To be honest, Masashi was clearly emulating Hashirama.
As the only man who could stand behind Madara, Hashirama's Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands was his most powerful move.
Against that jutsu, even Madara's full-powered Complete Susanoo couldn't stand a chance, it would be smashed apart, and even tailed beasts were nothing more than one of its many hands' playthings.
As for other Wood Release moves like the Nativity of a World of Trees, Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, or Wood Human Technique, those weren't what made Hashirama the gatekeeper of the Six Paths-level.
These jutsu were impressive by today's standards, sure, but back in that era, there were too many strong people. Those techniques alone couldn't dominate the battlefield.
True Several Thousand Hands, each hand was an extension of Hashirama's strength. A single punch could shatter mountains. Unless the Ten-Tails appeared, this jutsu represented the absolute peak of what a human in this world could achieve.
Only such an attack could truly symbolize the power of the God of Shinobi. If it didn't reach that level, it was just a bigger version of the Wood Human Technique, no match for Madara's Complete Susanoo.
Masashi, for his part, didn't shy away from naming his own jutsu. He called it: Sage Art: Susanoo: Thousand-Arm Kill.
Golden chakra fists roared with thunderous force.
In every respect, this jutsu couldn't yet compare to True Several Thousand Hands, but fortunately, Madara wasn't his prime self anymore. Even the precision of the Edo Tensei wasn't at the original timeline's level.
There were tiers to the Complete Susanoo, and the one Madara had now wasn't even as strong as when he first left the village, not enough to showcase his full strength.
Too many limitations, a hard flaw of Edo Tensei.
In the original timeline, even with Orochimaru and White Zetsu involved, the reanimated Hashirama could only use the Wood Human Technique. Sage Mode worked, Wood Release worked, but True Several Thousand Hands was out of reach.
As for Yamato, what he used wasn't the real deal either, just a large-scale wooden humanoid creature.
Masashi, being alive, didn't suffer these drawbacks. After that first punch landed successfully, hundreds more followed.
Even within Susanoo, the thunderous impact was deafening. Madara's Susanoo raised both arms to shield itself, trying to tank the blows head-on.
The man was truly hardcore, taking it all without flinching, not dodging a single hit. That was the weight of reputation, after all. Masashi was quite happy not to carry that burden.
In the blink of an eye, several hundred punches had already been thrown.
Though it was called "Thousand-Arm Kill," he couldn't actually produce a full thousand fists, unlike Hashirama, who really could dish out several thousand.
Interestingly, this jutsu was partially adapted from Chiriku of the Fire Temple. The Fire Temple was one of Konoha's key allies, more importantly, it once borrowed money from the Association. Not many ninjas were allowed to conduct due diligence there, but Masashi, knowing how tight-knit those monks were, decided to go himself.
Thinking, "Well, I'm already here," he sparred with Chiriku a few rounds.
To his surprise, he found that Chiriku's technique, though flashy, had a chakra application style that synergized well with Susanoo.
He had a bit of a fixation with chakra fists. He hadn't forgotten how Kaguya had three-shot the Complete Susanoo.
Those chakra fists were incredibly destructive.
In the god-tier battles of the late game, not counting Kaguya, only Naruto reached and even surpassed the destructive force of True Several Thousand Hands, also through chakra fists.
Using Wood Release as a medium would never match direct chakra strikes.
Going the normal route, Masashi had no chance of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those divine figures. His only choice was to take fewer detours and make every strike count.
With the barrage nearly complete, his ocular power suddenly surged. The power of Totsuka Sword burst forth from one of his chakra fists.
This time, the surprise attack succeeded!
In this situation, Madara couldn't possibly dodge. At this point, even if he could, he wouldn't.
Sensing the spike in Masashi's ocular power, Madara pushed his own even harder. He chose to take the blow head-on.
When the punch landed, even space seemed to tremble.
Madara's Susanoo had all its defenses shattered, instantly broken into scattering fragments. And in the final moment, he went back on his word, his body exited Susanoo.
But before he could fully escape, the power of Totsuka Sword had already spread to his position.
He lost a leg.
As the crashing sounds continued, his Susanoo collapsed, and the one-legged Madara fell toward the ground.
He landed on one leg and looked down at the cut on his missing limb.
The Edo Tensei regeneration didn't activate, it wasn't healing. He turned to look at his still-crumbling Susanoo, deep in thought. Suddenly, he reached out and caught one of the falling "particles," a cube the size of a palm.
So… this is the effect…
He understood.
This generation all possessed incredibly powerful space-time ocular techniques. In the long history of the Uchiha clan, such space-time dōjutsu were exceedingly rare, you could count them on one hand. But in this generation, two had already appeared, both completely new.
If he were still the Uchiha clan leader, he'd be delighted.
Through this battle, he also understood why Black Zetsu was so eager to pull Masashi to his side.
Obito truly didn't measure up.
