Chapter 171: This Is No Longer Our Era!

The moment Hashirama appeared, Danzo and the others hurriedly spoke with respect:

“Shodai-sama!”

“Grandpa!”

On the other side, Tsunade’s face lit up with joy as she exclaimed in surprise.

Hashirama wore a gentle smile. Seeing the faint worry on everyone’s faces, he scratched the back of his head and said with an easy laugh, “Relax. Konoha will be fine—absolutely.”

With Hashirama’s words, the anxiety buried in everyone’s hearts loosened without them even realizing it.

Jiraiya looked at the smile on Hashirama’s face, and Minato’s figure couldn’t help but surface in his mind.

Those two smiles… they both had a natural power to reassure people, as if they could spread calm by sheer presence alone.

After speaking, Hashirama lifted his head and looked out the window at the rain blanketing all of Konoha, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Bang!

He stamped the floor, and in the next instant, he vanished from the Hokage’s office.

When Hashirama reappeared, he was already standing atop a rooftop.

“Was the jutsu cast from outside Konoha?”

He closed his eyes and sensed carefully, only to find that within Konoha’s boundaries, there was no chakra sustaining this technique.

In that case—

Hashirama’s eyes snapped open. With a light push from his feet, he leapt into the air.

Crack!

At that very moment, the ground split apart. A thick wooden pillar erupted upward, punching through the earth and surging toward the sky.

In the blink of an eye, that massive pillar rose directly beneath Hashirama’s feet as he hung in midair.

Hashirama stepped onto it, calm and composed, lifting his gaze toward the heavens.

And the pillar continued to shoot upward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In only a short time, it had already climbed to nearly a hundred meters.

Only then did the ninjas of Konoha realize that, at some point, a gigantic wooden pillar had appeared in the very center of the village.

“What’s going on?!”

“A Mokuton (Wood Release) technique!”

“Is that Yamato?!”

Confused and tense voices rose from every direction.

But the murmurs didn’t last long. In mere moments, the news that Hashirama had been resurrected spread throughout Konoha.

Clearly, Tsunade and Jiraiya had prepared for this in advance—so there wouldn’t be chaos.

“This height should be about right.”

Standing nearly a hundred meters in the air atop the soaring pillar, Hashirama spoke softly.

In the next instant, a terrifying surge of chakra burst from his body.

“Mokuton: Mokuryū no Jutsu (Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique)!”

Boom!

The massive pillar shuddered violently, and then a colossal wooden dragon seeped out from within it, coiling atop the pillar.

Roar!

The dragon let out a deep, almost unreal bellow as its enormous body used the pillar’s height to climb even higher.

Hashirama jumped, landing squarely on the dragon’s head. Using the pillar as a stable anchor, he guided the dragon’s gigantic body—loaded with chakra—and violently stirred the air above with a fierce, twisting motion!

A thunderous sonic boom detonated as the atmosphere itself buckled.

The technique Yuto had been maintaining over Konoha was instantly torn apart by the wooden dragon’s overwhelming churn.

On the cliffside, Yuto watched his jutsu get broken—and instead of anger, a smile spread across his face.

“Hashirama!”

Staring toward the sky above Konoha, looking at the wooden dragon twisting through the air, Yuto’s grin widened, excitement flashing in his eyes.

Beside him, Madara naturally saw the same scene.

“Hashirama… I knew it.”

“That’s more like it. Now this is interesting.”

The corner of Madara’s mouth lifted slightly, brilliant light flickering within his Rinnegan.

As Yuto’s technique shattered, the gloomy sky over Konoha cleared in an instant, and sunlight spilled down once more.

With the chakra-weakening rain gone—

Hashirama also felt it at the same time: two incredibly familiar chakras, emanating from a distant cliff beyond Konoha.

“This chakra… it’s… Madara and Yuto!!”

Hashirama’s spirit jolted. For the first time, disbelief and shock appeared on his usually tranquil face.

Yuto being revived was completely within Hashirama’s expectations.

But Madara returning from the dead… that was something Hashirama had never imagined.

Back then, Hashirama had personally confirmed Madara’s death. He had even attended the funeral.

And yet—there was no mistaking that familiar chakra.

Madara… had truly come back.

Hashirama’s expression darkened as a possibility surfaced in his mind: had Madara faked his death all those years ago?

But if it had been a fake… then what was this vivid, overwhelming life force he was sensing now?

This felt exactly like Madara at his peak.

“You two… what are you planning?!”

“This isn’t our era anymore!”

Standing atop the massive wooden dragon, Hashirama roared toward the distant cliff where Madara and Yuto stood.

Rumble! Rumble!

Right then, a deafening roar—like muffled thunder—exploded across the sky above Konoha.

The sunlight that had just returned vanished again, swallowed as a gigantic shadow fell over the village.

Everyone in Konoha instinctively lifted their heads.

A massive meteor, wreathed in blazing fire, was hurtling down at terrifying speed.

That godlike strike filled civilians and ninjas alike with despair.

Many people collapsed where they stood, faces drained as terror seized them.

Inside a room where they’d been sheltering from the rain, the three from Team 7 stiffly raised their heads, staring at the scene above.

“Th-This… is this even a ninjutsu?” Sakura sank to her knees, her voice stuttering as she spoke.

Naruto and Sasuke didn’t look as shaken as Sakura—but both of them fell completely silent, words failing them.

If that meteor hit, Konoha would be erased.

And everyone in it… no one would escape.

Just then, a firm shout rang out across the sky over Konoha.

“Mokuton: Mokujin no Jutsu (Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique)!”

Hashirama formed seals, fury blazing across his face.

Boom!!

The gigantic wooden pillar standing in the village center began to swell rapidly.

In only a few blinks, a colossal wooden humanoid rose into view before everyone’s eyes.

And the enormous wooden dragon Hashirama had summoned earlier wrapped around the wooden giant’s neck like a scarf.