The sudden tremor of the small mountain caused every single Konoha shinobi present to pale in an instant!
The Nara clan ninja who had been using the Shadow Imitation Jutsu to restrict the Uchiha's movements all collapsed to the ground at practically the same time, their faces draining of color.
"No! Uchiha Madara has broken free!"
Uzuki Anko was the first to cry out in alarm.
The moment her voice faded!
The massive mountain serving as a seal erupted from its peak with a deafening roar.
Immediately after, the entire mountain structure crumbled apart!
A blue Susanoo even larger than the mountain itself emerged from the collapsing rock, revealing itself before everyone's eyes.
Kakashi and the other jonin vanished from their positions the instant the collapse began, retreating rapidly toward the rear.
At this moment.
The Konoha jonin stared up at the colossal Susanoo, ugly expressions etched across every one of their faces.
"Damn it!"
"Is Uchiha Madara's power really so overwhelming that we can't even hold him for a moment?!"
Yuhi Kurenai's face twisted with indignation as she clenched her fists tightly.
She wasn't the only one — every other shinobi wore the same expression.
Kakashi tensed his body, his eyes locked dead ahead toward the Susanoo as he took a deep breath.
"Even with a newly developed ability, it probably won't do much good against Uchiha Madara."
He raised his hand and placed it gently over his left Sharingan eye, a hint of helplessness flickering in his gaze.
Across the battlefield, the Konoha forces stared blankly at the enormous Susanoo in the distance, their faces filled with shock.
For a moment, every one of them forgot to attack — or more precisely, they had no idea how to even begin.
Ever since Uchiha Madara had made his move, the morale of the Konoha forces had been in freefall, and by now it had plummeted to a critical level.
If something wasn't done soon, Uchiha Madara alone would be enough to shatter every unit on the Konoha side of the battlefield.
The opposite, of course, was true for the Iwagakure forces.
Had Uchiha Madara not withheld the order to attack, the Iwagakure side would have charged forward long ago!
"As expected of Lord Uchiha Madara — suppressing the entire Konoha military with the power of a single man."
Hidan stood atop a hill, his face alight with fanaticism as he gazed out at the distant battlefield.
"For once, I actually agree with you."
Kakuzu turned his head and gave Hidan a dismissive glance, his voice flat.
The only kind of person who could command loyalty from battle-hardened, overwhelmingly powerful ninja like themselves was someone even stronger than them.
Nagato had been that person once, and now, Uchiha Madara was no different.
As Kakuzu spoke, the air in front of them suddenly warped, and a spatial vortex appeared in their field of vision.
Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Sasuke, and Sasori emerged from the Kamui dimension.
"Oh, looks like we arrived right on time."
The moment Uchiha Obito appeared, he spotted the mountain-sized Susanoo on the distant battlefield, a note of excitement in his voice.
Sasuke looked on as well, his eyes wide with awe and a trace of dazed wonder.
"Is this the complete Susanoo?"
Sasuke murmured to himself. Despite his continuous training during this period, he had only managed to summon a skeletal Susanoo.
"Not quite."
Hearing Sasuke's words, Uchiha Obito shook his head slowly.
"This doesn't qualify as a true complete Susanoo. The Konoha shinobi aren't worth Uchiha Madara unleashing his full Susanoo."
Back on the battlefield.
Uchiha Madara stood with his arms crossed, positioned at the brow of the Susanoo, his cold gaze fixed on the Konoha ninja below.
"I thought you might provide me with some entertainment, but it seems I overestimated you."
"With that said, the warmup is just about over. Time to clear the stage."
Uchiha Madara's indifferent voice echoed across the sky above the Konoha forces.
At those words, the faces of Kakashi and every other Konoha jonin changed dramatically.
The next moment, under the watchful eyes of all present.
Uchiha Madara brought his hands together in a seal, and the colossal Susanoo mirrored the motion with its own enormous arms, forming a different seal at its chest.
Uchiha Madara's Sharingan faded, replaced by the Rinnegan, and both eyes blazed with intensity!
