Susanoo slammed into the earth like a living calamity, its armored heel crushing Hashirama's wooden platform into splinters. Hashirama dove away, hands flashing together as a massive wooden spike erupted beneath Susanoo's foot. It bought him maybe three seconds. Maybe.
The spike shattered with a thunderous crack, and Hashirama was already retreating through the smoke.
Madara burst out laughing from within his monstrous avatar, voice warped by chakra reverberation. Susanoo's fist crashed down, pulverizing the ground into a ten-meter crater.
Hashirama winced at the impact, breath tight, and slammed his palms to the soil. Thick vines erupted upward, coiling around Susanoo's legs.
Madara raised a brow.
"Trying to stall me?"
Susanoo flexed once.
The vines tore apart like wet paper.
Then it charged.
Punches, kicks, sweeping blows from limbs the size of towers forced Hashirama into frantic movement, dodging by inches as the battlefield collapsed around him.
"Wood Style: Wood Ingot Wall!"
A massive barricade of layered timber surged up just in time. Susanoo smashed through the wall in one punch, splinters exploding outward.
"Are you planning to hide forever, Hashirama?!" Madara roared, voice sharp with frustration and something disturbingly close to joy.
Hashirama ducked another blow, shouting back, "Madara, stop! I don't want to fight you!"
Madara sneered.
He pointed toward the distant duel where Tobirama clashed with Izuna, and Tobirama's footing grew shakier each passing breath.
"If you want to save him, then beat me here and now. Otherwise, you don't take one step past me."
Hashirama froze.
For a moment, pain carved itself into his face.
Madara's words echoed across the battlefield, mixing with the screams, the flames, the steel.
Tobirama's situation worsened.
Blood sprayed.
Izuna laughed.
Hashirama clenched his jaw, eyes closing for a heartbeat.
When they opened again, something inside them had cracked.
"Madara… don't blame me."
His chakra surged.
"Wood Style: Advent of a Forest!"
The sky shook with the roar. Sage markings crawled across Hashirama's face as colossal tree trunks erupted upward, dwarfing the earlier forest.
The ground flipped inside-out.
Entire swathes of the battlefield disappeared under titanic roots.
Even the Senju and Uchiha who'd been fighting nearby backed away in terror.
Vines thicker than temple pillars lashed out and wrapped around Susanoo's limbs, layer upon layer constricting it.
Madara snarled.
"Hateful!"
He forced Susanoo to thrash free, tearing one vine apart—only for five more to coil around it instantly.
The pressure increased.
Movement slowed.
Even the armored titan began to sink under the weight.
Madara's eyes widened.
Impossible.
Hashirama had never unleashed power like this before.
"I don't accept this!"
His Mangekyō spun violently, pain tearing through his left eye as blood dripped down his cheek. Susanoo swelled with renewed chakra, armor plates thickening, its form growing monstrous.
With a roar, it tore a massive cluster of vines apart and lunged toward Hashirama.
Hashirama exhaled once, steady but grim. More vines erupted around him, twisting into flower-like buds that stayed tightly closed.
"Madara! Enough!"
Madara was beyond reason.
Susanoo bulldozed through the world of trees, ripping its way closer.
The vine-buds suddenly burst open.
A shimmer of pollen misted into the air.
The scent drifted through the battlefield.
Senju and Uchiha alike collapsed where they stood, paralyzed before they hit the ground.
Madara's eyes narrowed.
"Poisoned pollen… Hashirama, you—"
His charge slowed, steps staggering as the mist thickened.
Hashirama didn't look relieved.
He looked heartsick.
While the forest groaned and Susanoo struggled, the other battlefield reached its breaking point.
Uchiha Izuna and Senju Tobirama were locked in a vicious dance.
Water jutsu drenched the ground, turning the field into a glistening swamp. Tobirama bled from multiple wounds, breath shaky but eyes razor-sharp.
Izuna's grin twisted.
"Today, you die, Tobirama!"
He blitzed forward, blade gleaming.
For a second, Tobirama looked exhausted.
Defeated.
Then his eyes sharpened with murderous clarity.
Izuna blinked.
Tobirama vanished.
"No—"
A whisper cut the air behind him.
"Flying Thunder God: Slash."
Steel flickered like a ghost crossing the moon.
And the battlefield held its breath.
...
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