As Second Tsuchikage

"That's right! Hashirama knew long ago that you were a disaster waiting to happen!" Mū's voice rang out across the battlefield, loud and unwavering.

"I'll bring Tobirama Senju's head straight to Hashirama so he can see it with his own eyes!"

Madara's expression hardened. His gaze turned murderous, blood-red Sharingan glowing with a cold, intense light.

"All of you skulking in the shadows... come out."

A ripple of tension spread instantly. Within seconds, shapes flickered into view, one after another, masked by jutsu moments earlier. Shadows became bodies. Bodies became threats.

"Madara Uchiha," a voice rang out as several figures appeared from the surrounding terrain, "you've become far too dangerous. If we want peace in the shinobi world, you must be stopped here and now."

The Second Hokage from each of the five great villages surged forward, arriving in unison and completing a deadly formation around him. They were followed by elite shinobi from every nation, stepping out of concealment in synchronized waves. Dozens of jōnin closed in from all directions, no hesitation in their steps. Gengetsu Hōzuki, Shamon, and the Second Raikage were among them, their faces set with fierce resolve.

"Madara Uchiha!" Gengetsu barked, pointing at him directly. "Your time ends today."

"You're far too strong. While having strength is a great virtue, it shouldn't be associated with a demon like you," the Second Raikage added, his entire frame charged with raw lightning that buzzed and sparked around him like a living cloak.

"For the future of the shinobi world, you must be stopped," Shamon said, his voice like ice as two mechanical puppets floated into position beside him.

Madara looked at them without the faintest concern.

Mū, however, stared him down and said with a smirk, "Why don't you go enjoy your favorite meal, then take a nice dive off a tall bridge? I'll even stop by every year to leave flowers."

Madara let out a dry laugh that faded as quickly as it came.

"This? This is your army? You call this a threat?" His voice was thick with scorn as he shook his head. "Just a crowd of overconfident insects."

There was no wind, yet his long, dark hair began to sway. Then, with a pulse of chakra so dense it warped the very air, a gigantic Susanoo erupted into view, encasing him in a towering form of ethereal armor. The force of its arrival was like a shockwave, crashing through the area with pressure that made the very ground groan beneath it.

Every shinobi present instinctively tensed. Gengetsu's face drained of color. Shamon's mouth tightened. Even the Second Raikage faltered, his chakra flickering unsteadily.

What kind of monster is this? How can anyone hold this much power?

Until now, none of them had faced Madara directly. His reputation preceded him, and they had guessed he was powerful, perhaps stronger than any one of them alone. But what stood before them wasn't just power. It was something far beyond anything they had imagined. This wasn't a high-tier opponent. This was domination incarnate.

All three glanced toward Tobirama and Mū, perhaps seeking reassurance, or maybe simply confirmation that this wasn't some shared hallucination. Yet both of them remained steady. Neither looked surprised. Neither appeared shaken.

They had fought Madara before. They had seen him like this and survived. And they knew exactly what needed to be done.

Without waiting, Mū stepped forward, lifting his hand and rallying the others. "All of us go in at once! He may be powerful, but his chakra isn't infinite. If we attack together, he can't eliminate everyone before he's drained!"

"Shinobi! For the future of our world, attack!"

Responding to the call, the Iwagakure ninja were first to act. One shouted the incantation without hesitation.

"Earth Style: Earth-Splitting Rift!"

The soil beneath them groaned, cracking wide as violent fissures tore toward Madara. The very ground erupted, jagged openings racing forward like ravenous beasts. In an instant, the massive Susanoo became engulfed in the churning chaos, its armor bracing against the surging tectonic assault.

At the same time, the Senju clan launched their assault. Flames erupted across the battlefield as fifty shinobi chanted in unison, "Fire Style: Flame Surge Technique!"

A towering wall of fire surged forward, roaring across the field with blistering heat. Not to be outdone, shinobi from Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and the other great villages followed suit, hurling their own elemental jutsu into the fray. Fire, water, lightning, and wind all surged toward Madara like an overwhelming tidal wave.

