What was the secret to dominating a brawl?

  Hashirama once provided a perfectly simple expnation: "I just walk over there ahem up."

  Masashi wholeheartedly agreed.

  If the God of Shinobi said it, then it had to be true.

  If you couldn't pull it off, it wasn't because the God of Shinobi was wrong. It was because you were weak.

  Masashi's pace quied, his eyes sing the terrain ahead.

  In his first life, his dream had been to bee a one-man army, capable of fag etalions without relying oernal tools. But that dream never came to fruition.

  Although he had mastered tless teiques, his defense was ie, and his mediinjutsu was middling at best.

  To stand firm was to survive. Only then could one unleash their full power.

  Suddenly, the sky darkened overhead.

  The Iwa ninjas had begun their assault, ung a dense barrage of ninja tools.

  Masashi used his Lightning Body Flicker Teique.

  Electric arcs crackled through the air as his form vanished, moving with such speed that it eluded the naked eye. He bypassed the area where the shuriken rained down, leaving only faint sparks.

  "It's a lightning user!" someone oher side shouted. "Wind users, move up front!"

  "Defense Formation!" another voice called out. "Don't let him—"

  Before the voice had finished speaking, the shouting Iwa ninja found a fist suddenly filling his field of vision.

  "Too slow," Masashi whispered as his fist ected.

  From the perspective of the Konoha ninjas watg, it seemed like Masashi disappeared from his inal spot. Moments ter, the sound of a thunderous impact echoed as bodies from the Iwa ninjas' formation were hurled into the air.

  "Formation break!" an Iwa ninja screamed. "He's too fast!"

  Standing in the middle of the chaos he had just caused, Masashi cpped his hands together.

  More than a dozen ice arms burst from the ground, scattering the Iwa ninjas once again.

  The massive arms swung, sending a barrage of ice spikes raining down upon them.

  The Iwa ninjas screamed as bodies hit the ground oer another.

  The battlefield was now steeped iench of blood. The ice spikes scattered across the ground created a forest of frozeh. Corpses of Iwa ninjas, broken and mangled, y everywhere. Pools of blood seeped into the soil, staining it a dark crimson.

  To be ho, fighting Iwa ninjas was much easier than fighting Kumo ninjas.

  At the lower levels, the individual strength of Iwa ninjas was clearly g.

  It wasn't just that they couldn't withstand the ice spikes—more importantly, their teamwork was abysmal, which led to unnecessary losses.

  There were so many of them—why not charge at him together? Instead, they tried to dodge. How was that different from standing still and taking the hit?

  But he wasn't pining. The weaker they were, the easier his job.

  "White Ghost!"

  A sh out as an Iwa jonin finally stepped forward. With the Hardening Jutsu activated, they charged through the barrage of spikes.

  The spikes either shattered against their fists or broke upon striking their hardened body, emitting sharp king sounds.

  "Oh?" Masashi tilted his head slightly, dodging the oppo's kunai. "Show me what Iwa's elite do."

  He met the enemy's charging fist head-on.

  Two fists collided.

  Boom!

  A shockwave erupted. Masashi remained rooted in pce, while the Iwa jonin was sent flying backward, coughing up blood.

  The Iron Skin, inally perfected by Kakuzu, roving incredibly effective. When bined with his own monstrous strength, it was a game-ger.

  It wasn't like the Lightning Chakra Mode, which was beyond his grasp. But the Iron Skin teique? That he had learned with ease.

  This was thanks to his Sharingan, which had copied every detail when Kakuzu had fought using the jutsu.

  After that battle, he dedicated himself to masterih chakra manipution. He spent months training with ten shadow es daily, until he finally perfected all five chakra natures.

  Now, he didn't even need a sword. Iron Skin-enhanced physical attacks, bined with the speed of Lightning Body Flicker, rendered ons unnecessary.

  Using his bare hands was not only more effit but also a great way to train.

  With a single punch, he sent the enemy jonin flying again. Not letting up, he used the Lightning Body Flicker and closed the gap instantly, nding another punch at point-bnk range.

  The Iwa jonin's body spun through the air before crashiically into the ground. A loud impact followed, leaving the jonin embedded in the earth, barely alive.

  The gap in strength among jonin-level ninjas was cruelly noticeable.

  Ohe disparity was rge enough, defeating them was no different from a jonin crushing a group of genin.

  Unfortunately, the overall quality of Iwa jonin was unimpressive.

