"Mm? You didn't gag me..."
Yamato narrowed his eyes slightly and formed hand seals again.
He was going to plug Jin's mouth with wood.
Whoosh!
A length of wood suddenly shot up and stretched, thrusting down from above.
Jin: "That's going too far, Yamato... Kinoe!"
How had he never noticed before that Captain Yamato, who seemed so reliable, was this rough when he was in Root?
No wonder Danzo's brainwashing skills rivaled the Third Hokage's.
He shook his head, then reached out and crushed the wood in front of him, snapping it apart.
Plop.
He tossed it aside like a piece of trash.
He didn't notice the pain that flashed across the face of the person opposite him—Yamato, or rather, the Root operative who was still Kinoe at this point.
"Hm? How does this kid know who I am?"
The future Yamato was baffled. He thought it over carefully. He'd heard of the Second Young Master of the Uchiha clan, but only knew his name.
They weren't acquainted, and they'd never met.
So how had the other boy recognized him the moment they met?
As the future Yamato wondered about this and prepared to take Jin away, he saw something even more shocking.
The boy in front of him, who wasn't even ten years old, had torn apart his Wood Release with his bare hands!
That's right—with his bare hands!
Yamato's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
Since he'd begun his training, he'd never seen anyone tear apart Wood Release with their bare hands!
Dodging it, evading it, even burning it with fire—those all seemed perfectly normal to him.
But tearing it apart with bare hands was out of the question!
This wasn't a paper shard!
So without hesitation, he spread his hands and began forming seals again.
But halfway through, he suddenly froze.
A sharp edge gleamed coldly against his neck.
Drip.
A thin trickle of blood seeped out.
Gulp.
When had he—
When had the boy gotten behind him?
Could it be a space-time ninjutsu?
No! Impossible!
He swallowed, his pupils contracting further.
The silent boy behind him, who wasn't even ten, seemed to inspire a deep sense of dread.
The next moment, the blade vanished.
Uchiha Jin waved a hand. "Let's go. We'll head outside the village."
They were still inside the village, and a fight would cause quite a commotion.
Especially if they damaged any houses. He'd be facing a hefty bill for repairs.
It'd be more comfortable outside the village.
As for whether letting Yamato go would lead to any trouble, he didn't care.
In the early days, the Shinobi World still operated by a degree of logic. It was mostly a matter of comparing intelligence.
With enough intel, even a Genin could take down a Jonin.
Just like Shikamaru taking out Hidan.
Or Jiraiya dying at Pain's hands, while Kakashi managed to take down one of Pain's bodies.
All those battles underscored the importance of intel.
And the later era?
Mecha everywhere, Senjutsu flying through the skies!
Pure power-scaling chaos.
"Still..."
Jin lowered his head slightly. With his all-around offense, defense, and speed, he was already heading down the same path.
Once he solved the problems of Wood Release draining his life and the Sharingan damaging his body, he'd truly stand at the top of Leaf!
The Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, a year from now?
Jin even thought it could happen right away.
Behind him, the future Yamato followed without hesitation.
As his final mission for Root, he had to see it through.
Soon, they reached the outskirts of the village.
Beside the Naka River.
Yamato looked at the boy standing opposite him and silently offered an apology.
The next moment, he sprang into action again!
"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
He thrust out his right hand, sending countless thigh-thick vines snaking toward his opponent.
They were even stronger and tougher than before!
"Hey, don't rush, uncle. Let's talk for a bit first!"
Jin spoke as he dodged to the side.
The point wasn't the person. Wood Release was his real target.
"No point talking. Let's fight, kid!"
Jin: ...
That chuunibyou line really did shatter Captain Yamato's image.
But thinking of his chance to copy a trait after a Ten-Minute Talk, Jin silently dodged to the side.
There was no shame in copying Wood Release.
"Not bad speed, but—can you run away?"
"Just come quietly with me!"
Wood Release was powerful and unique, and it gave Yamato confidence again.
He assumed that the wood Jin had torn apart with his bare hands earlier had simply been a poor effort.
Now he'd unleash his full power!
"Wood Release: Four Pillars Prison!"
Bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
One wooden stake after another burst from the ground!
They enclosed an area more than ten meters wide around Jin!
And kept closing in.
At a glance, it looked like a wooden prison, trapping Uchiha Jin inside.
Faint, mysterious Runes covered the wood.
No one could get in.
No one could get out.
"Phew, that Uchiha brat sure is troublesome."
Only after finishing all that did the future Yamato wipe the sweat from his forehead and breathe a sigh of relief.
He wasn't weak.
Thanks to Wood Release, he could easily subdue even an ordinary Jonin.
So, as far as he was concerned, capturing a mere young master of the Uchiha clan should be a piece of cake.
But before he could finish letting out that breath, a voice came from inside the wooden cage.
"Uncle, can we talk now?"
"Hm? You..." Yamato's mouth twitched. "You've got some seriously strong nerves, don't you?"
A boy who hadn't even graduated from the Academy, and wasn't even a Genin yet.
He saw Yamato and wasn't scared?!
Something was very wrong!
For some reason, Yamato again pictured Jin tearing Wood Release apart with his bare hands.
A phrase suddenly surfaced in his mind: utterly fearless!
To be safe, he formed hand seals once more.
Wood Release: Silent Killing Bind!
Wood Release: Four Pillars House!
Wood Release: Serial Pillar House!
One Wood Release secret technique after another appeared in Leaf.
Inside the prison, trees twined around one another!
Outside it, a complex wooden residence rose from the ground.
It suppressed the flow of Chakra inside the prison.
Then more houses appeared around the residence!
Like a small clan compound, they sealed the central prison tight!
"Phew... Even Kakashi wouldn't be able to get out of this, right?"
Only after completing everything did the future Yamato finally relax.
He leaned against the wooden sofa, breathing a little heavily.
As soon as he sat down, he heard the boy opposite him call out loudly and dramatically:
"Uncle, it'd be a real shame if you didn't go into real estate..."
"With that Serial Pillar House technique, you'd make so many people jealous!"
That was true. Setting aside the great Uchiha clan, Leaf had quite a few orphans because of the wars.
There were special allowances for them, but most of the children still lived in poor conditions.
Take Naruto, for example.
Even as the Fourth Hokage's orphan, he lived in a tiny two-story wooden house.
The room wasn't very large.
But if Yamato put in some effort and cut down the trees around the village to build houses...
Then!
There'd be no housing shortage at all.
After chatting for a while,
the relevant prompts slowly appeared before Jin's eyes.
[Talk Target: Root: Kinoe.]
[Analyzing Copyable Traits.]
[Wood Release Kekkei Genkai (Purple), First Generation Cells: Remnant (Purple), Water Style Mastery (Blue), Earth and Wood Brother (Black)...]
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