[Sarada Uchiha: "Ancestor's really leaving… just like that?"]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "Kinda inevitable. He couldn't stay in the village anymore…"]
[Adult Naruto Uzumaki: "This is probably where the infighting really began…"]
In the Hokage's office, Naruto watched the sky-screen with tight, careful eyes.
History was a landmine field; as the leader of a nation, he had to keep asking—How do I keep this from repeating?
Madara moved like a man bewitched, marching on Konoha with a towering Susanoo.
Against that colossal silhouette, Hashirama's figure was an ant with a scroll on his back.
"Madara—are you going to turn everything we built into foam?" Hashirama called.
"Our fight brings no good to anyone. It will only scar the village and the shinobi who live in it!"
"It disgraces the brothers and comrades we lost!"
Madara's face darkened at the sermon.
"You… to me…"
"I told you—I don't want to kill you."
Madara's eyes flashed. "So you mean you can, anytime?"
[Young Sasuke Uchiha: "Why does that sound… familiar?"]
[Adult Naruto Uzumaki: "Ahem. Déjà vu."]
[Sarada Uchiha: "Wait—that's the Nine-Tails!"]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "Huh? Why is Dad's fox out here?"]
[Himawari Uzumaki: "Big Fox, didn't you say you were super strong? You don't look it in this video!"]
[Kurama: "…"]
In the Boruto era, Kurama stared at the screen and remembered the terror of being manhandled by Hashirama.
'Your power is too dangerous. I have to seal you, Nine-Tails.'
That line still echoed in his dreams—usually the part where the thousand-meter Buddha made him bolt awake.
[Kurama: "Someone please explain to me where I'm supposedly 'too strong.' Anyone? Hello?"]
[Deidara: "So Madara's bringing the Nine-Tails to fight Hashirama, yeah?"]
[Hidan: "Does he win?"]
[Itachi Uchiha: "Depends on how Lord First answers the Nine-Tails."]
[Nagato: "The Nine-Tails is the mightiest of the nine. How will Lord First handle it?"]
[Hashirama Senju: "Mightiest? This fellow?"]
Hashirama looked genuinely puzzled.
In his experience, tailed beasts didn't kill people—hence the whole "distribute the bijū for balance" policy.
"Brother, you're not the control group," Tobirama muttered, exasperated. How had two sons of the same mother ended up this far apart in power?
[Neji Hyūga: "Every time I see Wood Release, my chest tightens…"]
[Adult Naruto Uzumaki: "Cough."]
"We're still friends," Hashirama insisted.
"I threw that away!" Madara snapped, casting a glare—
—and Kurama's eyes glazed. One look was all it took; the Nine-Tails danced on Madara's strings again.
The fox reared, Susanoo armor cladding its body like a wrathful deity.
The giant fox stared down at Hashirama from on high.
"No helping it… Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands!"
Marks bloomed across Hashirama's face.
The earth shuddered as if the planet took a breath.
A Buddha a thousand meters tall rose into the night.
Hashirama pressed his palms together and roared, "I'm coming, Madara!!!"
"Bring it on, Hashirama!!!"
Titan met titan mid-air.
Thousands of arms swung down in a rolling thunder of fists.
Madara hurled volleys of Yasaka Magatama, while the Nine-Tails charged a roiling Tailed Beast Bomb.
The beam blew apart hundreds of wooden arms—
and then nearly a thousand more fists hammered in to replace them.
Blade-light carved through forests of limbs, shnk shnk shnk, wood dust snowing through the night.
Hashirama stood, palms still together, calm in the storm, focus unbroken.
Another wave—thousands more arms crashed down.
Arms shattered—then regrew at impossible speed.
Answer me!
The sky detonated.
Fists pounded Susanoo's chest—DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM!—and the world went white.
For a hundred kilometers the shockwave rippled, a mushroom cloud climbing into the heavens.
Night turned into day.
This was Wood Release at its apex.
When the smoke finally bled away, Hashirama guided the Buddha forward.
Below, Susanoo's carapace was split wide; the Nine-Tails snarled up at the titan.
"Susanoo's broken…?"
The Buddha reached out—and with the casual certainty of a farmer picking up a chick—grabbed the Nine-Tails in one palm.
"Go!"
Hashirama's Wood Human vaulted high.
"Kōan Nyūsen—Dropping the Hand!"
The wooden palm pressed down on Kurama's head.
Madara cut his losses, severing control.
The rampaging fox went limp—like a housecat swatted mid-pounce—and fell asleep.
With the beast settled, Hashirama exhaled and hopped down, eyes locking on Madara across the wrecked plain.
The world watching fell into stunned silence.
That's it? The Nine-Tails is… done?
Strongest of the bijū? In this footage he looked like a drowsy pet.
[Sarada Uchiha: "Too scary… Lord First might actually be stronger than Seventh."]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "Old man wouldn't last against Lord First!"]
[Mitsuki: "Could Sasuke-sensei beat the First Hokage?"]
[Iwabee Yuino: "Too cool!!!"]
Power-scaling debates exploded.
In the minds of the new gen, Hashirama had ascended to final-boss status.
A thousand-meter Buddha palming the Nine-Tails like a stress ball tends to do that.
[Orochimaru: "So this… is Wood Release. The shinobi world's ultimate secret art."]
[Yamato: "…"]
Yamato stared numbly.
He'd heard Wood Release could suppress the Nine-Tails; he hadn't believed it.
His version could, at best, help reinforce a seal.
This version?
A colossal Buddha one-handing the fox like a kitten.
[Madara Uchiha: "Other than Hashirama, no one in the shinobi world is my match."]
[Hashirama Senju: "Hahahaha! He's right!"]
[Madara Uchiha: "From now on, everyone except Hashirama—on your knees."]
[Obito Uchiha: "What about me?"]
[Madara Uchiha: "Ahem. Except Obito and Hashirama. Everyone else, kneel."]
[Kakashi Hatake: "Madara, my guy—eyes up here."]
(Next: He takes on the entire Allied Shinobi Forces—century-old grandpa resurrected and popping off on the dance floor. The new gen? Traumatized again.)
(If you're still here, toss a tiny boost—"powered by love" is enough. Dialysis is no joke; reading for free is already huge. (ó﹏ò｡) )
Hook:
Susanoo's shards fell like blue meteors.
The Buddha's hands opened, a forest spreading from its palms.
Across a torn horizon, a sickle-moon tilted—and an old wound in the earth began to shine.
The dead were getting restless.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews.
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