How did the 1st Hokage defeat Uchiha Madara?

[Oyaji]

No. He didn't beat Madara. Madara just played him over snapping his flesh and preparing to fuck up his little Konoha in the future.

[psukkar]

No. He didn't beat Madara. Madara just played him over snapping his flesh and preparing to fuck up his little Konoha in the future.

so u saying he let him win even though he could just killed him and taken his flesh that way instead?

That deosnt make sense at all. Maybe madara knew he couldnt actually win and the best he can do is combine his powers with hasihrama and defeat him that way.

"if u cant beat them, join them"

[Gaara Kazekage]

so u saying he let him win even though he could just killed him and taken his flesh that way instead?

That deosnt make sense at all. Maybe madara knew he couldnt actually win and the best he can do is combine his powers with hasihrama and defeat him that way.

"if u cant beat them, join them"

Maybe, he was smarter then that and knew that fight could have gone both ways, I know everyone likes to look at one of them as clearly stronger than the other, but sometimes people needs to take what the manga says seriously, they were rivals their whole life, and therefore they were equals in power, it's the whole point of rivals, look at Kakashi and Guy, having 50/50 wins in their challenges, and Naruto and Sasuke always seeing the other one as stronger and now going back and forth between who's strongest.

He would especially have withdrawn if waking his own death was a part of his plan. I have no doubt Madara gave it his all to begin with, but did a tactical withdraw once he knew there was just to great a chance to keep fighting, so instead he did what he came for and fakes his own death. Hashirama might be OP but a genjutsu from Madara executed perfectly is certain to be enough to trick him.

[Zero]

The first thing, it was Madara + Kyubi that was under his control vs Hashirama and later his wife who sealed the Kyubi in herself, then probably was Madara vs Hashirama (perhaps plus Mito(?) as a Kyubi jinchuriki). The power balance in their fight wasn't stable at all.

Side note: Now that I think about it, it was said that Mito(?) gave birth when she was a jinchuriki, so why are none of the Senju known to have whiskers, was her seal just different ?

[almara]

we can only really post our assumptions here and i personally dont like making assumptions and all that we do know is that madara was defeated.

[Rlinfamous]

When you think about it, in the hands of someone with incredible chakra (capable of summoning entire forests and attacking with them), Mokuton jutsu could be even more overwhelming than Susano'o. Couple that with Hashirama's ability to create an illusion of darkness to hide himself, as well as Wood-Clone techniques capable of hiding inside the trees themselves (like Yamato's), and you can guess that it'd be pretty ridiculous trying to fight Hashirama.

Not to mention he was a strong water-element user, since Mokuton = water/earth. So that cancels out fire techniques. And yeah, the Mokuton could steal the Kyuubi from Madara's Sharingan.

[Maximo]

I would say the fight was a fluke, staged so that Madara has all the time he needs to take Hashiramas cells. How else could Madara know about Nagato, Tobi and the whole plan ? He had to survive after taking Hashiramas DNA to create Zetsu and proceed with his plan. Im afraid the great Hashirama of the senju clan might have been tricked by Madaras genjutsu .. or who knows, maybe the fight ended in a draw and Hashirama lied about Madara being dead ..

[Gaara Kazekage]

When you think about it, in the hands of someone with incredible chakra (capable of summoning entire forests and attacking with them), Mokuton jutsu could be even more overwhelming than Susano'o. Couple that with Hashirama's ability to create an illusion of darkness to hide himself, as well as Wood-Clone techniques capable of hiding inside the trees themselves (like Yamato's), and you can guess that it'd be pretty ridiculous trying to fight Hashirama.

Not to mention he was a strong water-element user, since Mokuton = water/earth. So that cancels out fire techniques. And yeah, the Mokuton could steal the Kyuubi from Madara's Sharingan.

Idd, it was far from Madara+Kyuubi VS Hashirama, since Hashirama could control all tailed beast the Kyuubi most likely got rendered useless at some point or they switched attacking with it, all after who was able to gain control over it at different times during the battle. Or like @Maximo said, it was just a diversion for Hashirama to deal with while stealing the cells.

[knife eater]

I can't remember which chapter but Tobi was either telling Konan, Sasuke, or Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato (kage summit) that Hashirama did indeed KILL Madara. There could very well be reasons for Tobi to be lying about this but I am inclined to believe it. I am also in agreement with Rlinfamous about the sheer overwhelming power of the mokuton and the way it can "tug of war" bijuu chakra with the sharingan. I also suspect Hashirama had access to the bijuu bomb in some way along side some yet to be revealed inherited weapons from so6p family lineage. There is so much inherited by the Uchiha in regards to their side of the bloodline so it stands to reason the Senju have their own inheritance of legacy and techniques. I wonder how the necklace reacted to Hashirama while it was in his possession.

[xenonova]

just like how Naruto and Sasuke relationship. Same for Jiraiya and Orochimaru. Hashirama could have been like them, persuading and believing his friend will return to them. He might have let him go during battle in the valley of the end (told the villagers that he had killed Madara), and expect him to return with a change of heart. it's the tragedy of the younger brother of the son of Sage of the 6 path, believing that love will succeed and change the world.