The instant Araki spoke, he had already taken a step forward. Before his words had even fully fallen, his body had appeared in front of Senju Hashirama.
Whoosh!
A razor-sharp longsword was wreathed in howling gale winds, descending from the sky with immense pressure as it slashed viciously toward the top of Senju Hashirama's head.
This strike seemed to carry the entire sky behind it, even giving people the illusion that the heavens themselves were crashing down on them.
[Secret Sword: Heaven Tilt]!
This was a move Araki had developed after pushing Mumyo Shinpuryu swordsmanship to its limits. It could mobilize the power of the atmosphere and merge it into his swordsmanship.
Boom!
Senju Hashirama reacted extremely quickly. In an instant, he erupted with incredibly powerful chakra; without even making any movement, the chakra spilling from him alone shattered the ground beneath his feet and sent Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the other nearby Konoha ninja flying.
Then he clasped his hands together and shouted, "Wood Release: Wood Golem Shield!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The earth shook and the mountains swayed!
Under the stimulation of his chakra, massive numbers of trees rapidly drilled out of the ground, tangling and twisting around one another. In the blink of an eye, they formed a gigantic green-wood shield shaped like a fanged demon face, blocking in front of him.
Clang!
The slash, like a meteor crashing down, struck the wooden demon-face shield hard, causing the entire land to sink instantly into a huge crater!
Wood Release: Wood Golem Shield rooted itself in the earth and could be said to be as immovable as a mountain. Senju Hashirama had even once used this technique to defend against the cleaving strike of Uchiha Madara's Armored Susanoo, leaving the surface of the shield completely undamaged. It could be called