Naruto: I am Uchiha Shirou-Chapter 314: Naruto: I am Uchiha Shirou []

As the dust within the barrier gradually settled, this battle, which far surpassed the scope of a typical ninja conflict, had finally drawn to a close.

"Big brother!"

At the same time, Senju Tobirama's entire body was pierced through by golden chains. When he turned his head, he saw his elder brother and Uchiha Madara not even sparing him a glance.

This left him feeling stifled—he was Hashirama's brother, after all! Yet every time Uchiha Madara appeared, his big brother's eyes were always focused on Madara instead.

"Uchiha Shirou!"

Uchiha Madara, arms crossed, looked at Shirou with an expression full of admiration and said domineeringly:

"Since you are now the Hokage of Konoha and the leader of the Uchiha clan, by our clan's rules, any child you have—no matter with whom—must bear the Uchiha name!"

Hearing this, Senju Hashirama, who had been laughing moments earlier, widened his eyes in shock. Excited as he was, he wasn't a fool.

"Hey, hey, Madara! We're already dead—why are you still meddling in these things?"

"Hmph! It's the Uchiha marrying into the Senju, not the other way around!"

"Madara, you're being unreasonable. When I married Mito, didn't I agree to let our children take the Uzumaki name? Even Tsunade—none of them inherited the Senju name either!"

"Tch! That's because you're an idiot. Regardless, as long as Uchiha blood flows in their veins, they must bear the Uchiha name!"

"Tsunade has awakened the Wood Release!" Hashirama's eyes widened further.

Madara, not backing down in the slightest, snorted coldly and retorted, "She's also awakened the Sharingan. Can she still be considered part of your Senju clan!?"

Seeing Hashirama, Madara, who had finally gained the upper hand, pressed on step by step and sneered:

"So what if she has Wood Release? From now on, Wood Release belongs to the Uchiha clan. What does it have to do with the Senju?"

In Madara's domineering worldview, anyone who entered the Uchiha clan automatically became part of the Uchiha.

"Madara! You're just envious of my Wood Release!"

"Idiot!"

Madara sneered inwardly. That blade Hashirama stabbed him with at the Valley of the End? This was just the beginning.

The next time they met, he would shock the entire ninja world, including Hashirama himself. Mastering both the Wood Release and the Sharingan would be nothing compared to what he would show them.

When Hashirama saw the Rinnegan—the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—he'd love to see the look on his old rival's face.

And when his plans came to fruition, the world would know that Uchiha Madara was the ultimate victor.

Thinking of this, a cold smirk appeared on Madara's face as he glanced mockingly at Hashirama.

Unbelievable!

Even though they were already sealed, the two weren't even angry. Instead, they were arguing over something so trivial.

This sight, which initially filled Tsunade with joy at seeing her relatives, quickly turned into exasperation. She shouted angrily:

"Shut up! You two old fools!"

Tsunade's scolding left Hashirama scratching his head awkwardly with a sheepish laugh.

"Haha, little Tsuna, you need to work on that temper of yours. You're an adult now—what will you do if you set a bad example for the kids..."

Hashirama's overly straightforward and hot-blooded attitude left Madara feeling second-hand embarrassment. How could he have ever been stabbed by someone like this!? freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Tsunade was utterly exasperated. How humiliating. Too humiliating!

"Evil Uchiha!"

Suddenly, a loud shout interrupted the scene. Covered in blood, Shimura Danzo's figure staggered into view. His eyes were filled with madness as he ripped open his upper clothing, revealing a black sealing mark.

"This is bad! It's the Reverse Four Symbols Seal! Hokage-sama, be careful!"

Outside the barrier, Uchiha Shisui shouted in alarm when he saw this. However, before his warning could end, countless bone spikes erupted from the ground within the barrier.

Dance of the Seedling Fern!

In an instant, a forest of bones emerged from the ground. Danzo's broken body, mid-leap in the air, was impaled, leaving him looking like a porcupine.

"No... impossible! I've only just begun... I'm so unwilling..."

Coughing up blood, Danzo struggled to lift his head toward Shirou, who hadn't even spared him a glance. His eyes were filled with despair.

Not far away, Kimimaro stood panting heavily, glaring coldly at Danzo's rapidly dying body as he declared:

"Anything that stands in the way of Lord Shirou's dreams—I will eliminate!"

As Danzo lay on the verge of death, his eyes were filled with resentment. The surrounding people looked at him as though he were nothing but a pathetic clown.

The terrifying ink formed a massive, transparent black sphere. As Danzo's despairing eyes watched, the Reverse Four Symbols Seal activated.

In the end, his final act was to seal away half a field of bones.

As the seal was completed, not far away, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was also being sealed, showed a sorrowful expression.

"Danzo..."

