Watch closely, Juri, this is how Wood Release is used

Diejian wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

A thick, metallic stench clung to his nostrils.

He spat the blood accumulated in his mouth onto the ground with a "plop," then crushed it fiercely with his foot.

The blood, spat out and trampled, mixed with the dirt, losing its original color.

That thing, which had become dark mud, exuded a creepy aura like silt at first glance.

Staring at it, Diejian felt it was like a deep darkness, radiating an irresistible gravitational pull.

Diejian consciously, forcibly, shifted his gaze away from the mixture.

Just as he tried to avert his eyes from the color that seemed to swallow him, Diejian's attention was drawn to Shuri's figure.

Shuri was using her small tongue to carefully lick the Diejian's blood that had stained her fist.

Her cat-like eyes were fixed on Diejian.

Were they the eyes of a beast facing prey, or the eyes of a woman with perverse allure?

Diejian lowered his gaze, staring at Shuri's thighs.

Like the shorts worn by boys, they exposed the woman's skin.

The skin, illuminated by the bluish-white flames, was dazzling and highly poisonous.

Diejian lowered his gaze even further.

She wore sandals on her bare feet.

Her toenails, usually considered cute, were now on the other side of the flickering bluish-white flames.

But, it was fine like this.

He lowered his gaze not to scrutinize her skin, but to keep his Sharingan out of his field of vision.

If his gaze were captured by the woman's poison, it would be equivalent to his Sharingan being sealed by genjutsu.

The long-awaited exchange made Diejian's heart leap unconsciously.

How much could this body, trained by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, exert itself?

He would test it against you, Uchiha Shuri, to see if it would be a fierce battle or an easy victory—Diejian thought.

"Tsunade, Jiraiya. Take Dan and retreat. I'm getting serious now."

He looked around, but there was no one.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Dan had already evacuated.

Looking at the training ground, empty except for Shuri, a gust of wind swept through Diejian's heart.

"Ha..." Diejian sighed.

Instantly, Diejian moved.

His main body leaped backward, while the clones waiting on his left and right spread out and let out shouts.

Diejian was also a Jonin, no longer a child who only charged with brute force, but a ninja who understood strategy.

He wouldn't create useless clones to consume chakra, nor would he be foolish enough to charge with his main body instead of using the decoys he had painstakingly created.

Shuri merely waited quietly for the assault launched by Diejian's clones from both sides.

Thrusting it becomes a spear, sweeping it becomes a naginata, holding it becomes a tachi. The ultimate penetration at both ends, the crescent moon that cuts through space, the delayed arrival achieved through entering the body—a staff technique that can change freely, if mastered, holds the potential to suppress battles against multiple enemies.

But this was meaningless, Diejian concluded in his heart.

Diejian, who had lost to a Genin due to his carelessness during the Chunin Exams, would have almost certainly died then if Shuri hadn't been there.

Shuri, who had been dormant as a Genin for the past two years, was undoubtedly most highly evaluated by Diejian.

Therefore, Diejian did not show the slightest carelessness.

His main body retreated, conserving strength.

First, he would test the enemy with clones and devise a strategy.

But this was not entirely passive observation.

A considerable amount of chakra was injected into the clones, and the main body was also prepared to activate jutsu.

The best outcome was to defeat or restrain; the next best was to injure the enemy; the worst was to force the enemy to reveal a trump card.

The clones were for this purpose.

They must be used effectively.

After forcing the opponent to reveal their trump card, a complete conquest, a storm-like offensive, was Diejian's true specialty now.

The main body in front and the clones on the sides were attracting Shuri's attention.

Therefore, the target Diejian was aiming for was her feet, which would become careless.

Wood Release: Grass Knot.

Next was the Wood Release: Silent Killing Bind.

Trees and resin would wrap around the ankles to halt the target's movement, then crawl up the calves and thighs to bind the entire body in a restrictive ninjutsu.

It was a binding of resin that possessed both elasticity and hardness.

