The Flying Wood Golem

Transparent blue chakra spread instantly from the nose of the Wood Golem across its entire body. Clad in blue armor, the Wood Golem appeared even more majestic and awe-inspiring, resembling a sturdy, armored general from a traditional painting, with two massive long swords sheathed at its waist.

The Tailed Beast Bomb at the Nine-Tails' maw had just finished condensing. The pitch-black sphere began to bloom with a dazzling light, its growing volume ready to utterly destroy everything before it.

"Useless, Nine-Tails!"

Sensing that the Susanoo had completely encased the Wood Golem, Madara controlled his chakra to manifest new arms just above the Golem's shoulders. He swung a blue fist, striking the Nine-Tails on the jaw and causing the Tailed Beast Bomb to dissipate entirely.

The Nine-Tails let out a pained, blood-curdling roar that echoed through the surroundings. Its long ears pressed flat against its shaking head, and as it stood, its arms were gripped so tightly it could not move, leaving it only able to lash out with its nine tails.

The tails, which had been thrashing randomly in the air, suddenly stood straight like a peacock spreading its feathers. Red chakra seeped from their surface, wrapping around them tightly before they elongated in an instant and shot toward the Wood Golem's arms.

Is that all?

As expected, the Tailed Beasts are only at this level.

With a cold expression, Madara's Sharingan observed the Wood Golem beneath his feet with interest, as if he had encountered a new toy filled with novelty. He had long wanted to try the combination of Susanoo and the Wood Golem.

He hoped the Nine-Tails would not disappoint him.

The moment the tails struck, the Wood Golem suddenly grabbed the Nine-Tails' wrists and yanked the beast toward itself.

The Wood Golem, now wearing a blue battle helmet, collided violently with the Nine-Tails' head. The heavy impact against the beast's flesh and blood only caused ripples to spread across the chakra armor.

Standing on the nose of the Wood Golem, Madara and Hashirama were completely unaffected by the shockwaves of the headbutt, remaining perfectly steady.

"Well done!" Hashirama flashed his white teeth, his words of encouragement reaching Madara's ears over the dull sound of skull colliding with skull.

Suppressing the momentary joy of his friend's praise, Madara took advantage of the Nine-Tails' dazed and unfocused state. With lightning speed, he raised the Wood Golem's arms, the blue-glowing fingers splaying open in an instant to clamp down firmly on the Nine-Tails' shoulders.

After a fourth collision that sounded like a crashing mountain and a roaring sea, the Wood Golem tilted its head back, preparing for a fifth strike.

Perhaps it was the sunlight spilling into its crimson eyes that finally allowed the Nine-Tails to regain some clarity amidst the high-intensity impacts. It suddenly draped its drooping arms over the Wood Golem's shoulders to counter, biting down hard on the Golem's arm.

Its red mouth and white, blade-sharp teeth gleamed with a deep, chilling light as it bit into the Wood Golem's arm, which was protected by the Susanoo. The Nine-Tails exerted every ounce of strength in its jaw, grinding its teeth against the upper palate.

The sharp fangs tore through the Susanoo's defense bit by bit, sinking visibly into the arm, while the Nine-Tails' resolute fox eyes reflected the indifferent expressions of the two men standing on the Golem's nose.

Success.

Having broken free from the Wood Golem's control, the Nine-Tails shifted its body backward, spat out the wooden splinters from its mouth, and began gathering power for its next attack.

"Interesting." Madara looked at the Wood Golem, which was now missing an arm, and spoke softly to Hashirama, who stood beside him with his arms crossed: "Want to try?"

"No, I was the one playing just now; it's your turn." Hashirama restored the Wood Golem to its original state and shook his head in refusal. He was quite envious of the Wood Golem covered in Susanoo, but he could wait until Madara had his fill.

"Heh, then watch my performance next!"

Madara's words infuriated the Nine-Tails. Its fur stood on end like needles, and the tails behind it began to churn the sky. The white clouds drifting above rotated violently, gradually forming a vortex that descended toward the ground.