  If not for the elite few and the terrifying Dust Release wielded by ōnoki, the Iwa forces would've been reduced to mere on fodder in the war.

  Even Minato had famously wiped out fifty Iwa jonin in a sitle using the Flying Thunder God, thanks in part to their ckluster quality.

  But that punch had stirred up a hor's .

  "Surround him! Don't let him escape!" An Iwa ander's voice rang across the battlefield.

  Dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of Iwa ninjas began charging from all dires, including seven ht jonin—likely the ey of this divisioe force.

  "Unity is power!" the ander shouted.

  The in, emboldened by their leaders, erupted into cheers.

  "Strength in numbers!"

  "Unity is power!"

  These were the principles they lived by. Unity without skill is just clustered weakness, Masashi thought as he assessed the approag mass.

  Behind Masashi, massive icy arms rose once more, bristling with sharpened spikes. The ground froze beh his feet, spreading outward.

  "Let me show you true unity," he said, "between power and teique."

  Minato's Flying Thunder God required teammates to throw kunai, but Masashi didn't need any help.

  With knowledge accumuted over two lifetimes, he had bee Konoha's most effit chakra user. To him, Flying Thunder God seals were nothing more than trations of chakra—he didn't o physically touch a target to mark it.

  Thanks to the Shape Transformation ability he'd gained from Ryūchi Cave's Sage Teiques, his ninjutsu reached wherever he willed it.

  The ice spikes shot out in waves, bing the enemy formation.

  The Iwa ninjas fought back, blog or taking the brunt of the assault. Earth teiques rose to meet his ice, but they were too slow and too crude.

  Masashi vanished once again.

  The moment, he appeared in front of one enemy after another.

  The beauty of the Iron Skin was its bination of Earth Release's defensive properties with explosive offensive capabilities akin to Hashirama's monstrous strength.

  When it he results were devastating.

  Although it cked the speed of the Lightning Chakra Mode, it didn't matter. As long as he closed the distahere was no test. Ahout Lightning Release termeasures was as good as dead.

  The Iwa ninjas, slow to react, could only swing bastinctively.

  And so, one by ohey were obliterated.

  Limbs and shattered bodies were sent flying through the air as blood rained down otlefield. The elite force of this Iwa ninjas division was annihited.

  The cheering ceased abruptly.

  The remaining Iwa ninjas stared in disbelief.

  The mighty jonin, the proud special forces… were gone?

  Masashi casually returo his starting position and summohree shadow es.

  "Fire Style: Searing Migraine."

  "Wind Style: Pressure Damage."

  "Fire Style: Searing Migraine."

  "Wind Style: Pressure Damage."

  A dazzling array of jutsu lit up the battlefield as the remaining Iwa ninjas were engulfed in the ensuing chaos. Their screams echoed pitifully.

  These enemies were simply too weak to bother with his Ice Release's full dispy of might.

  Corpses y strewn across the battlefield, severed limbs scattered everywhere.

  The dead Iwa ninjas stared upward, as though their gaze still g to the sky even ih.

  There were no living souls near Masashi anymore.

  After a barrage of ninjutsu, this squad of the Iwa army had been annihited. Most of its members would remain here forever.

  But the fight was far from over.

  The Iwa forces had three squads in total.

  The remaining few hundred survivors fled in disarray, their panic spreading to the tral squad, destabilizing their morale.

  "This isn't human! How one person—"

  "Shut up and run! Do you want to end up like the others?"

  This was the squad directly anded by the Third Tsuchikage himself.

  At that moment, ōnoki, feeling suffitly rested, prepared to unch a Dust Release jutsu for some fun.

  However, before he could take off and deliver some warmth to the opposing Konoha ninjas, he noticed a disturbahin his own ranks.

  "What's going on?" the old man asked with a scowl, gring at the elite guards beside him. "We're in the middle of battle! What kind of behavior is this? Shouting and yelling—what nonsense!"

  "My apologies, Tsuchikage-sama! I'll go disciplihem right away!" a nearby jonin said.

  The shouting had e from his own unit, embarrassing him in front of the Tsuchikage.

  Enraged, he stormed off.

  A few mier, he returned, his expression oddly grim.

  "Tsuchikage-sama..."

  "Speak clearly! What about the left fnk?"

  "Our left fnk... their squad has colpsed!"

  "Oh? Konoha is quite capable, it seems. Whi is leading them?"

  "It wasn't a group, Tsuchikage-sama... it was just one person."

  "Ridiculous! Such a perso exist anymore!"

