Wood Release! The Power You Sacrificed Your Life to Pursue Comes to Me with a Wave of My Hand!

"You... you're talking nonsense!"

Shimura Danzō's voice turned shrill, and the mask of composure he'd worn was shattered in an instant.

He instinctively took half a step back. That tiny movement was like the first rock to tumble before an avalanche, laying bare the storm raging inside him.

The Sharingan!

It was the deepest root he'd buried in the darkness, the confidence that let him stand on equal footing with Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and his greatest asset in coveting that supreme position!

Not only did this man know about it, he'd exposed Danzō's filthiest secret right in front of Sarutobi, in a tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather!

"Sarutobi! Don't let him cloud your judgment!"

Danzō whipped around to face Sarutobi Hiruzen and roared, his voice stern and furious as he tried to seize control again.

"He's trying to drive a wedge between us! This man is extremely dangerous. We must kill him here and now!"

He'd already resolved to kill.

This secret could never be allowed to leave this office alive!

"Root, attack!"

At Danzō's command, the few Root shinobi behind him, as puppet-like as ever, formed hand seals without the slightest hesitation.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, cold and efficient, like a killing routine they'd rehearsed countless times.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

Several B-rank jutsu converged into pale, high-pressure air blasts that let out piercing shrieks.

At the same time, the ground surged upward from every direction. Heavy earthen walls rose up, forming an airtight death cage meant to crush "Uchiha Madara" completely and bury his secret along with him!

Hiruzen tried to stop them, but it was already too late.

All he could do was watch as the raging storm of Chakra swallowed that arrogant figure.

It's over! That fool Danzō!

A vicious smile crept across Danzō's face. He believed no one could survive a coordinated attack by Root.

"Whoever you are, you're dead the moment you face my Root!"

But his smile lasted less than a second.

A calm, authoritative voice rang out from the heart of the storm, piercing through the roar of the jutsu as though the raging energy around it had nothing to do with him.

"So this is what gives you confidence, Danzō?"

"Then let me show you how laughable the power you pursue is in my presence."

The moment the words fell—

BOOM!!!

An immense torrent of vital energy, beyond the power of words to describe, surged into the sky!

It wasn't an eruption of Chakra, but a force more primal, more ancient, and more alive!

As Danzō and Hiruzen watched in utter shock,

countless enormous, thick wooden beams burst from beneath "Madara's" feet, growing with a savage, unstoppable force. They broke through the Wind Release assault and smashed through the Earth Release barrier!

The shrieking Vacuum Spheres struck the wood without leaving so much as a mark, simply disappearing into thin air.

The thick earthen walls were as fragile as sandcastles before the wildly growing wood. They were pierced, torn apart, and crushed with ease!

Wood?

Hiruzen and Danzō both widened their eyes. The same name rose unbidden in their minds, a name that made their very souls tremble.

"W-Wood Release?!"

Impossible!

It was absolutely impossible!

This was the Kekkei Genkai unique to the First, Senju Hashirama! The ultimate jutsu hailed as the power of a god, which had brought an end to the chaotic era!

How could Uchiha Madara use it?!

But the truth stood before them, in the most shocking and overwhelming way imaginable.

The wooden beams didn't stop growing. They crisscrossed, coiled, and converged in midair, forming a vast and magnificent—

Wood Release Throne!

"Uchiha Madara," played by Lin Feng, sat serenely upon the throne, looking down at the people below like they were no more than ants.

Beneath him, countless sharp wooden spikes stood ready to strike. Their sinister points were aimed at Danzō and his stunned Root subordinates, radiating lethal menace.

Sunlight streamed through the shattered roof and fell upon the wooden throne, stretching his shadow out before him. He looked like a creator god from myth.

At that moment, Lin Feng rested his chin on one hand as the purple Rinnegan in his eyes turned slowly. His gaze held a hint of amusement, a touch of languor, and absolute control over everything before him.

Inside, he was having the time of his life.

"System, I give this performance a hundred out of a hundred!"

The Root shinobi had all frozen in place.

The jutsu they'd taken pride in, the coordinated attacks they'd relied on to survive—all of it was as fragile as a child's toy before this miraculous power.

As for Shimura Danzō, he was ice-cold all over, as though every bone had been pulled from his body.

