Duanmu Ci and Tsunade, having obtained their "permit," eagerly arrived at their new territory—Yougu Plain—with Shizune, several key members of the Medical Team who had volunteered to follow them or been drawn by Tsunade's prestige, and a number of craftsmen.
Before them lay a vast valley far from the main roads. A clear yet narrow stream wound through it, bringing life and providing water. Mountains surrounded the valley on three sides, remnants of the Forest of Death, forming a natural barrier. Only the southern side had a broad entrance. Most of the valley was covered in wild grass and shrubs, interspersed with sparse trees. The terrain was generally flat, though the areas near the foothills were somewhat uneven. The air carried the fresh scent of vegetation and soil, utterly unlike the blood stench of the frontline medical station.
"This place is big enough, hidden enough, and it has mountains and water. Not bad!" Tsunade stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the surroundings with a builder's bold spirit in her eyes. The shadow of war seemed temporarily shut out here.
"Yes, the basic conditions are better than expected." Duanmu Ci nodded, crouching to grab a handful of soil and sense the life force within it. The Rinnegan's powerful perception quietly spread, scanning the valley's geological structure and Chakra flow. "The entrance needs heavy defenses, and we can make use of the mountains too... The core area should be built on that high ground near the upper stream. It has a good view, easy access to water, and relatively dry terrain."
"Lord Duanmu, are we... really starting from scratch?" a young craftsman asked uneasily as he looked over the wasteland. The others wore similar expressions.
Duanmu Ci rose to his feet, a confident smile appearing on his face. "Starting from scratch means limitless possibilities. Besides, who says we have to start completely from scratch?" He walked to a relatively level clearing, formed hand seals, and shouted, "Wood Style: Pillar House Technique!"
Under everyone's astonished gazes, the ground trembled faintly. Thick, resilient timber gleaming with life force burst from the earth like living giant serpents, twisting together, interlocking, and growing! Amid the teeth-grating creaks of wood rubbing together and the rustling sounds of rapid growth, several sturdy wooden house frames rose from the ground at a visible speed. Their designs were simple and ancient, blending the minimalist, practical aesthetic of Duanmu Ci's previous life. Though they were only frames without roofs or interior partitions, the miraculous sight was already shocking enough.
"My god! Th-this is the power of Wood Release?!"
"That's incredible! It saves us the time of logging, transportation, and initial construction all at once!"
"As expected of Lord Azure Dragon!"
The craftsmen stood dumbfounded, then erupted into loud gasps and cheers. The medical ninja were equally incredulous. Shizune held Tonton in her arms, her small mouth hanging open. Though Tsunade had been mentally prepared, witnessing firsthand this power that turned desolation into buildings still filled her eyes with wonder, pride, and anticipation.
"This is only the beginning." Duanmu Ci lowered his hands, his breathing slightly hurried from feigned exhaustion, though his spirits were high. "These are temporary workshops, warehouses, and the framework for our residences. Next, everyone needs to finish them—make doors and windows, lay the roofs using ordinary materials, and plan the interior layouts. At the same time, we need to immediately begin selecting the site and laying the foundation for the core medical area!"
With Duanmu Ci's miraculous display as a shot in the arm, everyone's enthusiasm and confidence were ignited. Under Tsunade's command:
The craftsmen immediately threw themselves into completing the wooden frames, brimming with energy.
The medical ninja began planning the location and layout of the core medical area, discussing the necessary functional zones: operating rooms, wards, pharmacies, research rooms, and more.
Shizune led several people in taking inventory of their supplies and establishing a temporary materials management point.
Duanmu Ci continued using Wood Release at the chosen site for the core medical area, driving thick wooden piles deep underground to establish a solid foundation frame and leveling a wide stretch of land. He also grew a ring of tough vines that rapidly spread toward the valley entrance, forming an initial thorny warning fence.
For the first time, the desolate Yougu Plain rang with the clanging of construction, heated discussions, and laughter full of hope. Smoke rose from the newly built makeshift stoves. Everything was still crude, merely the first form of a first form, but the first cornerstone of Taoyuan Village had been firmly laid upon this land through everyone's united efforts and the miraculous power of Duanmu Ci's Wood Release.
Tsunade stood beside the foundation of the newly forming core area, watching the busy crowd and Duanmu Ci beside her as he focused on controlling Wood Release. Fine sweat beaded on his forehead, yet his eyes were bright. Her heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and longing for the future. This would be her new beginning, and the place where their shared dream began.
"They're here!!!" Duanmu Ci's sharp shout was a signal!
At the edge of the Forest of Death, countless ninja dressed in Kirigakure ANBU uniforms or dark combat gear emerged like ghosts! They gave no battle cries, only cold silence and a surging flood of ninja tools! Kunai, shuriken, and Explosive Tags poured toward the crude base's outer perimeter like a torrential downpour!
"Defend!!" the guard captain roared hoarsely.
Splat! Splat!
"Argh—!"
Screams erupted instantly!
The outermost defensive line, built around low walls and wooden barricades, crumpled like paper under Kirigakure's first concentrated barrage! Several Konoha guard ninja were instantly turned into pincushions or blasted apart by Explosive Tags! Blood stained the freshly turned earth and rough wooden stakes in an instant!
"Medical Team! Save them!" Shizune cried, her voice trembling as she tried to rush forward through the hail of weapons with several medical ninja, only for someone to seize her tightly.
It was Tsunade! She had watched with her own eyes as a familiar young guard ninja was pierced through the chest by several kunai, his blood splattering over the ground at her feet. That piercing red, that thick smell of iron... The familiar dizziness and nausea coiled around her heart and throat like icy venomous snakes! Her face turned deathly pale at once, and her body began trembling uncontrollably. Her legs felt filled with lead, nearly unable to support her. She wanted to rush forward to save them, wanted to fight, but every instinct in her body was screaming for her to flee!
