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Seeing Hashirama's Wood Golem trapped by his own Wood Dragon, it was an incredible opening. Kagaya couldn't attack, but Madara certainly could.
Madara was no fool—there was no way he would let such a prime opportunity slip away. As for the idea of fighting two against one, honestly, it meant nothing. If anything, among the three of them, the one most likely to feel any shame about it was probably Kagaya.
Madara and Hashirama didn't care in the slightest about ganging up on someone. Why? Because this was war! Looking for fairness in war? Had they lost their minds? The Senju clan brought the Hyuga, the Nara, and a whole host of other clans with them to fight the Uchiha—so why didn't anyone demand the Senju abandon their allies and fight the Uchiha alone?
That was obviously impossible. The moment war arrives, it brutally tears apart every rule that doesn't belong to it. And unfortunately, fairness is not a rule of war.
So, while Kagaya might have felt a tiny twinge of shame over the two-against-one situation, Madara and Hashirama felt absolutely nothing. They had been through too many wars. They had long since learned that in war, fairness simply does not exist.
The blue Susanoo raised its colossal blade and swung violently toward the Wood Golem!
BOOM!
An immeasurable amount of chakra erupted from Hashirama's small body. Compared to the Wood Golem and the two Susanoo, Hashirama's physical form was absurdly tiny, yet from that small frame burst forth chakra so immense that, for an instant, it actually suppressed both the Wood Golem and the two fully manifested Susanoo!
Kagaya's Wood Dragon began to tear apart. Hashirama's Wood Golem was breaking free!
But Madara's blade was faster!
BOOM!
A majestic blade wave slashed outward, instantly leveling a series of small mountain peaks far behind the Wood Golem.
This was the special ability of Madara's Susanoo's signature weapon. Madara's sword could unleash blade waves to strike distant objects. In a way, it was somewhat similar to Kagaya's distance-ignoring ability. Both of them could attack enemies from afar. The difference was that Madara's blade waves destroyed everything along their path, whereas Kagaya's attacks could not. However, in return, Kagaya's attack range far surpassed Madara's.
The blade wave swept through, cleaving the Wood Golem cleanly in two from top to bottom.
But the very next second, the bisected Wood Golem began regenerating, restoring itself to its original state in the blink of an eye.
At the same moment, the Wood Dragon was fully shaken off by the Wood Golem.
Then, Hashirama swiftly brought his hands together.
"Wood Golem Jutsu!"
Something terrifying happened. A second Wood Golem rapidly rose from the ground, standing tall beside the first one.
Kagaya drew in a sharp breath. He truly couldn't help but marvel—having massive chakra really did let you do whatever you wanted!
Two Wood Golems!
Hashirama alone was sustaining two Wood Golems!
That was roughly equivalent to one man manifesting two fully formed Susanoo. Right now, Kagaya struggled just to maintain one fully formed Susanoo. It went without saying—when it came to chakra reserves, Hashirama was absolutely monstrous.
Madara let out a cold laugh. His Susanoo raised its sword and pointed at the two Wood Golems as he spoke to Kagaya.
"Boy, pick one."
His tone carried complete indifference toward Hashirama's two Wood Golems.
Kagaya smiled faintly. His Susanoo raised its blade and pointed toward the second Wood Golem that had just appeared.
"I'll take that one. It's closer to me."
Madara swung his massive blade, sending a blade wave hurtling toward the first Wood Golem.
"Fine! And remember—now that you've stepped up to stand alongside me and Hashirama, I won't allow you to embarrass yourself against a mere Wood Golem!"
His words carried both expectation and a faint, almost imperceptible trace of worry.
Kagaya took a deep breath. A confident smile spread across his face. He too swung his giant sword, charging toward his chosen Wood Golem.
"Madara, there's a chance I might finish my fight faster than you!"
Madara couldn't help but laugh.
"Cocky brat. Let's see you try!"
"Sure!"
The moment the words fell, the attacks of the two Susanoo and the two Wood Golems collided!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
Two shockwaves that distorted the very fabric of vision erupted from the epicenter of the battle. The forests on the outskirts were flattened in wave after wave. Because of Kagaya's entry into the fray, the battle's radius of destruction expanded yet again!
For hundreds of miles in every direction, the ground trembled at irregular intervals, as though the end of the world had come.
As the battle escalated, the area with Kagaya and the others at its center—spanning dozens of miles—became an absolute dead zone. The war between the Senju and Uchiha clans was forcibly halted the moment Kagaya joined the fight!
The impact of Kagaya and the others' battle was simply too enormous. Even war itself, in the face of such overwhelming power, had to bow its head in submission!
THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!! THUMP-THUMP!!
The ground shook endlessly. The four giants in the distance were like the beating heart of the world. Every pulse sent uncontrollable tremors rippling across the land.
Uchiha Sama lay prone on the ground, lifting his head slightly to gaze at the four distant titans. He felt both joy and sorrow.
The joy came from the fact that this war, under such relentless quaking and intermittent shockwaves, had become impossible to continue. Most ninja couldn't even stand anymore. Every now and then, a shockwave would sweep through, and anyone caught standing might very well be killed on the spot by the sheer force of it.
