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"So that's how it is?"
Hashirama straightened to his full height. An aura no less imposing than Madara's began radiating from his wooden form, thick and suffocating.
"Then I'll be waiting for you. But think carefully—you might die."
Kagaya shrugged off the warning without a flicker of concern.
"I won't die."
Hashirama studied him for a long moment.
"Is that so."
With those quiet words, his body began transforming back into lifeless wood. The clone technique dispersed.
Kagaya paid it no mind. Using the skeletal arm of his Susanoo, he scooped Tobirama's unconscious form from the ground and set off once more toward the heart of the battlefield where Madara and Hashirama clashed.
During those few days back at the Uchiha compound, Kagaya had once asked Madara a question that had long puzzled him: why was Madara's speed so overwhelming?
Madara's answer had been simple and direct. It came down to his Mangekyō Sharingan being of the "straight tomoe" variety. That particular trait allowed his body technique—his physical speed—to reach terrifying levels.
Kagaya, of course, had long forgotten the single offhand mention of "straight tomoe" in the original story. So he pressed Madara for clarification.
That was when he learned something entirely new.
The Mangekyō Sharingan possessed a hidden dichotomy: "straight tomoe" and "curved tomoe." Before evolving to the Mangekyō stage, a Sharingan showed no such distinction. But once it awakened to Mangekyō, each user's eyes would fall into one of two categories depending on their innate nature.
Those who awakened straight tomoe Mangekyō would find their ocular techniques somewhat weakened or less potent. In exchange, however, their body technique received an enormous boost—most noticeably in raw speed.
According to Madara, before he awakened straight tomoe, his movement speed had actually lagged far behind Kagaya's. But now, at least over short distances, he could outright suppress Kagaya.
The enhancement to physical performance was staggering.
Conversely, those who awakened curved tomoe Mangekyō suffered a corresponding decline in physical resilience—their bodies became noticeably frailer—but their ocular techniques received a dramatic amplification in power.
Madara had bluntly informed Kagaya that his own Mangekyō belonged to the curved tomoe category.
That revelation hit like a thunderclap.
No wonder, ever since awakening his Mangekyō, Kagaya had constantly felt his body was fragile—unable to withstand even moderate damage. He had chalked it up to the "high attack, low defense" nature of the Naruto world. Now he understood there was a deeper, more specific reason: curved tomoe.
Looking back, Itachi's Mangekyō must also have been curved tomoe. His body had always been frail as well.
More importantly, Madara's explanation finally forced Kagaya to confront an ability he had long ignored—his own ocular techniques.
From childhood, everyone had recognized that Kagaya's prodigious talent lay overwhelmingly in Body Flicker Technique. Even after awakening the Mangekyō, he had continued pouring all his focus into refining that one skill. His ocular techniques had been relegated to mere support tools.
But now the truth was clear.
While his natural genius was indeed concentrated in Body Flicker, when it came to the Mangekyō itself, his talent had not manifested in the "straight tomoe" direction of physical enhancement. Instead, it had poured entirely into ocular prowess—into the curved tomoe path of devastating genjutsu and ninjutsu-like eye techniques.
After that conversation with Madara, Kagaya began to seriously study and develop his own Mangekyō abilities.
Several minutes of all-out sprinting later, he finally reached the epicenter of the war.
The golden Susanoo enveloped him completely, shielding him from the apocalyptic shockwaves that rolled outward in every direction.
Kagaya pressed one hand beneath his Eternal Mangekyō eye. There was no denying it: the long-overlooked power of his ocular techniques had become one of the main reasons he dared set foot in this zone.
Because after careful study, he had realized something undeniable.
His ocular techniques… were terrifyingly strong.
Hundreds of meters away, the two titans continued their relentless duel. Yet both of them noticed the new arrival almost simultaneously—the small but radiant golden figure that had just entered their battlefield.
"You actually came here? What exactly do you think you can do, you fool?! It's not your time yet!" Madara bellowed at him.
Madara knew Kagaya well enough. At his current level, Kagaya could not yet manifest a complete-body Susanoo. So what possible use could he have in a fight of this scale?
Even if he had abandoned his post at the rear and rushed to the front lines, the smart move would have been to wait quietly—wait until Madara and Hashirama had exhausted each other to the point of collapse—then step in to deliver the decisive blow. Charging headlong into two still-energetic monsters was pure recklessness.
"He's right, kid," Hashirama called out in his booming voice. "I can see you're confident—and incredibly strong. But the battle between Madara and me is on an entirely different level. You're not ready to participate. I'm not saying this to belittle you. I can tell how powerful you are. But this is not yet the moment for your light to shine brightest."
Hashirama truly was an idealist to his core. Even now, even toward an Uchiha who posed a massive potential threat, he could not bear to watch someone throw their life away pointlessly.
