Seeing the changes in Madara's body, everyone present revealed expressions of utter disbelief. Madara had actually swallowed the gigantic Ten-Tails?
Looking at Madara's grotesque, half-human, half-demonic appearance, Hashirama couldn't help but speak up:
"Madara… that form of yours…"
Madara raised his head, glanced at Hashirama, and broke into a broad smile.
"Isn't this form of mine quite good?"
Tobirama frowned deeply and said to Hashirama beside him:
"Big brother, stop trying to reason with him. This guy is completely insane now."
"Hmph!"
Hearing this, Madara snorted coldly. With a flick of his finger, he casually launched a Truth-Seeking Orb from behind him. At first, Tobirama thought that since he was an immortal reanimated body, getting hit wouldn't matter much.
But as the Truth-Seeking Orb approached, he realized in horror that the situation was completely different from what he had imagined. The power contained within that black sphere was so terrifying that even someone already dead like him felt dread.
He hurriedly tried to use Flying Thunder God to evade, but he was ultimately half a beat too slow. Even though he activated Flying Thunder God, the Truth-Seeking Orb still grazed his shoulder.
Reappearing beside Hashirama, Tobirama looked at the wound on his shoulder that stubbornly refused to heal, his expression turning grave.
"Big brother, be extremely careful. That black sphere contains a terrifying power—even our Edo Tensei bodies can't regenerate if grazed by it."
Seeing Madara attack his younger brother, Hashirama's heart tightened, and he immediately chose to strike back.
Clapping his hands together, he shouted:
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
With Hashirama's roar, a massive wooden dragon bellowed as it surged toward Madara in the distance.
Madara coldly watched the wooden dragon approach, his expression unchanged. He merely raised the Six Paths staff in his hand and lightly tapped the dragon—instantly, the enormous wood dragon shattered into pieces.
Seeing this, even Hashirama was shocked. He and Madara had been rivals for a lifetime, yet this was the first time he had ever seen his technique suppressed so effortlessly.
Noticing Hashirama's stunned expression, Madara laughed smugly once again.
"Hashirama… I'm no longer the man I once was. Now, even you are no match for me."
Seeing Madara leave himself open, Tobirama's eyes sharpened. He quickly glanced toward Minato not far away and immediately threw a kunai.
The instant the kunai passed Madara, Tobirama appeared, raising his hand as he struck toward the laughing Uchiha Madara.
Madara let out a disdainful snort. A black rod instantly appeared in his other hand, and he easily drove it straight into Tobirama's body.
Overwhelmed by the immense force, Tobirama was slammed into the ground. He couldn't even move as Madara stepped down on him.
In a blur of white shadows, Tobirama's body was quickly pinned to the ground by numerous black rods formed from the Rinnegan.
Looking at Tobirama firmly nailed to the ground, Madara nodded in satisfaction.
"I've wanted to do this for a long time."
Just as Madara was examining Tobirama's miserable state, a flash of golden light appeared behind him. Minato had appeared behind Madara at some point, a Rasenshuriken already fully formed in his hand.
On the other side, Naruto followed his father's movements and also hurled a Rasenshuriken.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
"Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
As the two Rasenshuriken flew toward Madara, everyone present looked on with hopeful anticipation, praying that Madara would be ground into mincemeat by the twin attacks.
But their hopes were doomed to fail.
Facing the two incoming Rasenshuriken, Madara curled his lip in disdain. He swiftly dodged one and then took the second, rapidly spinning Rasenshuriken head-on.
Seeing this, everyone present let out disappointed sighs. However, Minato and Tobirama, both pinned to the ground, wore thoughtful expressions instead.
Unfortunately, Minato wasn't given much time to think. After absorbing Minato's Rasenshuriken, Madara seemed somewhat irritated. With a wave of his hand, another Truth-Seeking Orb shot toward Minato, clearly intending to eliminate him outright.
Minato's expression changed instantly. Thankfully, Tobirama's earlier experience served as a warning. He hurriedly used Flying Thunder God to evade, but to everyone's surprise, the Truth-Seeking Orb seemed able to track his chakra and followed him through the Flying Thunder God's movement.
Just as Minato landed and the Truth-Seeking Orb relentlessly pursued him, despair began to creep into his heart—until, at the very last moment before impact, the Truth-Seeking Orb suddenly and strangely flew back.
Minato, having survived the ordeal, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly shared the intelligence he had just gathered:
"Madara dodged Naruto's Rasenshuriken but took mine head-on. That means there's only one possibility—his current body can absorb ordinary ninjutsu, but it can't absorb senjutsu chakra.
"So if we want to hurt him, we have to use senjutsu!"
Tobirama, still pinned to the ground, also spoke up:
"Those black spheres are powerful, but they seem to have a fixed range. Their effective range appears to be about seventy meters around Madara."
Hearing their analysis, Madara looked displeased, though he also seemed somewhat resigned. He snorted disdainfully:
"So what if you've figured that out? You still can't defeat me in my current state."
"Don't be so sure!"
The moment Madara finished speaking, Naruto shouted. As he spoke, he entered Perfect Kurama Mode. Bathed in golden light, he transformed into a massive golden Nine-Tails and pointed at Madara confidently.
"As long as we're still alive, we'll definitely find a way to defeat you!"
Naruto's words seemed to reinvigorate the Allied Shinobi Forces. Sasuke appeared in the battlefield at some point, gently placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Your big talk is pretty annoying," Sasuke said, "but I hate that guy even more—so let me give you a hand."
As he spoke, Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly. Susanoo chakra spread over Kurama's body, instantly encasing the Nine-Tails in a purple-black Susanoo armor.
Jugo, having heard Minato's words, thought for a moment and leaped out from the crowd as well:
"Let me contribute a meager amount of strength as well."
As he spoke, Jūgo's natural energy chakra rapidly spread over the armored Nine-Tails, adding black senjutsu markings to the Susanoo-clad Kurama.
Naruto stared in awe at the massive armored Nine-Tails surrounding him, his eyes shining uncontrollably. The Nine-Tails mecha he had once imagined had actually become reality.
Seeing this, Hashirama smiled as well.
"I may not be able to further strengthen the Nine-Tails, but…"
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!"
Black Sage markings quickly appeared on Hashirama's face. Under the influence of his natural energy, a gigantic wooden golem rose from the ground. Standing atop the Wood Golem, Hashirama turned back toward the excited Naruto, his own blood boiling as he spoke:
"Let's fight together, young Naruto!"