The huge blue sword not only cut through Hashirama's wooden clone but also carved a deep crack into the ground.
In the very next moment, a figure in red armor surged out from that fissure.
Facing countless enemies, she moved as if taking an afternoon stroll. Uchiha Madara stood calmly inside the chest of a gigantic transparent skull, her arms folded as she surveyed the crowd with utter disdain.
"Is this… Susanoo?"
"How is that possible? Wasn't Uchiha Madara fighting Lord Hashirama? What's happening?"
"Could she have created a wooden clone too?"
"No way!"
Countless thoughts swept through the ranks of the Senju Alliance, but no one made a move.
Such was the fear of Uchiha Madara.
Staring at the frozen ninjas around her, Madara clearly had no intention of wasting time. She raised her right hand slightly, and tightened it into a fist. Chakra surged around her, filling out the skeletal Susanoo. It transformed swiftly, becoming a four, armed humanoid form towering over ten meters tall.
All four arms clenched in midair. From each hand, a blade over five meters in length appeared in an instant, formed entirely by compressed chakra.
"Out of my way."
Madara's voice held no emotion. Her expression remained flat as she gave her Susanoo the command to swing wide in every direction.
"Move!"
Shouts and warnings rang through the crowd. Even though these were elite shinobi, not one among them could match Madara, who stood on par with Hashirama, the God of Shinobi himself.
With each sweep of Susanoo's arms, shock waves burst outward in every direction. The few who reacted in time were knocked into the air anyway. Others were split cleanly down their center or crushed before they even realized what had struck them.
Those clan leaders who had dodged the first assault retaliated at once.
"Earth Release: Yellow Springs Swamp!"
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bomb!"
"Shadow Binding Technique!"
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
Basic techniques, at least on paper, but in the hands of experienced clan heads, their effects doubled and combined into deadly precision strikes. Susanoo was trapped in place for only a moment before numerous attacks launched directly at Madara.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Susanoo vanished beneath smoke and explosions. The shock wave from multiple detonations engulfed her entirely in seconds. Some of the watching ninjas dared to believe they'd succeeded.
"We did it-"
"Don't drop your guard!" someone shouted. The warning came too late. Four massive shock waves burst from the smoke cloud without warning, cutting down anyone who stood nearby before they could react. The destructive force blew dozens of ninjas off their feet, some groaning mid, flight before hitting the ground hard.
As the smoke cleared, Susanoo stood undamaged in the same spot as before, completely unharmed.
"How?" gasped one shinobi, staring in disbelief at the monster that not even their strongest clan techniques could scratch. Techniques that should have destroyed entire mountain ranges hadn't even left a mark on her armor.
"We outnumber her! Wear her down! Don't stop attacking!" a clan leader shouted to rally them again. The reminder lit a spark of hope in those ready to give up moments earlier. They roared together, not out of confidence but desperation, and launched their attacks once again. Explosive tags littered the battlefield as ninjutsu rained down violently on Madara's position. Each impact caused blue chakra to ripple across Susanoo's surface, but nothing ever shattered it. Madara frowned slightly now, annoyed by the persistence rather than pressured by it.
"Annoying." Her eyes flicked toward Hashirama in the far distance, still locked in battle with the Nine, Tails, and decided she had no time to waste.
Forming hand seals: Zi , Chou , Shu , Wu , Shen , Hai , Yin.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation."
Flames poured from her mouth in a wide arc, a storm of fire that consumed everything before it instantly. Dozens of shinobi in front, too high on adrenaline to retreat with caution, were burned alive before they could scream. Their outlines vanished within walls of orange heat that spread fast across the battlefield.
Those prepared for fire techniques sprang into action immediately.
Hundreds of Water Release users rushed forward and lined up together in formation before casting in unison.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
Torrents surged against the flames with incredible force, so violently that they swept up nearby allies as well and hurled them out of position.
Ssshhhhhh…
Steam hissed as fire clashed against water, blanketing everything in thick fog that engulfed the entire battlefield within moments.
Clan leaders tensed instantly.
"Spread out! Don't cluster, defensive stances!" Sarutobi Sasuke barked out orders from near the center of the formation. Around Madara, there were no friendlies, only enemies, and she wouldn't hold back to avoid friendly fire.
In contrast to their struggle, Madara had no restrictions on how she fought.
"If she starts attacking recklessly," Sarutobi Sasuke realized aloud, "We'll take major losses!"
He followed up almost immediately with new directives.
"Wind, type users! Disperse the fog! Sensors, track her location!"
Just as he finished speaking,
Thud, thud, thud,
"What's that sound?"
Sasuke froze as he heard heavy footsteps approach, fast and purposeful, from deep within the mist.
"Oh no…"
He turned too late and only saw a towering silhouette rising behind the curtain of white steam.
It was Susanoo, charging at full speed directly at him.
Panic struck him hard enough that he couldn't move at first, not because he was afraid for himself but for what would follow after his death.
"I'm sorry… Hiruzen…"
His thoughts moved faster than his body, one last memory for his son flickered through his mind until,
Nothing happened.
Madara's Susanoo passed straight by him.
No strike came, no killing blow fell.
She ignored him completely and charged straight through toward,
"The command center…" Sasuke whispered through dry lips as realization struck him like lightning.
Madara's target was not him, but the Senju command headquarters behind him!
"She's heading for headquarters! Stop her!"
His shout echoed through the fog, but it was too late for most to react meaningfully. With visibility wiped out and danger looming everywhere, most shinobi froze in place unsure whether they'd strike an ally or an enemy by mistake if they acted blindly now.
None dared move recklessly, and so nothing stopped her advance.
Madara burst out from the fog only seconds later to face scattered defenders near HQ, many reacting only as she entered their sightline again and unleashed desperate attacks too little too late.
Most attacks bounced off Susanoo harmlessly as Madara reconfirmed her direction, then accelerated toward her goal at full speed.
She had wasted enough time getting here already.
Far away, Hashirama noticed her movement immediately and his heart sank when he understood her destination.
"Madara… You're after Akira? He always treated you as a friend… Even your strategy came from him, "
"Haha… Guess," Madara responded over chakra transmission, her voice amused and light as if none of this mattered to her now.
Hashirama misunderstood her levity, he thought she was celebrating how close she was to killing Senju Akira: Thousand Stars himself. (T/N: i was right! Thousands stars is the MC!)
After watching how critical Akira's plans had become to winning battles, and knowing what came next, Hashirama's expression hardened unmistakably for the first time in days.
He wasn't smiling anymore, not even trying to reason or mediate now.
"If you think I'll just sit here and watch you do it…"
Both palms slammed together,
Red markings flashed across his face and down his arms instantly as nature energy surged through every part of his body,
"Sage Mode."
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