One Piece: I am Imu
Chapter 386: Fists of Wood and Will

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Fists of Wood and Will

As time went on, Aramaki’s expression began to darken. He muttered under his breath, "How is this possible...?"

He had realized something unsettling: his trees were actually struggling to overpower Hashirama’s.

Roughly two or three of his trees were needed to destroy just one of Hashirama’s.

From a bird’s-eye view, the battlefield still appeared locked in a stalemate.

This eased Aramaki’s mood considerably.

Not bad.

At least it wasn’t humiliating.

On the other side, however, Hashirama was deeply shocked.

He had never imagined there could be someone in the world whose wood-based techniques could stand toe-to-toe with his own.

"So this is what another world is like..."

Though he hated to admit it—

At that moment, Hashirama found himself genuinely intrigued by the so-called ’other world’.

"In that case... let’s see how our taijutsu compares!"

At that instant, Hashirama failed to notice that the rage on his face had slowly given way to a smile.

It was a smile of excitement. A smile of joy.

His desire for battle had begun to shift—no longer rooted solely in avenging Konoha, but now in the thrill of clashing with a worthy foe from another world.

"Rawawa! Fine then—let’s do this!"

Aramaki let out a wild, uninhibited laugh, the black Justice coat on his back whipping in the wind.

The next moment—

Both men, as if on cue, ceased their summoning of trees.

And in that instant—

[BOOM! BOOM!]

They each exploded the ground and branches beneath their feet, launching forward like lightning—streaking shadows crashing toward one another!

[BOOM!!!!!!]

Watching from a great distance were Uchiha Fugaku, Orochimaru, Jiraiya—

—and several thousand surviving Konoha shinobi, all battered, bloodied, and utterly exhausted.

They witnessed with their own eyes as the figures of Aramaki and Senju Hashirama suddenly blurred.

Even before their afterimages had fully dissipated—

—the ground beneath where they had just stood erupted with a deafening sonic boom, sending waves of earth soaring into the sky.

The next instant—

—aside from those with Sharingan or Byakugan, who could barely make out the details—

—most shinobi saw only flashes of green and purple lightning erupting across their field of vision.

The lights shot through thousands of trees in a blink,

—carving out twin luminous trails through the air—

—before finally colliding with immense force at the center point.

Right where Aramaki and Senju Hashirama’s fists clashed—

—ripples of translucent force spread out in all directions.

The air itself seemed unable to withstand such terrifying, concentrated pressure—

Both Aramaki and Senju Hashirama let out roars filled with fighting spirit, responding to the other’s ferocious power.

Their overwhelming auras exploded further,

At the same time—

—the fierce pressure from their punches whipped up a violent tornado of compressed air, hundreds of meters tall.

This apocalyptic scene—

—left the remaining Konoha shinobi with no choice but to retreat in a panic, fleeing to even greater distances.

They no longer even had the privilege of spectating.

Yet just then, a string of thunderous explosions echoed from behind them—

—but most shinobi didn’t dare look back.

The surging wind at their backs warned them they still hadn’t escaped far enough.

Their bodies trembled uncontrollably, overwhelmed by a fear they could not suppress.

"My god... what kind of battle is this...?"

A Hyūga elder muttered in a trembling voice.

In a vast, sunken valley where not a single tree remained—

—a green blur and a purple blur—

—were clashing, colliding, separating, then crashing together again at impossible speeds.

Each exchange sent visible shockwaves blasting through the air, further shattering the already ruined ground beneath them.

[THOOM!!!]

At that moment—

—Aramaki, his body cloaked in radiant green light, had just broken away from his latest collision with Senju Hashirama.

Like a streak of black-green lightning crashing down from the heavens, Aramaki launched a fierce flying kick straight at Senju Hashirama.

The moment his leg lashed out, a violent gust exploded outward, trailed by a deafening sonic boom.

Faced with such a ferocious surge of force—

Senju Hashirama let out a roar, not only refusing to retreat but charging forward instead. A torrent of purple chakra erupted from him once more, and with fearless momentum, he met the attack head-on with both palms.

[BOOM!!]

The air rippled violently like disturbed water, bursting outward in a massive wave of white vapor.

Hashirama let out a muffled groan without thinking.

The next instant—

He was sent flying by Aramaki’s devastating mid-air kick.

In the blink of an eye—

accompanied by a series of explosive shockwaves, he was dragged across the ground, tearing open a jagged trench over a hundred meters long before he finally managed to stop.

"So strong...! His power actually surpasses mine—if only slightly!"

He had never imagined that one day he would find himself on the losing end of a taijutsu contest.

"Rawawa~~!"

Landing back on the ground and seeing that Hashirama wasn’t rushing in again, Aramaki spread his arms wide, threw back his head, and laughed heartily.

"Well? Now you’ve seen just how powerful I truly am!"

To be honest, the battle so far had been exhilarating for him.

Absolutely thrilling!

Aramaki was already thinking to himself—once the World Government fully conquered the Shinobi World, and he rose to the rank of Army Headquarters General, he would take Senju Hashirama in as one of his subordinates.

