Faced with the constant chatter from all the surrounding shinobi, Kakashi had a full-on headache.
They always say "a mother is honored because of her son", but today it seemed he was the one honored because of his student.
It's just… the way these uncultured jōnin were saying it was not pleasant to hear at all.
Not far from the Four Purple Flame Formation, Yamato's jaw had dropped wider than it ever had in his life.
As another Wood Release user, seeing Shinju unleash such a powerful technique made his emotions swirl in every direction!
The True Several Thousand Hands isn't something you can perform with Wood Release alone—it requires Sage Chakra as well.
That means… Shinju, still so young, has already mastered Sage Mode?!
He had only been learning Wood Release for a few months!
And he's already mastered Sage Arts?!
Yamato had thought this kid would need two or three years before he could become Konoha's true pillar.
But now… it was clear he had gravely underestimated Shinju.
If you casually gave this kid a pair of Byakugan or a Sharingan on top of this, wouldn't he already be enough to dominate the entire shinobi world?!
...
Inside the Four Purple Flame Formation, Orochimaru was utterly frozen in shock.
(꒪⌓꒪)
Wood Release had always been the powerful technique he pursued.
The moment he saw Shinju could use it, he had already decided—he must obtain this boy's body.
And now, seeing Shinju unleash Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands… his heart pounded wildly!
This was power equal to the God of Shinobi himself!!
A colossal Thousand-Armed Kannon of this size could probably wipe out a small country with ease!
At that same moment, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was struggling desperately against the two reanimated Hokage, also caught sight of the massive wooden figure outside the barrier. His eyes widened in shock.
"Haha, so it's that Shinju? I didn't expect that kid to already be capable of something like this."
The Third Hokage laughed as he spoke.
"Orochimaru, it looks like your ambitions are destined to fail!"
With that, the Third performed a summoning and called forth the Monkey King, Enma.
Enma transformed into a gigantic adamantine staff, its length and size shifting at Hiruzen's command!
...
Outside the barrier, Shinju stood tall upon the head of the giant Kannon statue.
Clap!
He brought his hands together and shouted:
"Top Transformed Buddha!!"
In the next instant, the thousands of arms around the Kannon all moved at once!!
"Whoooosh—!!"
One by one, enormous wooden palms rose up and slammed down toward the Four Purple Flame Formation!
"Boom!!"
The barrier was powerful, yes—but in the face of the overwhelming might of True Several Thousand Hands, it lasted only a few strikes before shattering apart!!
The four Sound shinobi maintaining the formation all spat blood and collapsed on the spot!
Seeing the crushing force of Shinju's True Several Thousand Hands, Orochimaru immediately turned to flee!!
Against Wood Release rivaling the God of Shinobi, he knew he had absolutely no chance of victory!
But how could Shinju possibly let him escape so easily?!
From atop the Kannon's head, Shinju clapped his hands again:
"Wood Dragon Technique!!"
Whoooosh!!
A massive wooden dragon burst forth, lunging straight at the fleeing Orochimaru!
At the same time, several of the giant hands reached down and grabbed the reanimated First and Second Hokage!!
The reanimated Hashirama barely had any human consciousness left, let alone combat ability.
So, Shinju hardly had to put in any effort before capturing both of the former Hokage.
Meanwhile, the Wood Dragon crashed into Orochimaru as he tried to escape!
The Third Hokage reacted quickly, hurling several shuriken before forming hand seals:
"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!"
One shuriken split into hundreds, all raining down on Orochimaru!
Facing the attack, Orochimaru licked his tongue with a smirk. His body melted into a liquid form and seeped straight into the ground beneath him!
Just before vanishing completely, Orochimaru sneered:
"Shinju, I will obtain that perfect body of yours someday!"
And with that, the battle between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage finally came to an end!
The Third Hokage lifted his head, gazing toward the top of the colossal Kannon…
Perhaps it was his old age, or his failing eyesight, but he could no longer even make out Shinju's figure above.
Still, he spoke with deep admiration:
"Shinju, you've done well! Right now, you are Konoha's most outstanding shinobi!"
And it wasn't an exaggeration.
Judging from the strength Shinju had just displayed, even the entire village combined might not be enough to match him alone!
If not for Shinju's young age, the Third might have directly abdicated and handed over the Hokage's position right then and there!
For such a youth to lead Konoha—what a blessing that would be for the village!
Shinju accepted the praise calmly, neither humble nor arrogant:
"Hokage-sama, Naruto and Sasuke are chasing after Gaara. Now that things here are settled, I'll go help them."
The Third Hokage nodded: "Go—"
But before he could even finish, Shinju's figure had already vanished…
...
Meanwhile, outside Konoha.
After being freed from that feather illusion, Naruto and Sasuke had been awakened by Kakashi-sensei and given the mission to pursue Gaara.
A few minutes ago, the two of them had successfully intercepted the three Sand siblings. Relying on the harsh training of the past few months, they managed to pin them down!
However, during the fight, Gaara began to show signs of losing control.
Before long, he transformed into a half-human, half-demon monster!!
Half of Gaara's body remained human, while the other half became a beastly form made entirely of sand!
Even his head shifted—tanuki-like ears and pupils glaring from his transformed face!!
At that moment, Naruto and Sasuke executed a flawless combo, gravely wounding the half-demon Gaara!
Sasuke's Chidori pierced straight through Gaara's left chest!
Hit once again by that all-too-familiar lightning jutsu, Gaara's fury exploded!!
"I'll kill you all!! Every last one of you!!!"
Gaara screamed in a fractured, deranged voice as his body began swelling even further!
Temari and Kankurō recoiled in horror at the sight.
Temari exclaimed anxiously: "Gaara's… trying to transform completely?!"
"If he turns into that, even we won't be safe!"
Kankurō spoke grimly: "I fear Gaara's planning something even worse… he might use the Feigning Sleep Technique to fully release the demon inside him…"
(t/n: Gaara uses this technique to force himself to fall asleep. This causes him to surrender control to Shukaku, who is sealed within him.)
"If that happens, we're truly finished…"
As he spoke, Gaara's body ballooned upward, morphing into a towering sand beast nearly fifty meters tall!!
The monstrous form was earth-yellow, covered in jagged curse markings, with a massive tail as tall as its body swinging behind it!
After summoning the colossal tanuki beast, Gaara's body floated up to its head. He quickly formed hand seals again!
Seeing this, Temari and Kankurō's hearts sank. They immediately turned to flee!
If they didn't run now, once that demon fully emerged, they'd be killed without a doubt!!
The next instant, Gaara fell into slumber, activating the Feigning Sleep Technique!
The beast beneath him erupted with an ear-splitting, manic laugh:
"Wahahaha… after all this time, I'm finally free!!!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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