Atop the Great Buddha.
Hashirama bore the pressure from the heavens head-on as a sky-covering meteor, trailing blinding waves of fire, plummeted toward the land beneath them.
He did not believe in his own strength?
Hashirama rejected that notion inwardly. It was only that years of handling government affairs had brought the hesitation of weighing pros and cons into battle.
"Thank you, Madara!"
The soaring firelight reflected across his face, making Hashirama feel the purity of battle return to him. His gaze shifted from the flashes of lightning and fire in the sky and settled on the familiar figure as he spoke from the bottom of his heart.
His unwavering conviction drove the Sage Jutsu chakra within him, merging the thousand hands in the Buddha's radiance behind him into one. Ancient blue-green wooden fists grew like bamboo joints, tearing through the night as they blasted toward the meteor.
"Rumble!"
The meteor's surface, burning with waves of heat, was pierced by the wooden fist, unleashing a thunderous boom that seemed to split heaven and earth. The scorching flames ignited the wooden arm and rapidly spread toward the Great Buddha.
The blazing line linking the Great Buddha to the sky gleamed in Hashirama's eyes. As the sounds of falling rubble continued at his side, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Is that all?"
"Idiot." Madara stared at the dumpling-shaped meteor, pierced by Wood Release like a bamboo skewer, and gave a quiet laugh. "There's a second one!"
The dark clouds of the night sky parted from the center toward all sides, revealing the second meteor right on cue. Drawn by gravity, it slowly crashed toward the first.
The shockwave produced by the meteors' collision spread outward from the heavens. Wherever it passed, clouds scattered and the earth trembled.
The enormous shadow