"Hashirama! Do you still intend to stop me? You should know the current you is no longer my match!"
Uchiha Madara's voice carried a wild excitement—one that only Senju Hashirama, his former friend and greatest rival, could ever draw out of him. In this entire shinobi world, only Hashirama could make Madara feel alive.
Madara leapt down from a stone outcrop, fingers undoing the clasps of his battle armor. The plating fell away, revealing a lean, defined frame carved by battle and chakra.
But no one paid attention to his physique.
Their gazes locked onto the face of Senju Hashirama embedded on Madara's chest.
Whispers rippled through the gathered shinobi—and even more through the fellow shinobi who looked from Madara to Hashirama with disbelief and… suspicion.
Ordinary shinobi were clueless, but Tsunade knew exactly what it was. That grotesque visage was the direct result of implanting her grandfather's cells—a level of fusion far more complete than any attempt she had ever seen.
And this was why Madara could use Wood Release.
"Madara… you…!"
Even Hashirama was shaken, unable to process the sight before him.
"Hahahahaha!!" Madara's laughter boomed.
"Hashirama, you'd never guess. I didn't die at the Valley of the End. That 'victory' of yours? A lie. Not only did I survive—I awakened the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths!"
His Mangekyō swirled, morphing into the Rinnegan, the purple rings settling into concentric layers.
"This… is the power of a god."
The entire battlefield trembled with uproar.
Madara continued, arms spread wide, drunk on power.
"We are both descendants of the Sage of Six Paths. One inherited the Sage's body, the other his eyes. That is the origin of the Senju and Uchiha. But those old stories mean nothing now. The current me… you cannot hope to defeat."
Even the Raikage and Tsuchikage felt chills. If most Uchiha and Senju weren't already wiped out, the world would have been crushed beneath their combined might centuries ago.
And ironically, it was thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura that these clans were diminished.
For the first time, the two old Kage privately acknowledged that the Third Hokage and Danzo had—unintentionally—done a good deed.
Back in Tobirama's era, Konoha could single-handedly suppress the entire shinobi world. Under Hiruzen, however, Konoha had decayed. Their arrogance had provided the other villages opportunities they never would've had otherwise.
Power had corrupted the once-respected Third Hokage.
Konoha had rotted.
But the current shinobi world was no longer something any single village could control.
And fortunately for them…
Uzumaki Naruto wasn't standing with Konoha this time.
Otherwise, several villages would already be wiped out. Restructuring was inevitable—but joining Umbrella gave them access to far more resources. Strange items kept appearing on the market, and even the old Tsuchikage could no longer understand this new era.
"This world belongs to the young," Ōnoki murmured. "Perhaps… it's time for Kurotsuchi to take over. I've supported Iwagakure long enough."
While he sighed, the two titans—Hashirama and Madara—collided once more.
Shinobi across the field retreated at once; even the stray shockwaves were overwhelming.
"Madara, stop this." Hashirama's voice carried sadness more than anger. "The shinobi world is changing. Even Konoha must change."
"Hahaha! Hashirama, are you really planning to hand Konoha over to that brat—Uzumaki Naruto?"
Madara jeered, his voice echoing.
"By the way… where is that brat? Don't tell me he's too afraid to come out and fight me!"
Hashirama didn't react to the provocation.
"Madara… Naruto is a remarkable person. He is in seclusion right now—breaking through a mysterious barrier. A realm that may well be the Six Paths level."
Hashirama's understanding of that realm was shallow… but Madara's wasn't.
The moment Naruto's potential ascension was mentioned, Madara's pupils tightened.
A flicker of unease—genuine unease—appeared in his Rinnegan eyes.
Compared to Hashirama, Madara understood far more about what the Six Paths realm truly represented.
"Is that so?" Madara sneered. "Has that brat really reached that stage already? That's unbelievable."
His expression darkened.
"It took me nearly a hundred years just to barely approach that realm. For him to step into it on his own? Impossible. Without the Power of All Creation, entering the Six Paths level simply cannot be done."
Madara spoke with certainty. To be honest, he didn't believe Naruto could reach that realm at all—let alone now.
"I don't understand that level very well," Hashirama replied calmly as they clashed, shockwaves tearing through the land. "But from what I know, mastering all seven chakra nature transformations, condensing Bloodline Retrogression, and fully comprehending chakra itself… should allow one to step into that realm."
Their conversation continued even as they fought.
The battlefield was completely reshaped. Mountains cracked, the ground collapsed, and forests were uprooted. The two of them were no longer shinobi—they were walking weapons, humanoid calamities.
Hashirama's knowledge was incomplete. He had only heard fragments from Orochimaru, who himself had learned it from Naruto. Even Orochimaru only grasped the surface.
But Madara knew.
And his expression finally changed.
He was aware of that method—but it was something no ordinary human could ever achieve. Fusing chakra into a Bloodline Limit was already nearly impossible. Beyond that lay Bloodline Selection, and then Bloodline Retrogression—a realm even Madara had never touched.
He had long since mastered all seven chakra nature transformations.
As for Bloodline Limits from other clans?
Madara scoffed at the idea.
The Uchiha bloodline alone was supreme.
To reach the Six Paths realm through one's own cultivation would require a lifespan of a thousand years—and genius beyond comprehension. Only then might it be possible.
Madara had awakened the Rinnegan only in his later years. It was then that he deciphered the true meaning hidden within the Uchiha stone tablet:
Become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki.
That power surpassed even a conventional Six Paths existence.
With the Ten-Tails, the Rinnegan itself would evolve—into the nine-tomoe Rinnegan, granting supreme space-time authority.
Compared to a normal Rinnegan, it was a different order of power entirely.
Nagato's Rinnegan was the foundation.
Madara's was a step above.
Beyond that were the Ōtsutsuki Clan—and Kaguya herself.
As for whether an even higher form existed…
No one knew.
Madara's patience finally snapped.
"Enough of this, Hashirama! I'm done playing!"
His chakra erupted.
A colossal Perfect Susanoo manifested—towering nearly a thousand meters high, its mere presence crushing the land beneath it.
Hashirama immediately closed his eyes.
Dark markings spread across his face as Sage Mode activated—the Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest.
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
A massive Wood Golem rose from the earth, its appearance shaking the battlefield violently.
The surrounding shinobi retreated another ten li without hesitation.
At this distance, survival was no longer guaranteed.
Whether it was the Wood Golem or the Perfect Susanoo, a single stray attack could wipe out countless fellow shinobi.
At this moment, even the Tailed Beasts—once symbols of terror across the shinobi world—seemed like harmless kittens before these two legends.