  Had the ninjas of his vilge degraded to this extent?

  It couldn't be! Who were they fag—Hashirama or Madara? How could a single individual take down aire squad?

  Evehird Raikage, formidable as he was, didn't make Iwa troops colpse ba the day!

  "The retreating survivors insist it was one man. They... only mao escape with a few hundred left."

  "Unbelievable!" ōnoki, who had been sitting, leapt to his feet. "So this expins why the Explosion Corps hasn't reported back. The real threat is over there."

  His tone and mannerisms veyed authority perfectly, though his short stature slightly undermihe overall effect.

  Still, he was the Tsuchikage, and he had been for many years. The people around him dutifully pyed along, feigning shod awe at his imposing presence.

  It had bee sed nature to them over the years.

  After all, the Tsuchikage was the treasure of Iwa. He had to be cherished. Besides, their reas wereirely fake. The old man's temper could indeed be intimidating.

  "Who is this person?" ōnoki asked.

  "It's the White Ghost—Masashi. He's still otlefield."

  "An Uchiha..." For a brief moment, ōnoki felt a pang of mencholy.

  Painful memories surfaced once more.

  Another Uchiha monster? Why couldn't this have happeen years earlier? If only...

  "Alright! Lead me there!"

  If someone could destroy the left fnk, they could certainly take down the ter. Without ōnoki, the tral squad would already be in chaos.

  The old man was their pilr of fidence.

  The Iwa jonin quickly turo lead the way, only to hear the sound of rushing wind. Looking up, he saw that the Tsuchikage had already taken off.

  Weren't you going to follow me?

  "If you led the way, it would just be throwing lives away.," ōnoki's voice called down from above. "Hold your positions here—I'll hahings over there!"

  ---

  Konoha's forces were having a simir discussion.

  "You all focus on attag the tral squad. That old Tsuchikage is bound to e here. I'll hold him off," Masashi instructed the ninja from the three s around him.

  "Masashi-nii, let me stay and help," Shisui offered. "I ... you know what I mean!"

  "Know what, exactly? Don't imitate me." Masashi said. "Stop wasting time with nonsense. Go attack the ter. As long as you break through the tral squad before ōnoki returns to his main camp, Konoha's victory is assured."

  "But—" Shisui started.

  "Your power is wasted here. The ter needs overwhelming force. Trust me, Shisui. I have a pn."

  Shisui could now use Susanoo. Masashi was well aware of this. Precisely because of that, he o head for the ter.

  Overwhelming the weak with strength—that was the way to win.

  This was the primary strategy in wars between ninja.

  Tactics like fnking or ambushes only came into py during proloalemates.

  Why else did the Third Great Ninja War end in Konoha's favor? Because Konoha established clear superiority on multiple fronts.

  "Go," Masashi said, waving them off. "If I wao run, nobody could stop me anyway."

  Seeing his resolve, the others stopped trying to persuade him.

  As he himself had said, if he wao flee, no one could stop him.

  The thousand-strong force promptly turned and moved to join the tral army.

  Ohe group left, Masashi rexed auro the battlefield, taking his time to recover his stamina and chakra.

  Activating his sensory abilities, he immediately felt a powerful chakra source rapidly approag.

  ōnoki, who was even older than Hiruzen, still had such immense chakra at his age—he was a monster in his ht.

  Madara had been a feroan, and he had truly beaten ōnoki and his teacher Mu into submission back then. Though Mu hadn't yet ied Dust Release at the time, the fact that both of them survived that enter showed just how strong they were.

  After all, Madara didn't pull his punches, even if he wasn't actively trying to kill.

  If someone could be casually killed, they weren't worth remembering in his eyes.

  In the sky, a bck dot rapidly approached.

  Masashi focused his Sharingan on it.

  ōnoki had finally arrived.

  This is the Super-Lightened Boulder? Ingenious design, no doubt.

  "So, it's you? The White Ghost?" ōnoki hovered in midair, gring down at the young man below, whose Sharingaared back at him.

  Age might make one fet things more easily, but he had a nagging feeling he was fetting something now. Still, he hadn't fotten the most important thing.

  "You're the one who attacked them?"

  "Are you asking about the Explosion Corps? Or your disciple and granddaughter?" Masashi replied with a smile.

  ōnoki sneered. "Boy, you stayed behind alorying to imitate Madara?"

  "No, I just wao see the only living Third Kage in a."

  Alright, I've observed enough. That jutsu's been memorized. ōnoki, you're a good man.