learned Yin–Yang Release.

Their physical quality was absurdly strong.

Even though the sacrifices Hikaru had found were already half-dead, the domineering nature of Edo Tensei did not care about that.

Hikaru estimated that the limits of these two were probably not low.

For Tobirama, he should have about sixty to seventy percent of his peak strength.

As for Hashirama, he should have around fifty to sixty percent of his peak strength.

In any case, they were definitely much stronger than the versions Orochimaru summoned against Sarutobi Hiruzen in the original story.

In fact, Hikaru’s estimate was not far off.

They could not reach their prime, but they were still more than capable of handling many problems.

Especially after they properly investigated the area, they truly noticed that this place was not the shinobi world.

But that alone was not enough.

They also deliberately found one or two survivors and interrogated them.

The answers they obtained truly shocked them.

So people really could live on the moon.

So the Sage of Six Paths really did exist in this world.

So this world still had so many unknown things.

Of course, they also learned that these people seemed to carry a deep hostility toward the shinobi world.

Hikaru had wiped them out by himself, which truly counted as doing a great service for the shinobi world.

However, some of the information they obtained surprised them as well.

Because they seemed to hear that this junior of theirs could use space–time ninjutsu, could summon trees filled with Yang Release, and could even summon a wooden giant.

These were all normal.

Hashirama and Tobirama were both very proud.

After all, the things this boy used were all things they excelled at.

However, when one of the captives said Hikaru also had a pair of eyes very similar to the Tenseigan, both of them were stunned.

Eyes very similar to the Tenseigan?

Did the Senju Clan have such eyes?

Also, what exactly was the Tenseigan?

Of course, from another prisoner, they learned what the Tenseigan was.

They also learned how powerful it was.

Because the entire internal space of the moon was maintained by the Tenseigan.

And now, they seemed to have guessed part of the reason Hikaru had summoned them.

Especially the part where he said he needed to research something.

"I say, aren’t you enjoying yourself a little too much?"

Just as Hikaru was soaking comfortably, Hashirama spoke in displeasure.

"You want us to find food. You want us to find some transmission array. And you’re here bathing?

"Are you bullying us because Edo Tensei bodies have no sense of touch?"

"That last sentence is what you really wanted to say, right?"

Hikaru did not mind at all. He smiled, then continued leaning back and looking at the temple floating in the sky.

Hashirama’s personality was indeed very lively.

Or rather, as long as one was not his enemy, getting along with him was extremely easy.

After Hikaru woke up, he found that he had recovered decently, but his whole body was still in a sorry state.

So he simply chose to relax properly—for example, by taking a hot bath.

For him, this was ridiculously easy.

Use Wood Release to make some firewood, Earth Release to form a bathtub, Water Release to fill it with water, then Fire Release to light the wood.

"But speaking of that, did you find any food?"

After staring at the sky for a while, Hikaru finally withdrew his gaze and asked.

"You are Edo Tensei bodies, so you don’t need food, but I’m still alive. I can’t endure that.

"And did you find anything about the transmission array? Being trapped here isn’t exactly a good thing."

"The damage you caused is far too severe. Things are very troublesome now."

Tobirama stood to the side with a cold expression and spoke indifferently. He was also somewhat dissatisfied with Hikaru’s behavior.

"Forget food. I couldn’t even find a rat.

"As for the transmission array, that is even more troublesome. This place has been destroyed to this extent. Finding it will be extremely difficult."

"I see."

Hikaru sighed faintly, then placed his gaze once again on the temple floating in the sky.

"Looks like we have to find a way up there."

...

Hikaru still trusted Tobirama’s words.

After all, this damned place was the interior of the moon. Whether there were rats here was indeed worth questioning.

Forget rats. Hikaru even wondered whether this damned place had cockroaches.

There was no food, and the water source was also a problem.

Although Hikaru could use Water Release, Water Release water truly could not be casually drunk.

It contained chakra.

Even if it was his own chakra and the water was boiled, it could at most be used in emergencies.

If he drank too much, it was hard to say whether it would cause irreversible damage to his body.

Hikaru would not take that kind of risk.

Using Water Release for a bath was fine.

Drinking it was better left aside.

Therefore, the only way to solve Hikaru’s current problems was to go to the temple that stood high above the clouds.