But on the other hand, Uchiha Sama had no idea whether their clan leader could emerge victorious from among those four giants. If he could, then naturally, all would be well. If he couldn't, then even though the war had been forced to a halt, the Uchiha clan members were likely just clinging to a temporary reprieve. Once the battle between the four giants ended, a reckoning would surely follow.
"Sigh."
He let out a long breath. Sama lay quietly on the ground, deciding not to think about it any further. The battle in the distance was, after all, a decisive clash between gods—not something a group of mortals could interfere with.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Three massive magatama beads spun through the air and slammed heavily into the Wood Golem, scorching a large area of its body pitch black.
But the Wood Golem didn't care in the slightest. Its enormous hand clenched into a fist and smashed directly into the face of the Susanoo, forcing Kagaya's Susanoo to stagger backward several steps.
"Tch!"
Kagaya was getting a headache. This Wood Golem was ridiculously tough and thick-skinned. He couldn't deal significant damage to it, yet its attacks hit hard. For a brief moment, Kagaya even found himself wondering—between his Susanoo and Hashirama's Wood Golem, which one was truly the absolute defense?
By this point, Kagaya finally understood why, in the original story, Madara and Hashirama needed several days of continuous fighting to determine a winner.
It was because a fully formed Susanoo and the Wood Golem were essentially in a situation where neither could decisively damage the other!
The Susanoo couldn't destroy the Wood Golem, and the Wood Golem couldn't pierce through the Susanoo. In such a stalemate, the only way to decide the outcome was to see whose chakra ran out first. And when it came to chakra reserves, no one who could truly rival Hashirama even existed.
Kagaya crouched down, placing his hand on the unconscious Tobirama, continuously drawing chakra from him.
"In that case..."
The golden Susanoo slightly bent its knees. The enormous golden wings on its back unfurled, flapping and generating immense wind pressure. Then, the colossal Susanoo soared directly into the sky, taking flight.
From a distance, a streak of golden light rapidly ascended into the heavens, truly resembling the sun itself.
After maintaining an appropriate altitude, Kagaya looked down at the Wood Golem below. Expressionless, he raised the golden Sword of Decay.
At this height, he could see the Wood Golem!
He could see it clearly!
One slash descended!
Under Hashirama's control, the Wood Golem hastily leaped aside but still had one of its arms severed.
Watching this scene, both Madara and Hashirama frowned simultaneously.
Hashirama's dodge just now had been entirely instinctive. He had never imagined that Kagaya, from such a high altitude, could actually land a strike on his Wood Golem.
"What kind of ability is this?"
Hashirama was puzzled.
Meanwhile, Madara focused his gaze intently on the battered, decaying sword held in the golden Susanoo's hand up in the sky.
"Is that his weapon's unique ability? To be able to strike someone from such a vast distance... it's somewhat similar to my blade waves."
The one-armed Wood Golem extended its other hand, picked up the severed limb, and reattached it, returning to a fully restored state.
This was, of course, not something it could do casually. Every instance of regeneration inevitably consumed chakra. But chakra, when it came to Hashirama, was the cheapest, most worthless thing in existence! If anyone thought they could defeat Hashirama by wearing down his chakra reserves, they had to be completely insane!
This left Kagaya with a splitting headache. He already couldn't inflict meaningful damage on the Wood Golem. After finally managing to cut off its arm using the sharpness of his sword, Hashirama just casually spent a bit of chakra and repaired it perfectly, with essentially nothing lost.
From the current situation, it seemed the only way to defeat the Wood Golem was to continuously drain Hashirama's chakra. But there lay the problem: Kagaya would have to be utterly brain-damaged to believe he could outlast Hashirama in a battle of chakra attrition.
Even if Kagaya kept slashing the Wood Golem nonstop, forcing Hashirama to keep expending chakra to repair it, the most likely outcome was that Kagaya would run out of chakra first, his fully formed Susanoo would deactivate, and Hashirama would still be full of energy, ready to continue fighting Madara.
Madara clearly saw Kagaya's frustration. He had experienced a nearly identical situation before. So, Madara shouted loudly.
"Boy, forget about a quick victory! Hashirama isn't that easy to defeat. His Wood Golem is extremely troublesome. It's impossible for you to destroy his Wood Golem in a short period of time."
Thanks to chakra aiding the transmission of sound, Kagaya up in the sky heard Madara's words clearly. He couldn't help but feel disheartened.
"I can't destroy it quickly..."
Madara shook his head. "At least, I can't. Give up on that idea."
With that, Madara stopped paying attention to Kagaya and threw himself back into his battle with the other Wood Golem.
Kagaya hovered in the sky, momentarily at a loss.
Can't destroy it quickly... can't destroy it quickly...
But... but...
But I can't keep this up for long either! My fully formed Susanoo can't last that long. How can I afford to drag this out? How could I dare to drag this out?
No, absolutely not!
Madara couldn't do it. But I haven't even tried yet. How can I give up? How can I conclude that I can't do it?
