As Shimoku launched his attack without hesitation, Tobirama immediately shouted:
"Brother, this brat has lost it!"
"Don't hesitate—this Uchiha boy had to be taken down first!"
Hashirama frowned grimly. Although he was deeply shaken by the fate of the Uchiha Clan,
he knew hesitation was not an option at this moment.
Defeating this young Uchiha was now the top priority!
"I understand!"
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Hashirama quickly struck, unleashing his Wood Release technique.
From the shoulder of the wooden giant beneath him, a massive wooden dragon emerged and lunged toward Shimoku's [Perfect Body Susanoo].
This wood dragon possessed immense binding power; once wrapped around its target, it would forcibly absorb chakra.
Shimoku, naturally, wouldn't allow that to happen.
He swung his blade—with two swishing slashes in rapid succession.
The Susano'o Sword, accompanied by gusting winds, instantly cut the incoming wooden dragon into two halves.
Then, he leaped upward—
with overwhelming force, he brought down the sword on Hashirama's wooden giant.
Yet such a fierce strike was effortlessly blocked as the wooden giant raised both hands together, catching the blow.
Of course, the wooden giant didn't bear it easily.
It was immediately forced down by the sheer power, dropping to one knee,
pressing the ground beneath it dozens of meters inward, causing tremors across the battlefield.
Moreover, the shockwave released from this single clash
sent hundreds of Konoha ninja staggering far off like blades of grass caught in the wind.
"Now that's power—he's almost at Madara's level!"
Hashirama exclaimed in awe, his expression growing even more serious.
"You really think you can catch a blade with your bare hands?"
"Then just try handling THIS one!"
Shimoku narrowed his eyes. Without hesitation, he activated the other arm of his Susano'o, drawing another longsword from its waist—
[the K'unwu Divine Sword], already Spiritualized.
As a divine artifact, its power vastly surpassed that of an ordinary Susano'o Sword.
Even after achieving Spiritualization, it remained sharper than anything else—unstoppable.
Whoosh—
The divine sword sliced downward with a second scarlet arc, flashing through the air with chilling killing intent.
The intense chakra friction with the air generated searing heat, crackling like a falling meteor straight from the sun—displaying ultimate dominance, blazing fury, and unmatched sharpness…
Faced with such an attack, Hashirama dared not take it lightly.
Instantly, he manipulated the wooden giant to extend another pair of massive arms from behind, clapping them together to intercept the blow.
Trying once again to block head-on.
Unfortunately, this strike was far more powerful than the last.
With one slash, the wooden giant was split cleanly in two—as though cutting through soft butter!
What's more, the blade aura released from this attack extended over a thousand meters.
It carved a deep trench dozens of meters wide into the earth, shattering countless buildings into pieces. So terrifying was its power that the entire battlefield fell silent in shock.
It nearly sliced the entire Konoha Village in half!
Witnessing this, Hashirama and Tobirama hastily jumped away,
landing instead atop another wooden giant.
"What a razor-sharp Spiritualized Weapon!"
"Brother, that weapon is no ordinary treasure—it could be a lost divine artifact!"
"No more direct clashes!"
"Be careful!" Tobirama Senju quickly warned.
After all, the sensation of that divine sword felt far sharper than an ordinary Susano'o blade.
"I know!" Hashirama Senju responded. "Wood Release: Complete Capture!"
Hashirama clapped his hands and unleashed his Wood Release, flooding the earth below with chakra.
The next moment,
countless wooden arms burst upward from beneath the earth, each over a hundred meters in size, freely controlled at Hashirama's will.
Although [Wood Release: Complete Capture] wasn't as flashy as [Wooden Giant], its restraining power was far greater. Moreover, it had better versatility and mobility — capable of instantly emerging from any underground location to attack, making it nearly impossible to defend against!
Without exaggeration, with this technique alone, Hashirama could rival an entire Hidden Village, even destroy a great nation in an instant!
In an instant,
six massive wooden arms burst forth from the ground, surging toward Shimoku with unstoppable force and terrifying momentum.
Facing this, however, Shimoku showed not the slightest fear.
Gripping the K'unwu Divine Sword, he slashed horizontally, creating dazzling arcs of blade light filled with boundless sharpness.
Soon enough,
these wooden arms were chopped into pieces...
Yet beneath the surrounding earth,
even more Wood Release arms continued surging forth without end, relentlessly attacking Shimoku wave after wave.
