"Oh really? You seem quite confident in yourself."
Madara's arrogant and uninhibited demeanor, along with his contemptuous tone, naturally angered the two gods. By the time the attacks from Susanoo and Senju Buddha had landed on the Box of Ultimate Bliss and the Grim Reaper's Mask, the seals had already broken. Hashirama and the others had merely helped to shatter the outer layer.
"They're out. Perfect, let me see what your strength is like after breaking the seals." Madara's mouth curved into a grin, and the massive Susanoo held two long blades, slashing them towards the two gods.
With a slight wave of his hand, the god of death caused the Divine Gates that had previously fallen into Yomotsu Hirasaka to descend from high above. Before Madara could hit them, he was already being suppressed by the Divine Gates.
This battle was over before it even began.
"Hashirama, you ruined my plans again!" Madara cursed, feeling the chakra within him being sealed.
"It's a frame-up! I didn't do anything."
Hashirama had truly been wrongly accused. Seeing the god of death's stunned expression, he cried out in protest when he realized he was being blamed. He quickly retracted the Divine Gates. Even if he was slow to react, he knew the two of them should be joining forces to deal with these two opponents.
"Get lost, I don't need your help."
As expected, Madara refused Hashirama's good intentions. After breaking free from the suppression of the Divine Gates, Madara immediately retreated. Susanoo and his own body made hand seals simultaneously, and using the Rinnegan, he unleashed the Ninjutsu best suited for the Edo Tensei state.
Madara's plan was to use this large-scale destructive Ninjutsu to clear the area directly.
Giant meteors obscured the sky. There was no way to escape from such massive falling meteors except by using Flying Thunder God.
For a moment, the ninjas across the entire battlefield fell into despair.
"You guy, you want to kill me too?" Obito said angrily, looking at the meteors falling from above. The only way for him to survive this disaster now was to sever his connection with the Ten-Tails and enter a different dimension.
Meanwhile, after a brief respite, the Tailed Beasts finally finished accumulating their power. The Jinchuriki transformed into their Tailed Beast forms once more, doing their best to shield the Allied Shinobi Forces. Looking at Madara, who had caused this scene, everyone felt a deep sense of powerlessness. Could someone who could do this still be considered human?
"Can mortals achieve this level? I'm becoming more and more interested in your soul." The god of death looked up at the four despair-inducing meteors. Without him doing anything, a vast expanse of wind arose behind him.
These winds transformed into colossal wind blades. After a little time, they sliced all the meteors in the sky into powder.
The despair-inducing attacks were thwarted so easily, and the crowd didn't know whether to feel happy or worried.
Madara's originally triumphant expression froze instantly. He looked incredulously at the god of death who had so easily destroyed Heaven's Celestial Calamity. After a moment of stunned silence, he finally understood the gap between them.
At this moment, the evil god clasped his hands together, lightning filling them and transforming into long whips that wrapped around Madara. Madara intended to dodge, but countless large hands emerged from the ground beneath Susanoo, clinging to it tightly, making it impossible for even him to break free easily.
With no other choice, Madara had to face these lightning whips head-on. Two more arms extended from Susanoo's armpits, each holding a Susanoo blade.
The lightning whips were cut down one by one, but soon more whips appeared from the evil god's hands. Before long, a lightning whip ensnared Susanoo's left arm.
Strangely, the lightning whip, which had seemed so fragile before, suddenly became very tight after binding Susanoo. No matter how Madara struggled, he couldn't break free.
"Damn it!"
Adding insult to injury, with one arm bound, his subsequent resistance became a continuous defeat. Soon, Susanoo was tied up securely.
"Madara!!"
Hashirama's heart raced at the sight, but Madara wasn't the only one in trouble. He himself was not faring well under the god of death's pressure. His True Several Thousand Hands were like decorations under the god of death's Yomotsu Hirasaka. The two of them clashed on top of the Senju Buddha's head, and he had to constantly guard against the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, making him no match for the god of death.
"How can this be? First Hokage-sama, and that Uchiha Madara, are both being completely overwhelmed!"
"What should we do?"
"Who exactly are those two?"
The Allied Shinobi Forces were currently bewildered. They had expected to end the war by defeating Madara and Obito, or by sealing the Ten-Tails, but they never anticipated such a turn of events.
At this moment, the god of death and the evil god seemed to have grown tired of playing. They each condensed a sphere of chakra energy in their hands and hurled them at Madara and Hashirama.
This chakra energy sphere was like a miniature Tailed Beast Bomb in terms of power. Although small, its power was real, and Susanoo could hardly withstand it, shattering instantly.
Madara frantically used his Rinnegan to absorb some of the chakra, but even so, he was still blown to smithereens. Fortunately, he was in the Edo Tensei body; although he died, he could still recover.
He had never been so grateful to be an Edo Tensei summon. Otherwise, that attack would have been enough to leave him without even ashes.
Compared to him, Hashirama fared much better. With the Five Layered Great Gates of the Ranked Building Technique unleashed, and with the help of two Nine-Tails covered by Susanoo, he finally managed to resist the attack, but they were all still seriously injured.
"Hey, Naruto, I hate to admit it, but we can't win this fight. In that moment, those two felt even stronger than the current Ten-Tails."
Inside Naruto's mind, the Nine-Tails spoke in a deep voice. In fact, the dark Nine-Tails said the same thing to Minato. This overwhelming difference in strength made them feel helpless from the bottom of their hearts.
One Ten-Tails was enough for the Allied Shinobi Forces to deal with, and now there were two more figures, stronger than the Ten-Tails and much more cunning. How were they supposed to fight?
They simply couldn't win!
"Are those two guys really that powerful?" Obito looked at the frequently struggling Hashirama and Madara, and at the two Tailed Beast-enhanced Nine-Tails that had almost disintegrated from just being caught in the aftermath. He finally understood what a grave mistake he had made.
The power unleashed by the god of death and the evil god had severely hindered their plan. Especially when they unleashed their full power and even the Ten-Tails trembled, Obito became certain they had become a major variable in this war.
"It seems we need to get rid of you first before proceeding with the Moon Eye Plan."
Since Heaven's Celestial Calamity had not fallen, Obito's connection with the Ten-Tails remained. After gathering enough power, the Ten-Tails finally completed its transformation.
The second form of the Ten-Tails was vastly different from before. The aura it exuded now surpassed that of the evil god and the god of death.