Madara didn't flinch. His expression was disdainful, almost bored.

"Hmph. Insects, all of you," he muttered.

Then his eyes sharpened, and his voice dropped with cold fury. "I'll bring your heads to Hashirama myself and ask him what kind of fool he's become."

With that, the Susanoo lifted its enormous arm. A glowing blade of chakra took shape in its hand and slashed downward with devastating force.

"Yasaka Magatama!" he called, unleashing the deadly technique. The air filled with spiraling chakra spheres, raining down like divine artillery. Dozens of shinobi were cut down where they stood, the battlefield erupting into chaos.

Mū's face twisted in frustration as he saw swaths of his allied forces being obliterated. Watching shinobi from other villages die was one thing but his own elite from Iwagakure were being massacred, and that was unacceptable.

He leapt into action without hesitation.

"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

A white cube of pure energy expanded outward, disintegrating most of the incoming Yasaka Beads before they could strike more targets.

In the same breath, Gengetsu exhaled a thick, swirling mist. "Hidden Mist Technique!" The battlefield was immediately cloaked in a gray fog, cutting Madara's visibility and giving Mū more breathing room.

But it was pointless.

Madara's expression didn't shift at all. Without pause, he activated the third stage of his Susanoo. The already colossal warrior grew in size and ferocity, now wielding a massive greatsword. With a roar of force, it swung the blade downward at the assembled Kage.

A thunderous boom tore through the battlefield.

"Earth Style: Steel Binding Technique!" Mū called out, slamming his hands to the ground as a rock colossus erupted upward.

"Sand Style: Sand Giant Technique!" Shamon followed up immediately, summoning a hulking sand warrior to join the defense.

The fused guardians caught the descending sword, their combined mass groaning under the pressure but holding fast. The Susanoo's blade lodged deep into their torsos but failed to break through.

"I've got this!" Shamon shouted, quickly taking advantage of the moment. A great surge of sand erupted behind him, sweeping up to engulf the Susanoo. "Don't be afraid! I'll stab him myself!" His two puppets shot forward, twin kunai in hand, darting toward Madara's armored titan from both flanks.

But he had overestimated his weapons.

Just as the puppets reached the target, they struck with synchronized precision.

CRACK!

The kunai shattered instantly. The armor didn't yield even slightly.

A split second later, the Susanoo sprouted an additional arm with a violent surge of chakra. It moved with terrifying speed, smashing both puppets into the ground in a single, crushing blow. One of the massive hands then swung directly at Shamon.

Another earth-shaking boom split the field.

In the last possible second, Tobirama teleported in using Flying Thunder God, yanking Shamon out of harm's way. Shamon stumbled back, gasping and drenched in cold sweat.

"Thank you, Tobirama-dono..." he muttered. Puppet jutsu were useless against an opponent like this.

"Lightning Style: Thunderstorm Kick!" shouted the Second Raikage. Without warning, he surged forward, cloaked in crackling energy as he activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode. With a powerful burst, he closed the distance and launched a fierce elbow strike at Susanoo's chest.

BOOM!

The impact was massive, but it barely even scratched the surface.

"What?! It's that durable?" The Second Raikage staggered back, his face full of disbelief.

"Ants," Madara muttered, his voice dripping with contempt. With a single punch from Susanoo, he sent the Raikage flying through the air like a broken doll. His body twisted mid-flight, tumbling end over end like a severed kite string.

Mū leapt into the air and caught him just in time.

"Hey! Don't charge in alone, idiot!" Gengetsu snapped from the side, glaring as the battle slipped further out of control. "Stick to the plan or we're all dead!"

The group snapped back to awareness. Madara's crushing presence had momentarily erased all thoughts of strategy, but the brief moment of paralysis broke as everyone remembered the plan. Tobirama and Gengetsu exchanged a sharp look and immediately formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Two massive water dragons erupted from their jutsu, twisting and roaring through the air before slamming into Madara and his third-stage Susanoo. The force was tremendous, hurling both him and the armored construct backward over a hundred meters. The ground cracked beneath him as he landed, a crater forming in his wake.

