The crystalline shattering sound echoed across the sky, fading as quickly as it had arrived. It broke the trance that had gripped the battlefield.
If the noise hadn't been so distinct, so deeply resonant, anyone would have dismissed it as a collective hallucination. How could such a delicate sound pierce through the deafening roar of Metroplex and the World Tree clashing?
Was it an omen? A sign of salvation, or impending doom?
Every shinobi present, including Mufasa, cast cautious glances at the heavens. Yet, the sky remained eerily unchanged.
'What the hell?' Mufasa thought, narrowing his eyes behind the mecha's controls. 'Did I literally break the sky?'
While Mufasa analyzed the situation, Madara's attention snapped back to Hashirama's horrific injuries.
"Hey, why haven't you regenerated yet?" Madara barked. "You look completely pathetic missing half your limbs."
Hashirama frowned deeply, remaining utterly silent. Madara's irritation flared into genuine anger.
"Asshole, is this your idea of playing the tragic hero?!" Madara yelled, grabbing his rival by the collar of his ruined armor. "Speak up, bastard! Believe it or not, I'll blow the rest of your head off myself!"
Hashirama slowly turned his head to meet Madara's gaze. His dark eyes were weighed down by a crushing, mountainous solemnity.
It was a look of pure, unadulterated dread that Madara had never seen on his rival's face before. A rare spike of panic shot through Madara's chest.
"What happened to you?!" Madara demanded.
Hashirama forced a bitter, wry smile and shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted softly. "I felt my chakra completely disappear."
Madara was completely taken aback. "Disappear? What do you mean 'disappear'?"
"Doesn't that bastard brother of yours boast that his Edo Tensei grants infinite chakra and rapid regeneration?" Madara pressed. "Did Tobirama screw up the formula? Just wait a second, it'll regenerate."
Hashirama shook his head again, his voice grim. "There is nothing wrong with Tobirama's jutsu. You've been using it too; you know how flawless it is. And we've been dead for decades, Madara. Let go of your grudge against him."
Madara rolled his Sharingan in annoyance. 'I'll hold that grudge as long as I please,' he thought bitterly.
Hashirama turned his gaze back to Metroplex. He stared at the mecha's glowing black hand—the same hand that had just permanently erased half of the World Tree.
"The chakra that was taken from me is gone forever," Hashirama said gravely. "That young man has developed a truly terrifying jutsu."
Madara scoffed, his pride refusing to accept it. "How is that even possible? Chakra is molded from physical and spiritual energy. As long as our immortal souls are anchored here, our chakra cannot be permanently erased!"
"No." Hashirama sighed. "I thought the exact same thing until just now. But I was wrong."
When the other Kage had faced Mufasa's anti-ninjutsu strikes earlier, their Edo Tensei bodies had simply been pulverized by physical force and regenerated naturally. This was completely different.
Hashirama was currently surging with the combined senjutsu of the three great Sage Regions. With his chakra reserves expanded to godly levels, the sudden, permanent void in his network was horrifyingly obvious.
Madara's arrogant expression finally cracked, replaced by a grim realization. He slowly raised his eyes to glare at Metroplex's cold, expressionless metal visor.
"You're saying he actually did this?" Madara asked quietly.
"Yes. It could only be him," Hashirama sighed heavily. "What a terrifying young man."
"How did he do it, then?" Madara pressed, his fists clenching. "Is it a Kekkei Genkai? Some twisted form of Kekkei Tōta?"
"No. Even the most destructive elemental releases leave traces behind," Hashirama explained. "This made it disappear completely, as if it never existed in the first place."
Hashirama looked down at his crumbling, dust-like arm. "Maybe this is the 'power of technology' he preaches about. There might truly be a realm of power out there that is completely beyond our reach."
Seeing Hashirama sink into depression instantly pissed Madara off.
"What the hell is with that pathetic look on your face?!" Madara snapped, shoving him. "Are you really going to boost the enemy's ego while dragging your own name through the dirt?"
"You're letting one little setback break your spirit!" Madara roared. "Where is the arrogant, high-spirited Hashirama Senju I fought at the Valley of the End? Don't make me look down on you!"
Hashirama couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Haha. Madara, you're just as aggressive as ever. But it's a bit hard to fight when I'm missing half my limbs."
"If you don't want me to kill you myself, sit down and focus on regenerating!" Madara ordered.
"I can't. If I divert my focus from the World Tree, it will collapse immediately," Hashirama countered. "The allied forces will be slaughtered."
Hashirama looked at Madara with absolute seriousness. "I'm begging you, Madara. Hold the line for a little while. I will figure out a countermeasure."
The corner of Madara's mouth twitched upward, forming a smug, fiercely arrogant grin.
"You should have just asked me from the start," Madara scoffed. "Watch closely, Hashirama. I'll show you the true power of Madara Uchiha. I'll crush him right now. Just stay behind me and provide support."
Madara stepped protectively in front of Hashirama. His demeanor shifted, his chaotic chakra flaring as he began to weave a complex string of hand seals.
Around him, the ethereal blue Susanoo mirrored his exact movements. Madara's voice echoed with god-like authority.
"Tengai Shinsei!"
The bright desert sky instantly blackened as an apocalyptic shadow swallowed the battlefield. A colossal, jagged meteorite, so massive it blocked out the sun, plummeted from the heavens with terrifying ferocity.
Inside his cockpit, Mufasa just smiled lightly.
'Damn. You want to play with the big toys, huh?' Mufasa thought, cracking his knuckles. 'Fine. I'll play along. I haven't even tested Metroplex's true limits yet.'
"Electromagnetic Release: Pillar of the Sun!"
Metroplex raised its colossal metallic hands toward the descending meteor. A blinding, sky-piercing pillar of pure electromagnetic lightning erupted from its palms, shooting directly into the heavens.
Meanwhile, far beyond the Earth's atmosphere, deep in the cold vacuum of space, a chilling anomaly occurred.
A bizarre, massive tree hurdled through the cosmos like a rogue comet, crashing violently into the dark side of the moon.
From within the roots of the cosmic tree, an ancient, chilling voice echoed into the void.
"Hmph. I have finally found you traitors!"