The ground shook violently—
and the tremors grew stronger and stronger.
It was like the onset of a massive earthquake.
"What's happening?!"
"Is it an earthquake?"
"Wait… something's moving beneath the ground!"
"Could there be some kind of creature under us?"
The ninjas looked around in panic.
Even those who didn't understand what was going on were beginning to lose composure.
On a nearby rooftop, Orochimaru steadied his body against the violent shaking.
The tremors sent roof tiles flying into the air, crashing down dangerously.
Some Konoha civilians who had not yet been evacuated were about to be struck.
Yūhi Kurenai suddenly leapt forward, releasing a sharp blast of chakra from her hand, shattering the falling tiles before they could hit anyone.
"Don't just stand there!" she shouted.
"Get the unconscious to safety—now!"
The authority in the elite jōnin's voice snapped several ninjas back to their senses, and they quickly scrambled to carry out her orders.
But the shaking only intensified.
A deep, guttural rumble erupted from beneath the ground.
Swish!
From below, something enormous surged upward.
At first it looked like a colossal serpent breaking free from the earth—
but no, this was Wood Style!
An unbelievable torrent of Wood Release burst forth, trees and vines exploding upward as though an underground dragon had awoken.
Massive roots tore through the ground, growing at a terrifying speed, lifting the entire Chūnin Exam arena into the air.
The solid cement crumbled instantly to dust under the force of the rampaging wood.
The arena was swallowed in darkness as towering trunks blotted out the sky.
Orochimaru's lips curled slightly, his expression dark.
What's he planning?
Is Yuichi trying to destroy Konoha?
Even he couldn't make sense of it. Whatever Yuichi's goal, the sheer scale of this Wood Style was staggering.
And it wasn't confined to the arena.
Outside, gigantic vines erupted throughout Konoha, spreading wildly in every direction.
That ear-splitting roar just moments ago had echoed across the entire village.
In the distance, a house was impaled clean through by a massive root and reduced to rubble in an instant.
Dust and smoke surged upward, shrouding Konoha in a choking haze.
"UAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Yuichi's roar shook the heavens.
"What kind of power is this?! Is this really his Wood Style?!"
"Damn it—look at the scope! He'll destroy all of Konoha at this rate!"
"That chakra… it's monstrous, like a tailed beast!"
But Yuichi didn't seem to hear a single word.
Blue veins bulged grotesquely across his pale face, crawling like centipedes.
His features twisted with rage and raw power.
On one of the massive rising trunks, Kurenai fought to keep her balance, her eyes fixed on Yuichi.
"…He's lost control?" she whispered.
The others froze at her words.
Lost control?
Then it struck them—
The death of the Third Hokage.
That grief… had driven Yuichi into a berserk rampage.
"UAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
His furious screams continued.
Chakra poured from him like a flood, more violent than crashing waves.
It wasn't just chakra—it was raw, suffocating pressure.
The Wood Style came alive, spreading at a terrifying pace.
In seconds, the arena was unrecognizable.
Massive trees rose, tearing through the earth until two colossal trunks dominated the battlefield.
The entire venue had been consumed, reduced to ruins beneath the growth.
"How much chakra does this kid have?!" Orochimaru muttered, astonished.
Any normal shinobi would have died from exhaustion long ago.
But Yuichi kept going, burning through chakra like it was endless.
Even Hashirama himself, reborn and watching, was shaken.
This… this is insane. He's channeling this much chakra without Sage Mode?
Even within the Senju clan, famed for their immense chakra, no one was this abnormal…
Hashirama had needed Sage Mode to wield Wood Style on such a scale.
But Yuichi—Yuichi was doing it through sheer will and raw chakra alone.
"This child…" Tobirama's voice echoed.
"He must be your descendant, brother. A monster like you… no, even worse."
Hashirama froze, unsettled.
He had never considered himself that twisted.
BOOM!
Chakra flared violently around Yuichi's body, like flames surging into the sky.
His short, black hair spiked upward, giving him the wild look of a berserk warrior—almost like a raging Saiyan from myth.
He threw chakra around carelessly, wasting more than most shinobi could ever hope to summon in a lifetime.
It was madness.
For ten minutes straight, the rampage continued.
The forest spread relentlessly, swallowing the village.
From the sky, Konoha looked like it had been rebuilt atop a titanic tree.
But beneath the canopy, most of the homes lay in ruins.
One Wood Style jutsu had brought half of Konoha to its knees.
The scale left everyone in stunned silence.
At last, the Wood Release slowed, the colossal trees ceasing their rapid growth.
The damage, however, was already done.
The once-proud village now resembled a wild, ancient forest.
In ten minutes, Yuichi had unleashed more chakra than Orochimaru could even fathom.
"One man… with this much chakra?" Orochimaru whispered.
Then a low murmur carried on the wind.
"Wood Style… Wood Dragon Technique!"
Hashirama's eyes snapped wide.
"What?! That jutsu…!"
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
A massive shadow coiled in the sky above,
and the chakra it radiated was staggering.
Yuichi's rampage wasn't over yet.