Meanwhile, Shirou stood calmly, watching as a wisp of dust scattered into the air.

"A rat hiding in the shadows. Even at the cost of your life, all you could muster was a little dust."

"Honey!"

"Anata-sama!"

"Lord Shirou!"

Uchiha Mikoto, Uzumaki Kushina, Konan, and other Hokage guards arrived, signaling the end of this chaotic battle.

"Now, you two, if there's anything you want to say, say it quickly. Your time is running out," Shirou teased, gesturing toward Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, whose Edo Tensei bodies began to disintegrate as the technique was undone.

"The Edo Tensei has been released..."

Hashirama looked down in confusion at his feet, which had begun to crumble away like leaves. Only now did he realize.

"Grandpa! Second Grandpa!"

Tsunade's eyes filled with sadness as she watched her relatives, who had only just reappeared, begin to disappear again.

Hashirama, however, simply scratched his head and laughed heartily:

"Haha, sorry about this, little Tsuna. I didn't expect to cause so much trouble for Konoha even after dying all these years ago. But Madara, don't you have anything to say?"

Madara, arms crossed, glanced at the still-collapsed Senju Tobirama, whose body was half-destroyed. Though he had initially been silent, a mocking smirk crept onto his face.

"Hashirama! It seems that in the end, it is I, Uchiha, who has won. This proves that your so-called peace was nothing but nonsense!"

Although Uchiha Madara was addressing Hashirama, his cold, mocking gaze was fixed on Tobirama Senju. It was clear that his words were meant as revenge.

This left Tobirama feeling stifled. Glaring at his older brother, he said,

"Big Brother!"

Meanwhile, Hashirama scratched his head with a loud laugh and replied:

"Maybe you're right. After all, even after Madara and I were gone, it seems the wars in the ninja world continued."

Though Hashirama still seemed as carefree and optimistic as ever, the sadness in his eyes was unmistakable. This had been his lifelong goal, and reality was now telling him that he had been wrong.

Unable to stand it any longer, Tsunade, who had been watching from the side, spoke up with a cold snort:

"At least my grandfather had a clear goal. Even if it was ultimately wrong, Uchiha Madara, do you even remember what your goal was back then?"

Tsunade's sharp retort left Madara momentarily at a loss for words.

Back then, he had only thought Hashirama was too idealistic, that peace required strength. But as for how to implement it or what came next, he truly hadn't figured that out.

"Little Tsuna!"

Seeing his granddaughter criticize Madara, Hashirama quickly tried to stop her, laughing awkwardly:

"Madara didn't have enough time to perfect his dream before he strayed from the path, and then..."

"And then, at the Valley of the End, you stabbed him, didn't you, Grandpa?"

Tsunade's sharp tongue left Hashirama looking utterly embarrassed.

At that moment, Tsunade finally understood why her second grandfather, Tobirama, disliked Madara so much. As expected, in front of her grandfather, Madara seemed even more important than their family.

"Hashirama! What nonsense are you spouting? How exactly did I stray from the path back then?"

Madara, now furious, glared at Hashirama, who hurried to explain:

"Madara, that's not what I meant! Look, this Uchiha Shirou managed to become Hokage. See how the Konoha ninja outside the barrier looks at their Hokage with admiration? Back then, you..."

"Hashirama..."

Two ancient relics, both long dead, were now bickering with each other like children. What was supposed to be their last words had turned into this farce, leaving Tsunade utterly speechless.

Shirou, standing nearby, shrugged at Tsunade with a smile, though his gaze lingered on Madara. Internally, he couldn't help but think:

"Well played, old man. You're quite the actor. If I didn't know better, I might've believed you."

"Grandpa, Second Grandpa, the village is fine now. Nawaki is growing up well, and..."

Shaking her head helplessly, Tsunade began to report on the current state of Konoha to her two grandfathers.

She even subtly mentioned the Uchiha clan's obsessive tendencies, her Sharingan's three tomoe spinning brightly in her eyes. This left Tobirama feeling even more stifled.

He wanted to refute her, but Tsunade had awakened the Sharingan!

What kind of situation was this?

Madara, noticing this, smirked coldly:

"An evil Uchiha? Obsessive? It seems the Senju are just as obsessive and evil."

Remembering how Hashirama had stubbornly stabbed him all those years ago, Madara felt a pang of anger. At last, he had the chance to get even.

Meanwhile, Hashirama scratched his head awkwardly. Upon reflection, it did seem like Madara had a point.

"Tobirama, it seems we were just as obsessive as the Uchiha. Back then, I was fixated on a single idea, much like how you were fixated on guarding against the Uchiha..."

"Big Brother! You..." Tobirama was so frustrated that he nearly spat blood.

What kind of older brother sides with an outsider like this?