Masashi was a strong Uchiha, in every sense of the word. If he ever became an enemy, he would be extremely troublesome.
Fortunately, even if he did become one, Obito still had a chance, given how he used the power of the tailed beasts, as long as he didn't get caught.
And then there was Nagato, both his vessel and his backup pawn.
Madara looked at the cube in his hand and began to withdraw his ocular power. The blue color representing Susanoo in the cube began to fade.
Not just the cube in his hand, all the scattered blue cubes in the collapsing Susanoo in front of him began to react the same way. He had figured out the difference between Masashi's and Obito's ocular powers.
And so should Black Zetsu.
Ordinary ninjas couldn't observe this kind of battle, but that didn't include Black Zetsu.
"Black Zetsu," Madara called.
Black Zetsu's head emerged from the ground at his feet.
"You saw it all?"
"Yes…" Black Zetsu looked at Madara standing tall on one leg and couldn't help but exclaim internally, damn.
Masashi was terrifyingly strong.
Though Madara had allowed it to happen, for someone to take a leg off this version of him was still incredible.
"Good." Madara tossed away the now colorless cube in his hand. "What about Obito? Did he get away?"
Black Zetsu paused to consider how to phrase it.
How could he tell Madara that Obito had already been sealed up by someone? He glanced toward the other Susanoo in the distance and felt an overwhelming urge to rant.
Was Konoha just too comfortable these days?
It was one thing to have the chakras of Indra and Asura gathered there, but now this guy too?
So many secret techniques, wasn't that a bit much?
Layer upon layer, by the time Obito realized it, his entire body was wrapped up in Muzo's handiwork.
Black Zetsu suspected that, after thousands of years, the number of forbidden techniques it had memorized might not even compare to how many Muzo had up his sleeve.
Black Zetsu decided to keep that secret. It figured that might be useful in the future.
In the distance, Masashi's Susanoo suddenly began to dissipate.
Madara raised an eyebrow in surprise. When a powerful predecessor stood before you and you came out on top in a spar, even just on the surface, what would a proper Uchiha do?
Obviously, go all out.
Before becoming clan leader, he beat down every elder who challenged his authority.
"Since when are Uchiha this polite?" he muttered in confusion.
Even if they'd been domesticated and turned into guard dogs, the Uchiha should still be wolves, at least guard dogs with bite, right?
This Senju flavor was getting thicker and thicker. It was getting on his nerves.
So polite, and you call yourself a Uchiha? Just fight! Be bold!
"The Senju's hypocrisy, you've really picked it up well," Madara scoffed, growing more and more displeased.
"…" If Black Zetsu revealed that Masashi was actually Muzo, would Madara snap?
If he remembered correctly, the person Madara most wanted to kill but never succeeded in doing so was Muzo, even Tobirama only ranked second. After all, during his time as clan leader, at least half of the Uchiha's war casualties could be directly or indirectly traced back to Muzo.
If Tobirama hadn't caused Izuna's death, he might've been in third place. In Madara's entire life, there was only one person he had ever called evil, that was Muzo.
Then again… maybe he wouldn't snap, maybe he'd even burst into maniacal laughter for old times' sake?
Black Zetsu thought it over and decided not to gamble. Even if they ended up enemies again in the future, he didn't want to lose this friend because of his own actions.
He had been rational for a thousand years, surely he could be willful this once.
"After all… you're no longer around," he said. "Without your guidance, it's normal that the Uchiha, living in Konoha all these years, would be a bit influenced. Besides, it's because they admire you that they've turned out this way."
"Ridiculous," Madara said, clasping his hands behind his back and standing tall. "As an Uchiha, chasing after someone else's shadow is the most pathetic thing you can do."
Black Zetsu decided to shut up. This man was as stubborn in death as he was in life, clearly cared deeply, but would never admit it.
Say three sentences, and two would still be about the Uchiha.
But that was fine. If not for this kind of personality, how else could he have lured and manipulated Madara into willingly executing the Eye of the Moon Plan?
Perhaps it was because Black Zetsu hadn't internally complained in a long time that he momentarily forgot to answer Madara's original question. And as for the subject of the question, Obito, he was currently wrapped up like a mummy.
To be fair, sealing techniques were truly the all-purpose skill system of the shinobi world.
Take the Uzumaki clan's sealing jutsu, for instance, it worked on anything, regardless of whether it was alive, dead, or not even human.
---
Muzo was walking down the street, and was humming a tune.
Thinking, "Carrying a person is tiring," he picked up a stick to use as a shoulder pole.
Obito, whose entire body was covered in sealing marks, was hung from the pole with a rope like cargo.
Muzo suddenly stopped. He looked down and saw Obito's angry face.
"It's making me uncomfortable," he said thoughtfully. "Wearing a face like that is kind of taking advantage of me."
He wrapped chakra around his fingers and reached for Obito's face. When he pulled his hand away, Obito's face had changed.
Hmm... now it was Madara's face.
