The tide of battle had quietly shifted in Umbrella's favor, but far away in the Land of Snow, another development—one far more consequential—was unfolding.
Inside a sealed underground laboratory, the research Naruto had ordered on Hashirama cells had finally achieved a breakthrough.
An elderly man with a trimmed white beard, appearing to be in his late fifties or early sixties, peered through a monocle attached to a thin silver chain. His hands trembled with excitement as he examined the culture dish before him.
The cells of the Uchiha clan—long known for their rejection rates—were now fusing perfectly with the Hashirama cells.
No rejection.
No instability.
A perfect union.
Their research… had finally succeeded.
Previously, under the combined direction of Tsunade and Orochimaru, the project had been on the verge of success. But when the war erupted, the work had been delegated to their most trusted subordinates.
Naruto, of course, didn't rely solely on the two of them. He had scoured the entire shinobi world for scientists—biologists, engineers, theorists. In a world where scientific research was undervalued and overshadowed by ninjutsu, it was shockingly easy to recruit them.
Every idea Naruto proposed excited them.
Every project ignited something inside them.
Where shinobi saw only jutsu, these scientists saw limitless possibility.
The world had not yet reached the age of Chakra Cannons—not even Kumogakure had created them. In Naruto's eyes, those weapons were something developed after the Fourth War, when the world finally witnessed true large-scale chakra technology.
Umbrella, however, had already surpassed that point.
The world still had no idea what lay hidden:
—The military formations perfected by Umbrella.
—The airborne juggernaut known as Sky City.
—And the devastating Chakra Cannons, capable of wiping out a village from the heavens.
If Naruto wished, he could destroy any shinobi village in an instant.
But he would not.
Destroying the villages meant destroying their talent—and he intended to cultivate talent, not erase it. The future shinobi world would become his garden, his territory. The people within it—whether they knew it or not—were his future manpower. Wasting lives meaninglessly would only hinder his long-term goals.
Space exploration. Expansion. The next era.
Even in this world, there were no true "absolute villains."
Not Madara, whose vision was unification.
Not Black Zetsu, who fought only to revive his mother.
There was only one genuine rot in the shinobi world.
Danzō.
The successful Hashirama cell experiment sent a wave of excitement through the lab. The new fusion strain radiated vitality surpassing even that used by Obito.
This meant the Mangekyō Sharingan's greatest drawback—the rapid degeneration of sight—could practically be eliminated.
Obito's fearsome power came from the fact that he could use his Mangekyō abilities endlessly. Anyone else would have gone blind long ago.
Now, Naruto could finally begin preparations to awaken Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had held off not only because Sasuke was young, but because his spiritual power had yet to reach the necessary threshold. With these perfected cells, Sasuke could fully harness the benefits.
And Hashirama cells weren't only for Sasuke.
They could also reactivate Shisui's ocular power, allowing him to restore his Mangekyō.
Shisui's eyes had never truly been his own—despite sharing the same bloodline origin, there was still a subtle mismatch.
But now, with Uchiha-enhanced Hashirama cells, the dormant Sharingan could be revitalized.
Shisui, Izumi, even Uchiha Yu—each could take a step further.
Yu, whose talent was slightly inferior compared to the others, might even awaken his own Mangekyō.
And the dozen other surviving Uchiha…
These cells might allow the clan to reach heights never seen before.
For the Senju and Uchiha were the direct heirs of the Sage of Six Paths.
When their powers were combined, they produced the strength of creation itself.
Back on the Battlefield
As Naruto watched Umbrella's personnel—bloodied, tempered, unyielding—he knew his objective for them had been achieved.
People who survived war were forged into something entirely different.
Naruto rose into the sky, power surging around him like a divine mantle.
A crushing aura cascaded downward, and every shinobi within five hundred meters felt as though an invisible hand had seized their hearts.
Naruto amplified his voice with chakra, his words echoing across the war-torn field:
"Ōnoki… it's time for this battle to end."
He extended a hand toward the battlefield, gazing down from above like a god descending upon mortals.
Naruto roared across the battlefield:
"All Umbrella personnel, retreat!!"
The order cut through the chaos like a blade.
Umbrella shinobi paused only for a heartbeat before immediately withdrawing in perfect formation. They didn't know why Naruto had suddenly issued this command, but their training allowed no hesitation.
Orders were absolute.
Obedience was instinct.
Even Orochimaru disengaged and retreated.
Ōnoki frowned deeply, unable to guess what Naruto was planning. But the answer revealed itself in the next instant.
Naruto raised his arm.
A colossal hurricane exploded outward.
Wind howled with monstrous force, tearing through the battlefield. Shinobi were swept off their feet, earth peeled away layer by layer, and sand and stones blasted through the air so violently it became impossible to keep one's eyes open.
Even Ōnoki, lightened by his Particle Style, was forced down out of the sky, straining to stabilize himself.
Witnessing this natural disaster–level force, his heart nearly stopped.
Only now did he understand—
Uzumaki Naruto had never been fighting seriously.
He had been holding back.
Silence crashed over him, replaced quickly by dread.
"What… absurd Wind Release…!"
He realized with cold clarity:
Naruto had surpassed the realm of a Kage entirely.
A new God of Shinobi was about to rise—
No, not a god.
An Asura.
No wonder he was so confident.
No wonder he dared stand against the Allied Forces single-handedly.
The shinobi world was facing calamity.
Ōnoki's spine went cold. He suddenly understood the true danger of the situation.
What he didn't know was that Naruto's ambition had already extended far beyond this battlefield.
Naruto had already dispatched Umbrella divisions to begin covertly subjugating the Five Great Nations.
Ōnoki would only grasp the full truth when it was already too late.
He shouted desperately:
"Ninja Allied Forces—retreat!!"
The masses of shinobi began withdrawing at once. The battlefield around them had transformed into a scarred wasteland: deep fissures from Earth Release, scorched terrain from Fire Release, pools of water from Water Release, and craters from Lightning strikes.
Weapons littered the ground—shuriken, kunai, broken blades.
And interspersed among them…
Corpses.
Blood spattered across soil and stone, painting the land in a tragic red.
Under the fading sunset, the battlefield looked mournful and silent—like the world itself was grieving.
Tsunade stared at Naruto, troubled. She couldn't understand why he hadn't finished the Allied Forces off completely. Naruto didn't answer her immediately. Instead, he dragged the unconscious Raikage and tossed him back toward Yugito Nii.
Earlier, during the chaos, Naruto had intercepted and defeated the Raikage without anyone noticing.
Only after seeing their leader returned did the surviving Kumogakure shinobi begin withdrawing, scattered and demoralized.
Naruto finally spoke:
"If we don't return the Raikage, Kumogakure's forces won't retreat. And if they fought to the death, Umbrella would suffer too many unnecessary casualties."
"Our objective is already achieved. There's no point continuing."
"The Allied Forces have collapsed. From here onward, we can strike at their villages one by one."
His voice grew colder.
"Those who follow me prosper. Those who defy me perish."
Tsunade's eyes widened as Naruto continued:
"Besides… the Akatsuki should already be making their move."
A crushing wave of dominance surged from Naruto, so intense that even Tsunade felt her breath catch.
His overwhelming aura made it clear—
From this point forward, the shinobi world would no longer move according to its own will.
It would move according to Naruto's.
...
TN:
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