Seeing the Armored Susanoo unleashed through Naruto and Sasuke's combined effort, a trace of nostalgia flashed through Madara's eyes. However, that faint emotional ripple was quickly replaced by unwavering resolve.
Madara looked at the Armored Susanoo and the gigantic Wood Golem before him. Without saying much, he spoke softly:
"Overconfident fools."
"We won't know that until we try!"
Naruto shouted confidently, then opened his mouth and began forming a massive Tailed Beast Bomb, firing it straight at Madara.
Facing the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb, Madara first blocked it with the Six Paths staff in his hand. Then he snorted coldly and slammed the staff heavily into the ground.
"You like spitting these out? I'll let you spit to your heart's content!"
As he spoke, a section of the Divine Tree's branch burst out from underground. Several huge mouths instantly grew along the branch. Though each mouth faced a different direction, they all shared a single action—forming Tailed Beast Bombs.
Hashirama's expression changed when he saw this. With so many Allied Shinobi Forces present, he absolutely could not allow those Tailed Beast Bombs to explode outside.
With that thought, Hashirama had no choice but to temporarily abandon control of the Wood Golem and quickly form hand seals.
"Sage Art: Gate of the Great God!"
Four enormous torii gates descended from the sky, fixing themselves at the four corners of the battlefield and isolating the Allied Shinobi Forces outside. Immediately afterward, Hashirama formed another seal.
"Four Red Yang Formation!"
With Hashirama's movement, the four torii gates became the corners of a gigantic crimson sealing barrier that instantly formed over the battlefield. The barrier sealed Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, and Madara inside, while excluding the Allied Shinobi Forces outside.
Although this prevented the alliance from attacking Madara, Hashirama was forced to make this decision to avoid catastrophic casualties among the troops.
The Four Red Yang Formation saved the Allied Shinobi Forces—but the Armored Susanoo and the Wood Golem inside were in serious trouble. With the Tailed Beast Bombs constrained by the barrier, the countless bombs could only explode within the Four Red Yang Formation.
Naruto and Sasuke's faces darkened. Just as they began to wonder whether the Armored Susanoo could withstand so many Tailed Beast Bombs, Hashirama made a completely unexpected move.
He controlled the Wood Golem to shove the Armored Susanoo to the ground, then pressed the entire massive body of the Wood Golem on top of it.
At that very moment, all the Tailed Beast Bombs inside the Four Red Yang Formation detonated.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The massive explosions were so intense that even the Four Red Yang Formation visibly bulged outward. When the smoke inside the barrier finally cleared, everyone stared in shock.
Because the Wood Golem had shielded it, the Armored Susanoo beneath was completely unharmed—but the gigantic Wood Golem itself had been reduced to a tattered wreck.
Having forcibly endured so many Tailed Beast Bomb explosions, even Hashirama—bound by his Edo Tensei body—was left severely damaged. Although his body could slowly regenerate, he would clearly be unable to fight again for some time.
Hashirama struggled to climb onto the Armored Susanoo, channeling a large amount of chakra into it as he gave a wry smile.
"I'm sorry. I said we'd fight side by side, but I won't be able to act for a while. The rest of the battle will have to be left to you."
Naruto and Sasuke naturally didn't blame Hashirama. They simply nodded firmly.
"Leave it to us."
After saying this, the two exchanged a glance and once more controlled the Armored Susanoo to stand upright, drawing the long ninja blade from its waist.
Gripping the blade, the Armored Susanoo charged rapidly toward Madara. Madara, however, did not activate his own Susanoo—he firmly believed that his current self could handle the Armored Susanoo even without it.
The Six Paths staff in Madara's hand expanded dramatically in size. Wielding it, Madara surged forward with unstoppable momentum, directly meeting the downward slash of the Armored Susanoo's blade.
Clang!
The collision between staff and blade produced a grating, ear-piercing ring. Under the tense gazes of everyone present, Madara and Naruto–Sasuke entered a fierce and unconventional clash of strength.
Both sides continued to pour more and more strength into their weapons, each trying to shatter the other's.
Just as both sides were increasing their power, a sharp clang rang out. Everyone looked on nervously, only to see a thin crack appear on the blade of the Armored Susanoo.
Madara revealed a smug smile. Just as he was about to press the advantage and finish off Naruto and Sasuke in one decisive push, he suddenly noticed that his own Six Paths staff had also developed a crack.
Naruto and Sasuke, who had momentarily relaxed, roared in unison and once again increased their strength.
As their power continued to escalate, crack, crack, crack—the sounds of shattering rang out endlessly. Both weapons were breaking apart bit by bit. The outcome of this clash now seemed to depend on whose weapon was longer, and thus capable of dealing the final blow first.
With the situation turning into this stalemate, Hinata—who had been quietly watching Naruto from within the Allied Shinobi Forces—suddenly gathered her courage. Ignoring the gazes of others, she shouted:
"Naruto-kun, you can do it!"
Sakura glanced at the resolute Hinata beside her and instantly understood. She stepped forward as well and shouted:
"Sasuke-kun, you've got this!"
Their voices ignited the tension in everyone present. Shikamaru, Chōji, Itachi—one familiar face after another stepped forward, doing their best to cheer Naruto and Sasuke on.
In the end, all eighty thousand members of the Allied Shinobi Forces shouted together, urging Naruto and Sasuke to defeat Uchiha Madara.
Watching the fired-up Naruto and Sasuke, Madara felt an inexplicable sense of unease for the first time. He had never imagined that such "rabble," when gathered together, could unleash this kind of power.
Under normal circumstances, Madara—never one to admit defeat—would have stubbornly fought Naruto and Sasuke head-on to the bitter end. But with the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails right before him, and the Moon's Eye Plan just one step away from completion—
With that thought, Madara decided not to waste any more time. He unleashed his final trump card—
Limbo: Border Jail!
Madara's Rinnegan suddenly emitted a strange, eerie ripple. As the wave spread, the Armored Susanoo—locked in its struggle—staggered as if it had seen a ghost.
Taking advantage of that momentary imbalance, Madara instantly increased his force. The Six Paths staff in his hand shattered the Susanoo blade outright and plunged straight into the body of the Armored Susanoo.
Under the influence of the Six Paths staff, the Armored Susanoo's chakra fell into instant chaos. At that very moment, several bizarre crimson flames erupted behind Madara.
Those flames transformed midair into giant hands, tearing apart the Four Red Yang Formation—an absolute barrier capable of withstanding Tailed Beast Bomb explosions.
At the same time, a massive mouth of the Ten-Tails suddenly emerged behind Madara. From it shot two purple chains—one wrapped around the neck of the Armored Susanoo, while the other pierced straight through Killer B's abdomen.
In the blink of an eye, the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails were forcibly dragged out by those two chains.
Sasuke could clearly feel it—at the very moment the Nine-Tails was extracted, Naruto's condition visibly deteriorated.
Panicked by the sight, Sasuke immediately tried to stop Madara. He leapt out of the Armored Susanoo, drew the Lightning Blade Kiba from his waist, and attempted to assassinate Madara, who appeared momentarily unable to move.
But in the very next instant, it was as if Sasuke had slammed into an invisible wall. Not only did he fail to harm Madara in the slightest, but Madara casually raised a hand and seized him by the throat!