Kagaya listened to both of them without any visible reaction.
The reason he still couldn't manifest a complete-body Susanoo wasn't just a lack of chakra—though that was part of it. His physical frailty was another.
But none of that mattered.
If chakra was insufficient, he could draw from the unconscious Tobirama beside him. If his body was too weak, he would grit his teeth and endure.
One way or another, in this war of gods, Uchiha Kagaya would claim his place among them!
The blue giant and the faintly golden-tinged wooden colossus continued trading earth-shattering blows. Waves of terrifying chakra rippled outward, turning the surrounding earth into a cracked expanse of bleached white stone. The original landscape had long since vanished; the terrain itself had been rewritten by their power.
In the distance, Uchiha and Senju shinobi paused mid-clash every so often to glance toward the two titans. Everyone understood the same unspoken truth: the outcome of their individual fights meant nothing. The war's fate rested solely in the hands of those two distant giants.
The battle between Madara and Hashirama had begun at dusk. Now, hours later, the sun had completely set. Pale moonlight rose silently over the land, casting a cold, silvery glow across the carnage and bringing fresh dread to every shinobi still fighting.
Nighttime was when ambushes thrived.
From high above, if one looked down across the several-kilometer warzone, the very center blazed with two blinding sources of light. Farther out, smaller flickers of red, blue, and other colors rose and fell—ninjutsu detonating in the dark.
At the heart, one golden and one blue radiance stood like sun and moon. Around them, countless weaker sparks twinkled like distant stars paying homage to their sovereigns.
"So dark…"
Uchiha Soma decapitated a Senju clansman with a single stroke, then gazed at the blackness swallowing the forest around him and let out a tired sigh.
In peacetime, night brought tranquility. On the battlefield, it brought only terror.
"Captain! Ryūichi, Shimashū, Ryōhei—all dead!"
One of his squad members rushed up from behind and shouted the report.
Soma didn't turn around. His voice came out half-laugh, half-sob.
"Hah… haha… So it's just the two of us left in the squad now?"
A brief silence.
Then the voice behind him spoke again, quieter.
"I'm sorry, Captain. After this… it might just be you."
Soma's body jerked. He whipped around.
What he saw was a teammate drenched in blood. The man's left arm was gone. A massive gash ran across his torso, blood still pouring from it in thick streams.
"Ah… so that's it. You're leaving too, Kai."
Uchiha Kai forced himself to stand tall despite his wounds. Then he shouted with all the strength he had left.
"Report to the captain! All enemies encountered by this squad have been eliminated! Mission complete! Casualties: four. Report concluded! Captain… I'll continue reporting to you in the next life!"
Blood trickled from the corners of Kai's smiling mouth.
"Captain… Uchiha—"
Soma's voice trembled as he finished the line.
"Will prevail!"
He reached out and caught Kai's falling body.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Soma whispered through tears.
"So damn dark…"
Far away, the two giants continued their clash. No one knew when—or if—the war would ever end.
Soma gently laid Kai's corpse on the ground. He picked up his samurai sword once more, gazed toward the distant titans, pressed his lips together… and said nothing. Turning away, he resumed the slaughter.
All his hope now rested on that blue giant. In this black night, only those two titans had the right to decide who would overturn the darkness.
When would this war finally end?
But as he walked deeper into the fight, Soma suddenly realized the path ahead was growing brighter. The oppressive darkness was being devoured bit by bit. Golden rays began piercing the earth, illuminating the battlefield like the first dawn.
"What…?"
He turned toward the source of the light.
There—beside the original two titans—stood another golden giant!
Winged, twin blades of decayed light in its hands, towering over a hundred meters tall. In an instant, every soul on the battlefield could see it.
In this pitch-black night, the golden giant seemed to eclipse the moon itself, becoming the sole sun of this endless darkness!
"What the hell is that?!"
"Another giant? Which side does it belong to?"
"That light… it's blinding! What is that thing?!"
"No way… looking at the size… could it actually fight on equal terms with the clan leader an— That's—"
"That's just too terrifying…"
The entire battlefield erupted.
Most of the reaction was pure panic. In that moment, no one knew whether this new golden colossus belonged to the Uchiha or the Senju.
Its golden radiance bathed the whole warzone, forcing every eye to turn toward it.
From high above, a third, overwhelmingly brilliant light now blazed at the center. For one breathless instant, its brilliance even outshone the blue and the other gold, becoming the single most dazzling presence in the entire world!
"This… this is a god!"
In that moment, another deity had descended upon the battlefield!
Its colossal chakra rolled outward like a proclamation to every living soul present:
A god has arrived.
Madara's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the golden complete-body Susanoo before him. For the first time when facing Kagaya, he felt genuine, bone-deep astonishment.
That golden light kept hammering home the truth: right now, Uchiha Kagaya was no longer a junior. He was a peer—a warrior capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Madara himself.
