Wood Style: Four-Pillar House Technique

"Amamiya... Ruri?" Hashirama scratched his head, indicating that he did not know him.

"Amamiya Ruri? The ninja known as the strongest in the Land of Waterfalls?" Ishikawa, the First Tsuchikage, stroked his beard. The Land of Waterfalls bordered the Land of Earth, so he had heard Amamiya Ruri's name. However, this person should have always kept a low profile.

"Tch... the Land of Waterfalls? Takikage? Just a small country..." Byakuren still looked disdainful. Though he already felt that Amamiya Ruri might possess strength equal to theirs, the Land of Waterfalls was far weaker than the Five Great Nations. Unless Ruri truly possessed strength on their level, or even slightly beyond it, the Land of Waterfalls dreaming of establishing a Takikage was simply wishful thinking.

"The Land of Waterfalls, huh? That is quite a good country." Retto, the First Kazekage, said with a smile. Of the five, he was the only one besides Hashirama who bore no hostility toward Ruri.

The Land of Wind was far from the Land of Waterfalls, and the two countries had never had any conflicts. Moreover, no one knew that Retto and Ruri were acquainted.

About two years ago, when Sunagakure had been founded, the Land of Wind's poor geography and endless stretches of yellow sand were well known. In order to develop Sunagakure quickly, Retto had done everything he could to negotiate with various countries and travel everywhere. The Land of Waterfalls had been one of them.

At that time, the Land of Waterfalls had not yet established a shinobi village, though it already had the intention to do so. Although Sunagakure was nearly the weakest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, its support was still hard-won. After the Daimyo discussed it with Ruri, they sent over some Hero Water diluted several times over. The diluted Hero Water could no longer increase chakra, but it could alter the geographical environment and create water sources. Retto had used it to solve Sunagakure's water shortage.

What the Land of Waterfalls had obtained through the Hero Water trade was Sunagakure's support.

Retto was inwardly filled with emotion. Back then, he had never known that the Land of Waterfalls would establish Takigakure and then appoint a Takikage, because he knew very well that Ruri had not possessed Kage-level strength at the time. Who could have expected such tremendous changes in only a few years? With a mere wave of his hand, he had blocked the Mizukage's sneak attack. Retto had also not expected the Land of Waterfalls' Daimyo to be so bold as to challenge the Five Great Nations. Still, Sunagakure and Takigakure had no conflict of interests, and their prior cooperation might even continue in the future. Using this as a starting point to get Sunagakure more Hero Water would be no loss.

"How much longer are we going to dawdle here? I have no interest in becoming monkeys in these samurai's eyes." Raikage A, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. He had been watching Ruri all along, yet had found no weakness even now. With groups of samurai watching from nearby, he had long since run out of patience.

"Oh, right, there is still business to attend to. Ruri, is it? Today is the Five Kage Summit, so let's talk later!" Hashirama slapped his forehead, but his words did not acknowledge Ruri's status as Takikage.

If Hashirama had acknowledged Ruri's title as Takikage and recognized his status as a Kage, he would not have addressed him by name, much less used the Five Kage Summit as an excuse to have him leave.

Ruri secretly shook his head. It seemed Hashirama had not become Hokage purely through foolishness, charisma, and strength. His political instincts were not weak either. Although he did not recognize Ruri's status as Takikage, he did not directly drive him away. Otherwise, he would have offended a country for no reason, which did not quite fit his vision of peace in the Shinobi World.

It seemed that his earlier move had intimidated the other four Kage, but not Hashirama. As expected of the God of Shinobi, he had seen much and knew much.

Ruri formed hand seals with both hands and slapped the ground. He had practiced hand seals since childhood, and his speed had reached five seals per second. Yet Hashirama still saw them clearly. The moment he recognized those seals, he froze.

"Wood Style: Four-Pillar House Technique!"

A wooden house rose from the flat ground. Ruri had chosen this meeting place long ago; it was extremely open, so an extra house would not look out of place or obstruct passersby. At most, the Land of Iron might send someone to seal off the illegal structure, but by then the summit would already be over.

"Is that my brother's Wood Style?" Tobirama, who had been following behind Hashirama all this time, revealed an utterly incredulous expression. Was this not his brother's unique Wood Style ninjutsu? How could it reappear in this guy's hands? Even he himself had been unable to learn this technique... And wasn't Wood Style the Senju clan's Kekkei Genkai?

The four Kage all turned to look at Hashirama, their gazes seeming to question just who this person was. They knew how powerful Hashirama's Wood Style was, and they had long been subdued by it. Otherwise, there would not have been a summit today. In their eyes, Wood Style represented Hashirama.

Even Retto was no longer certain. Could Amamiya Ruri's appearance have been deliberately arranged by Hashirama? How else could one explain this Wood Style that had only ever appeared in Hashirama's hands? Could these two be long-lost cousins? They did not look alike at all, did they?!

Hashirama scratched his head and smiled awkwardly without saying anything. There was no way he could explain this clearly now, because he did not know what was going on either. He had cultivated Wood Style on his own and had once believed it to be a Kekkei Genkai. Yet after seeing this, the origins of Wood Style became questionable.

Originally, no one in the clan aside from Hashirama had been able to cultivate Wood Style, including the exceptionally talented Tobirama. He was certain that the Senju clan had no branch family. In an era before Orochimaru had been born, before advanced technology had been developed, and before Hashirama Cells had become widespread, the only conclusion was that Amamiya Ruri possessed the same talent as him and had cultivated Wood Style on his own.

"What is this? Aren't we attending the Six Kage Summit? It would not be good to remain outside. Let's go in." Ruri extended a hand in invitation, though no one knew the bitterness in his heart. He possessed neither the Water Style nor Earth Style chakra that combined to form Wood Style. Though he could use the Wood Style ninjutsu rewarded by the system, the consumption was immense. After using the Truth-Seeking Orb to block the Water Dragon Bullet earlier, he had only forty percent of his chakra left.

"That's true, let's go in!" Hashirama laughed heartily and was the first to approach the house. He had originally intended to use Wood Style to build a house here, so Ruri's actions had saved him some chakra. However, because of this, the status of the Land of Waterfalls and Takigakure needed to be reevaluated. The Takikage could use strange ninjutsu to block Byakuren's Water Style and could even wield Wood Style. Such combat power was among the very best even among the Five Kage.

The other four Kage followed Hashirama inside with expressionless faces. Ruri had both the ability to easily block Byakuren's sneak attack and Wood Style. They did not dare think further. Perhaps Ruri's strength surpassed theirs. As one of the Five Kage, possibly being weaker than a Takikage who had suddenly emerged from who knew what backwater corner made them feel somewhat embarrassed.

Only then did Ruri let out a sigh of relief. The Five Kage entering the house created by his Wood Style meant that more than half the plan had succeeded. At the very least, they had no choice but to recognize his title as Takikage, because in their eyes, Ruri was not merely an ordinary Kage-level ninja. His strength was enough to make the Five Kage take him seriously.

Ruri then entered as well. Next came the Five Kage's guards.

Kakuzu, who entered last, perhaps had a rather slow reaction time, because only then did he reveal a dumbfounded expression. He had no idea when his big brother had learned Wood Style, but he did not dwell on it. The stronger his big brother was, the more ninjutsu he could help him develop. Besides, he could tell that the current situation favored them. From this day onward, the title of Takikage would be recognized throughout the Shinobi World. As the designated Second Takikage, he felt that this was pretty great.