In the forest outside Konoha Village.
Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju stood facing each other.
Madara stood beneath a large tree, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan rotating slowly.
After the eye transplantation, his vision had been restored to unprecedented clarity, and his ocular power had grown significantly.
He needed a battle to test the strength of these new eyes.
News of Uchiha Madara’s sparring match with Hashirama Senju quickly spread throughout Konoha.
Konoha’s Twin Jewels—the Hokage and Lord Hashirama in a battle for the ages.
Among the spectators were Tobirama Senju, Uchiha Izuna, Uchiha Hikaru, Nara Rokuon, Hyuga Ten’nin, and Uzumaki Mito.
“Come, Hashirama.”
Madara struck first.
His blue Susanoo rose from the ground, long blade in hand, swinging toward Hashirama.
Hashirama clapped his hands together: “Wood Style: Wood Dragon Technique.”
The ground split open, and a massive wooden dragon emerged from beneath.
It opened its jaws wide, clamping down on the long blade.
The blade embedded itself in the dragon’s head, sending splinters flying.
The two forces clashed in midair, the resulting shockwave toppling the surrounding trees.
BOOM—
The collision of two forces kicked up a cloud of dust, flattening the trees around them.
As the dust cleared, Madara’s Susanoo had transformed into its second form—the Tengu Armor.
“Wood Style: Wood Human Technique.”
A colossal wooden giant rose from the ground, standing opposite the Susanoo.
Its bark-like surface was knotted like muscle, each fist capable of splitting mountains and cracking stones.
Madara drove his Susanoo forward, a massive fireball erupting from its mouth: “Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!”
The enormous fireball surged toward the wooden giant.
Trees in its path were instantly reduced to ash, the ground scorched black.
“Wood Style: Hōbi Technique.”
Hashirama encased himself in wood, forming a wooden shield.
The flames crashed against the shield, scorching its surface black, but failing to break through.
“Hashirama.”
“Madara.”
The two titans charged at each other simultaneously.
The wooden giant’s fist slammed against the Susanoo’s armor with a dull thunderous impact.
The Susanoo’s long blade hacked into the wooden giant, sending splinters flying in all directions.
The ground cracked under their feet, trees uprooted.
Branches burst from the earth, coiling around the Susanoo’s ankles, trying to trip it.
The wooden giant caught the Susanoo in an opening, driving a fist into its chest and sending it crashing to the ground.
BOOM—
The Susanoo was flipped onto its back.
The wooden giant pressed its advantage, fists raining down on the Susanoo one after another.
The ground caved in, sending up clouds of dust.
Madara did not panic. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
He channeled all his ocular power.
The Susanoo transformed once more—evolving into its Complete Body.
A giant hundreds of meters tall, wings sprouting from its back, twin blades in hand, its body wreathed in blue chakra light.
Hashirama changed his Wood Style technique as well.
“Wood Style: Flower Tree World Emergence.”
The ground shook violently.
Countless thick trees burst from the earth, their branches like giant serpents, reaching for the Susanoo.
The trees grew at an astonishing speed, turning the entire battlefield into a sea of wood in the blink of an eye.
Branches layered upon branches, surging from all directions, wrapping around the Susanoo’s feet, waist, and arms.
Enormous flowers bloomed on the trees.
As they opened, yellow pollen drifted into the air, spreading across the battlefield.
“Hashirama, that technique is useless now.”
The Susanoo swung its twin blades, carving two arcs that cleaved the oncoming sea of wood in two.
The severed trunks crashed to the ground, scattering splinters and dust.
“Madara, you’ve grown stronger.”
“But—”
Hashirama took a deep breath and pressed his palms together.
“Sage Art—”
Black markings appeared on his face.
Sage Mode activated.
Vast natural energy surged into his body, his chakra skyrocketing.
“Wood Style: True Several Thousand Hands—Top-Transforming Buddha.”
The earth trembled violently.
A thousand-armed Buddha nearly a kilometer tall rose from the ground, blotting out the sun.
Thousands of arms spread out behind the figure, each one colossal in size.
Nara Rokuon remarked, “The Hokage and Lord Hashirama are truly monsters.
A single battle has reshaped the landscape.”
Hyuga Ten’nin said nothing, his white pupils fixed on that thousand-armed Buddha.
Inwardly, he was relieved that the Hyuga had chosen to ally themselves willingly rather than be conquered.
Uchiha Izuna clenched his fists.
Uchiha Madara looked up at the thousand-armed Buddha, his eyes devoid of fear.
The Susanoo took flight, its twin blades raised high, charging toward the great Buddha.
The thousand-armed Buddha’s countless fists struck out simultaneously.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
Each collision was like the sky falling and the earth splitting.
The entire battlefield trembled.
The earth cracked open, rocks tumbled down.
The forest was utterly destroyed, the ground stripped away by a thick layer.
The Susanoo’s twin blades severed dozens of arms, but more came from all directions.
Cracks began to appear in the Susanoo’s armor.
Its blue chakra light flickered.
Madara gritted his teeth, driving the Susanoo to keep swinging.
But the great Buddha’s assault did not let up.
At last, the Susanoo could hold no longer.
BOOM—
The great Buddha’s final fist crashed into the Susanoo’s chest, and the blue giant collapsed.
The Susanoo Complete Form dissipated; the chakra light extinguished completely.
The dust gradually settled.
Uchiha Madara knelt on one knee on the ravaged earth, his clothes torn, covered in mud and dust.
He breathed heavily, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan having automatically deactivated, revealing black pupils.
Hashirama Senju stood not far away, his Sage Mode having faded, the markings gone from his face.
His chakra was nearly depleted, his legs trembling slightly, but he still maintained his standing posture.
The two had fought evenly, but Hashirama had the edge.
The spectators rushed over from a distance.
“Brother, are you alright?” Uchiha Izuna moved to support Madara.
“Brother.” Tobirama walked over to Hashirama’s side.
Uzumaki Mito looked at Hashirama, her eyes filled with pride: “As expected of the man I, Uzumaki Mito, chose.”
After the battle, the ground for dozens of li around had been scraped several meters deep.
Massive craters and ravines dotted the landscape; the once-dense forest was completely gone.
A distant hill was missing a large chunk, with rubble scattered everywhere.
Uchiha Madara rose to his feet.
“Hahaha…” He suddenly laughed.
“HAHAHAHA…” Hashirama laughed as well.
Their laughter echoed across the scarred earth.
“Hashirama, you truly are my lifelong rival.
You’ve grown stronger.”
“Madara, so have you.”
“I lost.” Madara admitted it without hesitation.
“But that’s what makes it interesting.
If I had beaten you here and now, I would have been quite lonely.”
“In terms of combat power, I, Madara, shall call you the strongest.”
“Madara, I look forward to you growing even stronger.”
The two locked eyes and laughed again.
Izuna watched his brother with complicated emotions—even with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, his brother had still lost.
Tobirama stood to the side, his gaze sweeping over Madara, then settling on his own brother: As expected, his brother was the strongest.
If only he had been more capable, his brother might have become Hokage.
Uchiha Hikaru, however, was not surprised by the outcome.
In the original story, Hashirama was simply a stat monster—whenever Madara grew stronger, Hashirama would be just slightly above him.
Unless it was Madara with the Rinnegan, even if they fought ten more times, Hashirama would still win.