No, he fulfilled his purpose which was exactly that as he said it himself.
Which was to take control of Obito's power and revive him, saving him from imminent sealing wasn't on the table.
Shouting the words wasn't meaningless. It can be, if someone chooses to read it like that. Being connected to Zetsu is the proof of why he was looking in other direction, as opposed to at Hashirama. Because he was connected, he was waiting for the exact moment to initiate the technique. And why was he able to causally wait for his opportunity smiling? Because he wasn't serious, he didn't worry about any danger because there wasn't one.
I'm not disputing that he's connected to Zetsu. I'm disputing your claim that Madara himself was in a position to do something without Zetsu's intervention. You outright stated that Madara could do seals, suggesting he could get out of Hashirama's trap, yet there isn't anything suggesting that was the case.
What does weakening Obito have to do with Madara being connected to Zetsu and thus knowing every detail and moment about Obito? Because he was connected to Zetsu, your argument about luck and chance doesn't add up since Madara knew every second in what state Obito was.
Because regardless of his connection with Zetsu, if Obito hadn't been weakened so thoroughly, Zetsu wouldn't have been able to take control to revive Madara. A sequence of events over which Madara had no control allowed Zetsu to revive him.
Yeah, it means that Zetsu was part of Madara's plan, just like Obito was and just like manga told us. The manga suggests that Madara screwed around until the moment he was revived. That's when he actually became serious and started neutralizing opponents. He took down Hashirama in 3 panels.
Which somehow changes that before that plan Madara was brought down once again by Hashirama how? The manga doesn't suggest that Madara screwed around. He brought down Hashirama in 3 panels after getting a boost in power from his revival and being freed of a trap in which he was constrained. The mere fact that he took down Hashirama as soon as he had an opportunity would indicate that he couldn't do it before.
Madara was well aware of how much time he needed to force a weakened Obito to use Rinne Tensei, so I doubt he cared that Sasuke attacked him just like he didn't care when Minato bisected him with a kunai. Not to mention the fact that Madara, during everything that took place, was still having a telepathic conversation with Black Zetsu (as per flashbacks).
And yet we've seen that it would take longer than it would take Sasuke or anyone else there to kill Obito in the state he was. A moment would be enough.
IF he were still orchestrating plans with Black Zetsu while all of this was happening (he was) AND he proved that he had the ability to completely immobilize Hashirama with his Inyoutono rods, which were stuck inside him during the fight (he did), then there's no reason to believe he lost because at ALL times during the fight he had both the ability to re-assign Zetsu's position aswell as completely defeat the opponent you somehow think he lost to.
Yet, he wouldn't have been able to do that if Zetsu's intervention hadn't revived him and simultaneouslt freed him from Hashirama's justu.
This is likened to Sasuke fighting Itachi. We know that at any point Itachi COULD have murdered Sasuke with Susanoo, yet he didn't. But we don't claim that Sasuke won the fight because we know that Itachi was specifically waiting for Orochimaru to reveal himself, before he could die by Sasuke's hands. This is exactly like Madara specifically holding back against Hashirama when he could've one-shotted him with the Inyouton, but held back because he needed to allow Obito to thin the alliance herd before being weakened (eliminating his own need to weaken him).
Even more reasons why this analogy works? Multiple times during the fight between Sasuke and Itachi, Sasuke still managed to gain the upper hand because even the BEST laid plans don't account for everything. Madara's plan wasn't foolproof, but the fact that it could be manipulated on the fly thanks to his spy-in-waiting following his direct orders still counts as a successful plan, because it was all by his order in real-time.
The difference is Itachi didn't want to bring down Sasuke, ever. As opposed to Madara, who took the earliest opportunity to bring down Hashirama after he was revived and freed.
The only way I think one could believe Hashirama won of his own volition is if the Inyouton rods were not stuck inside of him until after Madara had already been sealed. Which didn't happen. And even then, Madara still could manipulate chakra proven by the fact that he could still have telepathic conversations with Black Zetsu. That seal would have prevented such a thing from happening because his chakra wouldn't have been usable; proof of the seal's failing.
Madara threw that fight.
This changes nothing. Maybe immediately after Madara got the rods into Hashirama he restrained him. Maybe he simply never got an opportunity. The reality is that the manga showed that Madara was about to be sealed, Hashirama had him restrained. You're arguing that he simply allowed this to happen, but this would be completely illogical from Madara's standpoint, and inconsistent with what we've seen from him.
There isn’t anything to debate because it’s not semantics. I pointed out several examples of why that’s not the case at all. And there isn’t any evidence that he couldn’t have brought down Hashirama, simply because he didn’t have a need to do so at that point. His entire plan was working without him having to lift a finger, why would he interfere and actually risk something? Defeating Madara wasn’t a simple feat, which is the entire point. Twice Hashirama literally had to fight him to exhaustion, and even then it was barely a win. Yet now you wish to claim that Hashirama could have simply used his wooden dragon or tori seals and won easily? It just doesn’t work, especially since neither of those are unbeatable. The Kyuubi, who’s physically weak against Mokuton, could still fight against it and Naruto had no trouble escaping. Madara is far more powerful than them.
