Chapter 375: The Steel Torrent
Thousands of delivery pods were arranged in neat, overlapping rows, forming a metallic "Iron Curtain" that coalesced behind Dana.
As they shifted under his command, pivoting in unison to point their sharp, diamond-shaped tips toward Madara Uchiha, a chilling aura of slaughter filled the sky.
"Oh, right. There's also this..."
Fifteen Takemikazuchi Drums hummed as they began to orbit Dana's body in complex, intersecting paths.
Madara stood his ground, his face contorting into a savage, bloodthirsty grin. "Impressive presence! Wood Release: Multi-Wood Clone Jutsu!"
Fifteen Madaras appeared in mid-air, and in the next heartbeat, fifteen Susanoos erupted into existence.
Fifteen blue giants blotted out the sun, casting a shadow that plunged the battlefield below into artificial night.
Yotsuki Dana and Madara Uchiha.
The battle between just two men had filled the entire sky, leaving no room for a third soul to intervene.
"Fifteen Susanoos? Now that's a bit intimidating!"
Thunder God Dana pointed his Staff of Storm Light forward. Behind him, countless pods received the signal, breaking formation and shooting forth from the Iron Curtain like guided missiles.
"Explosive Tag Pods!"
The pods seemed to possess eyes of their own, weaving through the air to pursue the various Susanoos.
One Susanoo zig-zagged through the sky at extreme velocity, followed by dozens of pods in hot pursuit. The giant swung its chakra blade, and a terrifying arc of energy detonated a string of pods, turning them into a chain of high-altitude fireworks. However, even more pods surged forward through the smoke.
"Sealing Jutsu Pods!"
Several pods dove from directly above, slamming into a Susanoo's shoulder. Black sealing spheres triggered upon impact, and the Susanoo's form instantly became pitted and incomplete, its chakra structure unraveling.
The damaged giant tried to flee, but four pods had already matched its speed, flying alongside it in a perfect square.
The Wood Clone Madara within frowned. "What is this?"
Suddenly, a barrier formed between the four pods, and they decelerated instantly.
The Susanoo, unable to stop its momentum, slammed headfirst into the barrier, triggering a massive, focused explosion.
Dana's fingers danced in the air, micro-managing the sea of pods.
"Not as tough as I thought. Seems these clones are just for show!"
Maintaining fifteen Perfect Susanoos was a stretch even for Madara's Edo Tensei reserves. While they could fly, their structural integrity and defensive density were far below his main avatar.
Suddenly, a massive shadow loomed over Dana.
"Susanoo: Dance of the Twin Blades!"
Two horrific arcs of chakra energy slashed down. In a split second, Dana raised his staff to block, but the sheer weight of the impact sent him hurtling through the sky.
The energy slashes continued past him, cleanly decapitating a distant mountain peak.
This was the weakness of the "Magnetic Star" strategy: multi-tasking on this scale left openings. Fortunately, Dana's own body was built like a fortress.
His Sage Lightning Armor was cracked, but it knitted itself back together almost instantly. Dana shook his head, clearing the cobwebs.
"Fine. Fine-tuned micro-management really isn't suited for high-intensity brawling."
Dana shifted his strategy. He charged directly toward the swarm of Susanoos.
He stopped batch-processing the pods and issued a single, unified command.
Thousands of delivery pods swarmed behind him like a hundred birds paying homage to a phoenix. In the sky, they formed a literal Steel Torrent.
Dana flew faster and faster, his sonic booms rattling the teeth of the ninja on the ground.
The pods behind him converged into the shape of a massive metallic hand, which clamped onto a Susanoo, holding it in place. Then, Yotsuki Dana slammed through the giant's chest, his staff shattering the Wood Clone at the core.
"A fake! Next!"
Dana didn't lose momentum. He plunged forward, and seconds later, a second Susanoo shattered into blue shards.
Madara roared in fury, "Enough of your arrogance!"
The remaining Susanoos initiated a coordinated strike.
"Susanoo: Twenty-Blade Halo!"
Dozens of chakra slashes converged from all directions.
Dana, leading his swarm of pods, was blasted back over a thousand meters. More than half of the pods in his immediate vicinity were detonated by the crossfire.
But it was futile.
On the horizon, a continuous stream of new rainbow lights arrived from across the Federation. Pods were being launched from every major city, flying in like swallows returning to the nest. No matter how many Dana consumed or lost, they were replenished in seconds.
The Cloud wouldn't stop until every last pod in the Federation's strategic stockpile was exhausted.
Dana performed a mid-air flip and rocketed back toward the fray.
The Steel Torrent followed.
The clone Susanoos simply couldn't withstand Dana's "Bunker Buster" tactics. One by one, they were dismantled, their Wood Clone pilots crushed along with them.
Onoki remained hidden within the cloud layer, his heart cold with terror at Madara's power and shock at Dana's strength.