At this moment,
the B-rank Taijutsu skill [Thousand Flames Blade] that Shimoku previously acquired finally revealed its true might.
With advanced blade techniques amplifying each strike, Shimoku swung his divine sword in tandem with powerful chakra-infused slashes, constructing an impenetrable wall of death around his Susano'o.
Any wooden arm attempting to break through was instantly sliced apart — no exceptions.
For a time,
those brilliant flashes of blade light, those blazing blades of immense heat,
illuminated the entire Susano'o body until it gleamed red-hot, truly resembling a miniature sun!
...
"What exquisite swordsmanship!"
"To be able to display such fluidity with [Susano'o] is incredible!"
"Could this kid's control over [Susano'o] already surpass Madara Uchiha?"
Witnessing how Shimoku's dense barrier of blades actually blocked his elder brother's [Complete Capture],
Tobirama couldn't help but feel astonished, praising him involuntarily.
"No,"
Hashirama replied firmly, his experienced eyes analyzing sharply. "I can sense that this child's ocular strength still slightly lags behind Madara Uchiha back then..."
"But the chakra energy within his body is incredibly vast!"
"It's almost comparable to mine!"
"Could he possibly possess Senju or Uzumaki bloodline traits?"
"In any case, he relies on this massive amount of chakra consumption to recklessly sustain his [Perfect Susanoo] without regard for the cost!"
The ever-perceptive Hashirama had quickly deduced Shimoku's situation accurately.
He wasn't wrong.
Shimoku, who had just obtained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, indeed hadn't reached Madara Uchiha's peak-level ocular strength yet.
However,
the Sage Body had granted him a colossal amount of chakra, perfectly compensating for this deficiency,
allowing him to waste resources extravagantly.
!!!!
Combined with divine weapons, its power was in no way inferior to Lord Madara's Wild Beast Calamity or even his Majestic Attire: Susanoo.
That was how he easily sliced through Hashirama's numerous wooden appendages.
After all, Hashirama's Wood Release technique was several times harder than ordinary metal!
...
"This… this is truly the battle of supreme masters?"
"Unbelievable! So terrifying!"
"How could that brat from the Uchiha Clan be so powerful?"
"He's actually capable of matching The First Hokage?!!"
At this moment, the other Konoha ninjas watching the intense battle were completely stunned.
To them, a fight of such magnitude was nothing short of a clash between gods.
Just think — those fragments of wooden appendages severed by Shimoku alone,
each piece falling down was several times larger than an average house, enough to crush countless regular ninja under their weight…
Let alone standing face-to-face against that monstrous Susanoo resembling a true demon god…
Now that you look at them side by side—
the previous battle against Pain and themselves seemed as ridiculous as a mere puppet show.
If they'd known back then that this Uchiha brat possessed such might,
how dare Konoha have ever targeted the Uchiha Clan?
Being lucky enough not to be ripped apart by this kid would've been the best outcome…
"So terrifying!"
"If this keeps up, the entire village will be destroyed!"
Soon, someone cried out in trembling fear.
Indeed, if the battle continued at this scale,
in just a few more rounds,
before a winner could even emerge, the whole Village Hidden in Leaves might already lie in ruins.
"Brother! We can't keep fighting inside the village!"
"Continuing here will reduce the entire village to ashes!"
Tobirama bellowed.
In just these ten-odd seconds of combat,
half of Konoha had already been reduced to wreckage.
In fact, the destruction far exceeded the damage caused by all those summoning beasts running rampant for so long before!
Who could withstand this?!
They had come to defend the village,
not turn it into rubble!
Hashirama hesitated, glancing downward.
As his eyes swept over the ruined mess that used to be his own village, his heart sank.
"I guess there's no choice; we really can't keep fighting like this anymore…"
"Madara… I guess I'll have to be a bit harsher on your descendants!"
Hashirama murmured grimly, making his decision.
Then, clapping both hands together,
he immediately activated Sage Mode, dark sage markings appearing around his eyes.
In this state, he could harness natural energy to vastly enhance his attacks, defense, physical combat reach, and sensing capabilities. It amplified the power of every jutsu he employed.
[Sage Art: Wood Release – True Several Thousand Hands!]
The next moment, a colossal wooden statue with countless gigantic arms erupted from the ground, towering across thousands of miles with overwhelming divine presence.
...
pS: My stats are slipping again... crying o(╥﹏╥)o
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>