That's why my theory states that he used the genjutsu to make hashirama miss his heart, nothing more..he's still got injured pretty bad.
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I get you can accept your theory this time because it is convenient for you so that you can deny that Madara is way weaker than Hashirama. Maybe the genjutsu idea is pretty cool to prove that somehow Hashirama couldn't beat Madara. However, check one or three pages before he got stabbed. While thinking that he killed Hashirama, he said that he was the one one mane standing for that time unlike the other times.
This proves that Madara have been being beaten for quite some time, and was hoping for a victory.
Besides, if Madara could cast a genjutsu to make Hashirama miss the blow, how could he predict that Hashirama would not make two blow, especially when he is bleeding and laying down? Why after getting Hashirama's cell, he never went back to Konoha to fight him again? Why didn't he achieve his dream at this time since you thing Hashirama's DNA was worth planning to be almost killed for?
Fact is that if you collate all the pieces, Madara lied to Obito about some issues. The way he awaken the Rinnegan at very old age shows that the Rinnegan wasn't his initial plan for Hashirama's DNA because the whole awakening was a more of an uncertain process than the result of a recipe from the stone tablet.
In my opinion, Madara was beaten all his life by Hashirama. The last time, Hashi resolved to kill him, but he was lucky that Hashi was hurt within himself.