Chapter 251: Madara, This Technique Was Specially Prepared for You
After a single breath of silence, Madara's furious voice erupted from within the mountain.
The cliff embedding Madara suddenly exploded. His form vanished instantly, reappearing before Hashirama the next moment. One punch sent Hashirama flying backward.
However, the instant his fist connected, Madara detected Hashirama's abnormality. His rage intensified further.
The same roar, yet the emotions contained within were completely different.
Madara's gaze swept across the battlefield, immediately spotting the person controlling Hashirama from behind the scenes. He abandoned Hashirama immediately, charging straight toward Kazuma.
"Hmph. Uchiha Madara?"
"Perfect. Let the First Hokage subdue you!"
Kazuma altered his hand seal. Hashirama's form flickered forward to intercept.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees!"
The earth trembled. Thick roots surged from beneath the ground once more, sweeping toward Madara.
But Madara snorted coldly, likewise slamming both palms together in response.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees!"
Suddenly, the entire earth overturned. Even more massive roots erupted from below—instantly surpassing Hashirama's Wood Release forest and overwhelming the original growth completely.
"You've got to be kidding!"
Kazuma shouted in stunned disbelief:
"How can Uchiha Madara use Wood Release?"
"And why is his Wood Release stronger than the First Hokage's?"
"Wasn't the First supposed to have defeated Uchiha Madara multiple times?"
Mizuki beside him explained:
"It's primarily an issue of control methods."
"We expend massive amounts of effort suppressing the Edo Tensei bodies' autonomous will. Therefore, the strength they can display falls far short of their original capabilities."
Witnessing Uchiha Madara's overwhelming demonic presence ahead, Kazuma's heart seized with alarm. He hastily shouted:
"Then what are we waiting for? Release the Edo Tensei restrictions!"
"But if we do that, the bodies become prone to losing control!"
"They only might lose control—it's not guaranteed! Deal with that Uchiha Madara first, then worry about the rest!"
Mizuki's gaze flickered briefly toward Yasushi in the distance before he silently lowered his head. Together with Kazuma, he released the suppression on the Edo Tensei bodies.
Hashirama and Tobirama's eyes brightened. Finally, they understood their current situation.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees!"
This time when Hashirama clapped his hands together, the situation transformed completely.
The trees previously crushed and ground down suddenly surged with vitality—as though injected with stimulants. They grew explosively, intertwining with Madara's Wood Release forest in mutual strangulation.
An even match!
Tobirama also snorted coldly. His form flickered, vanishing from his original position. The next instant, he appeared behind Madara. His blade reversed, stabbing straight toward Madara's heart—both accurate and vicious.
But Madara's eyes transformed, displaying the Mangekyo Sharingan's pattern. Chakra surged around his body. A blue energy giant rose from the ground, blocking the strike outside its defense.
Tobirama's hands whipped out. Explosive tags flew from his sleeves, plastering themselves across Susanoo's body.
These explosive tags summoned even more tags as they flew.
One became two. Two became four. Four became eight. In mere moments, hundreds upon thousands blanketed the sky before detonating simultaneously.
"Forbidden Technique: Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"
Under this concentrated bombardment, even Madara's Susanoo couldn't withstand it. The outer armor cracked and shattered. The energy muscles and skeletal structure were gradually ground away, exposing Madara protected within.
Tobirama moved with lightning speed, appearing beside Madara in a flash. His blade descended.
Madara's form shifted. His palm deflected. His leg kicked upward.
In moments, the two exchanged over a dozen blows, fighting fiercely without quarter.
"Alright, Tobirama. Come back!" Hashirama suddenly called out.
"Tch!" Tobirama squeezed an unsatisfied sound through clenched teeth, reluctantly withdrawing from Madara's vicinity.
While still airborne, his hands formed rapid seals, pressing them against his chest.
"Release!"
"Terrible!" Mizuki cried out in alarm, wiping cold sweat from his forehead as he reported tensely: "Lord Kazuma, Lord Tobirama has released my control over the Edo Tensei body."
Kazuma's face darkened, expression filled with frustration. He ground his teeth: "Hashirama also released the Edo Tensei control!"
"Damn it! How can they do this?"
"Well..." Mizuki explained awkwardly: "Originally, Edo Tensei was a forbidden technique Lord Second researched himself. It's perfectly reasonable he'd leave some backdoors in the formula."
Seemingly oblivious to Kazuma's blackened expression, Mizuki continued asking:
"Should we continue releasing restrictions on Lord Third?"
After brief hesitation, Kazuma slowly shook his head.
"...Not yet. First observe the situation with the First and Second before deciding about the others."
Hashirama's gaze swept across the battlefield. His brow furrowed deeply as he complained to his brother:
"This is your fault—always recklessly researching forbidden techniques."
"Look at both sides of this battlefield. Nothing but Edo Tensei bodies everywhere."
"Hmph!" Tobirama snorted coldly, offering no rebuttal. He simply crossed his arms against his chest—too lazy to waste words with his foolish older brother.
Hashirama waved toward Madara:
"Long time no see, Madara."
"Meeting you like this is truly embarrassing."
"Let's discuss old times later. First, let me resolve this situation with Konoha Village."
"Hmph!" Madara maintained his stern expression, saying nothing.
Though Yasushi didn't control him to attack, the prideful Madara remained deeply dissatisfied with his current state.
His hands also formed the seal to release Edo Tensei.
"Release!"
"What?"
Nothing happened!
He clearly sensed his Edo Tensei body remained under control.
Behind him, Yasushi laughed until tears nearly emerged.
"Hahahahhahahahahaahha!"
"Since I knew you all understood methods to release Edo Tensei, how could I possibly leave myself unprepared?"
"Konoha Village uses the original Edo Tensei formula. Naturally, the release seal works for them."
"But what I'm using is a new formula specially modified by Orochimaru."
"This was specifically prepared as your personal technique!"
"Madara! You proud bastard—from now on, obediently serve as a tool to be wielded!"
"Nani?" Madara's face immediately darkened. He twisted around to glare at Yasushi. "Boy, you're courting death!"
"Hahaha..." Yasushi pointed at Madara, laughing until he doubled over. "No need for empty threats!"
"If you want to threaten me, first figure out how to release the Edo Tensei control!"
"As for that Rinne Rebirth technique you're hoping for—I advise you to abandon that dream."
"That worthless pawn you chose, Obito, is currently living a happy and fulfilling life with his beloved!"