Hashirama Senju rode a Wood Dragon through the sky, facing Madara from afar.
"Madara, stop this." Hashirama spoke with deep emotion. "Do you really want to destroy the village we built together?"
Madara Uchiha remained calm. "Hashirama, the peace you believe in is wrong. I do not agree with it."
As he spoke, the Tailed Beast Ball gathered in the Nine-Tails' mouth suddenly shot forth.
Hashirama Senju's pupils shrank. He had not expected Madara to be serious!
Madara truly wanted to destroy Konoha!
Hashirama clapped his hands together, and Wood Style Vines spread behind him into a massive barrier, blocking the full impact of the Tailed Beast Ball.
Even Hashirama Senju found it difficult to withstand a Tailed Beast Ball in such haste.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he looked at his former friend in disbelief. "Madara, why are you doing this...?"
"Hashirama, you are still the same, always indulging in wishful thinking." Madara Uchiha's gaze was as still as an ancient well.
He had come to fight with the resolve to die, so naturally, he would not be swayed by Hashirama's words.
"If you want to persuade me, then give up!" Madara Uchiha looked at Hashirama mockingly. "We are no longer people of the same world."
"Elder Brother, stop dithering!" Tobirama Senju said.
Madara wanted to destroy Konoha.
Why was Elder Brother still wasting words on him?
"I understand..." Hashirama murmured softly.
Madara had already embarked on a road of no return. His persuasion was useless.
Hashirama's gaze hardened as he stared directly into Madara's scarlet Sharingan, his voice low yet carrying immense weight:
"I will never allow anyone to destroy the village, not even you!"
Before his words had faded, countless thick wooden stakes burst from the ground and surged toward Madara and the Nine-Tails.
"Hashirama!"
"Madara!"
A world-shaking battle was about to begin.
Hashirama knew that Konoha could not withstand the devastation caused by the battle's aftermath.
He leaped into the air, Wood Release Chakra gathering beneath his feet into a massive lotus platform as he used Wood Release to block the Nine-Tails' attack.
"Madara! If you have the guts, follow me!"
Madara Uchiha understood Hashirama's little scheme, but he did not mind.
Their battle gradually moved away from Konoha Village.
Renye watched Hashirama and Madara fight, too shocked to speak.
Was this truly power that humans could possess?
He even felt that, even if he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan in the future, he still would not be Madara Uchiha's match.
Unless, thirty or forty years from now, he found the aged Madara covered in Oxygen tubes.
After all, by then, Madara Uchiha could only cling to life through the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He would even wobble when he walked.
A mere old man would be easy for Renye to handle.
But that was merely wishful thinking. How could Madara's hiding place be so easy to find?
Renye felt somewhat helpless.
Perhaps that would be his only chance in this lifetime to defeat Madara...
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had already vanished from sight.
Yet the sounds of their earth-shattering battle still came from afar.
Renye knew that this battle would end with Hashirama Senju's victory and Madara Uchiha faking his death to escape.
After this battle, he would not have much time left to grow stronger...
The distant sounds of battle continued throughout the night.
Only at dawn did they gradually fade away.
Everyone knew that the battle between the two had ended.
They began to worry over who the final victor was.
"Hokage-sama, you have to win!"
The villagers did not dare imagine what they would do if Hashirama Senju lost.
Tobirama Senju led the Konoha Ninja toward the battlefield.
He had originally wanted to go up and help, but Elder Brother had sternly refused.
Hashirama did not want anyone interfering in the battle between himself and Madara.
Only after hearing the battle sounds vanish did Tobirama Senju lead the others over.
If Elder Brother had won, then all would be well.
If Madara had won, they would step in and kill him.
The Valley of the End.
Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju stood facing each other.
After fighting all night, both were already exhausted, and their armor was battered beyond recognition.
Madara Uchiha did not even have enough Chakra left to activate his Sharingan.
Both charged toward each other.
Their weapons clashed, and Hashirama fell to the ground.
Madara Uchiha turned around and looked at Hashirama on the ground. "I am the one standing now. The opposite of back then, isn't it?"
His thoughts returned to the time when he had lost to Hashirama.
If he had won back then, Konoha Village would never have been established.
It was precisely because Madara had lost that Hashirama had talked him into forming an alliance and building Konoha Village together...
Hashirama Senju knelt on the ground, his voice low. "I want to protect the dream that has only just been realized... I will never let you destroy the village."
Madara Uchiha looked disdainful. "Hashirama, you are nothing but a loser now. Once I..."
Before he could finish speaking, Hashirama suddenly appeared behind Madara and drove a blade through his left chest.
Madara stared in disbelief, lowering his head to look at the sharp blade piercing through his chest.
Only then did he realize that the Hashirama from before had merely been a Wood Style Clone.
"I was actually caught off guard from behind..." Madara murmured.
"I will protect our... no, my village!" Hashirama's expression was solemn. "No matter what happens, protecting the village means protecting everything.
"I firmly believe that even if they are my friends, brothers, or children, anyone who harms the village will never be forgiven!"
"You have changed, Hashirama."
Madara's body went limp, and he fell to his knees. "At first, you built the village to protect your family and friends.
"But now, to protect the village, you can kill your friends and family... Is that not putting the cart before the horse?"
After saying that, Madara slowly fell to the ground.
Hashirama looked at Madara's corpse and fell silent.
If he could, he truly did not want to kill his former friend.
But there was no other way. Madara's actions had already crossed his bottom line.
In his eyes, the village's safety outweighed everything else.
He sat beside Madara's corpse and said softly, "Madara, I have always been working to ease the conflict between the Senju and Uchiha."
Hashirama smiled faintly. "I even had Tobirama adopt one of your Uchiha children."
"I wanted Tobirama to gradually let go of his prejudice against the Uchiha through spending time with that child..."
He had originally thought Madara had only left in a fit of anger and would return to the village before long.
He had even wanted to tell Madara about this after he returned, to give him a surprise.
He had never expected things to end like this...
"Madara, farewell..."
At that moment, Tobirama Senju arrived with numerous ninja.
When they saw that Hashirama had emerged victorious, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Elder Brother, are you alright?" Tobirama Senju asked with concern.
Hashirama shook his head and struggled to rise from the ground.
"Tobirama, I am fine."
Tobirama's gaze fell upon Madara's corpse, and his eyes were filled with greed.
Madara possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
If he could uncover the secrets of the Mangekyo...
Hashirama seemed to see through Tobirama's thoughts and said sharply, "Tobirama, I advise you not to set your sights on Madara, or I will be angry!"
He would not allow anyone to desecrate his friend's remains.
"I understand, Elder Brother..."
In the end, Tobirama hid Madara's body deep within the mountains of Konoha.
Deep in the mountains.
Madara Uchiha, lying inside a coffin, suddenly opened his eyes.
Before you continue