What just flew backward?
Hashirama did not possess the Sharingan, nor did he have exceptionally high dynamic vision; in high-level battles, he relied more on reflexes, experience, and the sensory abilities of Sage Mode.
However, when he saw Madara suddenly disappear mid-attack, it was easy to guess who had been kicked.
"Madara!" Hashirama shouted in frustration.
How could he tolerate someone bullying Madara right in front of him?
But he didn't have time to check on Madara's condition because Isshiki disappeared again!
'It feels like he's coming straight for me to kill me!'
Hashirama clapped his hands together, immediately entering Sage Mode, and activated Wood Release.
A wooden coffin shield shaped like a fanged ghost face suddenly emerged from the ground, encasing him inside and forming a defensive barrier.
But the next second.
*CRUSH-BANG!*
The coffin shield was kicked into pieces by Isshiki. Any punch or kick from him in his Second Stage was stronger than a regular Bijudama!
It was truly difficult to match.
However, at the same time the wooden coffin exploded, ten figures quickly ran out and immediately scattered.
Clearly, Hashirama had released a large number of clones as a diversion.
Otherwise, with Isshiki's speed and strength, Hashirama might not have had the chance to counterattack!
Seeing Hashirama's clones scattering, Isshiki frowned again:
"More clones? These little ninja tricks are so annoying!"
While complaining, Isshiki didn't stop and immediately fired a large number of black rods, piercing the Hashirama clones around him.
Most ninja cloning techniques are fragile and will collapse at the slightest touch.
As long as Isshiki used the black rods to poke the clones and find the real body, he would be able to kill Hashirama directly!
But the black rods hit some of Hashirama's clones. However, these clones didn't explode and were even able to continue fleeing with the black rods still embedded in them.
Clearly, these weren't ordinary shadow clones; they were wood clones that could withstand a certain amount of damage and wouldn't easily explode.
"You sneaky rat, just die already!"
Isshiki was furious. He hadn't forgotten the three-minute time limit and didn't want to be trapped in Lux's golden cymbals again.
He had to exert all his strength, dispersing the shrinking black rods while unleashing his own power.
He immediately chased after Hashirama's Wood Clones and defeated them one by one!
However, Hashirama's real body also took this opportunity to distance himself from Isshiki.
Hashirama, with his extensive combat experience, knew that his opponent's speed and strength were terrifyingly superior to his and Madara's. If the distance was too close, the opponent could kill him instantly!
Fortunately, Isshiki couldn't see through the Wood Release clones, giving Hashirama a chance to catch his breath.
After creating distance, Hashirama's real body didn't hesitate for a second.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
This time, Hashirama didn't hold back and attacked with his full power.
He directly activated Wood Release and Sage Mode at maximum strength, summoning a colossal thousand-armed Buddha nearly a thousand meters tall from the ground!
Clearly, when he defeated Madara's full-body Susanoo, he hadn't even used his full strength!
"Is this the Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands? What Ashura discovered?"
"It actually incorporates Sage Mode's power... Well then, let me test its quality!"
Staring at the towering Thousand-Armed Buddha, Isshiki didn't feel fear but instead grew more excited.
Although he showed killing intent, he didn't actually want to kill Madara and Hashirama instantly, as his future depended on Lux's conscience.
He was trying to use the battle's pause to find an opportunity to escape!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Isshiki attacked again, charging toward Hashirama.
Hashirama immediately controlled the Buddha, swinging hundreds of giant wooden hands behind it, sealing off all gaps in the surrounding space!
Since he couldn't match Isshiki's speed, he would use an intensive saturation attack to block off any escape routes and force a direct confrontation!
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Countless explosions lit up nearly half of the moon!
The power of each giant wooden hand from Hashirama's Buddha was no less than a Bijudama!
But Isshiki chose to fight head-on, using his physical strength to destroy the giant wooden hands one by one!
Since he could destroy Bijudama with his bare hands, he naturally wasn't afraid of the attacks from the Buddha's giant hands.
He even managed to destroy the giant hands layer by layer, steadily closing in on the Buddha's head!
However, while the giant wooden hands could be destroyed, the impact couldn't be avoided.
This also severely hindered Isshiki's movement speed, even though he had already destroyed dozens of giant wooden hands.
But behind the colossal Buddha, more giant hands continued to grow.
It was an endless bombardment of Isshiki.
Clearly, Hashirama had adopted a delaying tactic, trying to rely on the immense chakra of his Sage Body to keep Isshiki at bay!
Seeing this, Isshiki also felt a hint of fear.
Sage Body + Wood Release + Sage Mode.
With such a terrifying combination, Hashirama's combat power was already very close to the quasi-Six Paths level.
He was also the strongest ninja Isshiki had ever faced!
"With such an immense amount of chakra, has this descendant of Ashura truly inherited some of the God Tree's power?"
In reality, Isshiki's chakra reserves weren't vast, far less than even the Nine-Tails.
After all, the Tailed Beasts, Sage Bodies, and so on, all originated from the God Tree.
The God Tree had matured once, and it was equivalent to a product that condensed most of the original power of the ninja world.
As someone who had never eaten the God Tree's fruit, his chakra was naturally far inferior to Hashirama's.
However, the Otsutsuki's foundation and bloodline were far superior to ninja.
Facing their eye techniques and clan arts, chakra alone wasn't enough to turn the tide!
Shinjutsu eye technique activated!
In an instant, the entire majestic Thousand-Armed Buddha, as tall as a mountain, suddenly disappeared!
More precisely, it was forcibly shrunk!
The colossal Buddha statue, nearly a thousand meters tall, suddenly shrank to less than a meter, as if it had turned into a wooden doll; the Buddha's giant hands that had just covered the sky vanished in an instant, turning into "willow branches" on the back of the wooden doll!
Hashirama was utterly shocked and didn't understand what was happening.
But he immediately realized that the enemy must have used some strange ability!
However, being able to "erase" the entire Thousand-Armed Buddha in an instant, such overwhelming power truly left Hashirama in disbelief!
For Isshiki, shrinking such a massive Thousand-Armed Buddha all at once would consume a significant amount of chakra.
But fortunately, he could still handle it, and it shouldn't be a problem to do it two or three more times.
Unhindered by the Buddha's giant wooden hands, Isshiki immediately accelerated, soaring into the sky in an instant and charging straight at Hashirama.
Hashirama, in Sage Mode, barely had time to react and tried to counter.
His physical abilities were incredibly strong, enough to defeat 99% of the ninja in the world.
But compared to Isshiki, who could dash out at full power, was firmly at the Six Paths level, and had physical strength comparable to the Eight Gates, there was still a massive gap.
*BAM!*
Isshiki punched Hashirama's chest!
A brilliant burst of blood erupted instantly!
Flesh, ribs, lungs, even Hashirama's heart were all crushed by a single punch!
He was sent flying by the immense force, and like a meteorite, he crashed into the ground below with a trail of red fire.
*BOOM!*
Upon impact, a massive turtle-patterned crater several hundred meters wide appeared on the ground, and the entire moon shook slightly.
The pillars at the center of the crater sank into the ground, and it was unclear whether they were still alive or dead.