"Ancestor..."

At that moment, Uchiha Mikoto, holding the Uchiha clan's iconic Gunbai fan, respectfully bowed to Madara and began reporting on the Uchiha's current situation.

"Oh, so you're the granddaughter of Setsuna?"

Though Madara already knew this, he feigned surprise. Then, looking at Mikoto, he nodded approvingly:

"With your current strength, having awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, you are indeed qualified to wield this symbol of the Uchiha clan."

His calm voice echoed, and with Madara's acknowledgment, Mikoto was officially recognized as the rightful wielder of the Uchiha Gunbai.

"Tsunade, it seems this turned out far better than we originally planned."

Looking at the ruined Forest of Death and the countless reverent gazes from the ninjas outside the barrier, Shirou smiled.

Tsunade, having deactivated her Sharingan by now, had also noticed the fearful and awed looks from foreign ninjas.

She clicked her tongue. Tsunade knew that this battle had cemented their power and influence across the ninja world far more effectively than they had anticipated.

Tsunade's personality was such that once she made up her mind, she would carry it through to the end. With a bold, commanding expression, she surveyed the scene around her and made her decision.

"In that case, let the nations of the ninja world live in constant fear!"

With a loud clap of her hands, Tsunade called out her next move:

Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees!

As the barrier gradually faded, the ninja from other nations and Konoha alike were still reeling from the earth-shattering battle they had just witnessed. Suddenly, the ground of the Forest of Death began to rumble."

"What's happening? Wasn't the battle over?"

Panic spread among the nobles as they watched a shocking scene unfold.

From the ruined earth of the Forest of Death, countless trees, vines, and plants burst forth, growing rapidly and covering the area in an instant.

Though they had already witnessed the terrifying power of Wood Release in battle, this display was different.

This time, it was a large-scale technique. In the blink of an eye, the Forest of Death was reborn.

It was as if the earlier destruction had been nothing but an illusion. If not for the eerie silence and lack of life in the forest, they might have thought they had fallen into a genjutsu.

"This... This is Lady Tsunade's Wood Release?"

"Incredible... The legends about the Forest of Death being created by the First Hokage's Wood Release were true!"

"Such terrifying chakra!"

The foreign ninja, including Kurotsuchi, were stunned. After such an intense battle, Tsunade still had enough chakra to perform a technique of this magnitude.

It was terrifying.

"Old man, so this is the kind of legend your era produced?"

Faced with his granddaughter Kurotsuchi's awe, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, remained pale and silent. His expression said it all.

The nearby ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village all had grim expressions, with the Fourth Raikage, A, looking as if he'd just lost his father—utterly devastated.

...

"Haha, Tsunade, your Wood Release techniques are not bad."

In the Forest of Death, now restored, Senju Hashirama laughed heartily as white light flickered around him. Their reanimated bodies could no longer hold out.

"Grandpa! Second Grandpa!"

Tsunade's eyes revealed a trace of reluctance as she looked at her two family members.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Madara's final gaze rested on Uchiha Shirou. Calmly, he said, "Uchiha Shirou, your strength matches your ambition. I hope you can truly achieve peace in the ninja world."

Hearing this, Shirou couldn't help but smile and nod, replying:

"Peace? As long as there is desire in this world, true peace will never exist. I'm merely doing the same as the First Hokage—hanging a sword over the entire ninja world."

"The difference is, I will choose to conquer the entire ninja world, ultimately bringing it all under my rule."

Hearing this, Uchiha Madara showed a rare expression of approval, nodding:

"That is more than enough! At the very least, it will prevent further wars. As for the games of human hearts..."

At this point, Uchiha Madara let out a cold laugh, his gaze directed at Senju Tobirama.

"The so-called peace of the Leaf Village back then was also built on the hearts of men, wasn't it?"

It was clear that Madara was criticizing the Leaf Village of the past. Its so-called peace had never been fair, at least not to the Uchiha.

This made Hashirama scratch his head awkwardly, while Tobirama snorted coldly.

"Haha, we're leaving, Tsunade. I hope next time I see you, you'll have children of your own! Hahaha..."

"You stubborn old man!"

Before leaving, Uchiha Madara gave Uchiha Shirou and the others a deep, meaningful look—one that Hashirama happened to notice, causing his heart to skip a beat.

He had a bad feeling about this! But it was already too late to ask.

"Madara..."

Madara revealed a mysterious smile. "Hashirama! You think you're on the first level, but you don't know that I'm already on the third, looking down at you!"

"The next time we meet, I'll give you a big surprise!"

Under Tsunade's complex gaze, the reanimated bodies, bathed in white light, finally reached their limit and disintegrated completely, revealing the sacrificial corpses inside.

The bodies of White Zetsu!