The fact that he couldn't move would speaks for itself. And the fact that at the earliest opportunity he decided to bring down Hashirama speaks for itself. I've zero clue where the mention of the wooden dragon comes from, and at no point did I suggest Hashirama defeated Madara defeated easily. Not once. I simply said that Madara was defeated.
You claim that Madara would have only been in that position if he had no other choice and the point is that’s not true. And I wonder do you realize that he could in fact have still done much: he could have revealed his Sharingan well before that point to actually win against Hashirama, he could have allowed Hashirama to kill himself and then got right back up and kept going, since he clearly wasn’t as weaken as he pretended, he could have fought Hashirama then and there or simply accepted helping him be Hokage, and he could have struck Konoha upon Hashirama’s death or at any point in time before he became confined to his cave. He’s always had options. Black Zetsu didn’t presume much of anything. The only thing he had to be worried about was the slight possibility of being sensed, which still wouldn’t have prevented him from actually helping Madara if needed. Not when there was no need, which is the entire point. You previously spoke about risks, and how he somehow was risking something against Hashirama. But Hashirama was incapable of actually doing anything to defeat him, meaning there wasn’t any risk in that situation. Meanwhile, Obito with his Onmyoton could have actually eliminated him even in the Edo Tensei state. So as far as risks go, it was clearly less of a risk to pretend to be down and allow the Alliance to take all the risk against Obito. Not only did he get a weaken Obito without any danger to himself, but all the Bijuus all ready for him at the same time.
Probably still would've lost. Allowing Hashirma to kill himself would've been very unlikely to save Madara's life; he would still be exhausted, weakened, and surrounded by a bunch of shinobi who would've finished the job. And who knows what state Madara was in at the time of Hashirama's death; he could've attacked Konoha, and he probably would've died in the process. He had options, but the ones that preserved his life or offered any benefit to him were few, or one. There was a benefit to him with those decisions, and a reduction in risk. The feint you're proposing offered no benefits, while simultaneously increasing the risk to him, which would be completely illogical. I wasn't suggesting Zetsu, the ace, presumed a lot. I was referring to the way in which he decided to play the 'card'. And Hashirama restrained him, he was in the process of being sealed. So that's just wrong.
It happen because she began to cough up blood, since as mentioned, she was already nearly dead and out of chakra. The fact that it only happen then completely goes against your argument, otherwise it shouldn’t have taken the Kyuubi that long to break loose against someone, as already said, that was half dead and nearly out of chakra. The sheer fact that she could still contain the Kyuubi in such a situation shows how simple it was for her. This discussion began about the chakra chains, which is why I showed that example. When the Gobi broke control, Obito used the chakra chains to take it back. The chakra chains were not the sole method of control that Obito was using, or even the first method.
And what you fail to grasp is she still only managed to mostly contain him, someone who was tailor-made for the task. And if a simple cough can make such an issue of things, surely Madara needs to be focused on this task, as I suggested. She was exceptional and that was the best she could do. I was speaking generally about Obito. Him bringing in the bijuus isn't much of an issue because they were already under his control. I was simply showing that he struggled to keep them in control even with the tools he had available.
It does have to do with his Susanoo’s advancement. His complete version gained an orb of Enton flames and a blade, abilities the lower versions lack even though he has still used them after first gaining that complete version. Every time we have seen his complete version, it has possessed those abilities. And it’s not as if they’re applied by Sasuke himself, because as mentioned, it’s only in the complete version and not on any of the lower versions even after it first appeared.
No it doesn't. Sasuke can place Enton wherever he so chooses, small Susanoo or even a few ribs, as he showed against A when he first whipped out a Susanoo. It has nothing to do with an advancement of Susanoo. And I'm going to take the blaring silence on Madara as him not showing any new 'abilities; with his Susanoo,
Why would I think that when this whole discussion had been solely about Gaara’s division? By the second day, half the Alliance had been killed, though that didn’t apply to Gaara’s division because they didn’t entre combat til that second day. Regardless, none of that changes my claim, that Madara was already capable of solo’ing a good portion of the alliance with just his Sharingan. If anything, the number of survivors at this point shouldn’t be more than two divisions worth, meaning he’s more than capable of taking them all on at once.
Well, considering the discussion began with Madara v the entire alliance, it should be pretty easy to figure out. It only dwelled into this when you pointed to this battle as evidence that Madara should be able to handle it. Except you haven't shown him taking on a good portion of the alliance, I've seen a couple hundred, pretty short of the mark.
The same thing. Are you forgetting that thanks to the Rinnegan, Madara can control the dead? Obito was already basically a Path, he already had the control rods in him as we saw the last time Madara controlled him. If anything, Sasuke killing Obito would have just made it easier, since Madara wouldn’t have had to deal with Obito’s willpower fighting against him like before. And Sai’s seal wasn’t working. It was being resisted, as it’s normally instantaneous as showed with Kisame’s master.
Except Obito would be dead, and he'd be under Hashirama's seals. So, no it wouldn't. It was being resisted? Seriously? Because there's a panel where the tiger latches onto Madara, followed by a panel with Sai saying things are going well, and then Rinne Tensei.
So, no.