Tobirama Senju hurried over the moment he heard
"Hmph! You evil Uchiha! Forget about learning the Flying Thunder God Jutsu in this lifetime! I'd never teach it to a creep like you!"
Madara Uchiha didn't even flinch, just rolling his eyes with a strange smirk.
"Tobirama, you really think you're some kind of hotshot, huh? The Flying Thunder God isn't your exclusive trick. The Fourth Hokage, Minato, knows it. Hirofumi Ito knows it too. Why would I need to learn it from you? Who do you think you are?!"
"Argh! You evil Uchiha!"
"Heh, you evil Tobirama!"
Madara couldn't help but revel in Tobirama's embarrassment, his mood lifting.
"Heh, poor Tobirama. Must sting, huh? The great Second Hokage, a legend from the Warring States era, getting outdone by a kid who hasn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy!
What a joke!
How's it feel? The Uchiha's Sharingan is pretty damn strong, right? Susano'o's tough as hell too!
Jealous?
Oh, wait—you don't have one!
No Susano'o Flying Thunder God Slash for you, ever!
But me? I can play with it. I'll be zipping around with Flying Thunder God right in your face every day. Bet that'll drive you nuts!"
Hirofumi Ito's expression turned odd. Why did Madara sound so… wickedly gleeful about this?
Showing off Flying Thunder God in front of Tobirama?
It almost felt like… well, never mind. Probably just his imagination.
Tobirama's face, meanwhile, had turned the color of a rotten liver from pure rage.
Hashirama Senju, who'd been brooding silently, suddenly perked up, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Wait a sec! If I learn Flying Thunder God, I could pull off a True Several Thousand Hands with a Flying Thunder God Slash! Holy crap, that'd be insane!
Tobirama! Teach me! I wanna learn Flying Thunder God too!
Then Madara and I can both use it and have some fun together!"
Hirofumi froze.
Whoa, hold up!
True Several Thousand Hands topped with a Flying Thunder God Slash?!
What kind of monster would that be?!
But Hashirama's mention of "having fun" with Madara sparked a wild idea in Hirofumi's mind—one he'd had back in his old life while watching the anime: Susano'o layered over the Great Buddha!
It was a fan-made concept, something Hashirama and Madara had never actually developed in the Naruto world. Which made sense—there was never an enemy strong enough to force those two to team up like that.
An idea hit Hirofumi, and he muttered under his breath, "Sage Art: True Several Thousand Hands · Armored Great Buddha · Flying Thunder God Slash!"
He swallowed hard as he said it.
If they actually pulled off a jutsu like that, even the Sage of the Six Paths wouldn't stand a chance! Hell, even an Otsutsuki would probably get sliced in half!
Hirofumi had only mumbled it quietly, but the words caught everyone's attention.
Tobirama stared at him like he was a freak.
Hashirama and Madara, on the other hand, locked eyes with burning intensity, practically vibrating with excitement. Even Mito Uzumaki looked intrigued.
"Kid! What did you just say?!" Madara demanded, barely containing himself.
Hashirama couldn't stay still either. "Yeah, Hirofumi! What's that jutsu you mentioned? It sounds like something only Madara and I could pull off together! Spill the details!"
Hirofumi scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. "It's just a theory, really. But yeah, it'd need both of you to make it work.
You'd probably need to learn Flying Thunder God first.
Or, even without it, you could try something else. I'm pretty sure Susano'o can be layered over the Great Buddha, right? If you two combined your powers, you'd get a Susano'o-armored Great Buddha!
And if you threw in a Flying Thunder God Slash on top of that… man, that'd be terrifying."
Before he could finish, Hashirama and Madara locked eyes again, the air practically crackling with their enthusiasm.
"Madara!!!"
"Hashirama!!!"
"Madara!!!"
"Hashirama!!!"
"…"
Hirofumi sighed, watching the scene unfold.
Yup, the passionate shouting was right on cue—never late, never absent.
"Madara! I'm ready!!!"
"Here I come, Hashirama!!!"
Seeing what was coming, Hirofumi, Tobirama, and Mito quickly backed away.
Hashirama clapped his hands together, his face transforming with the distinctive markings of Sage Mode.
"Madara!!!"
"I got it!!!"
Madara's eyes shifted into his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
The two stood side by side.
"Sage Art!! True Several Thousand Hands!! Armored Great Buddha!!!"
BOOM!
A massive Buddha statue, hundreds of meters tall, erupted from the ground, its countless arms fanning out behind it.
But in an instant, it transformed!
Crow Tengu armor materialized around the Buddha, and a pair of enormous wings sprouted from its back. A Crow Tengu mask appeared on the Buddha's head, and blue flames wreathed its form. Every one of its thousands of arms was clad in armor!
Hashirama and Madara stood atop the Buddha's head, awestruck. They hadn't expected their combined jutsu to be this monstrous!
Gulp.
Tobirama swallowed hard, staring at the spectacle.
If his brother and that evil Madara had teamed up like this back in the day… the ninja world would've been unified in a heartbeat!
This kind of overwhelming power? Even a resurrected Sage of the Six Paths wouldn't stand a chance!
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