"That feels better." Muzo nodded in satisfaction and resumed walking with the pole on his shoulder.
This time, he walked with real enthusiasm.
Feeling good, he changed the tune he was humming. It was a song called "I Can't Dance."
The street was completely empty, no one in sight, only his extremely off-key singing echoed through the ruins: "Hot sun beating down. Burning my feet just walking around…"
Honestly, calling it a street was giving it too much credit. "Wasteland" was more accurate.
The northern district was where Obito had first stirred up trouble, and where he'd remained active the most. Combined with the havoc wreaked by the Senju brothers, it was clear a full rebuild would be needed.
"Look at you, how destructive you are," Muzo said to Obito. "All those buildings that took so much effort to put up, gone, thanks to you."
Obito glared at him in silence. Well, it was not like he could talk, his mouth was sealed shut. Even if he wanted to curse, he couldn't.
Now, he deeply understood why the elders of Kumo would grit their teeth in fury at the mere mention of this man.
Right now, he'd swallow Muzo's heart whole if he could. But beyond the rage, he was also evaluating the situation.
Through this recent attempt, he'd confirmed that Konoha's current strength vastly exceeded that of the other villages.
Even without Masashi, Konoha still held an overwhelming advantage.
In this situation, it was impossible for the other villages to truly unite against Konoha. Everyone believed that the tides of power always shifted, sooner or later, their time would come.
Today it was Suna; tomorrow, it might be Kiri or Iwa. Even Kumo might turn on them.
He decided, he would no longer target Konoha. It was meaningless.
Ultimately, as long as one had absolute power, the Eye of the Moon could still be realized.
He closed his eyes, no longer bothering to look at Muzo.
Although this plan had been disrupted, he had still achieved a partial success: the villages would still go to war. That, in itself, would weaken the major powers and reduce the obstacles in his path.
Now, all he needed to think about was how to escape.
Even the current Konoha wouldn't dare preserve these Edo Tensei bodies. If they did, their allies would turn against them out of fear, siding against Konoha for their own protection.
This was an easy choice for today's Konoha.
Muzo finished humming his song and suddenly realized there was no sound coming from below. Curious, he glanced down.
Hmm. Still alive. No problem.
He hoisted Obito and quickened his pace toward the Hokage Rock.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.
"Muzo-sensei?"
Muzo looked at Hiruzen in surprise. "Where's your disciple? I hate to say it, but you're really down bad, getting beaten up by your own student like this."
Hiruzen glanced at the pole on Muzo's shoulder and the "cargo" it carried. His face twitched.
"That traitor has already left," he sighed. "Said he fulfilled his promise. Heh… I really thought today would be my last."
When it came to Orochimaru, he now felt deeply conflicted. There was no doubt his student had surpassed him in power.
And he made no effort to hide his disdain for Konoha.
Watching the student he once nurtured with hope, once believed would inherit everything from him, become like this, he couldn't even pretend Orochimaru was just cold by nature.
He knew, at least in part, how it had come to this.
"Why are you looking all gloomy?" Muzo was annoyed. "Lift your head."
"Ah…"
"Didn't I tell you all this back in school? Abandoning the game is a sign of weakness, because you can't compete fairly within the existing rules, so you'd rather just quit," Muzo said. "But your student, to be fair, he's simply not interested anymore. It's not the same thing. You were just unlucky as a teacher."
"Yeah…" Hiruzen was feeling very low.
He knew Orochimaru wasn't abandoning the game. His heart had simply left Konoha. His once-beloved student had fully immersed himself in the pursuit of the truth behind ninjutsu, abandoning all ethics and morals to do so. He had forsaken teacher, comrades, and students alike.
Even returning this time was merely to prove one thing to Hiruzen: He simply no longer wanted Konoha.
For Hiruzen, this was the harshest blow.
"Look at you, dragging this out," Muzo said irritably and shoved the pole at Hiruzen. "Here. You take him back. I'm done with this."
He used a bit too much force, and Obito's butt hit the ground with a thump, tearing his pants.
He didn't react, eyes still closed, as if he didn't feel a thing. Even if he ended up bare-bottomed, he wasn't going to interact with Muzo anymore.
Hiruzen accepted the pole, but found the scene a bit too much for his eyes.
"So… where are you going?"
"I've discovered a genius in the Uchiha clan," Muzo said seriously. "I've decided to go pass on the Will of Fire to him. Don't say anything, I already know what you want to say."
With that, before Hiruzen could utter a word, he vanished in a flash.
He shook his head, and untied Obito from the pole, then planted the Adamantine Staff into the ground.
In an instant, the staff transformed back into Enma.
"Come with me to the Uchiha clan," Hiruzen said as he glanced at Obito, a decision already made in his heart.
The war had already begun. To avoid further complications, he would just pretend he didn't know this was an Uchiha.
An old man nearly in his seventies, confused his whole life, one more mistake wouldn't make a difference.
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