Hashirama's overwhelming strength had far exceeded the Otsutsuki side's expectations.
Elder Otsutsuki Qiongshi in particular regretted it bitterly.
He had wanted to pick on a soft target, only to squeeze a slab of steel and nearly break his own hand.
Fortunately.
Though Hashirama was powerful, he had not surpassed the level of an ordinary demigod.
The 'Immaculate Sage Art Daibutsu' was formidable, but its true strength lay more in its suppressive power and duration.
Against the Shikigami Form, whose defenses surpassed Susanoo's by several hundredfold, it would be difficult to breach it completely in a short time.
Back then, Hashirama and Madara had only been at the peak of Super Kage, yet they could battle for three days and three nights.
Let alone now, at the demigod level?
If it truly turned into a war of attrition, it was entirely possible for it to drag on for ten days or half a month.
But how could Qiongshi endure that?
He was being ruthlessly pinned to the ground by an inferior lifeform from another race, unable even to control the Shikigami Form to turn over.
No proud Otsutsuki elder could endure such humiliation.
[Divine Art: Cleave]!
Otsutsuki Qiongshi did not hesitate to dismiss the Shikigami Form, instantly forcing out the ultimate technique of his divine art.
In an instant.
Countless silver-white spatial cracks abruptly appeared throughout the surrounding several thousand meters.
All of them had been forcibly cut open by Qiongshi's spatial divine art.
The several hundred 'giant Buddha hands' covering that area were also shattered with a thunderous crash.
Like chunks of wood sliced into pieces by countless dense blades.
Except the essence of those 'blades' was spatial cracks.
"Huff—"
Qiongshi drew a sharp breath, his face deathly pale.
Instantly casting such a large-scale divine art was no small burden