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  The atmosphere between the four powerful ninjas were filled with deadly i and the suppressed yet strong energy. The two Hokage brothers stood fag each other ready to battle and nearby, Jiraiya also shifted into a fighting stance.

  The faint rustling of leaves seemed to fall silent as the batants prepared for the iable csh. All the creatures in the forest sensed a ing disaster and were quickly moving away from that area.

  The Sannin was already in Sage mode with Lord Fukasaku and Lady Shima perched on his shoulders. Standing opposite was Fukai, famously known as Blue B.

  Anbu ander Ox was analyzing the situation and he was ready to make his move.

  Far away in Orochimaru's secret b, the snake Sannin had a small frown on his fabsp;'The fact that they're there and Guren's failure in tag me... It seems she failed in her mission and fell into the hands of the Leaf. Still, to get the location of that base… It seems that Ko Yamanaka was more careful than I thought. He must have sent some information before I killed him.'

  Orochimaru had his eyes closed as he looked at the battlefield through the eyes of the reanimation. 'I hought Sarutobi sensei would resort to using this forbidden jutsu. Or perhaps he was desperate and made Danzo do it. Hmm… That is the more likely possibility given his soft personality. Still, sihey've sent the sed Hokage and Jiraiya to that location it means they're hoping Tsunade is there. So they most probably don't know about this base. I suppose I should t that as my victory. I 't always have everything go my way.'

  The Snake Sannin opened his eyes and a small sinister smile grew on his fabsp;'I should keep them busy for as long as I .'

  Suddenly he made a Ram seal with his right hand.

  Otlefield in the Land of Fire, a ge suddenly took p The First Hokage and The Eight tailed Jinchuriki. Their bodies stilled and the spark of life vanished from their eyes. The two reanimations suddenly seemed no different than walkiionless puppets.

  Jiraiya and Tobirama immediately took notice of the ge.

  "It's starting. Orochimaru erased their personality. This is it." Tobirama spoke in a low voice to Jiraiya.

  The toad sage nodded and his eyes slightly narrowed.

  Orochimaru's two reanimated puppets immediately rushed towards their eobirama and Jiraiya moved forward to intercept them to give Ox the opening he needed.

  Bang!

  All four ninjas engaged in taijutsu. Tobirama blocked his brother's punch with his forearm and Jiraiya easily caught B's kick with his left hand.

  At that moment ander Ox quickly took advantage of the battlefield and weaved seals. 'Ninja art - Body Mirage Jutsu.'

  The masked ninja disappeared from his spot like being erased from reality. He had slipped away the moment Hashirama and Blue B were occupied with Jiraiya and Tobirama. His mission was clear: infiltrate the base, gather intelligence, and locate any sign of Tsunade and Shizune.

  Keeping his chakra signature suppressed, Ox moved silently through the trees, making his way to the entrance. He gnced back at the clearing where explosions and bursts of chakra illumihe forest.

  'Good,' he thought. 'They're distracted.'

  He reached the entrance, quickly noting the intricate seals that guarded the door. 'Orochimaru hadn't spared any effort in proteg his hideout. I hope they're really here. Otherwise this whole venture would have been a waste.'

  Ox quickly began to work, unraveling the barriers with practiced precision. Within seds, the dave way, and Ox slipped inside, vanishing into the dark corridors of the hidden base.

  Tobirama vs Hashirama.

  A faint tremor shook the ground, uling leaves and sending ripples across puddles. The stillness was shattered as Tobirama Senju emerged from the shadows.

  His eyes narrowed at the sight of his elder brother: a reanimated, mindless Hashirama, now no more than a powerful puppet.

  'About oh of his inal strength. Hmm… So he's nowhere near his peak form. Orochimaru hasn't perfected the reanimation jutsu it seems.' Tobirama raised his hand, studying Hashirama's gzed-over eyes.

  "It's almost disrespectful, brother, to see you reduced to this," he muttered, his voice cold yet it edged with a hint ret.

  Hashirama's puppet-like form moved in respoo some unseen and, and the iy of the battle increased.

  The First Hokage's hands quickly weaved seals, his chakra surged and the ground trembled as if several rge creatures were crawling underh the yer of soil.

  'Wood Style: Wood Bindings'

  Trees erupted from the ground, twisting into massive tendrils that rushed toward Tobirama with relentless speed.

  Tobirama weaved his fingers into a quick set of hand seals to t the attack.

