[The title of Princess Tsunade was still well recognized throughout the ninja world. During the Great War, she served as the Allied Forces' Chief Strategist, working alongside Commander A to lead the strategic planning.]
[At first, the war was going smoothly. Reports of victory kept coming in from every unit.]
[That was until Uchiha Madara, revived through Edo Tensei, appeared.]
"Hah, I knew it. That masked man wasn't the real Madara."
In the Fifth Hokage Timeline, Tsunade stared at the image of Uchiha Madara, brought back by Edo Tensei, her expression turning extremely serious.
Madara's appearance proved that the masked man who declared war on the entire ninja world wasn't the real Madara.
Then... who exactly is he?
Tsunade thought for a moment but couldn't come up with anything, so she stopped thinking about it altogether.
In her view, now that the real Madara had appeared, the other enemies could be temporarily ignored.
After all, this was Uchiha Madara—on par with her grandfather.
She'd never seen Madara in his prime, but she knew anyone who could rival her grandfather must be extraordinary.
"Edo Tensei... Grandpa Tobirama, you really caused us a lot of trouble. If you hadn't invented this forbidden jutsu, would I still be facing Uchiha Madara right now?"
To be honest, Tsunade had originally been optimistic about the Fourth Great War.
The five great villages had united, even smaller nations like the Land of Iron had joined. It looked like a guaranteed victory against the masked man.
But Madara's appearance threw the entire war into uncertainty.
It's not that Tsunade thought Madara could take on the whole ninja world by himself. It's that if someone could use Edo Tensei to summon Madara, what if they revived others too?
If the past Kage from every village were brought back... the Allied Forces would be in big trouble.
"I hope I'm just overthinking things."
Biting her fingernail, Tsunade could only try to stay hopeful.
[Madara's appearance caused the situation to take a sharp turn for the worse. Even with Ōnoki, Gaara, and Naruto's shadow clone there, the Allied Shinobi Forces were nearly wiped out.]
[The sacrifice of the Allied shinobi and the will passed down from their ancestors made Tsunade and A refuse to just sit back and wait for death.]
[So the three Kage in the rear used the Flying Thunder Formation to teleport to the front lines.]
[The Five Kage gathered once more, and Tsunade was the strongest support among them.]
[As soon as she joined the battle, she used a huge amount of chakra to fully heal all her teammates, helping them recover quickly.]
[The Five Kage stood side by side in battle—it was a magnificent sight. It even sparked Madara Uchiha's interest. He wanted to see for himself how strong the current Five Kage really were.]
[Before the fight started, Tsunade told Naruto's shadow clone: "This moment, we fight for each other. Go ahead and deal with the masked man. Leave Uchiha Madara to us. After all, we are the Five Kage."]
["Even if Uchiha Madara is strong, he hasn't been revived perfectly. The Edo Tensei jutsu has its limits—it can't bring him back to his true peak."]
On the light screen, the Five Kage officially began their battle against Uchiha Madara.
Fifth Hokage Tsunade bit her finger, looking extremely tense.
She had never seen Madara fight before, so she had no idea how powerful he really was.
"But we're not weak either. My medical ninjutsu can help the other Kage recover fast. The Raikage's taijutsu, the Tsuchikage's Dust Release, the Kazekage's sand, and the Mizukage's dual kekkei genkai are all very powerful. Against an Edo Tensei version of Madara, we should be able to manage."
"No—we have to succeed!"
"Heh, the Five Kage of today don't even come close to me and Hashirama."
In Tobirama's office, Madara also paid close attention to the fight with the modern Five Kage.
He quickly lost interest as he kept watching.
These five had decent strength, but it was just that—decent.
Let alone comparing them to him or Hashirama, even that brat Tobirama was stronger than these five.
"Madara, don't be too harsh. They've done really well."
Glancing at Hashirama, Madara chuckled and pointed at the light screen. "You call that doing well? Can't you tell I was just toying with them?"
"Of course I can tell."
He knew just how strong Uchiha Madara was—he was his closest friend after all.
And precisely because he knew, he chose to praise these five.
"To fight an overwhelmingly stronger enemy without backing down at all—doesn't that kind of willpower deserve some praise?"
Madara paused, then nodded. "You're right. Their strength is lacking, but for that kind of unyielding spirit, they're worthy of being called the Five Kage."
[The battle with Madara was much harder than Tsunade had expected.]
[The fight had barely started when the Five Kage were almost overwhelmed—Madara's combo, the Deep Forest Bloom technique, and Majestic Destroyer Flame turned the battlefield into a burning furnace.]
[Under the poison gas and scorching heat, Tsunade didn't even have the strength to heal her teammates—she passed out herself.]
[Luckily, Ōnoki unleashed the Will of Stone, rivaling the Will of Fire, and shattered Madara's fiery furnace with his Dust Release. He even managed to cut Madara's shoulder.]
[It was at that moment that Tsunade saw a familiar face on Madara's chest—it was her granpa, Senju Hashirama's face.]
[Before Tsunade could react, Madara pointed at her and said: That healer—I'll start with you.]
[Seeing how Madara looked down on them, Mizukage Mei mocked him: "It's common sense to target the healer first. The rest of us Kage will naturally protect her."]
[Madara replied: No, I just want to kill Hashirama's granddaughter.]
[The reason Madara chose Tsunade was because he wanted to deny what Hashirama once said: that the younger generation should inherit the Will of Fire to create a peaceful shinobi world.]
[To Madara, Tsunade couldn't use Wood Release, nor did she have Hashirama's insane regeneration. To him, she was just a weak woman.]
"That damn Madara, he actually looks down on me."
The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, who had been startled by the scenes of battle on the light screen, got furious the moment she heard what Madara said.
She looked around at the chairs and office desk she had already smashed, realizing there was nothing left for her to vent on.
She couldn't exactly tear up the documents that needed her approval, right?
"Hmph, just wait a few days, and I'll show you what this 'weak woman' can do."
In that moment, her fear was replaced by anger. She couldn't wait to beat Madara Uchiha to a pulp.
"Madara, I didn't expect you to have such a strong opinion about me."
"Hashirama, it's not about you. It's your ideas that are way too naive."
In Tobirama's office, Madara shook his head, completely dismissing the so-called Will of Fire his old friend always talked about.
Maybe Hashirama's intentions were good, but once it's put into practice, it's bound to get twisted.
He understood human nature—after all, not everyone was as noble as Hashirama.
And after experiencing resurrection once and learning about the future, he looked down on the Will of Fire even more.
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