From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

"With White Zetsu's possession, you can do more than just use the Wood Dragon Technique; you can also use even more powerful Wood Release techniques!"

"The Art of Wooden Dummy!"

At this point, Black Zetsu pointed to the Gedo Mazo at his feet and said in a deep voice, "The essence of Wood Release is to use chakra to form trees, or to attach Wood Release chakra to trees to form trees with strong resilience, vitality and the ability to absorb chakra. The stronger and more special the tree, the stronger the tree will be when Wood Release chakra is attached to it."

"And the Gedo Mazo beneath your feet, as the shell of the Ten-Tails God Tree, the ultimate weapon, is more suitable than anything else in the ninja world as material for casting Wood Release. There is no other material. With the two combined, your Wood Release technique will be even stronger than Hashirama Senju's Wood Release technique!"

Black Zetsu wasn't exaggerating when he said that the Wood Golem Technique involves transferring chakra to trees, causing them to grow rapidly and create a giant wooden golem.

While Hashirama Senju was stronger than Nagato is now, Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan and absorbed a significant amount of life energy from the Grell Stone while being possessed by White Zetsu, was not necessarily much weaker than Hashirama.

And most importantly, the wooden puppet technique he used was centered around the Gedo Mazo, the former divine tree!

Although the Gedo Mazo has lost much of its power, its essence is still far superior to the Wood Release of the First Hokage!

Leaving aside the two ultimate Wood Release ninjutsu, True Several Thousand Hands and Top Transformed Buddha, if we only consider the Wood Release technique, Hashirama Senju's Wood Release technique might not necessarily be stronger than Nagato's Wood Release technique centered around the Gedo Mazo.

Upon hearing this, Nagato fell into deep thought.

Nagato was indeed unaware of the Eye of the Moon plan, but he was aware that the Gedo Mazo was the shell of the Ten-Tails God Tree, the ultimate weapon.

"it is good!"

Nagato pondered for only a moment before nodding, clapping his hands, and softly uttering, "Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"

Splash!

As soon as he finished speaking, countless branches made of chakra suddenly surged up around Nagato, their roots spreading out in all directions towards the Gedo Mazo beneath him, and growing rapidly as they extended.

Tendrils, like vines, intertwined and coiled around the Gedo Mazo, and the Gedo Mazo's shape and appearance were changing rapidly at a visible speed.

First, the heretical demon statue suddenly straightened up, and its originally ferocious, beast-like face changed abruptly into the appearance of a wrathful Vajra.

Behind the demonic statue, four of the ten protruding pillars transformed into two wrathful, bluish-black heads, another four into four thick arms, and the last two intertwined and bent into a halo-like wheel.

It has three heads and six arms, and three faces that appear wrathful and subjugating demons. It also has a wheel of immeasurable wisdom on its neck and back!

If Hashirama Senju's Wood Release: Wood Release technique is like that of an Arhat, then Obito Uchiha's Wood Release: Wood Release technique, when possessed by Tobi, is like that of a Bodhisattva.

So this giant wooden figure formed from the core of the Outer Path Demon Statue is...

"Asura!?"

"hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Sasuke, inside Susanoo, was stunned when he saw the giant wooden figure with three heads and six arms. Then, for some reason, he burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Now that Asura has appeared, how can Indra be left out?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sasuke's three crimson Sharingan eyes became even more deep and crimson, as if endless, and the cold and evil chakra suddenly surged up like a raging torrent.

"Immortal Technique: Shakyamuni!"

At the same time, the sage clone that had appeared at the dantian of the complete Susanoo at some unknown time also formed a hand seal, and a massive amount of sage chakra swept out.

Sage Art: Shakyamuni is also a Sage Art recorded in the Sage of Six Paths' Sage Art Manual, but Sasuke named it himself.

The principle of this Sage Art is to use Sage Chakra to create unique forms to attack enemies and defend oneself; it can be considered a Sage Art version of Susanoo.

For example, in the original timeline, when Riku, the abbot of the Fire Temple, used this technique, he formed a Thousand-Armed Kannon from Sage Chakra, which appeared behind him and formed a golden chakra fist to attack the enemy at supersonic speed.

When attacked by an enemy, the Thousand-Armed Kannon will instantly enter a state of rage and transform into a Myō-ō, then continuously attack the enemy with red chakra fists.

Therefore, he called this immortal technique "Welcoming Thousand Hands Kill" and "Wrathful Vajra," while in Sasuke's hands it was called "Shakyamuni King!"

