Wood Style Appears!

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Noji Daishi was bound tight by ropes, yet he continued to shout in defiance, struggling desperately to break free from his restraints.

However, those ropes, condensed from chakra, seemed to possess a life of their own; every time Noji Daishi exerted force in one direction, they would slacken just enough in another.

In this way, the strength Noji Daishi had painstakingly gathered was like a clay ox entering the sea, unable to manifest even the slightest effect.

Consequently, he could only remain half-kneeling on the ground, struggling every now and then, yet utterly unable to escape.

Seeing that Noji Daishi had been subdued, several ninjas finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With a loud "boom," the massive rock barrier collapsed on the spot, and the ninja who had released the Fire Style technique landed gracefully.

At this moment, the fourth ninja made his move.

Upon seeing this fourth ninja, Takizawa Dan, who had been watching calmly, widened his eyes!

Because that person was actually Yamato!

The only person in Konoha Village capable of using Wood Style, the one who had been implanted with the cells of Senju Hashirama during his childhood!

Yamato quickly formed hand seals and shouted:

"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!!!"

Instantly, a vast forest sprouted from thin air in the center of the exam arena, covering the entire area!

Although Tsunade and the high-ranking officials were accustomed to such sights, this scene successfully shocked the examinees present so much that they nearly jumped out of their skins!

Wood Style—that was a technique no one had been able to use since the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama!

Watching the forest rise up in the center of the arena, the examinees cheered and jumped for joy.

"My god! Wood Style, that's a legendary ninjutsu!"

"It's too amazing! With this technique, our Konoha can walk sideways without fear!"

"You said it! That's why our Land of Fire is the strongest among the Five Great Nations!"

Of course, those who spoke this way were generally ordinary examinees without much background; for those with family status or connections, there wasn't much surprise.

"Tch, it's Wood Style, sure, but the power is really limited."

"Such a small forest is only good for guerrilla warfare in actual combat; it's impossible to trap many people with it!"

"That's right, it's a far cry from the First Hokage; it's not even one percent of his power!"

Amidst the heated discussion, Yamato waited a moment before retracting his Wood Style ninjutsu.

As the trees in the arena vanished, a shocking scene appeared:

The ground, which had been smashed to pieces by Noji Daishi's punches and ravaged by the flood, had been restored to its original state!

The entire area was brand new, without even a single crack remaining!

If not for the fact that Noji Daishi was still bound and struggling in the same spot, everyone would have thought they were dreaming and that everything they had just experienced was a hallucination!

"This..."

The crowd present was instantly stunned.

Since when did Wood Style have such magical effects?

Even Sasuke and Neji in the crowd revealed a hint of surprise in their eyes.

After all, Wood Style was a legendary technique; they had heard in textbooks how the First Hokage had used "Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence" to ensure peace across the ninja world and establish the glorious reputation of Konoha Village.

However, the current understanding of Wood Style among the masses was limited to its destructive power; they had never learned of its other properties, such as healing the wounded or smoothing out terrain.

Right now, Yamato was utilizing the "terrain-smoothing" aspect of Wood Style to repair the arena; his "Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence" had happened to cover the entire exam site, which was why it had such a miraculous effect.

Takizawa Dan, however, was completely unimpressed by all of this.

The reason Wood Style was called the "only legendary technique" wasn't because the style itself was inherently powerful; after all, it was just wood and trees, and in terms of hardness and defensive capability, it wasn't even as useful as Earth Style.

What truly made Wood Style powerful was the god-like strength of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama!

It had nothing to do with the Wood Style itself; someone had once said that even if Senju Hashirama used "Feces Style," he could still form a massive swamp of the underworld and kill countless enemies...

This could be seen from Yamato himself. Yamato was the Wood Style ninja of Konoha, the only survivor of the sixty infants Orochimaru had used for experiments, and a capable Jonin; he should be considered the best representation of the average Wood Style user.

Yet, Yamato had been taken down in two moves by Kakashi, another Jonin, and had his chest pierced by Sasuke's Chidori... his actual combat ability was truly pathetic. His greatest role in the entire series was building houses for the protagonist's team during camping trips or assisting Naruto in training with the Nine-Tails' chakra...

It was truly as useless as chicken ribs; aside from support, it had no real value.

Still, repairing the arena like this was decent enough.

In the stands, the high-ranking officials breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Yamato take action.

Although in Takizawa Dan's eyes Yamato was a rather useless existence, to the high-ranking officials and the Anbu, Yamato was an excellent subordinate. The reason was simple: every mission Yamato executed had the highest completion rate and the lowest casualty rate; he could be considered a trump card.

For this Chunin Exam, he had been specifically arranged by Danzo as a hidden ninja to prevent any unexpected situations.

"Your Majesty, and all other Lords, the rule-breaker Noji Daishi has been captured. Please, deal with him!"

Several ninjas knelt on one knee toward the stands, bowing their heads and shouting in unison.

Tsunade looked down at Noji Daishi, who was bound as tightly as a rice dumpling, her expression icy cold.

"Noji Daishi! As a jonin of Konoha Village and a security ninja for this exam, you were supposed to maintain order and prevent emergencies with your full effort. Yet, you favored your own kin; just because Takizawa Dan defeated your son in a fair match, you harbored resentment and interfered with the competition! Not only did you commit this offense knowingly, but you even intended to kill Takizawa Dan. Your crimes are truly unforgivable!"

Tsunade's icy voice rang out.

"Tsu... Tsunade-sama, it's not like that! This... this is all a misunderstanding!"

Noji Daishi snapped back to reality and hurriedly tried to defend himself, but he only stammered, unable to offer any coherent explanation.

"I... I beg you, spare my life!"

The other high-ranking officials looked at him as if he were already a dead man.

In all the years the Chunin Exams had been held, this was the first time such a heinous incident had occurred!

If he were not severely punished, what would become of the order within Konoha Village?

"Noji Daishi! From this day forward, you are no longer a ninja of Konoha Village. I am stripping you of your forehead protector and sentencing you to ten years of solitary confinement within the village. Use this time to reflect on your transgressions."

Tsunade announced coldly.