  "Water Style: Exploding Water Wave!"

  A torrent of water spiraled from his mouth, g with the oning wood. The water pressure splihe advang wood tendrils, scattering pieces of timber across the forest floor.

  But Hashirama didn't falter. More wood tendrils shot up, g through the remnants of Tobirama's water jutsu. Tobirama leaped back a couple meters, his mind analyzing each of Hashirama's movements.

  "Even with only a fra of his power, he's relentless," he muttered.

  Without wasting another sed, with a swift step, Tobirama charged forward, meeting Hashirama in an intense csh of taijutsu.

  The older Senju's meical eyes tracked Tobirama's movement, and he swung his fist in a sharp, trolled arc.

  'Not as fast as when he was alive.' Tobirama noted internally and ducked u. He tered with a rapid jab to Hashirama's ribs.

  The First Hokage twisted, abs the blow, thealiated with an elbow aimed at Tobirama's temple.

  Tobirama raised his forearm, defleg the strike with a quick parry. He used the momentum to step to Hashirama's side, delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the back of his brother's knee.

  Hashirama stumbled ao one k quickly regained his footing. Even without scious thought his movements were unnaturally precise. With ation, he spun, aiming a vicious palm strike toward Tobirama's chest.

  Anticipating the move, Tobirama sidestepped and caught Hashirama's wrist, twisting it to destabilize him. But Hashirama's other arm shot up, aiming a knuckle strike directly at Tobirama's face.

  The younger Senju barely leaned ba time, feeling the wind of the strike brush past his nose. Using the slight opening, he spun, delivering a spinning back kick that ected with Hashirama's torso.

  Hashirama staggered but immediately retaliated with a sweeping leg kick, aiming to trip Tobirama.

  Tobirama leaped over it, exeg a mid-air spin, and brought down a hammer fist toward Hashirama's colrbone.

  Bang!

  Hashirama blocked the attack with his forearm and shoved Tobirama back, following up with a series of rapid punches aimed at Tobirama's chest and head.

  As the two fes of the Hidden Leaf engaged in intense hand to hand bat the air around them shimmered with urained chakra. The ground trembled as eabatant nded a blow oher with great force.

  Tobirama suddenly leaned back to dodge a knife hand to the neck. He jumped bad created a short distance from his oppo. 'Brother, even diminished, I 't take your strength lightly.'

  Without warning, Hashirama vanished from sight. Tobirama's eyes widened as he sensed a rapid approach. He spun around just in time to block a powerful punch aimed at his head. The force sent shockwaves through the grouh them.

  Their hands a became blurs as they engaged in a furious exge of blows with greater iy than before.

  Hashirama unched a swift kick towards Tobirama's midse. Tobirama sidestepped, grabbing Hashirama's leg and attempting to unbance him. Hashirama used the momentum to spin in the air, bringing his around in a roundhouse kick. Tobirama ducked, feeling the wind rush over his head.

  Tobirama retaliated with a palm strike aimed at Hashirama's chest. The First Hokage crossed his arms to block the attad absorb the impact. But it still sent him sliding back along the ground.

  Not missing a beat, Hashirama lunged forward with an elbow strike. Tobirama parried, twisting Hashirama's arm and attempting to lock it behind his back. The sed Hokage quickly overpowered his elder brother and got behind his back.

  'Now is my ce.' Tobirama thought as he quickly activated one of his deadly jutsu. 'Tandem Paper bomb.'

  Dozens of explosive tags instantly emerged from Tobirama's body and covered the first Hokage from head to toe.

  A fra of a sed ter Tobirama disappeared from his spot while his oppo was engulfed in a rge intense explosion. Ah-shattering explosion ensued, fmes and smoke engulfing everything.

  BOOM!

  A rge se of the nearby area was instantly reduced to ash as fmes and shockwaves spread through the area.

  A short distance away, the Sed Hokage crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. He was standing high above the ground on a rge tree keeping a close eye ouation and all his senses were sharpened.

  Suddenly he sensed something ing his way fast. 'I see. You substituted with a wood e at the st moment.'

  Tobirama shifted his body to the side and avoided a punch from behind. Hashirama flew past his target but quickly made a hand seal. His right arm turo wood and quickly moved to attack his little brother. A rge wooden fist swiftly approached Lord Sed.

  Tobirama raised both forearms to block, the impact causing the branch to crack.

