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Whether it was the colossal thousand-armed Buddha statue conjured by Hashirama Senju or the vast forest he had painstakingly summoned from deep beneath the earth, none of it could withstand the relentless descent of the meteorite.
The falling meteorite descended with an overwhelming and merciless force, crushing the Buddha statue and the forest layer by layer. With the fury of divine wrath, it slammed into the ground, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion!
The terrifying blast and shockwave caused the land within a hundred-mile radius to crack and crumble in layers. The explosive force carved out an unprecedentedly massive crater on the surface of the earth.
At the far edge of the battlefield, Tobirama Senju watched the apocalyptic scene unfold before him, his heart wrenching as he let out a hoarse, agonized roar. However, having been pierced through by the ultimate Yin-Yang Release, he could do nothing but watch helplessly.
Madara Uchiha hovered high above, his expression emotionless as he gazed down at the fiery explosion below and the ever-expanding shockwave spreading outward.
The devastating tremors and explosions lasted for over ten minutes before the sweeping shockwave gradually dissipated, and the blazing fire at the epicenter began to fade.
The towering smoke and dust, rising dozens of meters high, took several more minutes to clear. Only then did the full extent of the meteorite's devastation become visible.
Without a doubt, this region had suffered catastrophic destruction. A crater over a hundred meters deep had been gouged into the earth! At the bottom of the crater, the ground still smoldered with intense heat from the explosion.
Scattered across the crater floor were several massive chunks of rock—remnants of the shattered meteorite. The entire crater was scorched black, with lingering smoke and flickering embers, resembling a vision of hell itself.
Anyone who witnessed such a calamitous aftermath would surely conclude that no living being could possibly survive within it.
But some people are capable of defying the impossible.
A few minutes later, under the keen observation of Madara's Rinnegan eyes, he clearly spotted something stirring at the bottom of the charred crater.
A patch of ground began to tremble violently, growing more intense until the soil broke apart. Several scorched and broken trees emerged from beneath, followed by a massive, circular wooden structure.
The layered wooden structure unfolded, revealing a battered figure crawling out from within…
It didn't take much imagination to guess that this pitiful survivor was none other than Hashirama Senju.
But what was this? Half a body?
Hashirama crawled forward on the scorching ground, his entire body charred and covered in wounds. Despite the burning heat of the ground searing his flesh, he pressed on. Yet, everything below his waist had vanished entirely—he was reduced to just half a person!
With only half his body remaining, Hashirama's wretched state spoke volumes about the severity of the blow he had endured.
That said, surviving such an attack—even in this condition—was a testament to Hashirama's extraordinary resilience.
Well… technically speaking, it was due to the abilities granted by his current Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) state. After all, a dead man cannot die again.
Even so, with only half his body intact, while Hashirama may not have perished, his combat capabilities were less than ten percent of their former strength. Moreover, his Edo Tensei body wouldn't recover anytime soon.
Madara Uchiha observed Hashirama's miserable condition and couldn't help but smile, thoroughly satisfied.
A fully alive Hashirama wasn't what he desired, nor was a completely dead one. This half-dead, incapacitated Hashirama was precisely what Madara needed.
His earlier technique, Indra's Arrow, had been calculated to account for Hashirama's full resistance—enough to render him utterly powerless but not completely annihilate him.
Pleased with the outcome, Madara descended directly toward the ground.
Hashirama, wracked with pain, dragged himself forward in agony when suddenly, a figure descended from the sky and appeared before him. Without even looking up, Hashirama knew exactly who it was.
Standing there, Madara thrust a black rod from his palm straight into the back of Hashirama's skull, pinning his head firmly to the ground.
Hashirama let out a sharp cry before going rigid, unable to utter another word.
There was no denying it—the mysterious black rod aside, he had suffered a crushing defeat at Madara's hands, utterly powerless to retaliate. He hadn't managed to lay a single scratch on Madara throughout the battle. That was an undeniable fact.
Though reluctant to admit it, Hashirama had indeed fallen—a complete and total failure. Even in captivity, he refused to show any sign of weakness before Madara.
However, Madara had no intention of letting Hashirama off easily.
He grabbed the black rod, lifting Hashirama's half-body and staring directly into his face.
Hashirama's expression was a complex mix of emotions—rage, regret, frustration, despair—all swirling together in his tormented gaze.
For some inexplicable reason, Madara felt a faint twinge of sorrow akin to the lament of a fox witnessing the death of a rabbit.
He realized this sensation stemmed from remnants of the original Madara's memories influencing him. But the effect was negligible, and Madara quickly regained composure, observing Hashirama's plight with keen interest.
"Well, well," Madara muttered, finding the sight somewhat inconvenient. Extending his finger, he unleashed a wind release technique, cleanly severing Hashirama's neck. With a muffled groan, the remnants of Hashirama's upper body collapsed to the ground, scattering like fragments of paper in the wind…
"There we go! Much better now!"
In Madara's hand, the black rod now held only Hashirama's grimacing head. How convenient.
Holding Hashirama's severed head, Madara flew off in high spirits, heading toward Tobirama at the edge of the battlefield.
When Madara arrived beside Tobirama, the latter's spirit nearly shattered upon seeing his elder brother's head dangling from Madara's grasp.
Paralyzed and unable to move, Tobirama roared like a dying beast: "Madara Uchiha! I will never forgive you!"