Tenpenchii!
The moment Uchiha Madara completed the seal, the entire battlefield fell into an eerie stillness.
Many Konoha ninja noticed nothing happening at first and wore looks of confusion, clearly unable to comprehend what jutsu Uchiha Madara had just unleashed.
Just as these ninja were about to ask their comrades what was going on, they noticed the people around them staring upward with frozen expressions.
As one person raised their head, the surrounding shinobi followed suit, all of them looking up at the sky.
Like a contagion, the movement spread rapidly across the entire battlefield!
Every ninja who looked up wore expressions of sheer horror and disbelief.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of weapons slipping from grasping fingers rang out repeatedly. Some Konoha ninja simply collapsed to their knees, their legs giving out beneath them.
"This has to be a joke... how... how is this possible?"
Shiranui Genma's face was a mask of disbelief, his voice trembling slightly.
The senbon he always kept in his mouth had long since fallen to the ground, and he didn't even seem to notice.
High above in the sky.
A massive meteorite, over a hundred meters in diameter, was plummeting straight down toward the Konoha forces' position.
The sheer size of the meteorite was enough to blot out the sun!
Even before it struck, the enormous shadow it cast and the terrifying pressure generated by its descent were enough to strip most of the Konoha ninja of any will to keep fighting.
This was no longer a power that any human being could wield!
"RUN!!!"
Kakashi, Asuma, Yamashiro Aoba, and the other jonin screamed at the top of their lungs, their eyes bloodshot as they bellowed the order.
Even these jonin — battle-hardened elites — felt a surge of despair rising from the depths of their hearts at this moment!
A meteorite over a hundred meters wide would generate an impact force and destructive power upon landing that would reduce the entire battlefield to flat ground.
This was not a force that human hands could stop!
Even though Kakashi and the others knew full well that they had no chance of escaping the blast radius now.
Still, they carried out their duty as jonin to the very end.
Under these circumstances, all they could hope for was that the ninja on the outer edges of the battlefield might manage to get away — every single one who made it out would be a victory.
"Even knowing we can't stop it, how could we just sit here and wait to die?"
"If nothing else, we have to buy the younger ones whatever chance we can."
Aburame Shibi — the most soft-spoken and unassuming of the jonin — stepped forward first, his voice perfectly calm.
Under these circumstances, he was the only person on the entire battlefield who could still remain composed.
"Secret Jutsu — Insect Dragon Gale!"
Aburame Shibi let out a low shout, channeling every last insect and drop of chakra within his body.
A massive swarm of insects surged from his body like a black cloud, spiraling skyward in a tornado-like vortex of parasitic insects, rushing toward the descending meteorite.
"Right." Kakashi stepped forward right after him, crackling blue lightning erupting from both hands.
Lightning Release — Lightning Beast Tracking Fang!
Surging lightning-natured chakra condensed in midair into the shape of a massive beast, hurtling toward the meteorite above.
Yuhi Kurenai: "Wind Release — Wind Dust Jutsu!"
Shiranui Genma: "Fire Release — Fire Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Yamashiro Aoba: "Secret Jutsu — Scattered Thousand Crows Jutsu!"
Uzuki Anko: "Fire Release — Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Asuma: "Composite Ninjutsu — Vortex Wind Fire Jutsu!"
One by one, the Konoha jonin unleashed the most destructive long-range jutsu in their arsenals, all at the same time.
Following the lead of Kakashi and the jonin, those ninja caught in the direct center of the meteorite's path — who knew they had no chance of escaping — steeled themselves and began firing their own jutsu at the sky.
Just as Aburame Shibi had said: even if they couldn't stop the meteorite, they could at least create an opening for those ninja outside the blast zone to escape!
Jutsu of every elemental nature streaked upward like brilliant fireworks, all converging on the meteorite's position.
Unfortunately, more than half of the ninja who unleashed their jutsu couldn't even reach the altitude of the meteorite.
