"Madara!"
Hashirama was the first to move. On the entire battlefield, only he stood a chance of stopping Madara Uchiha's rampage.
"Hashirama!"
A look of excitement flashed across Madara's face, but it quickly vanished. This time, he wasn't here for a drawn-out duel. If they truly began to fight, it would be impossible to determine a winner anytime soon, and what really mattered now was the outcome of the war.
"Limbo!"
Madara glanced at Hashirama. He had just promised Shirou he would take care of these problems himself, and he had no intention of losing face.
Hashirama charged toward Madara, completely unaware, only to be thrown backward as if struck by a heavy, invisible blow.
"Brother!" Tobirama's expression changed.
He knew perfectly well that there was nothing in front of Hashirama—he had just been sent flying by an unseen force. The sight was simply too strange.
Before Tobirama could react, his body abruptly froze, and a massive hole was torn through his Edo Tensei chest.
"Second Hokage!" Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, was shocked. He had never witnessed such bizarre events in battle.
Before Hiruzen could even process what was happening, he felt a crushing force envelop his head.
"Third Hokage!"
Minato realized something was terribly wrong. He didn't know what had happened, but he immediately began darting across the battlefield at high speed using his Flying Thunder God technique.
Whatever this strange attack was, he figured it couldn't hit him as long as he didn't stay in one place.
"Nine-Tails Chakra Mode—activate!"
Minato instantly entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, his entire body glowing with a golden light.
It was his first time using the Nine-Tails' chakra in battle, and he focused on trying to sense the strange attacks on the field.
But… there was nothing. Even his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode couldn't sense anything unusual.
Still, he had to find out.
As an Edo Tensei with an immortal body, he could afford to make a sacrifice. His job now was not to evade, but to discover how the enemy attacked so the Alliance could defend themselves.
Pausing on the battlefield, Minato guessed that this invisible attack was a one-off—only for his body to be suddenly sliced in two.
"This is..."
In the moment before being torn apart, Minato finally understood why three Hokage had fallen so easily. There was an invisible presence… enemies on the field they couldn't see.
For even the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, with its supreme perception, to fail was the only clue Minato had. It wasn't useless, but it wasn't much help, either.
The Alliance couldn't be expected to sense an enemy that even the Nine-Tails could not detect.
"Watch out!" After his body reformed, Tobirama shouted a warning to everyone. "There are other ninja on the field!"
"No…" Hashirama shook his head as he watched Madara drive a black rod through Minato. "It's not that. What just attacked us must be a product of Madara's own technique..."
As Madara's old rival and friend, Hashirama understood his moves well—especially when Madara was on the offensive. He didn't know exactly what had hit them, but he was sure it was Madara's doing.
"As expected of you, Hashirama…" Madara smirked but had no intention of revealing his ultimate technique.
As Madara moved to extract the Nine-Tails from Minato, a Rasenshuriken came flying toward him.
"Let go of my father!"
Dozens of Nine-Tails chakra arms sprouted from Naruto's body as he rapidly formed another Rasenshuriken and threw it at Madara.
A white light flashed from Madara's hand, and the Rasenshuriken dissolved into pure chakra, which was absorbed by him.
"The Rinnegan can absorb jutsu and turn it into chakra…" Jiraiya reminded his student. Naruto had never fought Nagato and knew little about the Rinnegan's true power.
But Jiraiya's reminder was nothing compared to Madara's speed. As Naruto rushed in, Madara smiled, and a strange gravitational force yanked him forward.
"Naruto!" Jiraiya called out in alarm.
"Don't worry, Master Jiraiya!" A golden hand emerged from Naruto, gripping the ground and holding him in place.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
A pair of additional arms formed from the chakra on Naruto's back. He quickly created another Rasenshuriken and hurled it at Madara, who dodged it.
"Jiraiya, get Naruto back!" Tsunade's voice was cold as she launched herself at Madara, swinging her fist.
"Don't be slow, Tsunade!" The Fourth Raikage activated his Lightning Style Chakra Mode and charged in. His adopted brother, Killer Bee, followed right behind him.
The Alliance's taijutsu specialists were leading the charge. Behind them, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, and others rapidly gathered chakra, preparing to provide support.
In that moment, the field erupted into chaos as tens of thousands of Allied Shinobi attacked Madara in waves.
-----
At the Ninja Alliance Headquarters, Shikaku Nara continued to gather reports from the front, carefully predicting Madara's next move.
"The real fight has started? If everyone rushes him, Madara will probably use Susanoo now. After all, according to the commando force, his real body was resurrected by Obito Uchiha. A flesh-and-blood body is nowhere near as durable as Susanoo for defense…"
And sure enough, everything happened just as Shikaku predicted.
Surrounded by ninjas, Madara raised his fingers, and a blue Susanoo instantly shielded his body.
"What stage?" Shikaku quickly asked the front line.
"Half-body Susanoo!" the captains replied from the battlefield. "But it looks like it can't withstand our attacks!"
After all, the vanguard consisted of two Kage, and even the revived First and Second Hokage were charging in. Madara's half-body Susanoo simply couldn't withstand the Alliance's full-on assault.
"Earth Style team, prepare!" Shikaku was tense. He had to outplay someone with the power to destroy a country single-handedly.
-----
"A bit annoying…" Madara's Susanoo was entangled by vines and sand. He smirked, his eyes flashing. "Even though most of you are weak, some, like Hashirama, can match me. I can't take it easy..."
The next instant, the Susanoo leaped up. Madara closed his fist, and his body entered the crystal at its head, activating the Complete Body Susanoo.
A hundred-meter-tall blue war god burst through the traps, swinging a samurai sword, ready to scatter the Alliance with a single blow.
But this was just what Shikaku had been waiting for—just what the Ninja Alliance had planned.
"Earth Style: Earth-Moving Core!"
Teams of Earth Style users performed their jutsu simultaneously. The ground beneath the Complete Body Susanoo collapsed, dragging the blue giant down into a deep pit.
"You brats!" Madara's expression changed instantly.
Even as he spread the Susanoo's wings to take flight, Hashirama was ready to strike.
"Wood Style: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
"Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
Hashirama swiftly performed his hand signs. A towering wood golem rose, pinning the Susanoo's wings, while a massive wood dragon coiled around its neck, trapping the blue giant deep within the pit.