Stinking Bugs and Rotten Shrimp

He used the Great Forest Technique again.

This time...

Rumble!

The trees grew at least twice as fast as before!

In the blink of an eye, countless thick trees surged from his arm like giant pythons, tearing across the clearing in every direction.

Uchiha En felt their violent power and was startled.

With the Mangekyō Sharingan enhancing it... Wood Release has grown this much stronger?

He quickly reined in the trees and drew them back into his body.

Then he tried something new.

Wood Release Clone.

He formed Hand Seals, and a wooden figure slowly rose from the soil beside him.

The figure grew more distinct until it became a Wood Clone identical to him.

Uchiha En looked his Wood Clone up and down.

"Not like an ordinary shadow clone..."

He reached out and knocked on its chest.

Thump, thump.

It was solid.

"A Wood Clone has a wooden body. It can take several hits instead of vanishing at the first touch like an ordinary clone."

The Wood Clone turned and grinned at him.

"Not bad at all."

Looking at his Wood Clone, Uchiha En could not help smiling too.

"Wood Release... No wonder Hashirama Senju used this power to end the chaos."

"Even the basics are enough to let me crush an ordinary Jonin."

He stood in the middle of the clearing and stretched.

His Chakra was still plentiful. Using so many Wood Release techniques in succession had barely drained him.

But just as he was about to continue testing, he suddenly frowned.

In a large tree roughly three hundred meters away...

Kiyomizu Kensuke was watching the clearing with the Secret Technique: Far-Sight Technique.

He watched Uchiha En use one Wood Release technique after another. He watched enormous Wooden Pillars burst from the ground and trees sweep through everything like giant pythons.

His pupils contracted sharply.

"Wood... Wood Release?!"

He jolted so hard he nearly fell from the branch.

He grabbed the trunk and steadied himself, but his heart was racing.

"How is that possible?!"

"That's the First Hokage's Wood Release!"

"Uchiha En... he can use Wood Release?!"

Kiyomizu Kensuke's breathing quickened, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

He knew Lord Danzo had long wanted to deal with Uchiha En.

But he had never imagined Uchiha En was hiding a trump card like this.

Wood Release.

That was Hashirama Senju's power.

If Uchiha En had truly mastered Wood Release...

Then Lord Danzo's plan...

Just then...

Uchiha En stopped moving in the clearing.

A cold smile tugged at his lips.

"So that's it..."

He spoke quietly.

From the beginning, he had vaguely sensed a faint presence following behind him.

But it was too far away, and the presence too weak. He had assumed it was a forest animal and paid it no mind.

Now that presence had suddenly wavered.

As though someone had been so startled they had nearly given away their position.

Uchiha En's mental strength was now ten times what it had been.

The range of his senses had grown severalfold.

That brief disturbance was enough for him to pinpoint their location.

He neither turned nor showed anything was wrong. He simply raised his hand and used another Wood Release technique.

But his senses had already spread like an invisible net, locking onto the two of them.

In the treetops three hundred meters away...

Kiyomizu Kensuke and an elite Root ninja crouched carefully on a branch.

They had no idea they had been spotted.

In the treetops three hundred meters away...

Kiyomizu Kensuke and his companion lay motionless on a branch.

His heart was still pounding.

What he had just seen was staggering. Uchiha En had used Wood Release—the First Hokage's power.

He took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

Thinking it over...

The Wood Release techniques Uchiha En had used—the Wood Sprout Technique, Wood Locking Wall, and Great Forest Technique—were all basic techniques.

They were fairly powerful, but only fairly. They were not much different from the Wood Release of Yamato, that Experimental Subject.

Kiyomizu Kensuke had sparred with Yamato several times.

Yamato's Wood Release was fine for building houses, but in an actual fight... it was nothing special.

Uchiha En's Wood Release was at about the same level.

"Looks like... I worried for nothing."

Kiyomizu Kensuke muttered under his breath, his tense body relaxing slightly.

But then another thought made him frown again.

Wood Release could be trained over time. The real threat was that pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.

An Uchiha with both Wood Release and the Mangekyō Sharingan...

If they failed to kill him now, before he grew stronger...

The consequences would be unthinkable.

This boy... cannot be allowed to live.

Kiyomizu Kensuke's gaze turned cold.

He glanced at the Root elite beside him and asked quietly, "Have the others arrived?"

The Root elite nodded. "They're on their way. Everyone should be here within the time it takes a stick of incense to burn."

Kiyomizu Kensuke nodded and looked back toward the clearing.

In the clearing...

Uchiha En had stopped testing his abilities.

Instead of using another technique, he sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing.

He closed his eyes, formed a simple Recovery Seal, and began to meditate.

At the sight, Kiyomizu Kensuke gave a cold smile.

"Out of Chakra, are you?"

Mockery tinged his voice.

"After using that many techniques in a row, including Wood Release... even with the Uchiha Clan's constitution, you must have drained your Chakra."

"With no Chakra left... let's see how you escape."

He waited patiently as time ticked by.

After a stick of incense had burned...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Several dark figures landed soundlessly on the branches behind Kiyomizu Kensuke.

One after another.

All wore black coats and animal masks.

Root ninja.

All ten had arrived.

Kiyomizu Kensuke turned and swept his gaze over his subordinates.

"Everyone here?"

One Root ninja nodded. "Captain, everyone's in position."

Kiyomizu Kensuke drew a deep breath. He glanced at Uchiha En, still meditating in the distant clearing, and a ruthless glint crossed his eyes.

"Everyone, listen up."

His voice was low and murderous.

"Kill Uchiha En here, whatever it takes."

"Yes!"

The eleven Root ninja answered in unison.

The next instant...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Eleven dark figures leaped from the treetops and hurtled toward the clearing like arrows loosed from bows.

In the clearing...

Uchiha En remained seated cross-legged on the ground, his eyes closed.

He seemed to be resting. Then, in the next instant...

Swish, swish, swish—

Eleven Root ninja emerged from the forest and landed around the clearing.

They moved swiftly and in perfect coordination. In the blink of an eye, they had surrounded Uchiha En.

Uchiha En slowly opened his eyes.

He looked left and right, his gaze passing over each black coat.

Then a slight smile curved his lips.

"Heh."

"And here I was wondering who it was."

He rose at an unhurried pace and brushed the dirt from his backside.

"Just a pack of stinking bugs and rotten shrimp from Root."

At that, the Root ninja's gazes turned colder. Kiyomizu Kensuke stepped out from among them.

He wore no mask, and false courtesy rested on his face.

"Uchiha En."

His voice was quiet, but he spoke as though he stood above him.

"Elder Danzo... asks that you come with us."

Uchiha En paused, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha..."

When his laughter ended, his expression abruptly hardened. He spat in contempt.

"Elder Danzo?"

"That old bastard was suspended by the Hokage ages ago."

"You Root ninja should report directly to the Hokage now."

He folded his arms, his eyes full of scorn.

"But you're still obeying Danzo."

"So... you're that old bastard's last card, are you?"

"A pack of rats hiding in an underground base, too scared to show your faces, and you think you can turn things around?"

Kiyomizu Kensuke's face darkened.

"Uchiha En."

His voice was cold as ice.

"You'd better come with us quietly."

"Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Uchiha En cut him off, tilting his head. "You'll attack?"

He smiled and spread his hands.

"Come on, then."

"I'd like to see what Danzo's stinking bugs and rotten shrimp can do."

Kiyomizu Kensuke's face turned thunderous.

He said nothing more and raised a hand.

"Kill him!"