Those caught could only remain silent, waiting to be killed.

That said, Juri was currently enveloped in flames, so it was possible she might burn through it.

But even once, if he could just pull her to the ground once, it would be enough.

Then, from that point on, he would launch a continuous assault with new techniques.

The best part is yet to come, so stay tuned.

Diejian's Wood Clone brought Juri into the effective range of taijutsu.

In other words, Juri had abandoned the advantage of her staff—her attack distance—and chosen to engage in close-quarters combat.

Convinced of his victory, Diejian activated his technique.

However, Diejian's calculations fell short.

Juri leaped into the air, dodging the binding technique.

Immediately following, she threw a Kunai into the ground, embedding it into the soil.

With the Kunai as the center, a circular formation expanded across the ground; the resin that had been reaching out to pursue the airborne Juri ignited, crumbling and disintegrating.

Uchiha Style Flame Seal Array—a simple and straightforward sealing technique that merely required injecting one's own Chakra to block any foreign Chakra attempting to intrude within the circle.

Consequently, Diejian's method of launching Wood Release from beneath Juri's feet was sealed off.

"I saw that technique two years ago."

It was the very moment that decided the outcome during the Super Dimensional Ninja Kemari.

Even with her body bound, Juri's vision and cognitive abilities had not been stripped away.

Having developed a competitive spirit toward Diejian, it was impossible for Juri not to have a countermeasure for that surprise attack which had even deceived Sakumo.

Being seen through left Diejian slightly surprised, but attacks launched from two directions by clones were difficult to deal with while in mid-air.

The targets were her back and abdomen—weak points exposed without the coverage of flames.

"I knew it, if it were you..."

Juri's words sounded as if she had long since seen through Diejian's objective.

Rotating in mid-air, Juri countered one of the clones with a kick.

Displaying the agility of a cat, the muscles of Juri's flank rippled.

A sharp, fierce kick delivered in the air, where there was no foothold.

The beauty of those taut, well-trained muscles seemed visible even through her clothes.

Her toes, transformed into a blade, swept upward to strike the Wood Clone.

But the clone dodged at the very last moment, and without caring that its body would be burned, it latched onto Juri's beautiful leg.

"Got you."

Diejian and Juri spoke simultaneously.

Diejian's other clone lunged from behind Juri.

However, it did not end there.

Juri, who had seemed unable to move, used the single leg held by the clone as an axis to twist her body further.

Juri's leg whipped upward like a lash.

The head of the clone binding Juri was kicked away.

As the clone's head was shattered, flames spread across it.

The fire roared and expanded.

Diejian's clone lost its color and turned into wood chips.

The other clone closed in on Juri's back.

Seeing this, the real Diejian activated a new technique.

As he raised both arms, two "palms" appeared as if to surround Juri.

It was as if to declare that since he could not attack from a single point beneath her feet, he would suppress the entire space around her.

Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.

This was a Wood Release ninjutsu that summoned wooden "palms" from the ground to attack the enemy.

Hashirama had once summoned countless "palms" at once and controlled them freely, but Diejian's current limit was "two."

This technique had high utility; it was an offensive and defensive ninjutsu that could serve as a weapon to attack enemies or a shield to protect oneself.

A twisted application of it was to clap the two palms together, restraining the target within the space between them.

Its original purpose was "crushing."

Although he would not go that far since his opponent was Juri, the outcome was already decided.

How boring, Diejian thought.

A booming sound.

From the other side of the rising dust came the wailing of snapped trees and the hissing of crackling sparks.

"You... monster..."

"To treat a woman like this..."

Juri emerged from the smoke like a specter, her staff impaling a Wood Clone of Diejian that had reverted to wood.

She had countered the sneak attack from behind with a backhanded strike of her staff.

The Bringers of Darkness, which had been pierced through the palm, were burning fiercely and mournfully.

"How did you break free? That hardness isn't something that can be breached by ordinary means."

"It only means my Fist is not 'ordinary'."

Saying this, Juri raised her fist before her eyes.

