The Power of Transforming Stillness into Motion

"Did he fall down...?"

Uchiha Madara dispelled his Susanoo and walked slowly to the edge of the split waterfall. "I'll have White Zetsu look for him in a while..."

--Rumble!

Just as Uchiha Madara ended his combat stance and intended to summon White Zetsu to clean up the aftermath and retrieve the talisman from the water, the rock beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble. Myriads of fine water droplets sprayed into the air, and a massive black shadow obscured the sky above him. He immediately jumped to the top of the waterfall with keen alertness and turned to look upward.

"Oh?! Isn't this Madara?! You've actually gotten this old?!"

"!"

This familiar voice, this familiar chakra, and this familiar way of speaking?! Uchiha Madara's eyes widened sharply. The massive figure looming above him was none other than the statue of Senju Hashirama, yet for some reason, it had come to life!

Furthermore, it was wearing the exact same expression as the one in the "Are You Hurt" illustration!

"Hashirama?!"

The thought had barely formed before Madara dismissed it. How could this be?! Hashirama had died decades ago; he had even secretly attended Hashirama's funeral and had White Zetsu bring offerings to him. How could he still be alive?!

Besides, there was no way Senju Hashirama would be a statue hundreds of meters tall!

"What's wrong? Madara, why are you making a face like you've seen a ghost? By the way, did you shrink? Hmm... is it because of old age...?"

Being scrutinized by the Hashirama statue for a long while, Uchiha Madara felt increasingly unsettled. Although he didn't know why the statue had suddenly come to life, in his eyes, this was merely a fake impersonating his best friend! Its existence was absolutely intolerable!

"Wait! Madara, didn't you die before me?!"

Just as Uchiha Madara decided to personally eliminate this imposter, the statue Hashirama also realized something. He remembered that Madara had been stabbed to death by his own hand from behind! How could he have become this old?!

Could it be... just as Tobirama had said, that Madara's corpse disappearing back then was part of some grand conspiracy?

And the Uchiha Madara he had killed was merely an illusion or a shadow clone?

Then what was Madara's goal?

Just as the statue Hashirama was about to ask, Uchiha Madara had already finished his hand seals and unleashed the "Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song Technique."

Four fire dragons instantly flew out, growing larger in the wind and expanding to an immense size. They launched an attack from the top, bottom, left, and right simultaneously, leaving almost no possibility of evasion.

Seeing there was nowhere to hide, the statue Hashirama clapped his hands together and immediately formed seals: "Wood Release: Wood Human Shield Technique!"

The Wood Release: Wood Human Shield Technique was a secret Wood Release jutsu legendary for being usable only by Senju Hashirama. A form of sealing jutsu, the user summons two massive shields shaped like fanged demon masks, which then lock together seamlessly. It was said to be able to ward off any disaster and was Senju Hashirama's "absolute defense."

However, compared to the "Wood Release: Wood Human Shield Technique" released by the real Hashirama, the one used by the statue Hashirama was clearly much larger.

The fire dragons exploded against the demon-masked shields. Uchiha Madara was somewhat surprised; could this statue actually use Hashirama's ninjutsu?!

Could it be... that this was some secret technique concocted by that naturally evil white-haired man?

"Madara, do you want to destroy Konoha again?!" After blocking Madara's fire jutsu, the statue Hashirama's kindly expression turned serious.

"Destroy Konoha? That has nothing to do with a fake like you!"

The statue Hashirama's expression was identical to the real Hashirama's, causing Madara's anger to flare. "A mere statue... daring to lecture me!"

"Susanoo!"

Uchiha Madara's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly. A massive amount of chakra erupted from his body, and he entered the fourth stage of Susanoo directly.

Building upon the original third stage, it grew larger in size and was adorned with Tengu armor.

"It can't be helped..."

The statue Hashirama looked at the Susanoo, which was a size smaller than himself, still unaware of the peculiarity of his own body. He closed and opened his eyes, and the "markings" representing Sage Mode appeared on his face.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!!"

The statue Hashirama pressed his palms together, manifesting a colossal thousand-armed Buddha statue. Because the statue Hashirama was larger in size and used even more chakra, the Buddha statue was even more massive than the one used during the battle at the Valley of the End against Uchiha Madara.

"Madara, I don't want to kill you again!"

Such words were undoubtedly a provocation and an insult in Madara's eyes, especially coming from an imposter. As a vast, ocean-like amount of chakra surged from his body, his Susanoo underwent a transformation.

"Complete Body Susanoo!"

With a flap of its wings, the towering Tengu samurai soared into the sky. Its size surpassed the mountains, manifesting as a god of war with combat power rivaling the Tailed Beasts. Wings sprouted from the armor on its back, and it was equipped with twin blades, capable of soaring through the heavens and utilizing the ninjutsu the user excelled in.

"Yasakani Magatama!"

Countless magatama formed from chakra were hurled out. Hashirama immediately controlled the fists of the thousand-armed Buddha to meet them.

--Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fists and magatama collided; the magatama were blocked, but the fists that intercepted them were shattered. However, the statue Hashirama's chakra was as vast as the real one, continuously creating new fists to clash with Madara.

"Tch...!"

Seeing that long-range attacks were of little use, Uchiha Madara controlled the Complete Body Susanoo to land. The Complete Body Susanoo gripped its two giant blades and slashed out fiercely, the sword energy carrying materialized blue chakra trails as it flew forward.

The statue Hashirama leaped into the air to dodge the sword energy and simultaneously formed seals once more: "Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!"

The statue Hashirama utilized a massive amount of chakra to quickly create a giant wooden arhat. Since his statue body was already incredibly huge, the size of this Wood Golem was even more immense; Madara's Complete Body Susanoo looked like a small child in front of it.

"Madara!"

"Hashirama!"

Although he knew deep down that the other party was a fake, at the sound of the statue Hashirama's shout, Uchiha Madara couldn't help but resonate. With his blood boiling, he controlled the Complete Body Susanoo to swing its two massive samurai swords in a horizontal slash.

The seemingly cumbersome Wood Golem controlled by the statue of Hashirama crouched with surprising agility, dodging the attack and seizing the opportunity to deliver a punch directly at the head of the Complete Body Susanoo, right where Uchiha Madara was positioned.

--Bang!

The Wood Golem's heavy fist slammed into the Tengu mask of the Complete Body Susanoo with such immense force that even Uchiha Madara felt a crushing pressure from within.

Immediately following was a sensation of weightlessness! The Complete Body Susanoo's feet left the ground, but under Uchiha Madara's control, it spun rapidly and unleashed a series of slashes at the statue of Hashirama.

--Swish! Swish! Swish!

The razor-sharp sword energy struck the Wood Golem's midsection; while it couldn't destroy it, the force was enough to knock the Wood Golem back several hundred meters.

"Heh... Hashirama's Wood Release? You've certainly mimicked it to perfection."

"Since I cannot cross blades with the real Hashirama for the moment, I shall use you to test my skills!"

Uchiha Madara finished speaking and shed his armor, along with the deep blue robe underneath, revealing the face of Hashirama embedded in his chest.

"That is...!"

As the statue of Hashirama recoiled in shock, Uchiha Madara had already begun weaving hand seals, and simultaneously, the Complete Body Susanoo began to weave the same seals—

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"