Bang!

Two streams of energy, one gold and one purple, originated from Susanoo's brow and dantian respectively, and then suddenly converged at the giant's heart, emitting a strange collision. Afterward, a brand new energy spread out from the giant's heart as the origin.

The land it passed through formed the veins, nerves, blood vessels, and muscles within the giant's body, at which point Susanoo's appearance suddenly changed drastically!

Each meridian and muscle surged wildly like a dragon's body, radiating an overwhelming, boundless, and valiant power.

At this moment, the four faces of Susanoo on the armor he was wearing all changed from expressions of joy, anger, sorrow and happiness to solemn and divine majesty. The usually brave and somewhat rough face of the complete Susanoo also changed into an incomparably handsome and beautiful appearance, resembling that of a celestial being!

The Immortal Susanoo—Shakyamuni Devanam Indra!

"It really was you..."

Black Zetsu stared blankly at the incredibly handsome and familiar face of the Susanoo giant, his gaze extremely solemn, and he uttered a name in his heart.

Indra!

Chapter 296 Indra's Arrow!

The land of rivers, the Takachiho Gorge.

At this moment, the eastern sky was bright with the first light of dawn.

However, the light of dawn was completely obscured by two giants, each as large as a mountain, whose size blotted out the sky.

A giant stood on the ground, its body towering over a mountain. It had three heads and six arms, and its face was that of a wrathful demon-subduing being, just like the powerful god Asura of the Desire Realm!

Another giant, clad in awe-inspiring armor, rode four wild and unrestrained dragons. With an incomparably handsome face and extraordinary divine bearing, he resembled a majestic and awe-inspiring young emperor, much like Indra, the lord of the heavens who resided in the Thirty-Three Heavens!

Asura, Indra!

The art of wooden puppets, Susanoo!

Decades later, the power of the God of Shinobi and the Asura of the Shinobi World, who dominated the ninja world, manifested as Ashura and Indra, two mortal enemies in Buddhist mythology, and appeared in the Land of Rivers, a country filled with rivers and floods!

"Too...too...too terrifying!"

The Sand Village group stared in disbelief at the two mountain-like giants in the distance, their eyes glazed over.

The two colossal giants, who could blot out the sky, were merely facing off without making a move, yet the howling winds around them seemed to transform into a murderous aura. Under this immense pressure, the Sand Village group couldn't help but feel fear, their hair standing on end.

They were like a group of harmless little rabbits who had unwittingly stumbled into the battleground of ferocious dragons, and their bodies involuntarily crawled to the ground, trembling all over.

"......"

Even Nagato, who was originally calm and composed, now had an extremely serious look in his eyes as he sat atop the Ashura Woodman.

Even though his strength increased greatly under the possession of White Zetsu, the Wooden Dummy Technique he used, made from the Gedo Mazo, was still more powerful than Hashirama Senju's Wooden Dummy Technique.

However, Nagato's powerful sensory abilities allowed him to clearly perceive that Sasuke Uchiha was in no way inferior to him, and that the completely transformed Susanoo also posed a great threat to him.

Nagato stretched out his hand, and the wooden dragon, which had been knocked away after being entered into the Sage Susanoo, roared and returned to his side, tightly wrapping around Ashura's wooden body.

At that moment, Sasuke's Susanoo moved!

"Roar!"

The four giant dragons, possessing life and spirit, that were entwined around Indra and Susanoo's bodies roared to the sky. Then, baring their fangs and claws, they unleashed their fury and transformed into lightning-streaked Yin Thunder Dragons, which merged with the spirit weapon Futsu-no-Mitama Sword.

The form of the Futsu-no-Mitama Sword also changed abruptly. The hilt became a dragon's head with a furious look in its eyes, the tassel transformed into wild dragon whiskers and beard, and fine dragon teeth and scales grew from the blade and tip.

It was as if the Futsu-no-Mitama Sword at this moment was not a sword, but a true dragon soaring through the clouds and commanding the wind and rain!

Very strong!

Sasuke now felt that the Sage Transformation Susanoo he was using in coordination with the Sage Clone was stronger than ever before. He was confident that in this state, he could even fight against Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha during the Valley of the End!

Susanoo spread its wings and charged toward Ashura Wood Golem, wielding the Futsu-no-Mitama sword. There were no towering waves or mournful sounds of air being torn apart as it passed by.