The Eternal Mangekyo blazed with light. He, Uchiha Kagaya, might just be able to pull it off!
The golden Susanoo once again raised the sword in its hand and slashed at the Wood Golem!
This kind of distance-ignoring attack was already hard to evade. Combined with the Wood Golem's massive size, it was practically impossible to dodge. This time, the Wood Golem's body was cleaved diagonally.
But before the severed sections could fall, chakra surged from the Wood Golem's form and began rapidly mending the damage.
Very quickly, the Wood Golem was repaired. But immediately after, Kagaya's slash came again.
This time, the Wood Golem likewise failed to evade and was struck solidly. Then, once more, it began rapidly regenerating.
Good. It seems Hashirama's Wood Golem can't completely evade my attacks!
Having landed two consecutive slashes, Kagaya confirmed this fact.
Next, Kagaya needed to verify something else.
The golden Susanoo raised its sword and slashed down again. Then, without the slightest pause, it immediately delivered a second slash, a third slash, a fourth slash, a fifth slash!
A terrifying barrage of attacks rained down, as if a god had unleashed divine retribution. The Wood Golem's body was sliced apart, again and again and again—five times in a row!
The strikes of the giant sword brought gusts of wind pressure and waves of bone-chilling cold!
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Kagaya panted slightly. He had confirmed another thing.
When attacking continuously, I can only manage five consecutive strikes at full power. Any more than that is simply impossible.
Then, Kagaya immediately looked at the Wood Golem he had slashed five times. This time, after enduring five consecutive strikes, the Wood Golem was severely damaged. However, though badly mauled, it was still in a state where recovery was possible.
Hashirama laughed.
"Young Uchiha, those five strikes were indeed impressive, but you're still far from enough!"
The Wood Golem quickly restored itself to its original state. To Hashirama, chakra was truly like something free—he could use it however he pleased, as much as he wanted.
Kagaya closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His ocular power began converging in his right eye. The next second, Kagaya opened his eyes. The golden Susanoo raised its sword.
"Far from enough? No, it's already enough! It's already enough!"
A massive amount of chakra converged onto the Sword of Decay. As the chakra gathered, the light radiating from the blade grew increasingly dazzling, illuminating the entire sky!
Hashirama felt a flicker of confusion.
"What is he planning?"
The previous attacks had all undeniably proven one thing: Kagaya's strikes couldn't truly destroy the Wood Golem. So what was the point of this buildup? Wasn't this just wasting chakra?
At this moment, the aura was certainly impressive, but the fear was that the actual power behind it wouldn't measure up!
Madara frowned and shouted a warning.
"Boy, don't be reckless! Conserve your chakra!"
Even Madara didn't believe Kagaya had the ability to annihilate a Wood Golem in a short time.
But by now, it was too late for words. The golden Susanoo raised its sword high, and then, with a single motion, brought it crashing down!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
Although Kagaya's weapon ability wasn't blade waves, the sheer force of this strike was so immense that it generated a blade wave composed purely of wind pressure. Even before hitting its target, it produced a series of sonic booms in the air.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The sonic booms grew louder and louder, one after another. In this moment, it felt as if the apocalypse had arrived!
The Wood Golem's body was, unsurprisingly, cleaved in two. But that didn't matter—Hashirama could easily recover from an injury like that.
However, following right behind the initial slash was a blade wave made of violent wind pressure!
An arm was severed, but again, it didn't matter. In Hashirama's eyes, that kind of damage was not even worth mentioning.
But after the first strike, it wasn't over! Coming right behind it were the second strike, the third, the fourth, the fifth!!
Under those five strikes, the Wood Golem's entire body was hacked into scattered pieces. The sheer concussive force of the slashes left countless fractures across the dismembered body parts.
These were Kagaya's five strikes, delivered with everything he had!
Hashirama sighed.
"Truly a magnificent attack. But... what a pity."
Even with damage this severe, Hashirama could still expend chakra to repair it!
However, Kagaya merely let out a scoff.
"Yeah... what a pity!"
As he spoke, Kagaya's right eye began glowing with a crimson light. Ocular power was consumed madly. In the very next instant, all the Wood Golem's scattered parts detonated, bursting apart and disintegrating into dust, vanishing without a single trace remaining!
Under such circumstances, repair was utterly impossible!
Madara froze. Hashirama froze too.
The Wood Golem... had been completely destroyed?
Seriously?!!
From the spot where the Wood Golem had been annihilated, a colossal shockwave erupted outward, rushing in all directions!
The ability of Kagaya's right eye Mangekyo was this: within three seconds of witnessing an attack he himself had made, he could amplify its power. The multiplier of amplification depended on the amount of ocular power he expended. What Kagaya had just done was amplify the power of his five all-out strikes, causing the Wood Golem to be utterly obliterated!
Kagaya snapped his fingers and gave his right eye's ability a name.
"I'll call you... Divine Retribution. Hahahaha."
It was a name that was slightly casual and perhaps a bit chuunibyou, but considering the scene just moments ago—Kagaya descending from the sky and annihilating the Wood Golem—hadn't it been exactly like divine retribution?