Hikaru did not know whether there were food reserves inside, but after thinking about it, that was still better than foolishly waiting here.

Even if there was nothing, the Tenseigan was up there.

Perhaps Hikaru could find a way to use that thing to go back.

There were still plenty of problems, however.

First, Hikaru’s chakra had not yet recovered.

He was still in a relatively weak state. Using something like Wood Release was not realistic.

Aside from that, the previous battle seemed to have overstrained his eyes.

Right now, he had no way to open his Jogan.

Under such circumstances, naturally, he could not fly up there.

No matter how one looked at it, the temple was over a thousand meters above the ground.

That distance truly gave Hikaru a headache.

"Do you have any ideas?"

Standing in the ruins below the temple, Hikaru looked curiously at the two behind him and asked.

The sky was still like twilight.

The system that managed the alternation of day and night seemed to have failed at this moment.

That huge sun seemed to have been fixed in this state.

Combined with the desolate scene inside the moon and the wild wind constantly blowing past, the sight truly made Hikaru wonder whether he had transmigrated into the hell from Constantine.

Aside from the absence of those iconic adorable zombies, it was almost exactly the same.

"It’s so high. This is rather troublesome."

Hashirama touched his chin and thought for a moment before speaking.

"If I were still at full strength, I might consider using True Several Thousand Hands to send us up there.

"But right now, I can’t use it. After all, I can’t use Sage Mode in this state."

"Hikaru, the sacrifices you found truly cannot restore us to our peak."

Tobirama crossed his arms and stood to the side as he spoke.

"Although they are already quite good, for Big Brother, he truly cannot exert his full power."

Tobirama was the inventor of Edo Tensei, so he had a great say in the matter.

And it was not just Hashirama.

Even Tobirama himself had not fully recovered.

Compared with Hashirama, Tobirama’s power was indeed far inferior.

But he had still carved out a fearsome reputation during the most chaotic era of the shinobi world.

He also had the record of killing Uchiha Izuna.

His own strength, as far as the shinobi world was concerned, was almost unreachable.

Most importantly, his fighting style did not rely on overwhelming power.

He was good at using his brain.

Looking at the temple floating in the sky, Tobirama thought for quite a while before the corner of his mouth suddenly lifted into a smile.

"I think I have a method we can try."

Tobirama spoke slowly, his eyes full of confidence.

"What method?"

Hashirama tilted his head and looked at him, clearly curious about what idea his younger brother had.

"Big Brother, use the Wood Human Technique."

Tobirama twisted his neck while chakra began surging through his body.

"Use the Wood Human to throw me up. Then, in the air, I’ll use Multiple Shadow Clones, together with Flying Thunder God. I think I can get up there."

Use the Wood Human to throw him up, then use Multiple Shadow Clones to alternate and stack momentum, throwing each other higher while coordinating with Flying Thunder God.

Finally, he would approach the rocks surrounding the temple and leave a mark, allowing them to truly reach the top.

Among the three Senju, aside from Hashirama sometimes having a rather unreliable brain, none of them had any issue with combat judgment.

The moment Tobirama said this, both Hikaru and Hashirama immediately understood what he meant.

It had to be said—this really did seem like a good choice.

"Not a bad idea. In my current state, I can indeed use the Wood Human Technique."

Hashirama thought about it and spoke, though he soon became somewhat doubtful.

"But doing that requires extremely precise coordination, and it’s also very dangerous.

"That height is no joke. If even one mistake happens, falling down would mean no chance of survival."

"Of course I’m the one doing it."

Tobirama rolled his eyes and said helplessly,

"This kid is in terrible condition right now. Although he’s recovering quickly, both of us can sense how bad his current state is.

"And even if you were the one to do it, do you know Flying Thunder God?"

"No. I never needed to learn it."

Hashirama spread his hands indifferently.

His speed was already fast enough. He did not need Flying Thunder God at all.

Of course, if he wanted to learn it, he would learn quickly.

He had seen that technique before and understood where its complexity lay.

"But it’s dangerous for you too."

"What nonsense are you saying? We’re already dead!"

Hashirama’s words made Tobirama freeze.

Even Hikaru stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.

A moment later, Tobirama roared angrily, while Hashirama cooperatively shrank his neck.

