As Second Tsuchikage

In Konohagakure, Mito Uzumaki watched her husband with concern. "Hashirama, are you really going to capture the Tailed Beasts?"

Hashirama stood ready, clad in his signature armor with a giant scroll strapped across his back. His face bore the calm, reassuring smile that had led countless shinobi through war.

"Don't worry, Mito. I'll be back soon," he said gently. "For the peace of the shinobi world, I've made up my mind. I will capture the Tailed Beasts."

His words rang with absolute conviction, and yet, there was a flicker of curiosity in his expression.

"Eh? By the way, where did Tobirama go?" He scratched his head, suddenly realizing his brother hadn't come to see him off.

"Could I send someone to find him?" Mito offered, a touch of concern still in her voice.

"No need. Tobirama's probably busy working hard for the village, as always. Besides, if he knew I was going after the Tailed Beasts, he'd definitely try to stop me," Hashirama said with a chuckle.

With that, he turned and headed out of the village, scroll bouncing lightly against his back.

…

"Sealing Technique: Eightfold Seal!"

The battlefield shifted once again as a brilliant green barrier erupted around the rampaging Nine-Tails. The chakra walls locked into place with a thundering pulse. Forced to retreat, Madara leapt off the beast's back, narrowing his eyes.

But the moment his feet touched the ground,

BAM!

Gengetsu's mustached steam clone dropped from above and drove a brutal elbow into Madara's ribs, sending him hurtling across the field. Explosions followed immediately. Blast after blast rocked the terrain as Madara was sent tumbling, caught in a relentless chain of detonations.

"Everyone, this is an area-of-effect attack!" Gengetsu shouted as he continued to direct the steam clone. "If you don't want to end up like Mū, then keep your distance!"

Mū's brow twitched. That comment definitely felt targeted. But considering the chaos around them, he decided to let it slide.

"Demonic Illusion: Boiling Mirage Tower!" Gengetsu's clone unleashed a powerful genjutsu, creating a shimmering heat-haze mirage over the battlefield to obscure itself and confuse incoming attacks.

But Madara wasn't deterred. He had no interest in subtlety. His own techniques were wide-ranging, and he had no problem reducing everything to rubble until he hit something.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions roared through the mist, but even as the damage mounted, Madara responded. His Susanoo began to shift and expand once more. The third stage melted away, replaced by a hulking new form.

The fourth-stage Susanoo emerged, now wielding four massive blades in its fully armored arms. Its frame had thickened and its defenses hardened significantly. The pressure of its presence deepened across the battlefield.

"My explosions can't pierce his defense anymore…" Gengetsu called out in frustration, watching as his clone's efforts began to lose effectiveness.

Meanwhile, Tobirama was already preparing his next move. Without a word, he formed hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu: Impure World Reincarnation."

The air shifted. After sacrificing a living offering, a coffin slowly rose from the ground, its lid creaking open. Mū watched the scene with wide eyes, uncertain of Tobirama's intent.

Tobirama gave a thin, calculated smile. "My Tandem Explosive Tags were made specifically for this jutsu," he said, his voice low and deliberate.

On the lid of the coffin was a single character: (Izuna).

Recognition hit Mū instantly. That name carried weight. This was no ordinary summon.

As the coffin continued to open, Madara remained distracted by the barrage of steam explosions. But the moment the chakra signature emerged from the coffin, his head snapped toward it.

"What!?"

His eyes went wide. Shock turned quickly into disbelief, and then rage.

Izuna Uchiha stepped out, silent, pale, his eyes empty. He moved like a puppet, without will or recognition.

"I can only summon the body. His consciousness can't be restored," Tobirama said quickly. He then moved forward, pressing a series of Tandem Explosive Tags all over Izuna's reanimated body, sealing the final layer with precise chakra control before directing him straight toward Madara.

"Unforgivable!!! Tobirama Senju!! I will kill you!!!" Madara's voice cracked as fury exploded from his throat. It was one thing to be ambushed, but using his own dead brother's body as a walking bomb? That crossed a line even the Uchiha had never imagined.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

The detonations engulfed Izuna's reanimated corpse. But the moment it was torn apart, the body regenerated, restored instantly thanks to the mechanics of Impure World Reincarnation.

To Madara, it was a cruel illusion turned real. Over and over, he watched Izuna explode into pieces, only to rise again. It wasn't just damaging his Susanoo, it was carving wounds into his very soul. His heart twisted with every explosion, forced to relive the death of his brother in a vicious, endless loop.