  They leaped to the forest floor as the branch gave way. The moment they touched down, Hashirama closed the distance, aiming a k Tobirama's ribcage. Tobirama deflected it with his shin, the csh eg like thunder. He followed up with a rapid series of punches—left, right, left—aiming for vital points.

  Hashirama weaved through them, his movements smooth despite his puppet-like state. The powerful chakra in his body surged and quickly began to ter attack with just as mutensity.

  Dodging each pun a tight, rhythmic motion, Tobirama took a half-step bad tered with a quick jab followed by a powerful uppercut. Hashirama absorbed the blows, the deadened look in his eyes unfaltering as he struck Tobirama with a ko the gut. Tobirama, narrowing his eyes, stepped back as Hashirama pressed the advantage.

  "Enough of this," Tobirama muttered, jumping back to gain distance.

  With a swift motion, Tobirama formed hand seals, eling his chakra. "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!" He thrust his hands forward, and a r dragon of water erupted from his surroundings, surging toward Hashirama with incredible speed.

  Hashirama reacted instantly, smming his hands together. "Wood Style: Great Wood Shield!" Thick wooden branches shot from the ground, f a solid barrier in front of him. The water dragon crashed into the shield, spraying water in all dires.

  The First Hokage jumped from behind his wooden barrier and nded on a thick bran the nearby tree.

  "Shadow e Teique!" Two identical copies materialized beside Tobirama. They each other before darting in different dires.

  Hashirama's eyes tracked the es impassively. "Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergerees exploded from the earth, their colossal trunks twisting to intercept the es. The ground shook violently as the forest came alive.

  One e weaved through the onsught.

  "Flying Thunder God Ssh!"

  It vanished in a fsh, reappearing behind Hashirama with a kunai and struck Hashirama's back wounding the reanimated body.

  But before the e could nd more attacks, wooden spikes erupted from Hashirama's back, impaling the e, which dissipated into smoke.

  The real Tobirama watched with an impassive gaze as the wound on his brother healed with dust and ash. 'I've marked him so it's only a matter of time before I break this jutsu. Still, that wait till Ox sends me the signal.'

  The Sed Hokage was holding back. He didn't want to show all his cards to the enemy right away.

  The sed e of Tobirama appeared above his elder brother. "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!" A serpentine dragon formed from the water and surged downward, its jaws open wide.

  Hashirama looked up, unfling. "Wood Style: Woon!" A dragon of wood spiraled upward, colliding with its aquatic terpart. The two forces cshed, sending shockwaves rippling through the forest.

  They were at a stalemate when Hashirama weaved new seals. A wood e emerged from his bad quickly attacked the enemy e.

  "Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs!" Razor-sharp wooden shards shot toward shadow e Tobirama.

  Lord Sed disappeared instantly and reappeared behind e Hashirama.

  He quickly gathered his chakra. "Water Style: Severing Wave!"

  A trated bde of water shot from his mouth aiming straight for the wooden e. The attack struck, pierg through. It cut the wooden body from top to bottom pletely destroying the e.

  But at that instant just as the e was using his fierce jutsu the grouh him shook and several deadly thorns burst out of the soil crushing him and turning him into smoke.

  The inal Hashirama turned around and faced his little brother who stood with his arms crossed and a stoic expression ad his face.

  The grouh the wood style user shook and cracked. The instant Hashirama shot towards Tobirama's location. He had a krike aimed at Tobirama's throat.

  The reanimated Sed Hokage tilted his head back, avoiding the strike, aaliated with an upalm strike to Hashirama's .

  The hit ected, snapping Hashirama's head back. Seizing the opportunity, Tobirama spun and delivered a spinning back kick to Hashirama's torso, sending him skidding across the ground.

  The chakra tained in Tobirama's kick destroyed a part of The First Hokage's body and he soon crashed inte tree destroying it.

  For a few seds it was all quiet in the forest as Orochimaru's puppet id still. Then he opened his eyes and slowly stood as dust and ash gathered around the wounded area rest it. He stood up, his neck crag bato pce from the earlier hit.

  'He's relentless,' Tobirama thought. 'But he's not using any strategy—just raw power.'

  Both Kages released their chakra as a form of intimidation and they were getting ready for round two.

  —-

  Author's Note:

  I apologize for my month-long absence. I had some important family matters to deal with that took all my time and attention. For now that's all I say. That's all over now. Updates will resume starting today