Seeing this scene, Hikaru really felt his head hurt.

At this moment, he seemed to understand how Suigetsu had felt when seeing this so-called God of Shinobi.

With this goofy appearance, how had this guy become the God of Shinobi?

"All I can say is, Asura’s power really is incredible!

"Wait. I have Asura’s power too. I won’t get infected by this idiot disease, right?"

...

Asura and Indra’s thousand-year feud had been passed down to the present day.

Exactly how many reincarnations they had had, Hikaru truly did not know.

But Hikaru was very clear about one thing.

These two did not seem to have passed down only their will and power.

They had also passed down their personalities.

Indra’s reincarnations were basically arrogant to the point of absurdity.

They always acted like "I’m the greatest under heaven," constantly giving off an "the sky has cleared up" feeling.

Before transmigrating, Hikaru had once seen someone describe this phenomenon as them being born with a technique called "Pretentious Release."

This Pretentious Release maxed out their taunt level.

Basically, once they stood somewhere, people could not help wanting to hit them.

The most typical representative was probably Uchiha Sasuke.

That kid’s taunt level was genuinely maxed out.

Aside from him, Uchiha Madara also counted.

However, Madara was simply too strong.

Although he was also the type who made people want to punch him just by standing there, the problem was that everyone from his era knew how terrifying he was.

Even if they had the will, they lacked the strength.

Aside from that, perhaps because of the Sharingan, these Indra reincarnations seemed to inherit another special trait.

That was insanity.

And the higher the degree of insanity, the stronger they became.

As for Asura’s reincarnations, Hikaru remembered seeing one evaluation before transmigrating: they were all hot-blooded idiots.

There was no need to explain hot-bloodedness.

That spirit of never giving up was indeed worth learning.

Failure meant nothing to them.

They would only become braver the more they were frustrated, eventually climbing to the top.

As for being idiots...

That was also easy to understand.

Just look at Hashirama’s adorable stupidity, then look at Naruto’s foolish personality.

And they also seemed to possess a natural skill—Talk no Jutsu.

With their mouths, they could persuade many enemies.

After beating them up first.

Naruto’s Talk no Jutsu was probably the most powerful. That kid really did persuade a lot of people with his mouth.

Even Obito seemed as though Naruto had placed him under genjutsu.

Thinking of this, Hikaru could not help feeling emotional.

How was it that the Sage of Six Paths’ two sons ended up as one lunatic and one idiot?

And what made Hikaru feel even worse was that his rise had relied on "Incomplete Asura Power."

Previously, he had never seriously thought about this issue, because Naruto was not by his side.

Besides, he had altered the plot to such an extent that whether Naruto could even awaken Asura’s power was something Hikaru somewhat doubted.

But now that Hashirama had been summoned, his foolish behavior immediately made Hikaru realize something.

He was genuinely worried about whether he might be infected too.

Although the persona he had created for himself was sunny and warm, very similar to Hashirama, that did not mean Hikaru actually wanted to become an idiot.

"I must pay more attention in the future. I absolutely cannot become an idiot!"

As Hikaru thought this, Hashirama and Tobirama had already begun acting.

They were brothers, after all.

Although their deaths had been separated by quite a few years, their natural tacit understanding was still there.

Hikaru watched their actions very carefully.

After all, the techniques Hikaru used were truly techniques they had already mastered long ago.

Even though Hikaru now possessed even more powerful techniques, it was not as though he could use those powerful techniques against small fry every time.

Imagine facing an ordinary enemy and immediately throwing out Wood Release, the Jogan, and even Yin–Yang Release.

Would that not be embarrassing?

Even a lion hunting a rabbit should consider chakra allocation.

Hikaru had already suffered twice from completely exhausting his chakra in one go.

Reasonable chakra management and reasonable ninjutsu allocation were indeed things he needed to consider.

"Success!"

After Hashirama released a giant Wood Human more than two hundred meters tall, coordinating with Tobirama’s shadow clones and Flying Thunder God, Tobirama finally managed to leave a mark on the floating rock surrounding the temple.

At that moment, Hikaru used Tobirama’s mark and brought Hashirama up with him.

"You can use my mark?"

Outside the temple, Tobirama looked at Hikaru with slight confusion.

