Their fists collided—
A shockwave tore across the battlefield as they separated instantly, flanking Ōtsutsuki Isshiki from opposite sides.
Hashirama clasped his hands.
"Wood Release!"
Countless massive trees burst from the earth beneath Isshiki's feet, twisting upward like colossal serpents. They coiled and crushed inward, attempting to bind him in an instant.
Isshiki merely glanced downward.
The Wood Release disintegrated—
Shrinking to nothing before vanishing entirely.
It had been absorbed.
Isshiki's right eye activated. The dōjutsu of the Ōtsutsuki allowed him to shrink himself—or any non-living target within his sight—to a microscopic size and store it within a separate dimension. All of Hashirama's constructs were reduced and removed from the battlefield in an instant.
Madara seized the opening.
His Perfect Susanoo swung its colossal blade down in a heaven-cleaving arc.
Clang!
Isshiki raised a black chakra rod condensed in his palm, effortlessly blocking the strike. In the same motion, he pivoted and delivered a brutal kick—
Madara was blasted backward.
Hashirama reacted immediately, extending thick wooden branches to intercept Madara mid-air. At the same time, a Wood Dragon roared into existence and surged toward Isshiki.
Boom!
The earth fractured under the impact.
Isshiki leapt away, raising a hand as countless high-speed chakra projectiles rained down like a storm.
Hashirama erected layered wooden barriers, but his expression shifted slightly—
The Wood Release was being pierced.
Not only that, Isshiki's attacks carried a corrosive quality, eroding chakra constructs upon contact.
Meanwhile, Madara formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A sea of flames engulfed the battlefield—
Only to be instantly absorbed.
Madara's eyes sharpened.
Again, he released a devastating inferno, but this time Isshiki's gaze turned cold.
"Shinra Tensei."
A terrifying repulsive force erupted outward.
Everything was blasted away.
The ground collapsed into a massive crater. The surrounding ruins were reduced to dust.
"In the face of true power," Isshiki said indifferently, "your struggles are meaningless."
Hashirama's hands slammed together once more.
A gigantic Wood Golem rose from the earth.
Madara responded in kind—
His Perfect Susanoo fully manifested, towering like a divine warrior clad in armor of destruction.
Without hesitation, the two titans struck simultaneously, their attacks descending upon Isshiki as if the very world itself were falling.
Lightning split the sky.
Thunder roared.
Isshiki's eyes widened slightly as an overwhelming aura surged from him. It felt as though the world itself stood behind his back.
Their combined assault halted mid-air—
As though it had struck an invisible wall.
This time, Shinra Tensei did not completely repel them. The force of their attack was too great. Instead, the battlefield entered a stalemate.
For the first time—
A trace of solemnity appeared on Isshiki's face.
"Let me show you," Madara roared, "what true power looks like!"
The Susanoo unleashed a barrage of devastating chakra slashes.
At the same time, Hashirama's Wood Golem mimicked a Tailed Beast, gathering immense chakra within its mouth. The energy compressed violently, crackling with fine arcs of lightning.
The void itself seemed ready to shatter.
Isshiki slowly ascended into the sky.
With casual elegance, he raised one hand, condensing an immense sphere of chakra. The energy swelled rapidly, dense and oppressive—enough to overturn mountains and split seas.
Hashirama released his attack first—
A massive, locking strike that could not be evaded, only endured.
Madara followed immediately, unleashing a storm of Yasaka Magatama that tore through the sky like celestial artillery.
Isshiki hurled his condensed energy downward.
The three forces collided.
There was no immediate explosion—
Only a blinding white light.
At the epicenter, space itself twisted and warped. Distortion rippled outward in violent waves. Madara's projectiles detonated intermittently within the collision, producing sharp, rupturing cracks.
Then—
A beam of light erupted from the center.
Boom!!!
A deafening roar followed.
Dozens of miles of land were obliterated, forming an immense crater.
The remaining Kara members who had lingered nearby were vaporized instantly. Only the most perceptive had fled beforehand.
When the chaotic energy finally subsided—
Hashirama and Madara stood side by side, breathing heavily.
