Senju Hashirama stood across the ruined clearing, hands already forming signs.
"Raizen, you're good with Wood Release. So today, we settle this with Wood Release!"
Amamiya Raizen stepped toward him, each footfall thudding against splintered earth. When he stopped a few meters away, a faint, crooked smile tugged at his lips.
"You really want a Wood Release duel with me? Sure. I'll take that gamble."
Hashirama's expression tightened. "I don't know how you learned Wood Release, Raizen, but I won't lose when it comes to my own specialty."
"We'll see."
The scarlet pattern of Sage Mode shimmered into place across Raizen's face. Natural energy wrapped around him in a restless swirl, humming across his skin like a second heartbeat.
"Let's fight with our true bodies, Hashirama. Show me the power everyone claims you have."
Hashirama inhaled deeply. "As you wish!"
The ground erupted. A forest's worth of trees burst upward at his command, twisting like constricting serpents as they lunged for Raizen.
"They're coming!"
Raizen pressed his palms together. Vines and branches tore through the ground at his feet, surging upward to meet the attacking forest head-on. Wood Release clashed against Wood Release, the battlefield swallowed in a storm of shattering bark and coiling roots.
"Raizen!"
"Wood Release: Wooden Golem!"
Sage chakra roared around Hashirama. A titanic wooden figure rose behind him, its steps shaking the earth before it charged with a booming cry.
"Good! Try this!"
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon!"
Raizen's hands snapped together. A colossal wooden dragon erupted from the torn ground, its roar silent but its killing intent unmistakable as it tore toward the Golem.
Hashirama's eyes narrowed. "Even the Wood Dragon…?"
The two titans collided, sending waves of splinters through the air.
On the ground, Raizen's blade slammed against Hashirama's with a burst of sparks. They exchanged blows at blinding speed beneath the stomping giants.
The Wooden Golem suddenly seized the Wood Dragon by the throat, yanking hard. The dragon cracked apart under the pressure. The Golem raised its massive foot and brought it down toward Raizen.
Raizen's eyes flashed. "Wood Release: Wood Dome Wall!"
Thick wooden panels snapped upward, forming a defensive shell—
Then shattered instantly. The shockwave blasted Raizen backward, his body skipping across the soil.
"Tch… so even a Sage-mode clone can't keep up with him?"
He spat dust and forced his clone to stabilize. Hashirama's mastery of Wood Release was on an entirely different level. No clone was going to match him.
"So I have to handle this myself."
He shot a glance toward Madara and the rampaging Three-Tails nearby. That mess could wait. The real danger stood right in front of him.
Susanoo erupted around Raizen, forming a massive armored giant. Each step thundered like an earthquake as he closed the distance.
"Wooden Golem!"
Hashirama met him head-on, controlling the gargantuan wooden deity as it charged. Its palm slammed into Susanoo, the impact shaking the battlefield.
Raizen ground his teeth. He expected Susanoo to overpower it immediately, but the Golem matched it blow for blow.
"No wonder this thing can wrestle the Nine-Tails…"
Raizen thrust both hands forward. Black flames spiraled into existence, forming a broad shield of Amaterasu across Susanoo's chest. Another mass of dark flame twisted into a spear in Susanoo's right hand.
"Hashirama!"
Susanoo hurled its shield forward and drove the spear toward the Golem. Amaterasu ignited its wooden body instantly.
But the Wooden Golem healed almost as fast as it burned, vitality blooming from its bark.
"Even Amaterasu can't shut it down…?"
Hashirama didn't let up. Sage chakra flared again.
A wooden dragon shot skyward—
"Don't forget me!"
Raizen's clone intercepted it, releasing a barrage of writhing vines that tangled around the dragon's body.
Hashirama grimaced. Even for him, the constant, massive jutsu were taking a toll.
He reached behind him, grabbing a large sealing scroll. With a flick, he summoned a massive chakra-forged blade and sprinted toward Raizen.
"So now it's a taijutsu fight?"
Raizen snorted. Hashirama was running low, but so was he. Fighting both him and Madara's influence in the background wasn't sustainable.
"Byakugan!"
His clone surged forward. Veins bulged at the corners of its eyes as it slipped past Hashirama's swing and delivered a sharp, twisting kick straight to his chest.
Hashirama flew back, coughing blood before planting his feet in the dirt.
He stared at Raizen's Sage markings, his Byakugan, the Wood Release, the Mangekyō abilities.
"Raizen… where does your power come from?"
Hashirama's face tightened. "Sharingan… Wood Release… Byakugan… and something else. No one should be able to hold all these powers without their blood rejecting them! How did you combine them?"
Raizen didn't answer. He simply charged forward again.
Hashirama wiped the blood from his lips, raised his blade, and braced himself.
If Raizen wouldn't answer, he'd have to beat the truth out of him.