"Every person’s Flying Thunder God mark is different. How did you do that?"

"Maybe it’s talent."

Hikaru smiled casually.

Was he supposed to tell him that his Flying Thunder God was assisted by the system?

"Speaking of which, it’s rather interesting. It seems I can use all Flying Thunder God marks.

"The Fourth Hokage was also very skilled in Flying Thunder God, and I can use his marks as well."

"Is that so?"

Hearing Hikaru’s explanation, Tobirama found it somewhat incredible.

After all, according to his own understanding, such a thing should only exist in theory.

But Hikaru had done it.

That could only mean his talent was truly exceptional.

Hikaru’s talent was indeed astonishing.

Otherwise, how could he have mastered such terrifying power at such a young age?

Thinking of this, Tobirama could not help smiling.

A hint of competitive spirit seemed to rise in him.

"Let me see your kunai. What does your mark look like?"

"Kunai?"

Hikaru looked at Tobirama in confusion, then finally spread his hands.

"I don’t use kunai. They’re too cumbersome. Besides, don’t you think throwing kunai makes the target too obvious?"

"Then how do you leave marks on enemies?"

Even Hashirama was curious now.

Even if he did not know Flying Thunder God, he still understood the principle.

"Sense the ground."

Facing this question, Hikaru could not help smiling faintly.

"Since I can use Wood Release, why would I still bother using kunai as the carrier for my marks?"

The ground?

After receiving Hikaru’s hint, the two immediately did as he said.

But when their sensory ability penetrated downward, their expressions changed slightly.

Because in their senses, the ground beneath their feet was already densely covered with Wood Release seeds.

And on those Wood Release seeds were hidden traces of marking power!

Clearly, Hikaru had hidden his Flying Thunder God marks inside those seeds.

And the coverage area of these seeds was extremely wide.

Seeing their expressions, Hikaru could not help smiling smugly.

To be honest, he really did not mind revealing this secret.

In fact, people in the shinobi world had already made guesses.

After all, Hikaru’s Flying Thunder God was far too elusive.

And Hikaru believed that unless something unexpected happened, these two would never become his enemies.

They both possessed extremely strong sensory abilities.

Hikaru knew that once he used it, they would definitely understand what was going on.

So telling them was no big deal.

Hikaru had no need to worry.

"You combined Wood Release with Flying Thunder God?"

After a long moment, Tobirama finally sighed.

"A genius idea and a genius design. You truly surpassed me by far."

"He surpassed you long ago. Even if you were alive, you wouldn’t be his match."

Hashirama heavily slapped his younger brother’s shoulder, then laughed loudly.

"Being surpassed by a junior is not shameful. You should feel proud.

"And enough about that. We’ve arrived."

...

Hamura Shrine was truly enormous.

Hikaru was completely certain that even if more than a thousand people lived here, there would be no issue at all.

But he was also clear that even at the peak of the moon’s Ōtsutsuki Clan, there probably had not been many people living up here.

Judging from the situation of the Hyūga Clan, the people living inside Hamura Shrine were likely only those of the main family.

As for the more numerous branch family members, perhaps those with higher status had lived in the buildings on the floating islands around the shrine.

Those with lower status probably lived on the ground below.

As for whether the exact situation was like this, Hikaru did not know.

Nor did he care.

After entering this maze-like shrine, Hikaru and the others did not rush toward the Tenseigan.

The chakra released by that giant Tenseigan was far too obvious.

For three people with extremely powerful sensory abilities, it was practically as dazzling as the sun.

Since they could confirm its location, and both Hashirama and Tobirama were also somewhat interested in the giant Tenseigan, the first thing they did after entering was split off shadow clones to help Hikaru search for the food and water he desperately needed.

At the same time, they needed to confirm whether there were any other living people inside the shrine.

Their luck was not bad.

They did indeed find enough food and water stored inside the shrine.

Aside from that, there were also living people inside.

However, those survivors were already on their last breath and could not stir up much trouble.

"There are quite a few puppets here, though."

Inside one of the palace halls, Hashirama looked somewhat greedily at the food Hikaru was preparing while talking about what he had found.

"Those puppets are different from the ones made by people from the Land of Wind. They seem much more advanced.