As for the rest, those attacks that did strike the meteorite may have slowed it slightly, but the overall effect was negligible.
As the meteorite drew closer and closer to the ground!
The terrifying air pressure and shockwave it carried grew ever more intense, and a sliver of despair began creeping into everyone's eyes.
Right at that moment!
A surging aura erupted from behind the Konoha lines.
A black afterimage carrying this overwhelming presence streaked across the sky like a shooting star, crashing down in front of Kakashi and the others at the vanguard of the Konoha forces.
By the time the Konoha ninja processed what had happened, they saw a figure standing at the very front of their formation — the very person they had been desperately hoping would arrive!
Senju Hashirama!
The only reason the Konoha ninja had held out this long was because every single one of them believed — knew — that Senju Hashirama would come!
Asuma, Kakashi, and the others stared with eyes full of joy and relief at Senju Hashirama standing before them.
"Lord Senju Hashirama!!"
"Lord Senju Hashirama!!"
Excited, fervent voices rose from the ranks behind them, reaching Senju Hashirama's ears.
"Haha."
Hearing the voices from behind him, Senju Hashirama let out a hearty laugh and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Sorry I'm a bit late."
"From here on out, leave this to me."
Senju Hashirama turned to face the Konoha ninja behind him, giving them a thumbs-up and a radiant smile.
The moment Senju Hashirama spoke, the Konoha ninja erupted in cheers.
He hadn't done anything yet, but the despair that had gripped every Konoha shinobi moments ago had been completely swept away.
"Hashirama! You finally showed up — I've been waiting for you!"
Uchiha Madara stood at the brow of his Susanoo, his face burning with battle lust and excitement as he called out loudly.
"Madara, you bastard!"
"This village wasn't built by me alone!"
Senju Hashirama turned around and looked at the many fallen Konoha ninja scattered across the battlefield, a rare flash of genuine anger crossing his face.
As he spoke.
Senju Hashirama slammed his palms against the ground, letting out a low roar: "Wood Release Secret Jutsu — Nativity of a World of Trees!"
RUMBLE!
The entire earth around Senju Hashirama erupted with a thunderous roar, and massive trees burst from the ground one after another as if a dragon were churning beneath the surface.
The roots of these trees twisted and intertwined, forming enormous wooden dragons.
Under Senju Hashirama's control, the trees produced by the Wood Release did not spread outward indiscriminately.
Instead, they only extended to an area roughly a hundred meters in diameter directly beneath the meteorite.
Then, once the trees stopped expanding outward, they all began growing upward toward the center.
Trunk after trunk — each several meters thick — twisted and braided together, spiraling upward into the sky!
Hundreds of these colossal trees, under Senju Hashirama's command, entwined into a single, even larger composite structure.
This composite tree grew at a staggering rate, reaching a height of roughly a hundred meters in just a breath or two.
Once it reached that altitude!
The tree stopped growing upward. Its crown began spreading outward in all directions, gradually forming a shape resembling a giant bird's nest.
And the massive meteorite — over a hundred meters across — slammed down from the sky directly onto the nest-like canopy of the colossal tree.
The instant the two collided!
An earth-shattering boom erupted across the sky.
The ground itself lurched and heaved as if struck by a magnitude-five earthquake.
The tremendous impact, compounded by the meteorite's own weight, caused countless thick branches — each meters across — to snap and shatter across the tree's canopy.
But!
Sustained by Senju Hashirama's surging chakra, the broken trunks and branches regrew at an even faster rate, continuously absorbing and deflecting the meteorite's devastating force!
By the time everyone on the battlefield came to their senses, the collision had already stopped.
The canopy of the hundred-meter tree had caught the meteorite firmly, holding it in place.
From Senju Hashirama's arrival to the end of it all, less than half a minute had passed.
Yet to every Konoha ninja on the battlefield, it had felt like an eternity.
Senju Hashirama was no longer standing where he had been.
He now stood atop the tree's canopy, calmly gazing across at Uchiha Madara within the Susanoo.
[
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