In that moment, Mufasa became a blinding sphere of pure radiance. Countless rays of harsh white light erupted from his core, illuminating the dim chamber.
As a spiritual entity, Altair possessed the unique ability to massively amplify Mufasa's spiritual energy. The resulting surge was so violently intense that Mufasa was the only one capable of withstanding the sheer strain of integrating with the entire Sunagakure force.
The blinding light rapidly phased right through the thick metal walls of the neural enhancement room. It shot outward in every direction, surging through the colossal chassis of Metroplex.
The glowing tendrils followed the mecha's internal pipeline network, flooding into the dormant chambers scattered throughout the machine. This dense web of light acted exactly like a human nervous system, perfectly linking Mufasa, Metroplex, and the entire Sunagakure shinobi army into one cohesive mind.
"The holy network links us all, uniting us in our despair," Mufasa's voice echoed directly into the minds of every shinobi stationed inside the mecha.
"Oh, wait, my bad. I meant the holy chakra."
Those sarcastic words were the last thing the engineers heard before slipping into a deep, stasis-induced sleep. By suppressing their individual consciousness, they effectively became living, breathing processing nodes.
They were the human controllers that would allow Mufasa to pilot Metroplex flawlessly, freely drawing upon their collective chakra reserves. Supported by the sheer battery power of an entire ninja army, the towering Metroplex would move as fluidly as Mufasa's own body.
In that exact moment, Mufasa was Metroplex, and Metroplex was Mufasa.
While Mufasa was establishing his absolute control over the titan, the battlefield outside grew eerily still. As the Sunagakure shinobi locked themselves into their stasis pods, Metroplex momentarily powered down, freezing in place without a pilot.
It was the classic rule of battle: never interrupt the boss during a transformation sequence.
Hashirama Senju, who had been ruthlessly driving the World Tree construct forward, sensed the sudden shift. He immediately halted his attack.
"Hey, Hashirama! What are you doing?" Madara barked from above. "Don't be an idiot, finish it now!"
Hashirama ignored him. He kept his dark eyes locked on the frozen mecha, his brow furrowing as a deep seriousness settled over his features.
"Why are you just standing there?" Madara complained, crossing his arms. "Are you seriously still trying to talk him out of this?"
Madara knew Hashirama's worst habit was pausing a deathmatch to lecture his enemies about peace. He prayed his old rival wasn't having another one of his bleeding-heart episodes.
Far below, the Allied Shinobi Forces and the Great Toad Sage watched the bizarre standoff in utter confusion. Both Metroplex and the World Tree had completely stopped moving.
Had something gone wrong?
"Madara, don't you feel it?" Hashirama asked quietly.
"Feel what?" Madara narrowed his eyes, confused by the sudden tension.
Hashirama raised a wooden finger, pointing directly at the center of Metroplex's armored chest. "It's shining so brightly in there. It feels like a sun was just born."
Madara frowned. He focused chakra into his Rinnegan, peering intensely at the massive machine.
He finally saw it. Deep within the thick metallic plating, a dense, blinding cluster of pure chakra was glowing like a miniature star.
'What the hell is that?' Madara thought, a rare spike of unease hitting him.
"What are they doing in there?" Madara asked, his voice laced with suspicion. "Are they trying to self-destruct?"
"No," Hashirama shook his head slowly. "The machine... it feels like it just came alive."
"Came alive?" Madara repeated, clearly skeptical.
"Yes. It's as if that giant puppet suddenly gained a soul."
Hashirama's instincts were dead on. Mufasa was currently acting as the mecha's living spark, breathing true life into cold steel.
In the blink of an eye, the blinding light vanished from Madara's vision.
Hashirama snapped his gaze up to Metroplex's towering head. Even through the cold, unmoving metal visor, he swore he could feel the machine grinning at him.
Was it smiling? No, it wasn't Metroplex smiling. It was Mufasa.
Deep inside the cockpit, Mufasa let out a dark chuckle.
'You two brothers want to gang up on me? Two against one?' Mufasa thought, cracking his knuckles. 'Fine. Two can play at that game.'
In the next terrifying second, Hashirama, Madara, the Great Toad Sage, and the entire Allied Shinobi Forces witnessed a scene permanently burned into their nightmares.
The colossal metal hands of Metroplex began to move. It was weaving hand signs.
It was literally casting a jutsu. A single palm was the size of a city block, and each finger was as thick as a mountain ridge, yet the robotic giant was perfectly executing hand seals with terrifying speed.
The entire battlefield was dumbfounded. Jaws hit the dirt.
Since when could a giant metal puppet mold chakra and cast ninjutsu? Was that even physically possible?
The sequence Metroplex was weaving wasn't some lost, god-tier forbidden art. It was a basic, E-Rank technique that any fresh academy graduate could do in their sleep.
The Clone Jutsu.
Ram. Snake. Tiger.
Despite its absurd size, Metroplex snapped through the seals with flawless precision. The jutsu was completed in a fraction of a second.
The allied forces held their breath, their eyes wide with disbelief. They didn't know what to expect. Could a machine actually pull this off?
BOOM!
A deafening explosion of white smoke erupted across the wasteland. When the thick clouds cleared, a second, perfectly identical Metroplex stood right beside the original.
"You've got to be kidding me!" someone screamed from the allied ranks.
The shinobi army violently stumbled backward in sheer terror. The cowards in the back immediately broke formation and ran for their lives.
They couldn't even dent one of those metal monstrosities. Now there were two of them?!
The Great Toad Sage's eyes nearly popped right out of his warty skull. The gathered Kage didn't look much better, their faces pale and sweating.
How were they supposed to fight this?
Madara's jaw actually dropped, his mouth hanging wide open in utter shock.
Cold sweat beaded on Hashirama's forehead. How in the world did Mufasa pull that off?
Hashirama could summon the True Several Thousand Hands, but he couldn't force a wooden construct to weave its own hand seals! What kind of godly sorcery was this?!
Mufasa's booming laughter erupted from Metroplex's external speakers, shaking the earth itself.
"Hashirama Senju! Madara Uchiha! Let's have some real fun!"
The mechanical voice dripped with absolute confidence. "I'll show you what happens when a giant mecha uses ninjutsu. Even the gods won't be able to stop me!"
Hearing that mechanical taunt, both Hashirama and Madara felt a cold dread settle in their stomachs.
Then, the air shattered.
BANG!
The original Metroplex utilized the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing in a sonic boom. In a blink, the colossal machine materialized directly behind the World Tree construct.
Without a second of hesitation, both the original and the clone raised their massive, armored arms. They charged the armored World Tree from the front and the back simultaneously.
Violent, crackling blue lightning erupted across the chassis of both mechas, illuminating the sky.
Down in the allied ranks, the Raikage's jaw slacked in total disbelief.
"Wait," the Raikage choked out. "Isn't that our Lightning Release: Lariat?!"
How could a machine from Sunagakure possibly know Kumogakure's signature taijutsu?
Before anyone could even process the stolen technique, it was already over.
Metroplex and its clone executed a perfectly synchronized Double Lariat. The two lightning-clad, city-sized metal arms slammed brutally into the armored neck of the World Tree from opposite sides.
KRA-KOOM!
The deafening impact shattered the Susanoo armor like cheap glass. With a sickening crunch of splintering wood, the World Tree's colossal head was blown completely off its shoulders, rocketing into the sky before crashing into the ruined earth.
The battlefield plunged into a suffocating, dead silence.
It was so quiet that nobody dared to even breathe. Absolute, crushing despair washed over the world.