Roar-!!! The Nine-Tails' roar rolled through the valley like thunder.
All nine of its tails stood upright, chakra surging wildly and orange-red fur bristling as it lowered its head and charged at Hashirama, who was closest.
Hashirama did not dodge.
He brought his hands together.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
The ground split with a rumble. An enormous wooden dragon thicker than the Nine-Tails' body burst out, opened its jaws, and bit straight into its neck, forcibly halting its charge.
The Nine-Tails struggled frantically, its claws scrabbling and plowing deep furrows into the ground.
But the Wood Dragon held fast, coiling tighter and tighter.
Elsewhere, Five-Tails Kokuō had just awakened and was still a little dazed. Shaking its dolphin head, it saw Madara standing nearby and remembered the miserable beating it had taken when he swung it around a few days earlier. It shuddered in fright and turned to flee.
Madara did not even look at it. His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan remained fixed on Hashirama as he snorted.
"Beast."
His eyes widened.
Deep purple ocular power rippled outward like water, sweeping over the Five-Tails.
The Five-Tails' body suddenly stiffened. Its four legs felt filled with lead, unable to lift at all. Fear and resistance showed in its eyes, but its body refused to obey. It slowly turned toward Hashirama and began gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth.
The Two-Tails and Four-Tails were much the same.
The Two-Tails, that enormous blue-black cat wreathed in ghostly flames, tried to pounce on Madara. But one glance from him stopped it in its tracks, leaving it frozen in place with low, whimpering growls in its throat.
Four-Tails Son Goku, the red-furred great ape, beat his chest twice and was just about to spew Lava Release when Madara's ocular power bore down on