Wood Style! In the eyes of every Konoha ninja, this power held a sacred status. It was the power of the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama Senju—the ultimate Kekkei Genkai that pacified the warring states and suppressed the Tailed Beasts!
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that every ninja in Konoha grew up listening to the legends of the First Hokage and his Wood Style. But the problem was... how could Uchiha Yao use it? He was an Uchiha!
This was preposterous! It was as absurd as a member of the Hyuga clan suddenly awakening the Sharingan!
Kakashi stared at Yao, his shock surpassed only by his confusion. The Third Hokage had asked him to observe if Yao had mastered the Flying Raijin. Now, before he'd even seen a hint of that, he'd discovered Wood Style. He could only imagine the look on the Third's face when he received this news!
"Damn it! Don't look down on me!" Zabuza was trapped within the dense thicket like a cornered beast. He swung his blade desperately, but his chakra was being drained rapidly, and sharp branches were slicing countless wounds across his body.
Yao looked at Zabuza struggling in the wooden embrace and raised his other hand. "Wood Style: Cutting Technique!"
SHOO! SHOO! SHOO! SHOO!!!
From the branches of the rapidly growing trees, countless razor-sharp wooden spikes shot out. They rained down on Zabuza from every conceivable angle—up, down, left, and right.
"NO!!!" Zabuza roared in defiance, swinging his sword to parry. But the Executioner's Blade could only block a tiny fraction. The rest of the spikes pierced through Zabuza's body instantly!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Blood sprayed into the air like a macabre blossom
Zabuza froze in place. He looked down at his body, which had been riddled with holes like a sieve. Countless wooden spikes had pierced through his chest, abdomen, and limbs, pinning him mercilessly to the spot.
"To think that I... the Great Zabuza... would die at the hands of a brat..." Zabuza's gaze faded rapidly. The Executioner's Blade slipped from his grasp, slamming heavily onto the bridge surface.
A deathly silence fell over the bridge.
The thick mist had cleared at some unknown point, leaving only the newly formed miniature forest swaying gently in the breeze. Naruto and Sasuke, who had been trapped within the Crystal Ice Mirrors, were completely petrified, their mouths hanging wide open.
"Lord Zabuza!" Haku staggered forward, throwing himself toward the body of Momochi Zabuza, which was still pinned by the wooden spikes. He knelt before the corpse, trembling violently. Tears fell silently from his gentle, sorrowful eyes.
To Haku, Lord Zabuza was the entire meaning of his existence. Now that Zabuza was dead, his purpose for living had vanished.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Naruto and Sasuke, now free, rushed over and looked at Haku warily.
Suddenly, Haku raised his hand. Without anyone noticing, a senbon needle had appeared between his fingers, and he plunged it straight into his own throat.
"What are you doing?!" Naruto was horrified, looking at Haku in disbelief. He couldn't understand why this person would suddenly commit suicide for no apparent reason. Sasuke and Naruto stood in silence, their hearts heavy with complex emotions.
"A pity," Yao thought to himself with a quiet sigh. He hadn't intended to kill Haku, but if Haku wanted to die, he wouldn't stop him. In Yao's view, people like Haku or Kimimaro—who were completely brainwashed by others—were perhaps better off dead than living as empty shells. What is the point of living like that? Still, it was a waste of the Ice Style Kekkei Genkai; it would likely go extinct now.
"Let's give them a proper burial," Kakashi sighed. Yao, Naruto, and Sasuke nodded and prepared to move the bodies.
Just then, a loud, arrogant voice broke the solemn atmosphere.
"Useless! Absolutely useless! That piece of trash Zabuza... he took my money and then just died like that?"
The group turned toward the source of the noise. The wealthy shipping magnate, Gato, had appeared at the end of the bridge, flanked by a massive crowd of thugs armed with swords and looking like absolute savages. Gato looked at Zabuza's corpse—eyes still wide in death—and spat a curse. He then swept a sinister gaze over Yao and the others, lingering especially on Tazuna.
"Hmph! Get them! Kill them all, and then tear down this pathetic bridge!" Gato waved his hand. Behind him, dozens of thugs charged forward with a roar.
"Oh no!" Naruto and Sasuke's expressions changed as they immediately dropped into defensive stances. Facing such a large number of enemies, they felt immense pressure. Kakashi also gripped his kunai, ready for battle.
"Truly... noisy," Yao muttered as he looked at the unruly mob. A cold light flashed in his eyes. A bunch of ordinary humans actually dare to be this insolent?
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
BOOM!!!!
An overwhelming sea of orange-red fire erupted, drowning Gato and his men in a wave of total destruction. These people didn't even have time to scream; they were vaporized the instant the flames touched them, turned into nothing but ash.
"No! NO!!" The arrogance on Gato's face turned into pure terror. He tried to turn and run, but the flames swallowed him whole.
a heartbeat later, the fire dissipated. The end of the bridge was empty. Gato and his dozens of vicious thugs had vanished completely, as if they had never existed at all. All that remained were shocking, scorched black marks on the ground.
Naruto and Sasuke stared at the charred earth, frozen in place once again. That Fire Style jutsu just now was too massive in scale and too terrifying in power. Was that even a Fire Style?
The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched. He was deeply shaken. He realized that when Yao had fought him earlier, the boy had been holding back significantly. Could I even block a Fire Style of this magnitude?
Yao clapped his hands and looked at the bodies of Haku and Zabuza. "Naruto, Sasuke, let's bury them."
"Right... right!" Naruto nodded quickly. Sasuke said nothing; he simply gave Yao a long look before picking up Zabuza's body and leaving the bridge. Naruto carried Haku's body away as well, leaving only Yao and Kakashi on the wide bridge.
"Yao, how do you know Wood Style?" Kakashi stared at him.
Yao shrugged. "Oh, that? It was after we arrived in the Land of Waves. I used the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu that Naruto taught me to make hundreds of clones to research Wood Style. A few days ago, I got lucky and mastered it."
He spoke nonchalantly, as if it were a trivial matter. But to Kakashi, these words were like a thunderclap. Arrived in the Land of Waves? How long has it been? A month? Using shadow clones to accelerate training is theoretically possible, but that's a forbidden jutsu! The mental and chakra strain is immense! Doing it day and night with hundreds of clones... and he succeeded?
How is that possible!!! If Wood Style were that easy, Hashirama wouldn't have been the only one to master it since the dawn of the hidden villages.
So... how exactly does Yao have Wood Style?
...
Although Gato had been incinerated, the bridge—the hope of the Land of Waves—was not yet finished. After weighing the options, Kakashi decided not to rush back to Konoha but to stay and continue protecting Tazuna. They would see the task through until the bridge was completed.
Yao's overwhelming power had deeply motivated Naruto and Sasuke. Both of them pestered Kakashi to teach them powerful ninjutsu.
Kakashi, feeling a bit of a headache from their nagging, replied, "Before learning new jutsu, you must build a solid foundation. So, starting today, we will begin tree-climbing and water-walking training!"
"This is the most effective way to train precise chakra control."
"Climbing trees? Walking on water? What's the point of practicing that? Kakashi-sensei, you just don't want to teach us ninjutsu, do you? Stingy!"