He stumbled back a step, his legs gave way, and he slumped to the floor. Nothing remained in his cloudy eye but utter despair and defeat.

Wood Release!

It really was Wood Release!

He'd spent his whole life pursuing this power. To obtain it, he'd betrayed his comrades and subjected himself to inhuman transplant experiments. In the end, all he could do was barely coax a few branches to grow.

But the man before him, Uchiha Madara, the First's archenemy!

He wielded Wood Release as effortlessly as breathing, summoning it with a wave of his hand and even shaping it into such a magnificent creation!

This... this was the true power of a god!

His ambition, his schemes, his shameful, dark desires—all of it had been ground to dust by the Wood Release Throne that had risen from the earth.

"Danzō."

"Madara" spoke slowly from atop the throne. His voice wasn't loud, yet it struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.

"You want Hashirama's power, yet you haven't understood even one ten-thousandth of it."

His tone was full of mockery, as though he were looking at a maggot trying to imitate an eagle in flight.

"All you can do is squirm in the dark earth, coveting what doesn't belong to you. You're laughable."

He casually raised one finger.

Whoosh!

A sharp wooden spike shot from the throne. It grazed Danzō's cheek with a whistle and embedded itself deep in the remains of the wall behind him, its tip still humming.

"Don't let me see that revolting eye of yours again."

"Get out."

One word, like the decree of heaven.

Danzō's cheek burned, and blood ran from the wound, but he didn't dare even think of resisting.

Supported by several equally terrified Root shinobi, he scrambled away, crawling and stumbling as he fled without looking back from this place where he'd lost every shred of dignity.

After Danzō left, an even deeper silence fell over the office's ruins.

Only Hiruzen's heavy breathing remained.

He stared blankly at the man on the throne, at the magnificent creation behind him as it slowly broke apart and dissolved into a rain of wood chips. He could no longer summon any thought of resistance.

The Rinnegan...

Shinra Tensei...

And now Wood Release...

Apart from Uchiha Madara, the man who truly stood at the pinnacle of the Warring States era, who else could do all this?

He... really was Uchiha Madara!

The legend who should have died many years ago had returned!

"You..." Hiruzen's voice was hoarse and dry. Summoning every last bit of strength, he managed to ask the most crucial question. "What exactly do you want... by returning to the village?"

"Madara" sat upon the throne.

He didn't answer Hiruzen's question directly. Instead, as if he'd suddenly recalled something amusing, he turned to look into the distance.

His gaze was profound, as though it pierced space and time to see a figure wearing a Spiral Mask, stirring restlessly in the darkness.

Lin Feng's lips curled into a meaningful smile.

Obito, oh, Obito. Lord Madara is back. Looks like you'll have to revise your script.

"This era seems to have a few interesting brats, too."

He drew his gaze back and gave Hiruzen one last look. His expression was calm, yet it sent a chill through the Third Hokage's very soul.

"Tell everyone in the village: Uchiha Madara has returned."

"Until I come back to take what I want, enjoy the last of your peace."

As his words fell, the space around him began to twist without warning, forming a strange vortex that started to swallow him.

It was Kamui's signature ability!

But Lin Feng knew that this was a spatial effect he'd imitated with the ocular power of his Rinnegan. He was doing it to reinforce his persona and, while he was at it, dig a huge pit for the future "Masked Man," Obito.

Just before the twisting space completely swallowed him, he left them with one final sentence.

The name of a place that would shake Hiruzen—and, in the future, the entire Ninja World.

"My next stop... is Amegakure."

"It's time I paid a visit to my incompetent junior."

The vortex snapped shut, and his figure disappeared completely.

In the vast ruins of the Hokage's office, only Hiruzen remained, rooted to the spot, his face filled with utter disbelief.

Amegakure?

That was the domain of the legendary "demigod," Hanzo the Salamander, and the home of the mysterious new organization called Akatsuki!

Who was he going to see?

And who was the "junior" he'd mentioned? Could it be—

Hiruzen didn't dare think any further.

And what was the thing he wanted to take... exactly?

One mystery after another formed an invisible web, instantly enveloping Konoha—and the entire Ninja World.

Hiruzen knew that from this moment on, the world's balance of power would change forever.

And he, the Hokage of Konoha, had to make a decision immediately!