On the main battlefield, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama had become the two brightest rising stars.
Anyone below jonin level who got involved was practically guaranteed to die.
Even jonin could easily be killed by either of them if they let their guard down.
As time went on, both sides simply stopped paying them any mind and let the two equally talented Young Clan Heads fight it out.
Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!
Uchiha Madara was increasingly taking on the air of a true powerhouse.
A fan-shaped sea of flames left even the Uchiha who prided themselves on their mastery of Fire Style speechless with envy.
"The Young Clan Head is truly a once-in-a-generation genius."
"I hear that Kyosuke from the Southern Legion is pretty impressive too."
"Who knows? Anyway, I think Lord Madara's still stronger."
The sea of flames surged forward, incinerating everything in its path that tried to stop it.
Seeing this, Hashirama couldn't help sighing. His friend was getting stubborn again.
"Why take it so seriously? Wouldn't it be better to just put on a show?"
With a clap of his hands, a mass of wooden walls burst from the ground.
No matter how fiercely the flames raged, they couldn't break through the walls' combined blockade.
Wood Release: Multiple Tree Wall!
Hashirama had now mastered the use of Wood Release techniques.
But his strength still limited him; he couldn't yet pull off any of the really powerful moves.
He couldn't use the Wood Dragon, the Wood Golem, or even Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence.
Even so, Hashirama's strength had surged by a huge margin, and ordinary ninjutsu could hardly hurt him.
"Damn Wood Release," Madara muttered. He couldn't gain an advantage at range, so he'd have to use close combat to take Hashirama down.
With the Sharingan's