Deep within the blue-white flames, she grinned.

"You've got to be kidding."

Diejian could not hide his surprise.

If he believed Juri's words and extrapolated from them, it meant Juri had shattered the defensive wall with her bare hands.

Then, those flames seemed to possess not only an ultra-offensive defensive capability that incinerated anything they touched, but also the effect of significantly boosting her strength.

In all likelihood, ordinary Fire Release would not be able to pierce those flames and would only be blown away by a single punch.

Wood Release, his strongest technique, had just been broken.

Even if he challenged her with taijutsu, he couldn't touch her because it was too hot.

If it were a life-or-death struggle, it would be a different story, but under these circumstances, he was out of options.

In terms of taijutsu precision, the number of ninjutsu he could employ, and his fundamental performance as a ninja, he was superior to Juri in every aspect, yet Diejian could not make a move.

Just a few seconds ago, that was the case...

"That idea isn't bad."

Resin extended from around Diejian, wrapping around his body.

It coiled around his arms and legs, becoming one with him.

This was a breakthrough he had just conceived upon seeing Juri wreathed in flames.

"In this case, touching you shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"I commend you for not wanting to touch a woman's soft skin with your bare hands. But what will you do? Clones cannot stop my brute strength."

"Indeed. It seems testing you with clones is meaningless!"

With that, both of them charged forward, though it was unclear who moved first.

Diejian realized that probing with clones was completely pointless.

Juri sensed that Diejian was finally starting to come at her for real.

Diejian feigned a frontal collision while simultaneously concealing new wooden tentacles behind Juri.

He intended to restrain Juri through a surprise attack from the rear.

This was a tactic that completely ignored the mood of Juri, who was finding pleasure in the clash with Diejian, but Diejian felt no shame in it.

Furthermore, he considered using a flashy technique to draw Juri's attention so she wouldn't notice the Wood Release behind her.

"In the end, it's still clones!"

Juri shouted.

The hand seals Diejian formed were none other than the Shadow Clone Technique.

He let the Shadow Clones that appeared with the smoke take the lead, while his true body remained in place.

Although he had said that probing was meaningless, he hadn't said he wouldn't use clones to fight.

Even though the Chakra consumption was high, the Shadow Clones, which were closest in performance to the true body compared to other clones, should be something Juri could not handle as easily as the Wood Clones.

The weakness of them disappearing easily had just been solved by donning the Wood Armor.

This unexpected gain should also prove useful in the battles to come.

Behind the Shadow Clones, Diejian continued to form seals.

The Shadow Clones made contact with Juri and engaged in battle.

As expected of the Sharingan, even though her base abilities were inferior to Diejian's, she mobilized all her reflexes and dynamic vision to hold on desperately.

But how long could this last? Silently, the wood crept up from behind Juri.

To maintain remote control over the trees created by his Wood Release, Diejian had been continuously pouring in his Chakra.

He was able to notice "that" just a split second before completing his hand seals, specifically because "that" had made contact with the trees Diejian had manifested.

If one were to ask when, it was likely the moment he used the Bringers of Darkness to seize Juri.

Therefore, Diejian shifted the target of his technique to "that."

The name of the technique was Darkness Walk.

An illusion that steals the target's light, destroying both their vision and their senses.

Precisely because it is simple, it does not devolve into complex illusion warfare; precisely because it is plain, it is difficult to break through.

Once one's field of vision is stripped away, even the Sharingan, which excels at illusions, finds it difficult to cope.

This was a high-level ninjutsu conceived and developed by Tobirama during the Warring States period specifically to counter the Uchiha Clan.

Its original intended use was to "strike first."

An enemy whose vision is stolen before the first strike or engagement even begins is forced to focus all their consciousness on Diejian, who is already closing in before their eyes.

Consequently, their attention toward the rear becomes negligent, allowing for a breakthrough from that direction—that was the standard routine.

"Genjutsu: Darkness Walk."

"Wh-what, my eyes! My eyes, ahhh!"

