Thirty Railguns fired in near-parallel lines... Although their beam thickness prevented them from clearing the entire forest, they eliminated most of it.
The few surviving saplings and branches began to grow wildly, trying to regain their previous unstoppable momentum, but were snuffed out in their infancy by the relentless barrage of arrows that followed.
Hashirama was momentarily stunned, then lowered his clasped hands.
Although he could effortlessly create another forest, the enemy could also fire another volley.
"This is developing in the worst possible direction!"
Hashirama sighed deeply, then his eyes sharpened with resolve. "In that case, this is the only way!"
As his words fell, he charged towards the Mechanical City.
His speed wasn't particularly fast, at least not to the extreme levels of the Raikage or Minato, yet he still crossed into the area within a kilometer of the city walls in an instant.
Bang, bang, bang...
The Gatling crossbow cannons roared again, arrows blotting out the sky.
Hashirama clasped his hands. Roots and vines as thick as barrels rose from the ground, waving like tentacles. Whether a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand arrows flew at him, they were all easily swatted away or intercepted.
The light bright as day lit up again.
Hashirama's eyes focused. He clapped his hands together once more. [Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique]!
A massive root erupted from the ground beneath his charging feet, rapidly growing wildly. An ancient, sturdy dragon emerged from it, carrying Hashirama into the air.
Orange beams shot towards him, but the old dragon caught one in its mouth, revealing a metal projectile the size of a fist.
But this time, there was no expansive forest. The Railgun salvo wasn't a spread shot; it was aimed directly at Hashirama.
Due to slightly different firing angles, the thirty Railgun beams had minute distance variations, causing the projectiles to arrive in rapid succession.
The old dragon had just caught one projectile when three more struck its left cheek. Then six, eight, and thirteen more came from left and right, some hitting the dragon's body, some its tail, and others striking its head again.
Instantly, wood chips flew everywhere.
The dragon that could suppress the Nine-Tails was shattered and tattered, tilting to one side as it fell.
But before it truly fell, a massive, wrathful Vajra erupted from the ground.
It grabbed the old dragon by the neck, wrapped it around its own body, then took heavy, earth-shaking steps forward.
The old dragon, coiled around the Vajra, quickly regained vitality. It then swiftly slithered up, raising its body from the Vajra's back and roaring furiously at the Mechanical City.
The daylight-bright light shone once more; the Railguns fired again.
But facing this wrathful Vajra that could grab a Bijudama and press it back to explode without harm, even the superior penetrating power of the Railguns merely embedded the projectiles within its wooden body. Cracks spider-webbed out from the impact points, causing the giant to stagger back a few steps.
However, as Hashirama poured in Chakra, the projectiles were quickly forced out, the cracks instantly healed, and the several-tens-of-meters-tall giant once again charged forward.
"Like this! Charge forward and destroy the defensive weapons on top!" Hashirama focused on the rapidly approaching city walls, increasing his chakra output.
The wrathful Vajra, empowered by stronger Chakra, began moving its legs faster and faster. Its massive body actually broke into a sprinting charge. Even the next salvo of Railgun fire couldn't force it to slow its pace.
In the Sky Castle of Konoha, Shikaku seized the moment to request, "All seniors, please follow the First Hokage's advance and take the opportunity to seize the Mechanical City's walls!"
"The enemy's fire is all concentrated on the First. This is indeed the perfect time for an all-out assault."
"To think there would be a day when I fight alongside the First Hokage..."
"Rest assured, we will definitely capture it!"
Everyone resurrected by Impure World Reincarnation, including the three Kage, began to move out.
Seeing this, Shikaku also let out a sigh of relief.
Although it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a total offensive, he worried the Mechanical City still had other methods not yet employed.
Launching an Allied Forces' assault recklessly might repeat the previous two disastrous failures.
Therefore, deploying the Impure World Reincarnation army was the optimal choice.
As for the possibility that the enemy had prepared countermeasures for Impure World Reincarnation...
The First Hokage had been active for so long. If the enemy had such methods, they should have used them already. How could they allow the First Hokage to get this close otherwise?
...
Mechanical City.
Central Tower, Temporary Command Center.
Watching the wrathful Vajra close to within five hundred meters of the walls and still rapidly approaching, some couldn't help but panic.
Especially the older members like Chiyo and Ebizo; their anxiety was clearly visible.
"Damn it, why is the long-dead First Hokage appearing here!?"
"That power like hellish karma... it really is that First Hokage!"
"With an opponent like that, can we really win?"
"What should we do!?"
It's not surprising these elders panicked. Those who lived in that era had far too deep an impression of the First Hokage's might.
Especially the Battle at the Valley of the End. The fight between the First Hokage and Madara shook the entire continent, its aftershocks even reaching the opposite landmass.
That terrifying destructive power cannot be understood without firsthand experience.
However,
Though they might not understand, the power the First Hokage displayed now was enough to silence the younger generation.
Especially when the deceased predecessors of the other villages also began appearing on the battlefield, they too started to panic.
Although the Mechanical City's defense system had only shown the tip of the iceberg, most of it was designed for conventional warfare. Facing the First Hokage or groups of Kage-level and Elite Jonin-level experts, whether those methods would be effective was uncertain.
The Third Kazekage was also panicking internally, but he knew well that as the leader, he couldn't show panic, or it would spread.
He forced himself to appear calm and looked to Ryuji for help. Seeing him sitting steadily in his chair, seemingly deep in thought, he felt a bit relieved internally.
"Hah..." The Third Kazekage took a deep breath and said, "Ryuji, what are your thoughts?"
Ryuji seemed to snap out of his reverie, then looked up and noticed the atmosphere in the conference room. He couldn't help but smile. "This is the Impure World Reincarnation developed by the Second Hokage, a Ninjutsu that summons the dead back to the world of the living. The appearance of the First Hokage and the others was within expectations."
Yes.
If this was a war concerning the survival of both sides, even inhumane forbidden technique like Impure World Reincarnation would eventually be applied on the battlefield.
Therefore, Ryuji had long anticipated the existence of an Impure World Reincarnation army and prepared countermeasures accordingly.
However, he hadn't anticipated Orochimaru perfecting the Impure World Reincarnation Technique to this degree.
After all, in the original work, during the Chunin Exams seven years later, the First and Second Hokage summoned by Orochimaru via Impure World Reincarnation were only at Kage-level.
Here, the First Hokage was already using Sage Mode and the Wood Human Technique, clearly reaching the level seen in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
'It must be Black Zetsu... I didn't expect him to have this ability...' Ryuji pondered briefly. "Eye of God, activate the Twelve Golden Figures. Use sealing arrows."
"Understood, Master!"
Hearing this, Ryuji nodded slightly and turned to the others. "It seems we won't be able to wait for the outcome sitting in this conference room. Everyone, please take your positions as well!"
"Yes!"