"Shamon-san, can you help me pin Madara down?" Mū called out across the battlefield.

Shamon nodded grimly. "This isn't my desert... but I'll do what I can."

Slamming his palms to the ground, Shamon summoned an immense wave of sand that swept outward in all directions. In seconds, the forest was buried under a spreading desert, trees consumed by dunes as far as the eye could see. Mū followed up with precise timing.

"Earth Style: Lightened Boulder Technique!" he called, casting the jutsu on Shamon's sand.

Instantly, Shamon felt the difference. The sand turned feather-light, moving faster, more fluidly, and far easier to manipulate.

"Perfect," he murmured in admiration, already shaping the terrain for attack.

Before Madara could recover, a wall of sand surged toward him, swallowing his lower body in seconds. Then, a flash of light exploded behind him. The Second Raikage streaked in like a thunderbolt, lightning crackling over his form. Clinging to his back was Mū, ready with his next jutsu.

"Earth Style: Super Weighted Boulder Technique!" Mū shouted, slamming his hand against the Raikage's back.

"Lightning Style: Thunderstorm Kick!" the Second Raikage roared.

The moment he struck, the added weight amplified his force by several magnitudes. His speed didn't drop, but the power behind his movement soared to terrifying levels. Madara reacted instantly, throwing up a skeletal Susanoo to guard himself.

It was too slow.

The electrified kick slammed into the Susanoo's ribs, shattering them on contact. The entire defense crumbled like glass under pressure. The blow landed clean on Madara's body.

Cough!

Madara spat blood as the force knocked him off his feet. Shock flashed in his eyes—real, physical damage had pierced through. He hurtled through the air and crashed hard into the ground.

"It's not over yet!" Mū shouted, giving chase alongside the Second Raikage.

This time, the Raikage targeted Madara's head, his body sparking with fury and precision. A rare glint of concern passed through Madara's gaze. He quickly raised his gunbai, the war fan passed down through the Uchiha, just in time to block.

"No! Stop!!" Mū yelled suddenly, horror tightening his voice as he recognized the threat.

But it was too late. The Raikage had already committed.

BOOM!!

A shockwave burst from the point of impact.

"AAAH!!" the Second Raikage cried out as energy backfired and hurled him across the battlefield like a ragdoll. He crashed into a nearby sand dune and skidded for several meters before going still.

Seeing him fall, Shamon reacted swiftly. He sent a wave of sand infused with explosive tags racing toward Madara to force him back. But Madara was already weaving hand seals, ignoring the sand.

"Summoning Jutsu: Nine Tails!"

A thunderous howl shook the battlefield as the Nine-Tails erupted into existence, its enormous form casting a long shadow over the desert. The sheer pressure from its presence shattered the terrain. Sand dunes were flattened. The sky seemed darker under its gaze.

The beast snarled and immediately began tearing through the sand that tried to restrain it, its power unraveling the terrain as it struggled against its bonds.

Madara stood calmly beneath the chaos. "Now… time to test this technique," he murmured, beginning to layer the Susanoo's chakra armor onto the Nine-Tails.

The moment he began fusing the two, Tobirama's voice rang out with alarm. "No! Stop him!"

In response, red flashes filled the battlefield. Dozens of Uzumaki shinobi emerged from the periphery, each moving swiftly into formation.

"Sealing Technique: Chains of Restraint!" shouted one squad.

"Sealing Technique: Adamantine Sealing Chains!" cried another.

Chains of chakra burst from their palms, glowing and humming with sealing energy. The Adamantine chains were unmistakable—golden, radiant, and unyielding. Those who lacked the bloodline for it still unleashed basic sealing chains to support the effort. Dozens of glowing strands shot forward, wrapping tightly around the Nine-Tails' limbs and torso, struggling to hold it in place.

Madara's brows lowered in irritation. The Uzumaki clan too?

Pulling every string behind the curtain, gathering every clan that could threaten him. Could it be that Hashirama had orchestrated all of this behind the scenes?