Sage Art: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!

Several days later, deep within the Forest of Death, at Duanmu Ci's usual secret training ground.

This place had long since shed its former crude appearance. Towering trees he had cultivated surrounded it, forming a natural barrier. The ground was covered with wooden posts and targets, and even a small area had been deliberately cleared to simulate different combat terrains. The air was thick with Nature Energy, several times more active than elsewhere in the forest.

Duanmu Ci stood with his eyes closed in concentration, bare-chested and displaying sleek muscles brimming with explosive power. The perfect physique bestowed by his Sage Body seemed to flow with the luster of warm jade beneath the sunlight. He took a deep breath, his chest swelling like a bellows as the surrounding Nature Energy was drawn in, converging upon him in fine streams.

"Sage Art: Nature Energy... Absorb!"

Unlike the pain and sluggishness of before, the Nature Energy now flowed like a docile stream, smoothly merging into his immense reserves of chakra at his command. Pale green Sage Chakra, containing immense vitality and destructive power, surged through his meridians like boiling lava!

"Bzzz—"

A visible pale green aura instantly enveloped Duanmu Ci's entire body. Two faint streaks of orange-red eyeshadow, resembling frog eyes, quietly appeared beneath his eyelids—the initial formation of Sage Face Markings!

Success! Instant Sage Art Activation! Intense joy welled up inside Duanmu Ci. After countless trials at the brink of life and death, along with grueling training in the Forest of Death, he had finally compressed the time needed to enter Sage Mode to almost an instant! Though it could still only last for around five precious minutes, this was already a qualitative leap!

Power! An unprecedented sense of power filled his entire body! His perception had been amplified to its limit; he could clearly discern every trembling leaf and every crawling insect in the forest. His physical strength, speed, and reaction time had all reached an entirely new level.

"Then... let's try this!" A sharp gleam flared in Duanmu Ci's eyes as he abruptly brought his hands together.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Rumble—!

No longer mere probing vines or wooden posts! With a deafening roar, the earth beneath Duanmu Ci's feet shook violently and split apart! Countless incomparably thick trees burst from the ground like ancient dragons imprisoned for ten thousand years! They grew wildly, twisted, and intertwined, instantly transforming the fan-shaped area nearly a hundred meters ahead into a primeval, terrifying sea of trees! Branches as thick as bowls swept through the area like giant pythons, sharp wooden spikes stood like spears, and tough vines interwove like a net! The ecology of the entire area was instantly rewritten, brimming with violent life force and suffocating pressure!

Though its range was far inferior to the battlefield-covering scale of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, this "small success" version of Deep Forest Emergence was already enough to make any jonin turn pale! Empowered by Sage Chakra, every tree possessed resilience and strength far beyond ordinary Wood Release.

"Whew... whew..." Five minutes later, Sage Mode ended and the eyeshadow faded. Duanmu Ci panted lightly as he looked at the miniature "forest realm" he had created, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. The expenditure had been immense, and his mind was somewhat fatigued, but the sensation of wielding such great power was incomparably wonderful.

Just then, Shizune emerged somewhat disheveled from the edge of the woods. Looking at the terrifying sea of trees that had suddenly appeared before her, her small mouth fell open and her eyes filled with shock. "L-Lord Duanmu! D-Did you do this? That tremor just now... the sentries on the perimeter thought we were under enemy attack!"

Duanmu Ci reined in his aura and returned to his usual calm. "It's fine, Shizune. I was just practicing a new ninjutsu. Tell everyone not to worry." He paused before asking, "What is it?"

Only then did Shizune snap out of it. She quickly composed herself and said, "An urgent message came from the patrol! A sizable joint force of rogue ninja and bandits attacked the temporary medicinal herb collection site and guard camp we established in the valley fifty li northwest of here! It seems they have jonin-level fighters leading them. The camp has suffered considerable losses, and their request for reinforcements is urgent!"

Duanmu Ci's gaze instantly turned cold. Taoyuan Village had only just been established, yet someone already dared to reach their claws toward it? Perfect. He would use these blind fools to test the edge of his newly mastered power!

"Understood." Duanmu Ci's voice was calm and even, yet it carried biting frost. "Notify the guards to assemble and await orders. Strengthen the defenses at Taoyuan Village headquarters. As for that bunch of scum... I'll deal with them personally."

Before his words had even faded, green light flashed around him as Sage Mode activated instantly once more! He transformed into a pale green streak of light and shot toward the northwest at a speed far surpassing the Body Flicker Technique!

The distance of fifty li was crossed in an instant beneath Duanmu Ci's feet, empowered by Sage Mode.