"It shouldn't be painful, theoretically."

Covering her eyes, Juri screamed and rolled out from the shade of the trees.

This was merely a simple illusion that painted one's field of vision black.

It was impossible for there to be any pain.

Diejian decided to interpret the panicked state of Juri's Shadow Clone as the unique distress of an Uchiha Clan member who valued their eyes above all else.

He even felt a twinge of pity for her.

"I never imagined I would be countered like this..."

Juri's Shadow Clone Technique.

It was one of her trump cards, passed down to her by her Brother, Kagami.

With her hidden ace seen through, the real Juri's expression twisted, as if she had bitten into a bitter bug.

"Got you! Eh, ah, no way!"

Juri found an opening in Diejian's Shadow Clone and, thinking the time was ripe, switched to the offensive, but that was a feint.

Her joy was fleeting; as expected, Juri, whose consciousness was entirely drawn to the front, ultimately failed to notice the trees approaching from behind.

The moment the trees touched Juri's body, they climbed up her limbs at an astonishing speed.

"Hawaaaa! Awoo, uwaaaaa!"

The binding of the trees crawling up her thighs, abdomen, and chest seemed to make her very uncomfortable.

However, the sounds Juri emitted were not merely expressions of agony.

Diejian skillfully manipulated the wood to restrain Juri's arms, pinning them above her head.

He did so firmly and tightly, ensuring she could not form hand seals.

At the same time, the flames wrapping around Juri vanished.

It seemed that in such a chaotic state, it was difficult to maintain both shape transformation and nature transformation simultaneously.

"Ugh, I will never accept this humiliation! Just kill me!"

"You're really getting into this, aren't you?"

Diejian cast a lukewarm gaze at Juri, who looked unexpectedly like she was enjoying herself.

"Anyway, this is truly the end. That was quite fun."

As if to deliver the final blow, Diejian extended his palm toward Juri.

The portion from his elbow down changed color, deformed, and metamorphosed into wood.

Diejian deliberately let his arm, now turned to wood, wind and squirm to show it off to Juri.

Although it had turned into wood, it was still Diejian's arm.

The sensation remained.

In other words, this was how it was.

"Awa-wa-wa-wa!"

"Giggle-giggle-giggle!"

Juri was in a state of utter disarray.

The wide grin Diejian wore was that of a villain.

Coupled with the scar on his cheek left over from the Chunin exams, it only served to reinforce his wicked appearance.

"Alright, just bind her up with Wood Release like a bagworm and hang her from a nearby tree."

"Leave her there until she calms down; I'll buy her a soft-serve ice cream later as promised."

The trees writhed, branches reaching toward Juri.

--A silver figure suddenly intercepted their path.

"That's enough, time to stop."

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Someone cried out.

Juri, who should have been restrained, suddenly spat out flames.

Diejian and the other person uttered dull, confused sounds.

"Ah--!!"

"Whoa--!! Sakumo--!!"

The person who had stepped between Diejian and Juri was none other than Hatake Sakumo, who should have been away on a mission.

Sakumo was struck by the wooden fist Diejian had unleashed, then sent flying by the Fireball Jutsu.

Diejian screamed, his eyes tracking Sakumo as he was blown away by the fireball and sent spinning through the air.

After tracing a beautiful crescent arc, Sakumo slammed into the ground, his body twitching rhythmically.

"The White Fang has been defeated..."

From a short distance away, Tsunade and the other two, who had been hiding, stared with mouths agape, dumbfounded as they watched Sakumo get blasted away by the fireball.

After escaping the training ground, the three had gone to seek Hiruzen's help at the Hokage's residence.

On the way, they happened to run into Sakumo, who had just finished his mission, reported to Tobirama, and was exiting the Hokage's residence.

Thinking it was perfect timing, the three begged Sakumo to stop the two from fighting.

Although Sakumo had just finished a rather grueling mission escorting a VIP and battling foreign ninjas alongside Utatane Koharu and Kagami Uchiha, and was looking forward to going home to rest, he was, after all, a man who valued his comrades and honor.