Because at this moment, both the movement speed of Susanoo and the sword speed of Futsu-no-Mitama have far exceeded the speed of sound.

Even the Futsu-no-Mitama Sword underwent a strange change during the thrusting process. The huge air resistance that should have occurred due to the extreme speed, and because it was in the state of Sage Susanoo, all the raging winds that should have appeared were transformed into assistance and condensed into the sword body, forming an indestructible purple lightning sword beam!

"Perfect timing! Let's test the First Hokage's Wood Release."

Seeing this, Nagato's eyes narrowed, and he clapped his hands and shouted softly.

"Wood Release: Ranking Technique!"

Rumble!

A massive, mountain-like wooden shield with fangs and a demonic face rose from the ground before Nagato, blocking the oncoming attack!

boom!

A huge explosion rang out, and in an instant, lightning bolts flew everywhere and wood chips flew in all directions. In the instant the two collided, the wooden shield with the ghost face shattered instantly, turning into countless wood chips that flew all over the sky.

Susanoo's Futsu-no-Mitama sword suddenly paused, and the lightning dimmed considerably, but then continued to thrust towards Ashura Wood Golem with an invincible momentum.

The Wood Release: Wood Release Technique is one of Hashirama Senju's strongest defensive Wood Release ninjutsu. During the battle at the Valley of the End, the First Hokage, Hashirama, used this technique to defend against a heavy blow from Madara Uchiha's Armored Susanoo.

Nagato's Ashura Wood Golem is indeed stronger than Hashirama Senju's Arhat Wood Golem, but that's only limited to Wood Golem Techniques. He's not as good as Hashirama Senju in other Wood Release techniques, and the same goes for the Ranking Technique.

Now, with the support of the divine weapon, the Futsu-no-Mitama Sword, the Purple Lightning Bloodline Limit, and Sage Chakra, Sasuke's sword strike is no less powerful than Madara Uchiha's Susanoo's strike. Both are capable of splitting mountains and seas with a flick of the wrist!

Therefore, Nagato's ranking technique was no match for this sword!

However, Nagato's expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of fear or retreat.

Ashura Woodman's two giant hands suddenly shot out, meeting the attack head-on with a deafening roar. He clasped his hands together, catching the sword of the Sage Susanoo with bare hands.

At the same time, the wooden dragon wrapped around the body of the Asura wooden figure suddenly bared its fangs and claws and angrily attacked the body of the sage Susanoo.

"Roar!"

Almost instantly, the Futsu-no-Mitama sword moved, and the four Yin dragons that were integrated into the sword suddenly emerged, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Two of them bit the wooden dragon's body hard, one in front and one behind. The wooden dragon twisted and struggled desperately, but it was still bitten tightly and could not move.

The other two arms seemed to transform into two ropes, tightly binding the two arms on the back of the Asura Woodman.

At that moment, the Futsu-no-Mitama sword, which had been tightly held between Ashura Mujin's hands, suddenly and inexplicably transformed into a lightning rope, binding the arms that were holding it together.

In the blink of an eye, Ashura Mujin had just caught the sword of the Sage Susanoo, and in less than a second, four of Ashura Mujin's six arms were locked, and the wooden dragon wrapped around his body was also unable to move.

boom!

A deafening roar resounded as Nagato, controlling Ashura Golem, unleashed a punch. It was merely a simple straight punch, but due to Ashura Golem's massive size and immense power, the air itself exploded with a deafening roar.

Susanoo, in turn, returned the favor without flinching, unleashing a massive, invisible shockwave that erupted from the fists of the two giants, transforming into a raging hurricane that swept in all directions.

Boom boom boom!

After their fists collided, the two towering giants instantly engaged in primal hand-to-hand combat, unleashing punch after punch, each blow striking the other with a brutal, visceral impact.

In an instant, wood chips flew everywhere and armor shattered!

Countless radial cracks burst open in the ground within a radius of several kilometers. Even the aftershocks of the punches exchanged by Ashura Mujin and the Sage Susanoo were too much for the ground to bear, causing it to collapse inch by inch!

However, the close combat between the two giants lasted only a short while before Ashura Woodman found himself in a passive position and even fell into a disadvantageous position.

Originally, the strength of the Sage Susanoo and Ashura Mujin was about the same. In fact, in terms of defense, Ashura Mujin, the incarnation of the Gedo Mazo, had a stronger physical defense than the Sage Susanoo.