Hokage: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 11: Fire God vs. Wooden Giant

Boom!

The ground was smashed into a huge crater.

Amidst the thick dust, Hagoromo Gengetsu staggered out, quickly retreating.

Hot on his heels, a massive, elongated wooden dragon emerged.

Compared to its initial form, the wooden dragon had several defects, but soon, as surrounding trees gathered and repaired it, it quickly restored to its former state.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

Recognizing the futility of continuing as before, Hagoromo Gengetsu first summoned giant earth walls to block the wooden dragon's assault. He then created two earth clones to intercept attacks from the surrounding forest.

With these preparations complete, Hagoromo Gengetsu's body rapidly formed hand seals, and his chakra surged like never before.

"Lava Release: Grey Rock Giant!"

At great chakra cost, a massive grey rock giant, larger than the wooden dragon, quickly took shape before Hagoromo Gengetsu.

But this was just the beginning.

Hagoromo Gengetsu formed new seals.

"Lava Release: Scorching River Armor!"

Layers of high-temperature magma covered the grey rock giant, outfitting it with an incredibly tough lava armor.

"Melting Release: Corrosive Monster's Hand!"

The grey rock giant grew a pair of corrosive, acid-filled hands.

"Scorching Release: Overheat Hands!"

Another pair of deep red, high-temperature arms extended from the giant.

Finally.

"Boil Release: Monstrous Strength Unmatched!"

"Ultimate Combination Jutsu: Fire God Descends!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Vast steam surged from the giant's body.

As if powered by a high-speed engine, the already huge grey rock giant grew even larger, transforming into a colossal figure, bigger than a Tailed Beast, adorned in lava armor, and equipped with three pairs of arms.

Hagoromo Gengetsu referred to this combined technique of Lava Release, Melting Release, Scorching Release, and Boil Release as the Fire God.

At the moment the technique was complete.

The wooden dragon, accompanied by a fierce wind, broke through the earth walls and charged at the Fire God.

"Crush it!"

In a flash, Hagoromo Gengetsu stood atop the Fire God and calmly issued his command.

With a thunderous rumble, the Fire God took a step forward. The three pairs of giant hands, each with different attributes, fiercely grasped the wooden dragon.

In comparison, the now comparatively smaller wooden dragon did not retreat. It crashed head-on.

After a tremendous impact.

The Fire God remained unmoved, while the wooden dragon let out a pained roar.

Its long body, tightly grasped by six massive hands, struggled to break free but could not.

Outside the battlefield.

The spectators, including Reto, Ishikawa, and the future Second Hokage, watched in astonishment.

They never imagined Hagoromo Gengetsu's true strength would be so overwhelming, able to even suppress the famous Wood Release.

Even Senju Hashirama, watching from atop the wooden dragon, did not expect this from Hagoromo Gengetsu.

With a serious expression, Hashirama directed his hands at the Fire God and shouted:

"Wood Release: All-Terrain Barrier Technique!"

Around the Fire God, massive wooden hands rose from the ground, reaching out to grab it.

Standing atop the Fire God, Hagoromo Gengetsu stomped his foot, causing the Fire God to act. It used the wooden dragon as a whip to fend off the giant wooden hands.

But the number of wooden hands was overwhelming. As they appeared everywhere, one of the Fire God's legs was soon captured by a wooden hand.

Seeing more wooden hands closing in, the Fire God abandoned the wooden dragon, its body steaming once more. Giant wings made of high-temperature mist appeared on its back.

Roar~~

With a roar of wind, the Fire God flapped its wings, breaking free from the wooden hands and soaring into the sky.

Seeing this, Hashirama stopped the All-Terrain Barrier Technique and cast a deep glance at Hagoromo Gengetsu, now high above, and clapped his hands together:

"Wood Release: Wooden Man Technique!"

With a surge of chakra, a tree rapidly grew into an enormous wooden figure.

After a dragon roar, the battered wooden dragon flew over, coiling around the wooden man's neck and restoring itself.

The wooden man, comparable to a complete Susanoo, was now on the field.

Hashirama stood atop the wooden man, his black eyes burning with combat intensity as he shouted up at Hagoromo Gengetsu:

"Gengetsu!"

"Hashirama!"

Responding to Hashirama's call, Hagoromo Gengetsu leapt, and the Fire God’s wings flapped, diving toward the wooden man with equal stature.

With thunderous drumbeats and a changing sky, the battlefield seemed to enter an era of gods and demons.

The two titans, the Wooden Man and the Fire God, clashed fiercely, each as formidable as a Tailed Beast, even surpassing them.

In contrast, the spectators felt like insignificant ants.

Boom, boom, boom~~~

Enormous shockwaves surged outward from the clash of the Wooden Man and the Fire God.

Trees were uprooted.

Rivers were displaced from their beds.

Nearby hills crumbled.

And this was just the beginning.

As the earth groaned under the strain, the Fire God and the Wooden Man continued their relentless battle.

The giant, corrosive hands of the Fire God tangled with the wooden man’s limbs.

Amidst the roars, the wooden dragon wrapped around the wooden man's neck, biting fiercely at the Fire God but was held back by another pair of lava-covered hands.

The Fire God’s scorching arms gripped the wooden man, steadily evaporating the moisture and chakra within the wooden giant.

In response, the wooden man glowed with vitality, rapidly healing its wounds.

The clash between these two massive entities showed no sign of resolution.

Meanwhile, the true protagonists, Hagoromo Gengetsu and Senju Hashirama, continued their intense confrontation.

High above, the ultimate combatants locked eyes, exchanging no words.

Boom!

A deafening explosion echoed as a steel-like fist collided with a wooden-patterned palm in mid-air.

Less than a second later.

Another clash followed.

Then a third, a fourth.

The count of violent impacts continued to rise rapidly.

Although less noticeable than the two giants below, the intensity of their battle was no less significant.

"This is the true battle of gods in the ninja world!"

After a long pause.

Among the silent spectators, Reto bitterly voiced the thoughts of everyone present.