At this moment, he was lost.
Where does Iwagakure go from here?
How can Iwa ever hope to resist Yotsuki Dana and the Cloud-Thunder Federation? In a war like this, is there any hope for us at all?
Even if Madara Uchiha won this battle, what would be left for Iwa? Madara was no saint.
And then there was his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, being puppeted by a vile forbidden jutsu.
Everything he saw made Onoki feel powerless, fearful, and filled with a deep, aching pain. He had never felt his age and exhaustion as much as he did right now.
"Teacher... what should I do...? What becomes of Sunagakure...?"
On the ground, the first to fall was Ginkaku.
Under the joint assault of Hanzo the Salamander and Yagura Karatachi, Ginkaku was overwhelmed. His resistance was systematically dismantled, and he was quickly encased in a seal by the waiting Sealing Corps.
The Second Tsuchikage and Second Mizukage followed soon after.
Facing two Flying Thunder God users (Sakumo and Tobirama) and three powerhouse brawlers (Arashi, Duy, and Blue Bee) was a nightmare for ninjutsu specialists like Mū and Gengetsu. Despite their legendary status, they couldn't handle high-speed close-quarters combat.
Tobirama, utilizing his Edo Tensei body to its fullest, acted as a physical shield for his teammates while providing a constant stream of "god-tier" assists with his teleportation. Even with his strength capped by the low-spec reanimation, his performance was a testament to his legendary name.
The 5v2 battle didn't last long. Even though Gengetsu and Mū were legends, the Federation's lineup was simply a higher tier of power.
This is the definition of ruling through absolute force.
Izuna Uchiha was also in a dire state. Under the combined pressure of the Third Raikage and Minato Namikaze, he was retreating step by step, forced to use his Edo Tensei chakra and visual power to constantly repair his crumbling Susanoo. He was desperately trying to retreat toward his brother.
But the real problem—the source of the most crushing pressure on the ground—was the forcibly activated First Hokage.
Even with everyone who had finished their own fights joining the fray, the God of Shinobi was showing them exactly why he was called a "God" and not a "man."
Hanzo, Yagura, Tobirama, Sakumo, Arashi, Blue Bee, Duy, Nagato, Kushina...
Nine world-class powerhouses, each a peak existence in their own right, yet they couldn't take down Hashirama Senju even when working as one.
Blue Bee and Yagura, both in full Tailed Beast form, fired two massive Tailed Beast Bombs.
The purple-eyed Hashirama spread his arms.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
A colossal wooden titan manifested, its massive arms reaching out to catch the Tailed Beast Bombs mid-air with its bare hands.
Yagura watched in a daze. "Is this... the God of Shinobi...?"
Wood splinters flew, but the high-speed spinning bombs couldn't break through the Wood Human's palms. Once the impact was neutralized, the titan hurled the bombs back at the Federation forces with even greater velocity!
"SCATTER!"
The nine powerhouses dispersed in all directions.
A kunai flew toward Hashirama's flank. Tobirama appeared instantly. "Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
The God of Shinobi turned and threw a simple punch, obliterating half of his brother's Edo Tensei body in a single blow.
Another black knife arrived. Sakumo Hatake followed like a shadow, his blade aiming for the God of Shinobi's calf. He and Tobirama attacked high and low with perfect timing.
Hashirama merely glanced at them with contempt and stomped his foot. He pinned Sakumo's blade to the earth, the sharp chakra edge dying instantly under the pressure.
"Nani!"
Arashi was punched away like a fly. Might Duy's Adamantine Staff was snatched out of his hands by Hashirama, who then used it to swat Duy across the horizon.
In the hands of the God of Shinobi, the staff let out a pained screech and was forced to revert back into its monkey form, Enma.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
A terrifying dragon head erupted from the ground, carrying the God of Shinobi on its head as it soared into the sky.
Hashirama stood atop the dragon, looking down at the nine powerhouses in silence.
Hanzo broke out in a cold sweat. "So this is the 'God of Shinobi'... I am called a 'Demi-God,' yet I feel like an ant before him..."
Yagura was equally shaken. "The First Hokage is a monster..."
Tobirama, with his face half-reformed, said with a mix of pride and a headache, "Brother pioneered an entire era. Calling him a monster is an understatement. He is the man the world bowed to."
Kushina asked in confusion, "When I was in school, didn't the teachers say the Third was the strongest Hokage...?"
The older Konoha ninja remained silent. No one dared to answer that.
Arashi shouted, "I don't care! Nine against one and we can't win? I'm not going to be the laughingstock of the world for the next fifty years! Tobirama-senpai, does he have a weakness?!"
Tobirama thought for a long time. "...Speed, strength, reaction time, combat instinct, chakra, healing... Brother has no weaknesses. You should be grateful he isn't in his prime right now. If he were, I would advise you all to turn around and run, and wait for Yotsuki Dana to handle it."