A Tailed Beast Bomb began to condense at its maw with extreme speed.

"Be careful, Madara." Sensing the expanding sphere rapidly shrinking into a single point, Hashirama reminded him softly.

Madara did not reply. He controlled the Wood Golem to stomp across the earth, draw the long sword from its waist, and sprint toward the Nine-Tails.

The Nine-Tails opened its mouth wide to swallow the Tailed Beast Bomb, fused it again within its body to change its form, and fired it at the Wood Golem charging toward it.

The path of the rapidly moving orb of light was completely mastered by the Sharingan. Madara, unhurried, gripped the long sword tightly, its straight blade pointing directly at the sky.

The vortex spinning in the firmament completely altered the sky's original color. Thick clouds gathered to block the scorching sun, plunging the world into a gloom as if night had fallen. The long sword, forged from blue chakra, emitted waves of cold light.

With a flash of the blade, the sharp edge sliced the Tailed Beast Bomb in two, triggering the light beam to explode prematurely. The beam, thicker than the Wood Golem's rounded torso, split into two sections. The energy waves, containing the Nine-Tails' terrifying chakra, utterly destroyed the heavy earth and the fallen ancient trees along their path.

The Wood Golem was completely unaffected by the explosion and did not even look back. The wooden eyes covered by the armor glowed with blue light, as if they saw only the Nine-Tails, which was crouched on the ground, baring its fangs.

With one strike failing and the Wood Golem now within arm's reach, the Nine-Tails began to run wildly across the ground with broad, sweeping movements. Its front paws, bulging with veins and swollen in size, crushed the earth as it suddenly stood up to swat at the long sword in the Wood Golem's hand.

The demon fox extended its arms, the long claws on its ten fingers resembling slender short swords, clashing fiercely with the long sword in the Wood Golem's hand. The sound of metal striking stone was deafening.

The long sword and white claws became entangled, the light of their fierce battle shining between heaven and earth like a polar day.

Madara's expression grew increasingly satisfied. The Nine-Tails' attacks were not merely relying on its size; there was a method to its madness.

The phantom images of the long sword began to dazzle the Nine-Tails, but the beast had its own methods, using its chakra-wrapped tails like spears to attack the Wood Golem in unison.

Even the Wood Golem, clad in Susanoo armor, struggled to resist such a dense barrage, and visible cracks began to appear on its body.

"Die!"

As if to celebrate its impending victory, the Nine-Tails spoke in human tongue for the first time, roaring with its mouth wide open.

"?"

Hashirama, who had been slacking off, scratched his head, feeling confused. Hasn't the battle just begun? Why is it ending already? Chakra began to flow downward into the Wood Golem, restoring it to its original state.

"..."

Madara felt somewhat helpless. He simply could not understand whether Hashirama was truly a natural airhead; besides frequently falling into bouts of depression, he also had a knack for sharp, biting sarcasm.

The Nine-Tails before them was about to explode with rage. For the first time in so many years, someone dared to speak such nonsense in front of it. The near-infinite chakra within its body began to surge outward frantically. The number of Tailed Beast Bombs condensing at its maw increased rapidly, and they flew toward the Wood Golem's location with the speed of a thunderbolt.

"Don't be impatient, little fox."

The Nine-Tails did not deign to respond to Madara's words. It was truly enraged now, knowing that they would soon vanish from the ninja world along with the Tailed Beast Bombs—unless they could fly.

As the dense barrage of Tailed Beast Bombs approached, Madara plunged the long sword in the Wood Golem's hand into the ground and began weaving hand seals to continue channeling chakra. The blue-glowing armor on the Wood Golem's back began to bulge, and in an instant, ghostly blue wings burst forth. Flapping them, the Golem kicked up a cloud of dust and soared into the sky.

The Nine-Tails looked up at the Wood Golem flying through the gloomy sky with a headache, feeling as if it had been possessed by some ugly tanuki, with bad luck following in its wake.