"Oh no!"
The moment Link caught sight of that fleeting flash of a blade, he knew things were bad.
The Earth Dragon's body was tough enough, but in actual combat, its reactions were quite sluggish—whether in a game or conjured through ninjutsu, it's all the same. Flying in a straight line is just a matter of constant acceleration, but trying any small change of direction becomes troublesome. Faced with such a rapid attack, there was simply no way to dodge.
Moreover, Susanoo's sword is not merely a physical attack: it's the materialization of chakra. In the manga, after Uchiha Madara fully unleashed his Complete Body—Susanoo, just a single slash opened a huge chasm in the ground, and even sliced a distant mountain clean through.
What's more, none of them had the Earth Dragon's sturdy body.
Link quickly directed his Eight Gates Shadow to grab him and the nearby Senju Tobirama and leap away.
"Boom!!!"
After a violent collision, the ensuing explosion came as no surprise. The Earth Dragon's scales, which could ignore physical attacks, were torn apart. Exhausted of chakra and about to vanish, the Earth Dragon used the last moments of its life to spit out a massive boulder over ten meters in diameter.
"Boom!"
Following the second explosion, the blue Susanoo remained standing outside Amegakure, though its shoulder and chest now bore a deep dent that was rapidly healing under ample chakra supply.
As a pure rock-based attack, the Earth Dragon's projectile can't be nullified by any technique; although its speed might be relatively slow at higher levels of combat, its destructive power is enormous.
"I've been waiting for you a long time!"
"Hashirama!"
Uchiha Madara burst into wild laughter, floating within the forehead of his fully realized Susanoo.
"Wait a minute, at least let me finish talking!" Senju Hashirama, who had just jumped off the Earth Dragon's back, planted his feet on a large, upheaved rock and shouted loudly.
Madara paused, surprisingly holding back from attacking further.
"You're being used right now—by someone called Zetsu!" Hashirama began to speak of the information he had just learned. "I—"
"Words are useless. Let's dance!" As soon as Madara heard the first sentence, he had no intention of listening further. "Hashirama!"
His Complete Susanoo brought its sword crashing down in a single slash.
"Damn it, Madara…"
Hashirama was truly worried about his friend, but under these circumstances, and knowing Madara's combative nature, words were pointless. So—he clapped his hands together, and a gigantic Wooden Golem of the same size as Susanoo appeared, its two massive hands locking onto Susanoo's blade.
Wood Release: Wood Golem Jutsu!
Standing atop the Wooden Golem's head, Hashirama surveyed the pockmarked ground left by the explosions, his expression grim.
"Madara, your power is far too great!"
"Link!" (x2)
Uchiha Sasuke and Utakata landed at the same time, each releasing chakra to disperse the dust and smoke in the air. Seeing Link and Senju Tobirama both surrounded by shadow clones, they breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.
"I'm going to look for Jiraiya and the others."
Tsunade landed as well, the markings of Sage Mode disappearing from around her eyes. Keeping Sage Mode activated for too long increased the difficulty of dispersing the natural energy within her body later, which in turn would cause her body to be further eroded by the original cells—a troublesome issue.
With that, she went off on her own.
"Utakata, go with her," Link said, glancing over. Leaving Tsunade to go alone would be risky, whether she ran into Orochimaru or Black Zetsu. "Stay on your guard."
"Got it."
Utakata nodded and dashed off in pursuit.
"How are you holding up?" Link turned to Senju Tobirama, whose face and clothes were covered in dust.
This kid had tagged along mainly because the Edo Tensei–resurrected Uchiha Madara needed to be sealed—or else reanimated directly, though they hadn't decided whether they would actually go through with that. Reanimating Madara could be complicated. Whether resurrecting him into a child's body or sending him into another world, both were problematic. To Senju Hashirama, Madara was an important friend.
From their childhood fights all the way to founding Konoha, neither side had genuinely resolved to utterly destroy the other—until Madara tried to annihilate the village. Only then did Hashirama, in desperation, decide to kill his friend, ending their struggle by striking him down unexpectedly.
Even so, in the Fourth Great Ninja War, these two still hadn't really set aside their bond.
Madara knew his friend had changed, but it didn't surprise him. This is just how the world is, so even after being resurrected by Edo Tensei, the thing he looked forward to the most was fighting that friend again.
Hashirama himself claimed he was excited to see Madara again.
If Madara were reincarnated into a young body with the Rinnegan, he might quickly regain his old power, leaving no one capable of stopping him. But if he were reborn into another world, then Hashirama would forever lose his friend.
Link disliked stories where a perfect ending couldn't be achieved.
So, for now, sealing Madara was the best plan. Once Hashirama grows up again, maybe he can figure out a way to raise his friend properly.
No one in Konoha was better at fūinjutsu than the Fourth Hokage, who had inherited the Uzumaki clan's secrets—but he was still trapped in the belly of the Reaper. Next best were the aging Third Hokage and the child-sized Second Hokage.
One old man and one little kid—and since the village needed the old man's combat strength to guard the home front, they had decided to bring along the brat instead.
"I'm fine." Tobirama turned a vigilant eye toward the kid who had just fallen silent for some reason, then said, "Looks like those two are going to fight for quite a while."
Indeed, although Hashirama was stronger, he was not at a level where he could effortlessly crush or restrain Madara. Besides, Edo Tensei not only weakens the resurrected fighter but also removes the worry of being harmed—a tricky advantage in prolonged battle.
"I'll go join the fight," Uchiha Sasuke said, eager for action.
After all, he was still a teenager. He had been driven by hatred for so long, but now that his parents and clan had been brought back, his heart was returning to a more spirited, youthful mindset—far from the grim bitterness he showed in the manga's later stages.
He had long since possessed the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and had also manifested Susanoo. After being honed by the Delicate Extraction Technique, his strength was certainly no less than his canon self during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Having such formidable power but no strong opponent or occasion to display it felt suffocating indeed.
Link shook his head. "No, I need you to take some of my shadows and find Zetsu. Be wary of him ambushing you."
Uchiha Sasuke calmed himself, suppressing his battle fever. "No way. If you only have him by your side, it's too dangerous."
"This brat!"
Tobirama flared up for a second, but remembering his current childlike level of power, he simply gave an earnest remark:
"As expected of that sinister Uchiha brat."
"My emotions seem to be influenced by this young body…" He quickly realized the peculiarity of his own mood swings.
"Go on," Link said. "Don't worry. Trust in my sensory abilities and his." Link had already used a substitution technique to secure a very handy stand—a 'Crazy Diamond' with top-tier power and speed—that could be used for both support and direct combat, so he really wasn't worried about anyone trying anything.
"…All right." After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke left a Shadow Clone behind, then vanished in a flicker of motion.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!