At the entrance to the valley, everything was in ruins. The crude wooden fence had been breached, several tents were burning and belching thick black smoke. Weapons and bloodstains littered the ground. Several Taoyuan Village guard ninja stood back-to-back, struggling to fend off an enemy force several times their number. Their opponents wore a hodgepodge of clothing: some dressed as wandering ninja, others as vicious-looking bandits. Every one of them had fierce eyes and attacked with savage force. Their leader was a burly, bald man with a scar across his face. He wielded a massive mountain-splitting axe, and the chakra fluctuations around him had clearly reached jonin level! With a savage grin, he knocked a guard ninja's kunai away with one swing, about to cleave the man in two.

"You little Konoha brats, hand over the herbs and valuables obediently, and I might leave you with an intact corpse! Hahaha... Urk?!"

The bald man's wild laughter came to an abrupt stop.

An indescribably terrifying pressure descended from the sky like a tsunami! It instantly engulfed the entire battlefield in the valley! Everyone locked in battle, guards and enemies alike, suddenly froze, as though invisible giant hands had seized their throats. An instinctive terror, the kind one felt before a primordial beast, frantically rose from the depths of their hearts!

They looked up in horror.

On a high slope to one side of the valley stood a figure in silence. Sunlight seemed to gather behind him. Pale green eyeshadow gave him an eerie yet majestic air, and a visible pale green energy aura surrounded his body, making him seem like a god descended upon the mortal world. It was Duanmu Ci!

"L-Lord Azure Dragon!" The surviving guards were stunned for a moment before erupting into ecstatic cries of relief. Their morale soared.

"Stop pretending to be some god! Kill him!" The bald man forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart and roared with outward ferocity masking inward weakness. At the same time, he poured massive amounts of chakra into his mountain-splitting axe. The blade lit up with a dazzling earthy yellow glow. "Earth Release: Earth Splitting Slash!" A gigantic axe-shaped chakra blade tore across the ground and slashed fiercely toward Duanmu Ci on the slope! This was his strongest single-target ninjutsu!

Facing an attack powerful enough to split mountain rock, Duanmu Ci's gaze remained indifferent. He did not even intend to dodge. He merely slowly raised his hands and pressed them together before his chest.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence."

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly spread throughout the entire valley, carrying the coldness of a verdict.

Boom! Rumble! Rumble—!

An even more violent roar than the one at the training ground erupted! Beginning from the slope where Duanmu Ci stood, the ground across the entire valley battlefield rolled and heaved like boiling water! Countless massive trees, thicker and more savage than before, burst from the earth! They grew, spread, and intertwined with wild abandon!

The Earth Release chakra blade unleashed by the bald man crashed into layers of wooden shields that sprang up from the ground in an instant—an enhanced embryonic form of the Wood Golem Wall—and dispersed with a dull boom.

Then, the terrifying sea of trees swept across the entire battlefield like a living green tide!

"Aaaah—!"

"What the hell is this?!"

"Help! I'm trapped!"

"No—!"

The terrified screams of the rogue ninja and bandits were instantly drowned out by the thunderous roar of growing trees. Giant trees coiled and crushed like enormous pythons; sharp wooden spikes rose in forests, piercing bodies that had no time to evade; tough vines formed nets that tightly bound fleeing enemies to the ground! Within just a few breaths, the entire valley had become a Forest of Death formed from wildly growing trees! The thick scent of vegetation masked the smell of blood, but the desperate wails became the most piercing accompaniment to this newborn sea of trees.

The bald jonin only managed to erupt with all his chakra and resist for a brief moment as the giant trees reached him. Then several enormous trunks as thick as water barrels sent him flying. While still in midair, sharp branches that followed pierced through his chest and limbs, pinning him to the trunk of a newly grown giant tree behind him like a rag doll. His wide eyes were filled with unimaginable terror and despair as he died instantly!

The battle had ended before Duanmu Ci even landed.

The surviving Taoyuan Village guards stared dumbfounded at the terrifying sea of trees before them, still faintly writhing and separating them from death. Then they looked at the young figure slowly walking down from the slope, the pale green aura around him gradually receding, the eyeshadow fading as he returned to his calm and gentle appearance.

"Lord Azure Dragon... victory!" No one knew who shouted first. Then cries of ecstatic relief and heartfelt reverence echoed throughout the valley.

Duanmu Ci walked over to the guards, examined the wounded, and quickly stabilized the gravely injured with pure Yang Style chakra. "You did well. You held out until I arrived. Take the wounded and the spoils back to Taoyuan Village. This place..." He glanced at the sea of trees he had created with his own hands, where every enemy had been buried. "...will remain as a warning."

His voice was calm, yet it carried unquestionable authority. From that moment on, the title "Konoha Azure Dragon" was no longer merely an honor bestowed by Konoha. Through enemy corpses and the terrifying power of this creation, it was deeply branded into the hearts of all who witnessed it—both allies and potential enemies alike.