Senju Hashirama stood atop the hundred-meter tree's canopy, his eyes burning with anger as he stared at Uchiha Madara within the Susanoo.
The two of them simply glared at each other!
For a moment, the entire battlefield fell deathly silent.
Every ninja looked up, their eyes filled with reverence and dread, watching the two figures facing off at the center of the battlefield.
Aside from Kirigakure's other missing figure, these two were legendary shinobi — figures straight out of myth.
In a certain sense, they were more like arch-rivals than anything else.
Konoha had been founded jointly by Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, yet the two had ultimately parted ways and turned their blades against one another.
Most Konoha ninja found their eventual falling-out both baffling and deeply regrettable.
Of course, everything was relative. It was precisely because of their schism that the other shinobi villages had been able to catch their breath after the two titans turned on each other.
"Madara! Why are you doing this?!"
"You and I built this village together — and now you're going to destroy it with your own hands?!"
"You'd even start a war over it! Is this your idea of peace?!"
"This isn't just about you and me anymore!"
Senju Hashirama stepped forward, a terrifying aura radiating from his body, his voice thick with fury.
Deep down, Senju Hashirama was consumed by anger and bewilderment.
If Yuto had started a war and ruthlessly killed Konoha ninja, Senju Hashirama wouldn't have felt this rage — after all, they were enemies.
But Uchiha Madara had launched a war against Konoha without hesitation, even allying with Yuto — how could that not fill Senju Hashirama with grief and fury?
Since the Warring States era, Senju Hashirama had considered Uchiha Madara his closest friend.
Even after they turned against each other, Senju Hashirama had always believed that one day Madara would come to his senses.
He had told himself that Madara simply saw him as a rival — that it was bitterness over defeat, nothing more.
But now!
Seeing Uchiha Madara's utterly merciless actions, Senju Hashirama realized something: perhaps he had never truly understood Uchiha Madara at all.
Faced with Senju Hashirama's accusations and rage.
Uchiha Madara simply stood with his arms crossed, his expression calm and detached, perched at the brow of his Susanoo.
"Hashirama, after all these years, you're still as naive as ever."
"This world was never going to go the way you wanted it to. The longer you live... the more you come to understand that reality is filled with helplessness, pain, and emptiness."
Uchiha Madara paused here, a strange emotion flickering in his eyes.
"Listen carefully. Wherever there is light, there will always be shadow. If the concept of a winner exists, then a loser must exist as well."
"If one harbors the selfish desire to maintain peace, war will be the result."
"If one wishes to protect, then love will inevitably breed hatred. They are bound by causality — inseparable from one another. That is reality!"
Uchiha Madara stared at Senju Hashirama, his voice cold and resolute.
A flicker of surprise crossed Senju Hashirama's face, and he looked at Uchiha Madara with a complex expression.
"I see. So that's what you truly believe."
Senju Hashirama took a deep breath and straightened his posture, the calm returning to his features.
Then!
Determination filled Senju Hashirama's eyes as he gazed steadily at Uchiha Madara — though now, there was an unmistakable edge of coldness in his stare.
"Madara, you understand that peace triggers war and protection breeds hatred. But you've never grasped the actual meaning behind peace and protection."
"The people of Konoha are a part of me. The villagers believe in me, and I believe in them."
"That is what it means to be Hokage. That is what I will protect!"
Senju Hashirama's voice rang out across the entire battlefield.
An overwhelming, terrifying aura exploded from his body.
Like a violent storm, the immense killing intent surged toward Uchiha Madara's position.
Since neither side could accept the other's philosophy, there was only one way to resolve this — the same way it had been resolved in the past.
With fists.
"Madara! It looks like I'll just have to kill you one more time!"
Senju Hashirama's cold voice cut through the air.
"Hahaha!"
"Hashirama, I didn't lose back then, and I certainly won't lose now! Let us have a real fight!"
Uchiha Madara let out a wild, exultant laugh, the purple glow of his Rinnegan eyes flaring brightly.
The moment they finished speaking, their two massive auras collided in midair, forming an invisible pressure that rippled outward in all directions.
The Konoha and Iwagakure ninja on both sides simultaneously felt the crushing weight of that pressure, their hearts lurching as they scrambled backward.
A clash between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara was clearly not something ninja of their caliber could interfere with.
A single misstep, and they would be killed by nothing more than the aftershock of the two legends' battle.
Senju Hashirama's expression turned icy as he clapped his hands together.
At his signal, the massive nest-like canopy that had gone still began to shake violently.
Then, under the astonished gazes of everyone watching, the hundred-meter tree — still bearing the meteorite in its crown — bent downward toward the ground like a loaded spring.
The hundreds of massive trunks, twisted and braided together, displayed astonishing elasticity.
In just a breath or two, the bent tree launched the meteorite on its crown, sending it hurtling straight toward the Susanoo!
The massive meteorite streaked through the air like a comet striking the earth, trailing a terrifying shockwave and a deafening roar!
At the sight of this, Uchiha Madara's eyes narrowed. A torrent of ocular power poured from his Rinnegan.
On the mountain-sized Susanoo's hand, chakra rapidly condensed into a blue blade dozens of meters long.
Uchiha Madara swung the Susanoo's sword at the incoming meteorite in a single devastating slash.
The enormous Susanoo showed no sign of sluggishness — instead, it moved with shocking speed.