Sakumo readily agreed, dragging his exhausted body to the training ground—that was how it happened.

The result was this miserable sight.

His silver hair was scorched, turning into curls.

"Whoa..."

How tragic, Diejian whispered.

Even though he completely set aside the fact that he was the mastermind behind this entire sequence of events.

However, Diejian pondered.

Why was Juri still able to use a jutsu while restrained?

Just then, Diejian noticed that Juri's Shadow Clone had vanished.

He nodded in sudden realization.

In all likelihood, Juri's Shadow Clone had finished the hand seals for the Fireball Jutsu and then dispelled the Clone Technique while maintaining that posture.

Because the chakra and information were returned to the original body with the seals already completed, Juri, as the original, was able to unleash the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu without needing to perform the seals herself.

I shouldn't have left it alone just because I deprived her of her vision; I should have dispelled it sooner.

At this moment, Diejian looked around and finally realized the current situation.

The training ground had become a complete wreck.

The trees standing everywhere were crackling and burning fiercely, and the ground was scorched black and pitted with holes.

Whoa, this is bad, Diejian thought, feeling a surge of anxiety—he decided to pretend he hadn't seen anything, hugged Sakumo's "corpse" tightly, and shouted his name.

Of course, Sakumo was merely unconscious.

"Sa, Sakumo! Who, who did this!!"

"You, you, you..."

Regaining consciousness, Sakumo moved his trembling hand.

The direction his shaking finger pointed was at Diejian's face.

Diejian's face twitched for a second, but he immediately returned to a serious expression.

Then, he gripped Sakumo's weakly trembling hand tightly.

At the same time, he curled Sakumo's extended index finger inward, forcing it into the shape of a fist.

This was to destroy the evidence.

"Die, Diejian..."

"Who! Who did this!! Unforgivable!! I will never forgive this!!"

Diejian's wailing drowned out Sakumo's voice.

As if filled with immense regret, the strength left Sakumo's hands.

His head lolled to the side, and he lost consciousness.

"Eyelids closed, Sakumo's head hung limply. Sakumo, who passed away having entrusted his body to his best friend. Yet his expression appeared satisfied, as if to say this sacrifice was by no means in vain. His final words were, 'Sorry, I'm a pathetic friend.' Hatake Sakumo, deceased—"

"How can this be, Sakumo, you..."

Still bound, Juri shook her head, muttering "Liar, liar."

This reaction made it impossible to tell if she was truly grieving or merely acting.

If it were Juri, it was possible she was being sincere.

Tsunade and her two companions sighed with serious expressions: "How excessive."

★

That day, Konohagakure was under a sky without a single cloud.

The weather was warm, and the breeze flowing through the village felt cool and refreshing.

Ina sipped her tea with a soft "slurp."

The tea, at a perfect temperature, soothed her body and mind.

Before Ina, who was enjoying a moment of leisure at the teahouse, sat a plate of Warabimochi cut into bite-sized pieces.

Ina loved the time spent rolling the chilled, un-dusted Warabimochi around on her tongue.

Across from her, Sakumo opened a book with one hand and scanned the pages.

It was said to be a book Sakumo couldn't put down, a prized treasure Diejian had brought from his family home and gifted to Sakumo to celebrate his promotion to Jonin.

Only Diejian and Sakumo knew its contents, but since Sakumo had kept it as a favorite read for so long, it must have been quite an interesting book.

Ina used a toothpick to spear a perfectly shaped piece from the half-eaten Warabimochi.

She dipped it lightly into the accompanying soybean flour, staining only that spot an earthy yellow.

The Warabimochi on the toothpick trembled slightly.

Its moist texture whetted her appetite.

Ina offered it to the woman sitting beside her.

"Want some?"

"..."

A silent answer.

"I see." Ina responded briefly and popped it into her own mouth. "Delicious." She smiled shyly, a look of bliss on her face, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Ina's adorable demeanor was completely at odds with the atmosphere of the scene.

