"Is one of them the real one, or are they both clones?"
Genma noticed the battle on Yamashiro Aoba's side.
His thoughts raced. A spark of electricity crackled across his right hand.
He infused the kunai in his hand with Lightning Release chakra. The force of their clash, combined with the energy of the Lightning Release chakra, snapped the kunai in Hatake Sakumo's hand, which was already riddled with notches.
"You can already infuse ninja tools with Lightning Release chakra. Nice work, Genma!"
Hatake Sakumo praised him inwardly as he retreated several steps to avoid the attack. Then his ears suddenly twitched, and he twisted his neck just as a poison-coated senbon grazed his cheek.
Shizune, who had been hiding, had seized the opportunity to use her Sleeve Arrow.
As he dodged the attack, Hatake Sakumo's movements faltered slightly.
Substitution Technique!
In an instant, he switched places with the senbon, which had just flown past him. The senbon transformed into Genma and continued the attack.
"Hm?"
This was the first time Hatake Sakumo had seen Genma use this trick.
The exchange had happened so quickly, and his attention had been drawn by the senbon. His first instinct was to assume it was Genma in senbon form, thrown by Shizune.
Nice teamwork!
He praised them again inwardly, only to have Genma snatch the bell from his waist.
But then Hatake Sakumo and the bell both burst into smoke.
Another clone!
In the woods, Shizune quickly changed her position.
Suddenly, a figure blocked her path.
Shizune stopped and pulled out a kunai, warily watching Hatake Sakumo.
Suddenly, Shizune's body stiffened. Her arm trembled slightly, but she could barely move. "This is... the Immobilization Technique!"
Poof!
Hatake Sakumo vanished.
In the clearing.
Before Genma could return to help, Yamashiro Aoba had already been taken out.
Then Hatake Sakumo dissolved into smoke.
They really were all clones.
"Genma, looks like you'll have to handle things on your own from here."
Yamashiro Aoba stepped aside, ready to watch.
Just then, another Hatake Sakumo emerged from the woods on the other side.
Genma studied him and ventured, "Looks like this time it's the real one."
Hatake Sakumo neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, he asked in surprise, "Shizune was your clone?"
"Your Transformation Technique was excellent. You even fooled me."
Genma modestly replied, "I was just taking precautions."
Hatake Sakumo nodded. "Well done. On the battlefield, medical ninja are always among the first targets."
"Taking out a medical ninja doesn't just damage the enemy's morale and throw off their rhythm. It also weakens their ability to keep fighting."
"Then this should be our final round."
"Do you have any other surprises?"
Hatake Sakumo sounded a little eager.
"Sensei, I do have one more trick."
Genma answered.
Two Shadow Clones and Shizune also emerged from the woods.
Shizune went over to Yamashiro Aoba, while the two Shadow Clones dispelled themselves.
In an instant, blue markings appeared around Genma's eyes.
Wood Release Chakra Mode!
Hatake Sakumo's gaze sharpened. "That's an incredible amount of chakra!"
"This level is on par with mine. No... your chakra is even greater than mine!"
Hatake Sakumo was a little stunned.
His student had been hiding so much. It made him feel like a rather irresponsible teacher.
Genma brought his hands together, and chakra surged through his body.
He hadn't gained many new abilities over the past year or so.
One was the immobilizing genjutsu, Spider Web, which he had already used.
The other was Lightning Release.
He had learned Kakashi's Lightning Release: Chidori, but rarely used it, since it wasn't very suitable for him at the moment. It was more effective to simply smash people with Strength of a Hundred.
Besides, he hadn't yet taken the time to evolve Chidori into Lightning Blade.
As for Lightning Release, after mastering its nature transformation, Genma had focused on developing a Body Flicker technique: using Lightning Release chakra to activate every cell in his body, including his nerve cells.
It was still a work in progress, so he hadn't used it in their earlier exchanges.
