Chapter 168

Once faced with disadvantage, he immediately revealed his weaknesses!!

……

And as the Ōtsutsuki Shiryū watched the increasingly cold expression on Hashirama Senju's face,

he now abandoned his final struggle.

He bared his teeth in a furious roar.

"Hahahaha!! Go ahead and kill me!!"

"If you kill me, our Ōtsutsuki clan will immediately destroy your world!!"

"Your weak, foolish world should never have existed!!"

"Our bloodline is far purer—so why are we trapped on the moon while you live in such a wonderful world?!"

"We shouldn't be stuck in this barren, desolate world!!"

"Just wait!! Your world will soon be ours…"

Watching him babble on, displaying nothing but disgrace,

Hashirama Senju finally confirmed:

Ōtsutsuki Shiryū had used his last card!!

He had no real chance left to resist him.

And nearby, Hyūga Hanagetsu, witnessing this scene,

felt an intense longing surge within her!!

Even Ōtsutsuki Shiryū, whose strength far surpassed hers,

was being crushed like a dead dog in Hashirama Senju's grasp!!

If she possessed such power,

no one in the Hyūga clan would dare speak a single word of defiance to her!!

Not even her father, Hyūga Tenzō, would dare treat her like a commodity!

Just as Hashirama Senju clenched his five fingers,

preparing to end Ōtsutsuki Shiryū's life,

he sensed a sudden, overwhelming chakra surge from the open ground to his left!!

A spectral old man, clad in a white robe, horns growing from his head,

slowly materialized before him, his face bearing eight-tenths resemblance to the Sage of Six Paths!!

"Young man, show mercy when you can…"

"You two have no deep grudge—just a minor dispute. Why must you take each other's lives?"

"If you truly kill him, the moon and the ninja world will be locked in an eternal, unbreakable feud."

"You don't want a war between these two worlds, do you?"

"So… young man… listen to my advice."

"Spare his life. Hand him over to me. Leave the moon as if nothing ever happened."

"The moon is the moon. The ninja world is the ninja world. Let the two remain separate."

With a sweeping motion of his hand,

Hashirama Senju frowned and cut off the old man's next words.

"Ōtsutsuki Hamura! Your thinking is too naive."

"Didn't you hear what he just said?"

"The Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon has long been eyeing the ninja world."

"Conflict between us and them is only a matter of time…"

"You're asking me to spare an enemy who could destroy our world? Are you joking?!"

After hearing Hashirama Senju's words,

Ōtsutsuki Hamura's brows knitted deeply, his face darkening with displeasure.

He hadn't expected Hashirama Senju to show him such disrespect!!

He had recognized him at once:

Hashirama Senju was the chakra reincarnation of Asura, son of his brother Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.

In terms of lineage,

he was, in effect, Hashirama Senju's uncle!!

Yet Hashirama Senju had called him by name directly,

showing not the slightest respect!!

Moreover, since Hashirama Senju had awakened the Rinnegan

and knew his true origins,

it was clear

that the Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, had already met him…

Even so,

he still showed not a shred of respect toward me!!

Hashirama Senju cared nothing for Ōtsutsuki Hamura's thoughts.

Even if Ōtsutsuki Hamura saw him as Asura's reincarnation,

Hashirama Senju himself never believed that.

He was himself,

Ashura is Ashura,

the two have no real connection!!

and the fact that Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki appears at this moment,

proves that from the very beginning of the battle,

Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki had already noticed!!

He doesn't appear early, he doesn't appear late—he chooses exactly this moment.

Hashirama Senju naturally had no good impression of him!!

if the one who might lose his life in this failure was himself,

would Hagoromo Ōtsutsutsuki still appear?

Facing Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's appearance,

Hashirama Senju felt nothing surprising,

since even the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, was still alive,

as his younger brother,

Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki naturally could not vanish from this world so easily!!

Yet seeing Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's aged and weak appearance,

Hashirama Senju still found it unbelievable.

Compared to the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki,

Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki now looked like an old man on the verge of the coffin,

as if a single breeze could

extinguish the flame of his soul!!

He did not understand why Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki had weakened to this extent.

Even if his strength was inferior to the Sage of Six Paths,

it couldn't possibly be this much worse, right??

Hashirama Senju even believed that he himself, before obtaining the Rinnegan,

could have defeated Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki at this moment.

【Jiraiya: …These old relics of the ninja world are truly treacherous—they all love to hide behind the scenes and observe others.】

【Tobirama Senju: It seems our elder brother's guess is correct—these ancient masters had their own methods to prolong their existence; though their physical lifespans ended, they could still survive in another way!!】

【Orochimaru: But Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's condition looks extremely strange—he seems to have suffered grave injuries, as if he might vanish from this world at any moment… This state is even weaker than my own after using the Impure World Reincarnation.】

【Madara Uchiha: These ancient relics are nothing special—if given the same conditions and environment, I will surpass them all!!】

【Fourth Raikage: But Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki is ridiculous—the conflict between the moon and the ninja world has escalated to this point, yet he still dares to lie with his eyes open, claiming there's still a possibility of resolving the conflict!!】