Sakumo lifted his gaze from the book he was halfway through, staring at Ina in surprise.

"Um, Ina."

"Yes?"

"Nothing..."

As if hesitating to speak, Sakumo turned his gaze to Ina's side.

In the direction of his gaze was the figure of a woman slumped over the table, her head hanging low.

Her glossy, jet-black hair was spread haphazardly across the table, and the woman remained motionless, her face buried in her folded arms.

Needless to say, it was Juri.

A similar scene had occurred before.

It was at the promotion celebration banquet following the Chunin Selection Exam.

The difference from before was that Diejian was not by Sakumo's side.

Also, Sakumo had bandages wrapped around his head.

The memory of the private brawl between Diejian and Juri at the training ground a few days ago was still fresh.

That had happened right after Sakumo returned from a mission and finished reporting to the Second Hokage.

Just as Sakumo was heading home to rest, a frantic-looking Tsunade had appeared before him.

It was said that Tsunade had been on her way to the Hokage's residence and decided to grab Sakumo because he "would do."

Though he felt a bit hurt by the phrase "would do," Sakumo's eyes had sharpened upon hearing the details, and he chased after Tsunade—but his memories after that were very hazy.

When he came to, he was already lying in a hospital bed, and the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a bruised Diejian and a teary-eyed Ina there.

Diejian seemed to have received a rather severe punishment for destroying the training ground.

This was the first time Sakumo had seen Juri since the incident, but judging by her dejected appearance, she had likely been given a stern lecture by Ina and Kagami.

It was said that she had engaged in deep self-reflection, which was the reason for this tea party.

"Hurry up and apologize."

That was the core of the matter.

For Sakumo, he wasn't angry because he didn't remember it, but one thing was one thing and another was another.

Kagami had also cautioned him that boundaries that needed to be drawn should be drawn clearly.

Facing the gloomy Juri, Sakumo was able to bury himself in his book, not because he was used to the atmosphere Juri radiated.

It was because Ina had told him to do so.

Therefore, Sakumo was basically focusing on reading.

Ina had also said that, aside from giving Juri a chance to speak, he should remain silent.

"Sowwy."

"It's fine, I'm not angry."

After Ina's Warabimochi was finished, he didn't know how long they had been sitting there just drinking tea.

Because it was the Yamanaka Flower Shop—a teahouse with close ties to the Yamanaka Clan—it was fine, but at any ordinary shop, they would have been banned long ago.

Although her face was still buried, Juri had indeed apologized.

Sakumo smiled bitterly and shrugged his shoulders.

Sakumo watched quietly as Ina patted Juri's head, saying, "There, there."

Even though she had Kagami's help, the fact that she could break someone as stubborn as Juri and make her apologize—she truly was a terrifying woman.

After a while, Juri stopped crying and began to gobble down the Taro Yokan.

One could call her quick recovery a merit, but she was, in short, a woman of intense emotional fluctuations.

Leaving the sidelined Sakumo behind, the mood between Ina and Juri grew increasingly lively.

The topic had unknowingly shifted to girl talk centered on complaints about Diejian, and Sakumo had turned into a machine that only knew how to nod along.

I really want to go home.

By the time the sun began to set, Sakumo was desperate to go home.

He searched for an opportunity, his gaze shifting restlessly as he wondered if he could leave first.

Just then, the figure of Tsunade, running over with a flustered expression, came into Sakumo's view.

Although he was wary that it might be another troublesome matter, the main culprit, Juri, was right here, and the other party involved, Diejian, was currently away from the village on important official business with the Second Hokage, Tobirama.

He had originally thought that there shouldn't be any more problems so soon.

"Brother! Brother is!!"

The news brought by Tsunade instantly tightened the nerves of Sakumo and the others.

A coup d'état had occurred in Kumogakure.

In the process, the Second Hokage and Senju Diejian had gone missing.

The era was signaling a sudden and violent change.