Everyone perceived nothing more than a flash of blue light, followed by an ear-splitting CRACK that echoed through the sky.
The massive meteorite hurtling toward them was cleaved cleanly in two by the Susanoo's blade.
The two halves veered off to either side, slamming into the ground with thunderous impacts that shook the earth like a sudden earthquake.
While Senju Hashirama had launched the meteorite using the tree's elasticity, he hadn't stopped moving.
He knew full well that throwing the meteorite wouldn't do any real damage to someone like Uchiha Madara.
"Wood Release Secret Jutsu — Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
Senju Hashirama clapped his hands together with a low shout, and the great tree beneath his feet began to transform rapidly.
Drawing on the tree spawned by the Wood Release, Senju Hashirama used only a small amount of chakra to reshape the entire structure into a colossal wooden dragon.
"ROAR!"
The Wood Dragon let out a deafening roar like a true dragon, its enormous body surging across the ground with incredible speed.
The moment Uchiha Madara shattered the meteorite with his blade, the giant dragon was already coiling around the Susanoo's legs.
The dragon climbed the Susanoo's body at a blistering pace, binding it tightly.
Its head reared back, aiming directly at the Susanoo's skull, and let out another thunderous bellow!
Uchiha Madara instantly felt the crushing pressure transmitted through the Wood Dragon's coiled body where it gripped the Susanoo.
The binding force was immense. Where the dragon constricted, the sheer force caused hairline cracks to spread across the Susanoo's armor.
Uchiha Madara tried to swing the Susanoo's great blade at the dragon to cut it free.
But the dragon's grip was too strong — both of the Susanoo's arms were pinned, and the blade couldn't be raised.
Meanwhile, Senju Hashirama was already standing on top of the dragon's head.
With a slight push of his feet, he vanished from his position, becoming a blur as he rocketed toward Uchiha Madara.
In the blink of an eye!
Senju Hashirama appeared at the brow of the Susanoo, his fist drawn back, and slammed it forward!
A deep, muffled boom echoed through the sky as a dense web of cracks spidered across the Susanoo's brow where Senju Hashirama's fist connected.
The hundred-meter Susanoo was sent stumbling backward by the sheer force of the blow.
But the cracks at its brow were repaired by Uchiha Madara almost instantly.
"Now that's more like it, Hashirama!"
Uchiha Madara's voice carried a thrill of excitement as he gazed at Senju Hashirama through the Susanoo.
CRACK! CRACK!
A series of sharp, urgent sounds rang out from the Susanoo's body once more.
Though the cracks caused by the Wood Dragon's constriction were quickly healed, the binding force only continued to intensify.
It was obvious — the Wood Dragon was absorbing the Susanoo's chakra.
Uchiha Madara's eyes flashed. He leaped out of the Susanoo entirely, charging straight at Senju Hashirama.
The instant he left the Susanoo, the colossal construct vanished.
Without the Susanoo to hold it aloft, the Wood Dragon crashed to the ground with a tremendous impact.
In midair!
Uchiha Madara had already closed the distance to Senju Hashirama.
There was no more talk. The two of them engaged in close-quarters taijutsu, each unleashing a barrage of strikes on the other.
Senju Hashirama threw a punch at Uchiha Madara's chest; Madara dodged with a sidestep.
In the same fluid motion, Uchiha Madara twisted in midair and whipped a roundhouse kick toward Senju Hashirama's head.
Senju Hashirama raised his arm to block the kick while simultaneously lashing out with one of his own.
Uchiha Madara crossed both arms in front of his body, absorbing the blow.
BOOM! BOOM!
Every collision between them produced a heavy, echoing thud in the air.
They fought as they fell from a height of over a hundred meters, neither giving an inch.
It wasn't until they were less than ten meters from the ground that both of them used the recoil of their strikes to leap backward, touching down on the battlefield in a series of bounds.
The two of them stood facing each other on the battlefield, less than fifty meters apart, staring at one another in silence.
It was only then.
That the ninja of both Konoha and Iwagakure finally recovered from their daze.
One by one, they stared at the center of the battlefield with expressions of shock and utter disbelief.
From the moment the two legends had engaged to now, barely any time had passed — yet every ninja present felt as though they had just witnessed something incomprehensible.
This level of combat had already surpassed the imagination of everyone on the field.
"Incredible..."
Uzuki Anko swallowed hard, a tremor in her voice.
"So Uchiha Madara wasn't even using his full strength when he fought us."
Asuma, now partially recovered thanks to Shizune's healing, spoke with a note of bitter frustration.
"Fighters at this level are truly terrifying. If any one of us went up against either of them, we'd be killed in an instant."
Shiranui Genma's face was pale as he murmured the words.
The comments from the jonin cast a heavy silence over the assembled ninja.
But then a worried voice broke through.
"Both Lord Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara possess such overwhelming power... then Kirigakure's First Mizukage, Yuto — his strength must be no less than either of theirs."
"Now that Lord Senju Hashirama has his hands full with Uchiha Madara, who in our village could possibly hold Yuto back?"
Yuhi Kurenai's voice, laced with worry, rang out across the battlefield.
At her words, every ninja present felt their hearts sink.
That concern wasn't unique to Yuhi Kurenai — it had been gnawing at every single one of them. No one had wanted to voice it aloud.
Or more accurately — no one had dared to.
[
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