"You're pushing yourself way too hard… but, it's impressive. A complete-body Susanoo in early teens. Honestly… this is the first time I've felt real fear from someone else. I can't wait to see what you become in the future."
Hashirama, too, stared in open amazement. He let out a long sigh.
"So that's how it is. You're no longer just a junior. Sending a mere wood clone to deal with you earlier… that was disrespectful. I apologize. I have to admit it: right now, you are an extremely dangerous enemy!"
Kagaya stood inside the diamond-shaped "cockpit" on the Susanoo's forehead, gasping heavily for breath.
Manifesting a complete-body Susanoo had taken a brutal toll—even with the Eternal Mangekyō. If he had tried this with a regular Mangekyō, he probably would have died the instant it formed.
But none of that mattered now.
The important thing was—he had endured.
After catching his breath, Kagaya straightened, a faint smile on his lips as he looked toward Hashirama and Madara.
"Now… I also have the right to decide the outcome of this war."
In this conflict, the lives of countless Senju and Uchiha clansmen had rested entirely in the hands of Hashirama and Madara.
But from this moment forward, one more name had to be added to that list:
Uchiha Kagaya.
Raising the decayed giant sword high, Kagaya grinned fiercely.
"Shall we begin? Honestly… I probably can't keep this up for very long."
That was obvious. Whether in terms of physical stamina or chakra reserves, Kagaya could never match the endurance of Madara or Hashirama.
Hashirama spoke calmly.
"Earlier—whether you were fighting Tobirama or my clone—you barely used any chakra at all. You were saving it for this moment, weren't you?"
Kagaya gave a straightforward nod.
"Yes."
All along the way, no matter who he faced, he had deliberately minimized chakra expenditure. Everything had been in preparation for this single burst.
Under normal circumstances, Kagaya could sustain a fifteen-meter Susanoo for extended periods—that was his usual limit. But the higher he pushed beyond that, the shorter the duration he could maintain. A complete-body Susanoo—even with Tobirama's chakra as a supplement—would probably only last two or three hours at most.
Tobirama's chakra reserves were immense.
Yet even so, two or three hours was Kagaya's absolute ceiling.
But it was enough!
Though this decision had been impulsive, Kagaya had prepared meticulously. Two or three hours… that was more than sufficient!
"Let's start!"
The decayed giant sword swept toward Hashirama, dragging a hurricane of wind pressure behind it.
The wooden colossus leaped aside, evading the strike.
Then—
BOOM!!!
A colossal fissure tore across the earth, stretching into the distance, terrifying in its scale.
Now Kagaya, too, possessed the power to reshape the land itself!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground shook violently again and again. In that moment, most of the shinobi across the battlefield stopped fighting entirely, staring in awe at the supreme majesty of the golden giant.
Every skirmish, every petty duel, suddenly felt laughably insignificant before that single, world-splitting crack.
"Wood Dragon Technique!"
A wooden dragon infused with golden light erupted from the wooden colossus and lunged toward Kagaya's Susanoo, aiming to bind it.
Kagaya's Susanoo offered no resistance. The dragon wrapped around it completely.
And then—
"Wood Dragon Technique!"
A second wooden dragon burst forth from Kagaya's Susanoo and shot straight toward Hashirama's wooden construct, seeking to ensnare it in turn!
This was the ability of Kagaya's left eye: any technique he personally endured or personally witnessed could be copied and turned back against its originator!
The amount of ocular power consumed depended on the strength of the replicated technique. Copying something as powerful as Wood Dragon was extremely taxing. But Kagaya had no intention of fighting a drawn-out battle with Hashirama. His goal was simple: unleash every ounce of his power in the shortest possible window!
As long as the ocular strain wasn't utterly unbearable, he didn't care!
Hashirama stared blankly at the incoming dragon, momentarily unable to comprehend what was happening—before it wrapped tightly around his wooden body.
"You can use Wood Release?"
Kagaya began struggling against the dragon coiled around his own Susanoo, testing its strength.
"Who knows?"
*****
A/N: In the original work, Madara only ever mentioned the existence of "straight tomoe" and noted that it enhances the user's speed. Beyond that single line, there is no official explanation or elaboration on "straight tomoe" from Kishimoto. This counts as one of his classic dangling plot threads. Therefore, the concepts of "straight tomoe" and "curved tomoe" in this story are entirely my own headcanon, extrapolated from the single fact that straight tomoe boosts speed. They are not canon. Just wanted to make that clear to everyone. Additionally, official material on the Warring States era is extremely sparse. A lot of the details here—customs, techniques, daily life—are my own inventions and speculations. Otherwise there simply wouldn't be enough content to write about. I love the Hashirama-Madara era too much to leave it half-finished, so I've added original flavor to flesh it out. Hope no one minds.