"Lord Tsunade!" Shizune stared at Tsunade's condition in terror, her heart sinking to the bottom.
"Kill them all! Leave no one alive!" A hoarse, savage voice rang out alongside a piercing metallic scrape. A burly figure carrying an enormous bandage-wrapped sword, Juzo Biwa, and a figure wielding twin blades wreathed in lightning, Raiga Kurosuki, charged through the crumbling defenses like tigers descending a mountain. They headed straight for the most densely packed area—the wounded and noncombatants pouring toward the shelter entrances!
"Lightning Release: Raiga!" Raiga Kurosuki grinned viciously, raising both blades high as violent lightning gathered around them, ready to strike the crowded mass!
"Shizune! Watch out!" Juzo Biwa's target was Shizune, who was trying to organize the defense. The massive Kubikiribōchō came crashing down with a shriek that tore through the air! Shizune could even feel the blade's icy aura of death. Her mind went blank, and she forgot even to form hand seals!
Despair! Complete despair shrouded the entire Taoyuan Base! The guard ninja had suffered grievous casualties, the defenses had collapsed, the strongest fighter, Lord Tsunade, was frozen by her hemophobia, and the enemy's deadliest blades had already fallen upon the most vulnerable crowd and their most crucial assistant!
At that critical instant!
"Stop—!!!"
A roar filled with boundless fury and the will to protect exploded like a dragon's cry from the heavens! Its source was Duanmu Ci!
He no longer held anything back! The power hidden within him erupted like a volcano suppressed for ten thousand years!
"Wood Style: Forest Descent - Wall!!!"
Duanmu Ci slammed both hands onto the ground beneath his feet! The vast, oceanic Chakra of his Sage Body mixed with the violent Nature Energy he had just absorbed—the nascent form of Sage Chakra—and poured madly into the earth like a burst dam!
Rumble rumble rumble—!!!
The earth let out a pained groan and shook violently! Centered on Duanmu Ci, the ground within a hundred meters swelled and split like boiling water! Countless enormous trees, each more than a meter in diameter, burst through rock and soil like ancient beasts that had slept for countless ages. Carrying unstoppable force and surging life force, they grew, rose, and intertwined at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The crude wooden barricades and earthen walls were instantly replaced by this newborn, far grander bastion! Massive trees twisted and entwined in layer upon layer, forming an impenetrable circular wooden wall over thirty meters tall and more than five meters thick before everyone's horrified eyes! Like the Ambrosial Arbor of myth that held up heaven and earth, this barrier firmly and completely enclosed the core area of Taoyuan Base—including every shelter entrance, medical tent, and command center! Its surface was covered in tough bark and sharp wooden thorns, radiating an ancient, weighty aura!
Boom—!!!
Raiga Kurosuki's violent lightning crashed into the newly formed giant wall, only blasting out a small blackened patch without producing even the slightest crack! The lightning was effortlessly conducted into the earth by the massive trees!
Clang—!!!
Juzo Biwa's Kubikiribōchō struck the thick wooden wall with overwhelming force, producing an ear-splitting metallic clash! The powerful recoil numbed his arms. The blade sank less than half a foot before being firmly trapped by the incomparably tough wood! Shizune stood only a short distance away on the inner side of the wall, completely unharmed!
Kirigakure's follow-up torrents of ninja tools and ninjutsu attacks struck like rain against a reef, leaving only shallow marks on the verdant wooden barrier before swiftly dissipating!
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Whether they were the despairing people of Konoha or the viciously charging Kirigakure ninja, everyone seemed frozen in place, staring dumbstruck at the verdant natural barrier that had suddenly risen from the ground and blotted out the sky!
Dead silence! Absolute dead silence!
Only the earth's faint lingering tremors and the low hum of massive trees growing echoed through the silence.
Duanmu Ci stood proudly atop the tallest giant tree, a faint green aura swirling around him as Sage Chakra overflowed from his body. His robes snapped in the turbulent air. Looking down at the Kirigakure ninja below like ants, his eyes were cold as eternal ice yet burned with fury fierce enough to incinerate everything!
"This path..." His voice was not loud, yet it reached every corner of the battlefield with unquestionable authority. "...is closed!"
After a brief silence came the ecstatic, tearful cries of Konoha's people sheltered behind the tree wall, their joy at surviving the disaster bursting forth:
"A miracle! It's a miracle!"
"It's Lord Duanmu! Lord Duanmu saved us!"
"Wood Release! It's the First Hokage's Wood Release!!"
"Azure Dragon! It's Lord Konoha's Azure Dragon!!!"
The title "Konoha Azure Dragon" was shouted for the first time by countless voices overflowing with gratitude, resounding through the skies across this battlefield where despair and hope intertwined!
Meanwhile, Tsunade stood there blankly, gazing up at the figure standing atop the towering tree like a god descended to protect everything. His back was broad and majestic, as though he were holding up a sky on the verge of collapse. The surging life force radiating from him and his unmatched will to protect were like the hottest sunlight, instantly scattering all the darkness and fear within her heart!
Tears surged from Tsunade's beautiful eyes without warning. They were not tears of fear, but of shock, pride, the wild joy of regaining what she had lost, and the tremor of a heart struck to its core! As she looked at that figure, the emotions in her heart burst forth like floodwaters through a broken dam, impossible to suppress any longer.
Duanmu Ci... she cried silently in her heart, one incomparably clear thought occupying her entire mind. At that moment, every doubt, the disparity in their identities, and the pain of the past... were completely crushed by that giant wall protecting life and by the figure standing before her.
She had fallen completely. Her heart beat for one person alone.
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