Massive black wooden posts burst out of the ground, throwing up choking clouds of yellow dust.
Sen brushed the dirt off the back of his hand, opened his mouth wide, and let out a loud burp sour with fruit.
Outside the wooden wall, horses neighed and people shouted, a mess like a pot of spoiled offal soup.
The carriage wheels sank deep into the mud, their wooden axles creaking as though they were about to fall apart.
Hyuga Hiashi was sweating with anxiety, his Byakugan eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
He clung to the rough bark wall with both hands, ignoring the pain of thick wooden splinters stabbing beneath his nails.
"Lord Sen! Lord Sen, please have mercy! Even a little opening will do!"
Hiashi shouted himself hoarse at the towering wall, his voice like a cracked gong.
"We of the Hyuga Clan came to trim your trees! We don't want any wages!"
"Hinata has even mastered making beds and serving tea! You could keep her as a kitchen maid!"
Inoichi Yamanaka squeezed forward from behind, carrying two wildly flapping live pheasants.
"Sen! Don't listen to that old Hyuga! His daughter's too young to be any use!"
"We brought our Yamanaka Clan's entire ancestral flower garden! How about adding some scenery to your yard?"
Choza Akimichi carried half a pig carcass over his shoulder, panting hard from the effort.
"And we've got the Akimichi Clan's finest marbled pork belly! Enough to fill you up! As much as you want!"
Inside the wall, Sen was taking off his mud-speckled red coat.
Bare-chested, he revealed a body packed with hard muscle.
He dug vigorously at his itchy earwax with his little finger, then flicked it onto the bluestone paving beside his feet.
"Shut those drafty traps of yours!"
Sen roared