For now, the only thing that could let him fight his teacher, Hatake Sakumo, head-on was Wood Release Chakra Mode.
Genma had also sent Shadow Clones into the woods well in advance. One purpose was to build up Wood Release chakra, and the other was to keep Shizune from being "taken out."
He also really wanted to see his teacher Hatake Sakumo's true strength.
Before this, Hatake Sakumo had clearly just been playing around with the kids.
"Sensei, watch out!"
After warning him, Genma unleashed a jutsu.
In the next instant, four thick vines burst from the ground and grew rapidly toward the sky.
Their ends tapered to sharp points. Suddenly, they plunged downward toward Hatake Sakumo at the center, the sound of them tearing through the air ringing in everyone's ears.
"Th-this... could it be the First's Wood Release Secret Technique?"
Yamashiro Aoba stammered.
He had never seen Wood Release before, of course. But the textbooks on the Will of Fire at the Ninja Academy, along with books chronicling the Hokage's deeds, all mentioned the Wood Release that the First, Senju Hashirama, had used to bring peace to the Ninja World.
"Wood Release Secret Techniques are a Kekkei Genkai. Could Genma be a descendant of Lord First?"
"No, Genma's surname is Kazekaze."
Yamashiro Aoba was so shocked that he could barely get his words out. He swallowed hard. "That chakra... it's so powerful. I've never seen chakra this terrifying!"
"He's practically a monster!"
Shizune, standing nearby, wasn't shocked. She clenched her fists and silently cheered Genma on.
She had known about Genma's Wood Release for a long time.
"So this is the Wood Release Chakra Mode Genma mentioned earlier..."
Hatake Sakumo watched the attacking vines and immediately dodged.
But more vines burst from the ground, writhing and weaving together like dragons and snakes.
"There are too many!"
Lightning erupted around Hatake Sakumo, and his speed suddenly surged. The attacks missed as he charged straight toward Genma's real body.
Genma raised an eyebrow and formed the Snake hand seal.
Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!
Even more vines surged up—or rather, trees.
Before, they had been bare trunks. Now they were leafy trees, growing at incredible speed and spreading everywhere, blocking Hatake Sakumo's path.
"Could Genma already be on the same level as the First...?"
Hatake Sakumo was stunned, too. Facing such a dense barrage of attacks, he finally drew the short sword strapped to his back.
A white glow of chakra burst forth. The lightning around Hatake Sakumo subsided, leaving only the short sword shining with a brilliant white light.
But he moved even faster.
His figure blurred, leaving countless afterimages.
With every swing of his short sword, wood exploded and splinters flew.
As the trees closed in to crush him, Hatake Sakumo charged forward like the sharpest of fangs, smashing through everything in his way without hesitation.
"So fast!"
Genma was secretly astonished. "As expected of the White Fang of Konoha!"
Even Deep Forest Emergence couldn't hold back his teacher.
Seeing that Hatake Sakumo was about to cut through the forest, Genma took a deep breath, replaced the Snake seal with a hand clasp, and let fierce lightning surge around him.
In the next instant, every tree in the forest was enveloped in lightning.
The entire forest became a prison of crackling electricity.
Wood Release + Lightning Release—Wood-Lightning Prison!
In an instant, Hatake Sakumo had nowhere to dodge. He had no time to use any other defensive technique before the lightning struck him and wrapped around his body. His muscles went numb, and he couldn't move.
Genma immediately used Substitution Technique again and again, switching places with patches of empty air until he appeared beside Hatake Sakumo as if by teleportation. He snatched away the bell.
"I won!"
Seeing Genma appear with the bell, Shizune was overjoyed. Then she hurried over. "Genma, Sakumo-sensei should be all right, shouldn't he?"
"Uh..."
Genma awkwardly scratched his head. "Well, he should be fine, right?"
There was no helping it. The clones hadn't accumulated much Wood Release chakra, or he would have used Wood Release to capture him.
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