Across from them, Isshiki's figure re-emerged from the smoke.
His body bore visible injuries—
But they regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The two legends exchanged a glance.
Without words, they moved.
Their fists struck Isshiki simultaneously.
The three figures collided in a blur.
The air filled with explosive shockwaves. To ordinary shinobi, their movements were invisible. Within a single second, they exchanged dozens of blows.
This time—
Isshiki did not possess overwhelming dominance.
Both Hashirama and Madara had tempered their bodies through extreme martial discipline. Their physical strength had reached monstrous levels.
Even with an Ōtsutsuki physique, Isshiki did not gain a decisive advantage in pure taijutsu.
Each strike carried immense chakra—and dense life force.
Isshiki could absorb chakra upon contact—
But that blood-like vitality, that primal life energy—
He could not devour it so easily.
However, because Hashirama and Madara had fused their chakra with Natural Energy and refined vitality, even when Isshiki absorbed it, he could not immediately convert it into the chakra form he was most accustomed to.
It required refinement.
And that brief delay—
Was their only advantage.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The three figures clashed again at blinding speed.
Suddenly, the Wood Release that Isshiki had previously shrunk and stored reappeared without warning.
The battlefield was instantly thrown into chaos.
Seizing the moment of disruption, Isshiki moved.
Two brutal kicks—
Madara and Hashirama were sent flying.
Both spat out blood upon landing.
Hashirama steadied himself quickly. With his innate self-regeneration—requiring no hand seals—and the further evolution of his body through his perfected Wood Release constitution, his recovery speed bordered on monstrous.
Madara, however, grimaced.
If not for his current Six Paths–enhanced physique, those consecutive blows would have left him severely injured.
Still—
Only Hashirama understood the true pressure of that exchange.
Each collision had caused the vitality within his body to churn violently.
Isshiki's strikes were laced with devastating chakra shockwaves. Every impact shook his internal organs and disrupted his chakra flow.
Worse—
The Natural Energy he had absorbed was becoming unstable under the repeated shocks.
If the balance collapsed, Sage Mode itself would falter.
The two legends retreated simultaneously, their coordination wordless and absolute.
Hashirama's hands slammed together.
The earth trembled.
A colossal Wooden Buddha rose from the ground, towering into the sky.
"Sage Art: Wood Release — True Several Thousand Hands!"
The gigantic Senju Kannon manifested once more—far larger and more refined than in the Valley of the End. In the past, this technique had subdued the Nine-Tails with overwhelming force.
Now—
Its power had ascended to another realm.
At that very moment, Madara acted.
His Perfect Susanoo expanded outward—
And clad the entire Thousand-Armed Buddha in a layer of azure chakra armor.
The fusion of Wood Release and Susanoo was both majestic and terrifying.
Divine.
Oppressive.
"True Several Thousand Hands: Summit Enlightenment!"
Hashirama roared.
The Susanoo-armored Buddha unleashed a storm of punches.
Hundreds of massive fists descended simultaneously, each carrying Sage-enhanced force and Susanoo chakra.
Even Ōtsutsuki Isshiki could not fully evade.
He was smashed into the earth.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The terrain collapsed under the relentless assault. Mountains flattened. The ground sank into an ever-deepening abyss.
Yet Hashirama did not stop.
The barrage continued.
He intended to grind Isshiki into nothingness.
Smoke filled the sky.
Minutes passed before Hashirama finally lowered his hands.
Breathing heavily, he glanced at Madara.
"We… should have won. Right?"
Madara stared at the devastated landscape, then at the lingering chakra turbulence.
His voice was calm, yet resolute.
"No one can withstand the combined power of the two of us."
Though slightly exaggerated, the meaning was clear.
Hashirama allowed himself a small breath of relief.
Then—
"Is that so?"
The voice came from above.
Cold.
Unmoved.
The smoke slowly parted.
Isshiki floated in the sky, his body bearing visible damage—
But regenerating rapidly.
His expression had changed.
No longer indifferent.
Now—
It was coldly serious.
Hashirama and Madara felt their hearts sink simultaneously.
(End of Chapter)
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