"Indeed, I must admit—your taijutsu surpasses mine."

But upon hearing Aramaki’s words, Hashirama didn’t grow agitated in the slightest. In fact, he nodded calmly, showing no shame or frustration.

"But."

"I am a shinobi. And a shinobi’s fight... isn’t limited to just taijutsu!"

As he raised both hands and began weaving hand seals in front of his chest, Hashirama locked eyes with Aramaki, his gaze turning cold and sharp.

"Now I’ll show you what makes us shinobi truly powerful!"

As soon as the words left his mouth—

Hashirama shouted, "Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique!"

The next second—

Aramaki saw five equally clones split off from Hashirama’s back.

What was most crucial—

Aramaki was shocked to find that his Observation Haki couldn’t detect any difference in their auras.

The best way to deal with this was—

With a quick thought, Aramaki gently stomped the ground beneath his feet.

Immediately, ten thick branches burst up behind him from underground, and in the blink of an eye, they took on his form.

"Rawawa! Wood Clones, huh? I can do that too!"

Hashirama’s brows furrowed slightly at first, but then relaxed as he smiled.

"There are still differences between your Wood Clones and mine."

The moment he finished speaking, the five Wood Clones behind him turned into afterimages and shot forward.

"Hmph!"

Aramaki scoffed and swung his right hand forward with force.

"Go—wipe them out!"

[Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish...]

His ten clones, feet flashing with Soru, vanished from their spots.

In an instant—

On the shattered ground between the two of them—

Ten ’Aramakis’ and five ’Senju Hashiramas’ clashed in chaotic melee.

In less than five minutes—

—all ten Aramaki clones had been completely annihilated, reduced to splintered fragments of broken wood.

And the five Hashirama clones had already regrouped with the original body, charging toward the pale-faced Aramaki.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

All six Hashiramas simultaneously threw over a dozen shuriken at Aramaki—

Each shuriken, imbued with a faint purple chakra, began vibrating and rapidly splitting into more shuriken midair.

In the blink of an eye, they became a storm of tens of thousands of shuriken—

—bombarding the area where Aramaki stood in a continuous onslaught.

Empowered by Hashirama’s chakra, each shuriken carried the destructive force to easily shatter stone and earth.

The area ahead exploded with constant thunderous roars, billowing smoke and dust—a truly overwhelming spectacle.

"Pointless, big brother. That guy named Orochimaru told me—our opponent possesses a wood-ification ability similar to the Hydrification Technique used by the Hōzuki clan, but it can’t be countered by Lightning Release!"

Just then, the figure of Senju Tobirama appeared beside Hashirama’s real body.

"Hm?"

Hashirama’s heart sank slightly. He had rushed here so quickly that he hadn’t asked Orochimaru many questions.

"From the intel gathered during their previous battles with Aramaki," Tobirama said quickly, eyes scanning the surroundings cautiously, "only Yin Release chakra and Sage chakra seem capable of harming him. But I think we should try sealing techniques as well."

"I see..."

Hashirama immediately found the situation troublesome.

"Big brother, let’s try genjutsu and sealing techniques first!"

"Alright!"

Senju Hashirama gave a firm nod and shouted, "Then I’ll support you—go ahead and try it!"

Meanwhile—

Amid the swirling chaos, Aramaki emerged unscathed, walking forward slowly with a cold sneer as he swept his right hand outward. A fierce gust blew away all the obstructing smoke and dust in an instant.

"Oh? Is this your little brother? I gotta say, he does look pretty cute—but it seems like he’s not that strong~"

He ended his comment with his signature boisterous laugh:

"Rawawa!"

"Hmph!"

Senju Tobirama snorted coldly, saying nothing. He immediately unleashed the Yin Release chakra within his body.

He rapidly formed hand seals.

Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!

"Hm?"

On Aramaki’s side, he remained indifferent.

He was even planning to initiate a full-scale assault to swiftly eliminate both Hashirama and Tobirama, then march straight through to Konoha and crush the entire village.

But after taking just a few steps—

—he suddenly noticed a spreading darkness creeping into his field of vision.

The darkness continued to expand, slowly engulfing his sight, as though trying to render him completely blind.

It wasn’t spreading particularly fast, though.

"So this is genjutsu?"

Aramaki raised an eyebrow, equal parts surprised and intrigued.

"What an impressive mental defense... It really does feel like a solid wall."

On Tobirama’s side, he too was astonished.

Despite his Yin Release chakra managing to infiltrate Aramaki’s mind thanks to precise control, the process was incredibly difficult.

Seeing Aramaki freeze in place, Hashirama assumed that his brother’s genjutsu had taken effect.

Without delay, he used Wood Release to conjure four branch-formed wooden hands that shot out toward Aramaki’s limbs—

—and used them as mediums to perform a sealing technique that suppressed physical strength directly.

But just at that moment—

Aramaki let out a disdainful chuckle.

"Genjutsu? It’s nothing but glorified hypnosis tricks. Boring!"

The next instant—

A surge of Armament Haki burst forth violently from his towering frame!

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