The First Hokage's Sage Mode

Hearing the Monkey King himself say that he wanted to sign a contract, Furen immediately took out the blank contract and completed the signing with him without hesitation.

Previously, although the Monkey King could use reverse summoning to call Furen, it was only due to Furen allowing it. Now, after officially signing the summoning beast contract, the Monkey King truly became his summoning beast.

After smearing both his and the Monkey King's blood on the blank scroll to successfully sign it, Furen decisively said, "Monkey King, help me and the First Hokage get sealed."

Upon receiving the command, the Monkey King once again transformed into the Ruyi Jingu Bang , but this time, instead of turning into a single staff, it transformed into multiple staffs that interlaced to form a square cage, enclosing both the First Hokage and Furen inside.

At this moment, Orochimaru, having a portion of his soul sealed, could barely stand as his body, now half-soulless, became unbearably heavy.

"Ahhh! Damn it!" Orochimaru screamed, feeling as though he had turned into a stone statue, unable to move, let alone form hand seals to perform ninjutsu.

"Orochimaru-sama," one of the Sound Four maintaining the Four Violet Flames Formation, Sakon, anxiously called out, noticing Orochimaru's current state.

"Damn it... The operation's over. We don't need the barrier anymore. Let's retreat." Orochimaru spoke in a broken, labored voice, finding it difficult to even speak.

Receiving the order, the Sound Four dared not hesitate, quickly agreeing and dispelling the Four Violet Flames Formation.

The moment the formation was dispelled, many Konoha Anbu surged forward, desperate to stop them.

The multi-armed Kidomaru turned around and formed a hand seal: "Ninja Art: Spider Web Net!"

A giant spider web shot out from Kidomaru's belly, trapping all the pursuing Konoha ninjas, leaving them unable to move.

Tayuya, while supporting Orochimaru, took one last deep look at the cage formed by the Monkey King before leaving. "Furen, you'd better not die…"

Inside the cage formed by the Monkey King, it was impossible to see anything happening from the outside.

Without Orochimaru's control, the First Hokage stopped his indiscriminate killing spree, with more clarity showing in his black pupils.

Gradually, the First Hokage regained his senses. Upon seeing the scene before him, he asked, "Where's that brat Sarutobi?"

Furen lowered his head, revealing a sorrowful expression. "The Third Hokage used a forbidden technique to save the village… He died."

The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, fell silent. After a brief pause, he looked at Furen and asked, "So, what did you come to me for?"

Hashirama held some fondness for Furen, after all, it took no small amount of courage to be willing to be alone with someone unsure if they were under the enemy's control.

Furen remained silent for a moment, then, instead of speaking, he extended his hand. "First Hokage-sama, look."

Under Hashirama's shocked gaze, trees began to sprout and grow from Furen's palm, and in the blink of an eye, a small tree formed on his hand.

"You can use Wood Release too?" Hashirama didn't ask how Furen could use it, but instead, excitedly extended his own hand, growing a tree even larger than Furen's.

Furen blinked, continuing to urge the growth of the tree in his hand, making it bigger.

Not to be outdone, the First Hokage furrowed his brow, increasing the size of the tree in his hand to make it even larger than Furen's.

The two of them, in a childish manner, began competing over whose tree was bigger.

Seeing that their growing trees were about to break through the cage formed by the Monkey King, Furen quickly conceded to the childlike First Hokage. "First Hokage-sama, you win."

Furen dispelled the tree growing from his hand.

The First Hokage beamed with joy.

"I came to the First Hokage-sama hoping you could help me unlock this." Furen took out a scroll from a space scroll and handed it over. It was the Sage Scroll drawn from the system.

The moment the First Hokage saw the special symbol on the scroll, he recognized it. "This is a Sage Scroll from Shikkotsu Forest . Where did you get this?"

Furen scratched his head. "I got it from…"

Just as Furen was about to make up a lie, the First Hokage burst out laughing. "Hahaha! You must've, like me, accidentally reverse summoned yourself to Shikkotsu Forest, right?!"

Furen blinked, continuing to listen.

The First Hokage laughed even louder. "Hahaha! And like me, you must have been kicked out by that big slug and never found your way back, right?!"

Suddenly, Furen felt like he had heard some astonishing secret.

After laughing enough, the First Hokage instinctively reached for his back but found nothing. Only then did he remember he was already dead.

"I can't unlock this seal either. You'd need a contract with Katsuyu to reverse summon to the exact location." The First Hokage stroked his chin thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, the contract I signed with that big slug should be in the large scroll on my back."

"Large scroll?" Furen recalled the large space scroll the young Hashirama always carried on his back.

"Yes, after giving little Tsunade the contract when she was young, I stored it inside. It should be buried at the very bottom." The First Hokage gestured to show just how large the scroll on his back was.

"Where did you leave your scroll?" Furen asked. If he could learn Sage Mode from Shikkotsu Forest, combined with his Wood Release, it would greatly enhance his strength.

"Hahaha, after I died, I think little Tsunade took it to play with." The First Hokage answered with a laugh.

Furen rubbed his chin. It seemed that finding Tsunade had now become a necessary mission.

Just as the First Hokage was about to say something else, his gaze suddenly sharpened, staring off into the distance.

"Looks like the little fox and little raccoon are getting restless again." Hashirama said.

Little fox? Furen immediately thought of the Nine-Tails and Shukaku. "It must be Gaara and Naruto fighting!"

Hashirama stood up, muttering to himself. "How did Tobirama's technique work again?"

Hearing the First Hokage's mutter, Furen quickly said, "Hokage-sama, let me help you undo the technique."

"Ah, thank you…" The First Hokage said gratefully.

"Ox-Rat-Monkey-Tiger-Dragon-Boar!" Furen formed hand seals while muttering under his breath, then shouted, "Release!"

The First Hokage's Edo Tensei body began to dissolve at a visible speed.

"Kid, I have high hopes for you~" The First Hokage left these parting words.

After dispelling the First Hokage's technique, Furen finally let out a long sigh of relief, a smile forming on his face as he turned his gaze toward where the First Hokage had mentioned—the location of the Nine-Tails and Shukaku.

"Now, I can finally test the power of Wood Release…"

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T/N:

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