"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
The earth trembled. A majestic wooden Buddha rose from the ground, its thousand arms stretching out, blotting out the sky and sun.
Even Madara's Susanoo appeared diminutive before it.
"Finally getting serious?" Madara sneered. The flaming greatsword of his Susanoo ignited once more. "But you, an Edo Tensei body... how could you possibly be my match?"
The giant arms of the Thousand-Handed Wooden Buddha fell like a torrential downpour. Madara's Susanoo swung its flaming greatsword. Blade flashes sliced through, and dozens of wooden arms were severed. But more attacks followed in rapid succession.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The relentless bombardment caused cracks to appear in the Susanoo's armor. Madara grunted, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth.
The consecutive losses made Madara feel a bit humiliated. "If not for my Rinnegan being gone, if I could summon the Nine-Tails, your wooden Buddha could never suppress me."
Hashirama stood atop the Thousand-Handed Wooden Buddha's head, nodding seriously. "Yes, Madara, you've become much stronger than before."
"You want to say I've become this much stronger and still can't beat you?" Madara was furious. "I didn't want to use your techniques, but I'm weakened so much now. Using them doesn't count as bullying you."
"Wood Release: Multiple Wood Clones Technique!"
Madara created twenty-five wooden clones. Then, all these clones simultaneously activated Susanoo.
"Wow, I never imagined our techniques could combine like this!" Hashirama was excited. "We really are the best partners!"
"Hmph, I won't hold back," Madara said coldly.
"That's right! Defeat me quickly!" Hashirama laughed in response.
Twenty-five Susanoo attacked simultaneously. Greatswords severed the wooden Buddha's arms, magatama shattered the Buddha's torso...
Madara's real Susanoo leaped into the air, raising the flaming greatsword overhead, bringing it down with a cleaving force that seemed capable of incinerating everything.
The flame-wreathed greatsword split the wooden Buddha's head, cleaving the entire colossus in two.
Amidst the dust of the collapsing Buddha, Hashirama landed awkwardly.
Before he could steady himself, the attacks from the twenty-five Susanoo followed like shadows.
The ground was blasted into countless craters. Hashirama dodged with difficulty under the relentless bombardment.
Watching from afar, Setsuna couldn't help but shake his head, 'The true body struggling this much against an Edo Tensei body... Madara's strength really is inferior to Hashirama's.'
Just as Madara thought the outcome was decided—
Boom!
Hashirama's body suddenly erupted with an unprecedented amount of Chakra. He jerked his head up. His right hand shot out like lightning, a fist smashing heavily onto Madara's chest.
"Cough!"
Caught off guard, Madara was sent flying, crashing heavily into a distant cliff face.
Amidst the billowing dust, a completely unfamiliar voice came from Hashirama's mouth. "After all... you are a descendant of us Otsutsuki..."
The voice was low and raspy, carrying an arrogant, condescending tone. "I shall deal with you personally—"
Before the words finished, a golden figure flashed into existence.
Setsuna's fist smashed into the side of Hashirama's face, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Then, Setsuna, with the fastest speed, tossed Black Zetsu onto Hashirama's face.
Black Zetsu transformed into a dark fluid, enveloping Hashirama's entire head.
Hum—
A bizarre energy fluctuation was pulled from Hashirama's body, firmly imprisoned within Black Zetsu.
"It... it worked?" Black Zetsu felt like crying. It never knew its body could be used in so many different ways.
Setsuna nodded. "Well done."
But Black Zetsu suddenly grew afraid. "Se-Setsuna-sama... Otsutsuki Isshiki's will is inside me now. Isn't that too dangerous?"
Setsuna raised an eyebrow, his tone casual. "You are Kaguya's will. Do you think... Kaguya is inferior to Isshiki?"
"Of course not!" Black Zetsu straightened abruptly. "Mother's will is a hundred times stronger than that rat hiding in the gutter!"
Setsuna nodded, satisfied. "He is your Mother's greatest enemy. By suppressing his will now, you are sharing your Mother's burden."
Setsuna's voice was full of temptation. "When Kaguya awakens, who knows how she'll praise you..."
Logically, with Black Zetsu's thousand years of experience, it shouldn't be easily swayed by such rhetoric.
But—
"Mother... will praise me?" Black Zetsu's dark body trembled uncontrollably. The flowing black substance surged as if boiling.
Once this thought appeared, it spread like wildfire within its being.
Hadn't its scheming for a thousand years been precisely for Mother's praise?
"I... I will definitely do my utmost!" Black Zetsu's voice was distorted with excitement. "I'll make Otsutsuki Isshiki know who is the true master of this world!"
Before Konoha's main gates, the air seemed to freeze.
Seeing Setsuna defeat Hashirama with a single punch, the sealed Second Hokage and the others were incredulous. They all looked blankly at the Third Raikage, 'This is the guy you said wasn't as strong as the First Hokage?'
The Third Raikage was also dumbfounded, 'I had only been dead for a year, not ten, right? How could Chiaki Setsuna's power have inflated to this degree?'
Meanwhile, in another dimension, Isshiki was also bewildered.
'What just happened?'
'How did that portion of my consciousness suddenly lose connection?'
He tried to retrieve his consciousness but found that portion gave no response at all.
"Could it be a trap for me?" Isshiki fell into suspicion, but he didn't think anyone could plot against him.
Kaguya was sealed. Kaguya's son's condition probably wasn't much better than his own.
"Regardless, until I find a suitable vessel, my true body absolutely must not risk leaving."
…
The next day, the morning sun shone on Konoha's streets.
Madara walked alone on the stone-paved road. Though eyeless, his perception remained keen.
From afar, he could sense the strange gazes of the surrounding villagers and the hushed whispers, deliberately lowered but still clear.
"Is that Uchiha Madara? He was the one who helped repel the enemy attack yesterday?"
"I heard he was a traitor who nearly destroyed Konoha before. How come now..."
"Shh, keep it down! Whatever the case, if he hadn't acted yesterday, the village would have been in trouble."
"Don't you think he's cool? That aloof demeanor is just too handsome!"
Madara's steps paused slightly.
"Praise? Protecting Konoha?" A flicker of astonishment crossed Madara's stern face. Even during Konoha's founding days, his sharp aura was enough to make children cry, let alone now with his awkward status.
Yet, within the current whispers, there was actually... acknowledgment of him?
'That guy Setsuna... was there this kind of intention in having me act?' The corner of Madara's mouth unconsciously twitched upward before quickly tightening again.
'However, I don't care at all about the opinions of these ants.' Madara snorted inwardly, continuing forward.
Yet, for some reason, his steps were lighter than usual.
After crossing several streets, Madara stopped before an ordinary-looking residence.
"This is the place." Though eyeless, he could still sense the abundant Chakra within the house… the unique vitality of the Uzumaki Clan, and the Nine-Tails' aura.