High above in the sky, Hashirama clasped his hands together and clearly observed the interaction between Madara and Rikusei.
The time had been sufficient.
The Natural Energy within him reached its threshold, and Sage markings swiftly spread from his eye sockets to his temples. Hashirama leapt from the insect armor toward the vast land below.
"Whoosh!"
A vast ocean of chakra surged from Hashirama's body. His falling form stretched out, transforming him into a dazzling meteor in the sky where light and darkness met.
"Sage Art! Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
Feeling himself merge with the wind and waves, Hashirama pressed his palms downward, using Sage Jutsu chakra to draw upon the land as he abruptly pulled his arms back past his shoulders.
Amid the tremors of the earth, the sleeping Buddha rose from the ground. Hashirama landed steadily atop the Great Buddha's ushnisha, staring levelly at the Ten-Tails that stirred the winds and clouds.
"Dance, Hashirama!"
Feeling the wild winds stirred by the Great Buddha, Madara's normally impassive face broke into ecstatic delight. Through his connection to the wood tubes, he could feel that the Ten-Tails had grown excited as well.
Purple light blazed madly in his right eye, while ripples spread through its ringed pattern like waves. The surging chakra within him rushed through the "Root" connecting the back of his head to the Ten-Tails, flooding rapidly into every part of the beast's body.
Blue light flashed over the charging Ten-Tails. The roar of its rushing chakra echoed clearly through the heavens. With every step it took, azure armor gradually formed amid the tremors, revealing only its Tomoe Rinnegan and its abyssal maw packed with razor-sharp fangs.
"Madara! Don't go too far in this fight and sink the land beneath our feet!"
As Hashirama controlled the Great