"My shadow clone didn’t find any chakra threads, but they carry that Tenseigan’s power."

"Puppets, huh? I understand."

Hikaru nodded.

He remembered that Ōtsutsuki Toneri had used puppets to take care of his daily life.

And he was also very clear that those puppets’ combat power seemed to be quite strong.

However, Hikaru truly did not take those puppets too seriously.

After all, there were three Hokage from the Senju Clan gathered here right now.

Even if Hikaru himself had not recovered his combat strength, and Hashirama and Tobirama were not at their peak, these two were not ornaments.

Those puppets clearly were not a problem.

"Don’t worry. The chakra on those puppets isn’t much, and they don’t seem aggressive now."

Tobirama sat to the side and spoke indifferently, though when he looked at his elder brother, he felt deeply embarrassed.

"I tested them. They didn’t react much.

"Perhaps because Hikaru killed the person controlling the Tenseigan, those puppets are basically disabled."

"Is that so?"

Hashirama smiled when he heard this and finally moved his gaze away from the food Hikaru was preparing.

"Looks like things will be much easier from now on. To be honest, I’m rather interested in that Tenseigan."

The Tenseigan was something that probably anyone would be interested in.

Even if Uchiha Madara came here, he would most likely want to study it.

Of course, Hikaru knew that these two probably genuinely wanted to help him.

After all, they were already dead.

Even if they studied it, it would merely satisfy their own curiosity.

But Hikaru was different.

He was alive.

Most importantly, they knew Hikaru seemed to have similar eyes.

They did not know how Hikaru had obtained those eyes, nor did they know what his eyes looked like.

But they had never opened their mouths to ask.

As shinobi, they understood very well that everyone had secrets of their own.

At most, they could only speculate whether Hikaru’s parents’ generation had intermarried with the Hyūga or Uchiha.

Of course, the probability of that was extremely low.

The Uchiha and Senju had originally been mortal enemies. Intermarriage between them was almost unimaginable.

Of course, it was not impossible.

Just extremely unlikely.

As for the Hyūga, they were conservative to an absurd degree.

They had even created the main family and branch family system, so there was no way they would allow their bloodline to flow outside.

But none of that mattered.

Hikaru’s surname was Senju.

That was enough.

Especially since Hikaru had awakened Wood Release.

All of this proved that Hikaru was their junior.

If their junior had secrets he did not want to talk about, then he did not need to talk about them.

But as elders, they naturally had to help this junior properly.

Aside from that, Hikaru was also the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure!

Those who could become Hokage were chosen by the residents of Konoha.

Even if there were some small methods involved, they were at least people who had the qualifications and had succeeded.

Both emotionally and logically, they would help Hikaru.

"By the way, once all of this is over, come back to Konoha with me."

Hikaru picked up the cooked food and immediately began eating, completely ignoring Hashirama’s increasingly hungry expression.

But while eating, he also began voicing some of his thoughts.

"Konoha has changed a lot now, and reforms are underway. I imagine the two former Hokage should be very curious about the current Konoha, right?"

"We are indeed curious, but we can talk about that later."

When Hashirama and Tobirama heard Hikaru’s words, a glimmer of light appeared in both their eyes.

But after thinking for a moment, Hashirama shook his head.

"In the end, we are already dead. Our appearance in this world is a mistake.

"I was always against Tobirama researching Edo Tensei, but clearly my opposition had no effect."

"Big Brother, the fact that a technique exists means it conforms to the rules, all right?"

Tobirama spoke in displeasure, though his momentum was obviously weaker.

"Although I admit this technique can indeed bring many negative effects, I still stand by my view."

"I think the same."

Hikaru spoke as well, eating while saying,

"Since this technique could be born, it proves it conforms to the rules. If it truly did not conform to the rules, it would never have appeared.

"And I have even seen and used forbidden techniques that would seem even more unbelievable to you."

"Oh?"

The moment forbidden techniques were mentioned, Tobirama became interested.

"What kind of forbidden technique? Tell me."

"A forbidden technique that can revive the dead."

Hikaru smiled. His gaze swept over the two of them, then he spoke slowly.

"Including reviving someone who has been brought back through Edo Tensei."

The moment his words fell, the atmosphere instantly became heavy.

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