"Hashirama Senju! Madara Uchiha!" Reto's roar shook the battlefield through the puppet's amplifiers. "You got lucky today! But this is only the beginning—when Sand Village's Apocalypse Puppet is complete, Konoha will be reduced to scorched earth!"
The Dragon Vein core in the Crimson Sky Puppet's chest suddenly erupted with blinding violet light, and all twelve vector thrusters overloaded at once.
Just as Madara's Susanoo blades came crashing down, the hundred-meter steel giant shot backward into the sky like a cannonball, leaving behind only glass-like afterimages of the AT Field shattered by the blades.
"Trying to run?!" Madara's Sharingan abruptly contracted as Susanoo's wings flared wide. Just as he was about to give chase, a massive wooden hand suddenly pressed down on Susanoo's shoulder.
"Don't chase them..." Hashirama's voice was so weak it was nearly inaudible. Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and the hand resting on Susanoo trembled slightly.
The towering Thousand-Armed Statue beneath their feet suddenly collapsed, countless wood chips pouring down like a torrential storm. The twelve Wood Dragons coiled around the Wood Golem stiffened at once, Sage Chakra ebbing away like the tide as their wooden bodies rapidly withered and cracked.
Madara whipped around, his pupils suddenly shrinking. He saw Hashirama's lips had gone pale, while the skin beneath his Crimson Armor visibly lost its luster. "Your life force...!" Susanoo vanished in an instant, and Madara flashed to Hashirama's side, catching his swaying old friend.
"Cough... I'm fine." Hashirama forced out a smile, though his knuckles spasmed from the pain. "I just... overdid it a little."
The last piece of the Wood Golem's body crashed to the ground, kicking up dust that blotted out the sky. Madara looked at the decayed wood scattered everywhere, then at the puppet that had already become a black dot