"Tobirama, that's seriously messed up..." Mū muttered under his breath. Even he had to say it. What Tobirama was doing now wasn't all that different from showing Obito Rin's death again and again until he broke.

(AN: Man, Tobirama really hated Uchihas.)

"Hmph. For Konoha, there's nothing I won't do," Tobirama responded, voice cold and emotionless. Malice dripped from every word like poison.

Mū gave him a side glance. Why was Tobirama starting to sound more like Danzo with every passing moment? Oh, right. Like teacher, like student.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!

The continuous explosions were driving Madara to the brink.

"I've had enough!! Perfect Susanoo!!!"

A furious roar erupted from him as cracks formed across his armor, not from damage but from the overwhelming force of chakra surging through his body. His hair whipped wildly as his chakra erupted like a tidal wave, shaking the entire battlefield.

Then, the Perfect Susanoo burst upward from the ground, towering over everything like a demon god. A monstrous titan clad in spiritual armor and wielding a blade large enough to cleave mountains stood tall as the earth trembled beneath it.

"Hey hey hey! I think we actually pissed him off for real!!" Gengetsu said, a nervous chill creeping down his spine.

"DIE!!!!!" Madara bellowed, his Perfect Susanoo swinging its enormous blade straight at the cluster of shinobi below.

The ground screamed under the force of the strike. Earth split open. The sky seemed to crack. A shockwave surged outward in every direction as the colossal weapon carved a canyon through the battlefield.

Tobirama's eyes narrowed. He immediately formed hand seals, grabbed the Second Raikage and Shamon, and vanished with a flash.

"Flying Thunder God!"

They reappeared safely in the distance, far from the destructive radius.

Gengetsu tried to intercept the attack with his steam clone, but the sheer pressure from the blow obliterated it on contact.

Mū raced in to rescue Gengetsu's real body, but even he couldn't fight the shockwave and was sent hurtling backward through the air.

And now, standing in the middle of the shattered landscape, casting a shadow that consumed the hills around it, was Madara's Perfect Susanoo.

So vast, it made entire mountains look insignificant beside it.

"Is this... even the same realm of power as us?" Shamon whispered, awe and dread mingling in his voice.

Tobirama stayed composed. He turned toward Mū, his expression cool but firm. "Mū-dono. Can you destroy it?"

Mū inhaled deeply. He had hoped to avoid revealing this trump card so soon. But the situation had escalated far beyond any restraint. There was no other way.

Without a word, he tapped into Sage Mode.

Tobirama's eyes widened slightly as he felt the sudden surge of natural energy. That chakra... it was the same type his brother had wielded. So Mū had been hiding this level of power all along.

Mū took to the sky, soaring toward Madara with unwavering resolve. The image was eerily reminiscent of Ōnoki's charge against the meteor years ago, bravery sharpened into a single, decisive flight.

"This Susanoo is too massive. A standard Dust Release won't work," Mū calculated calmly. "I'll need to use a column-type to slice through the entire structure."

However, that meant extending its length and width, which required an enormous amount of chakra. Even the charge time would be longer. Still, he didn't hesitate.

He brought his palms together and began to gather every drop of chakra he had. This would be the largest Dust Release he had ever attempted.

"Particle Style: Pillar – Dimensional Severing Technique!"

Sage chakra flowed into his hands, radiant and crackling with power. The air changed. The sky darkened. The color of the earth itself seemed to distort beneath him.

"What the hell is that guy doing...?" Gengetsu stared in disbelief.

"You better succeed..." Tobirama thought silently, watching from below.

"Hmph!!" Madara's eyes narrowed as he sensed the buildup. He recognized the technique and hated it. That was the one move that could truly destroy even his Perfect Susanoo.

He immediately commanded the Susanoo to strike. The giant blade lifted high, gathering momentum to bring down a full-force blow aimed at Mū before the technique could be completed.

The ground shook under its movement. A rumble tore across the battlefield.

Mū held steady, jaw clenched, eyes fixed.

"Particle Style: Pillar – Dimensional Severing Technique!!!"

A massive pillar of black light shot upward with a deafening roar. The instant Susanoo's great sword touched the beam, it began to dissolve as if melting in acid. The edge crumbled first, then the entire blade shattered into dust.

The black column didn't stop; it surged forward, tearing through the sky and racing straight toward Madara's Perfect Susanoo.