Kōki raised his head and walked straight toward the Sand ninja unit, step by step, his slow pace gradually quickening.
Once he reached a certain distance, he pushed off hard, the force shattering the level ground beneath his feet.
Kōki charged toward the Sand ninja opposite him.
A wooden spike slid into his hand. Gripping it, Kōki hurled it with all the strength in his right arm. The spike flew so swiftly that one of the Sand ninja in the unit could not dodge and took a direct hit.
Seeing his wooden spike hit its mark, Kōki brought his hands together. "Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs."
The wooden spike embedded in the Sand ninja's body suddenly erupted into more spikes. They pierced his soft internal organs and burst out of his body, making him look like a human hedgehog from a distance.
By now, Kōki had forgotten Hiruzen Sarutobi's instruction to conceal his Wood Release.
The only thought in his mind was to kill every Sand ninja present.
The Sand ninja had not expected Kōki to dare charge their entire group alone, let alone kill a teammate with a surprise attack. They were instantly filled with rage.
"Get him! Kill that brat!"
"Konoha brat, don't underestimate us from Sunagakure!"
As they spoke, the Sand ninja charged toward Kōki.
But these Sand ninja did not know that human wave tactics were completely useless against a Wood Release user, much less when their numbers did not even constitute a human wave.
Facing the charging Sand ninja, Kōki held nothing back. His hands swiftly formed hand seals. "Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Countless lengths of wood burst out of the ground and attacked the Sand ninja.
The Sand ninja opposite Kōki were startled by the wood that suddenly appeared, but with their Jonin reflexes, they twisted aside to evade its attacks.
Only two or three weaker Sand ninja failed to dodge the attacks completely and were impaled through their bodies.
At the same time, their evasive movements gave Kōki an enormous opening.
"Wood Release: Violent Spear Tree!" The Wood Release that Shimura Danzō had used in the original story reappeared in Kōki's hands, but their power was incomparable. Danzō's technique could only block Sasuke Uchiha's attacks, while Kōki's was a ninjutsu that killed enemies outright.
Several wooden vines and branches extended from Kōki's body, instantly growing into a great tree that swallowed three of the Sunagakure ninja.
In a single exchange, Kōki's Wood Release had killed eight elite ninja on Sunagakure's side.
The remaining Sand ninja were terrified that the power Kōki unleashed had disposed of so many of their comrades in an instant.
However, some knowledgeable Sand ninja recognized the release technique Kōki was using.
"Hey, that's Wood Release, isn't it?"
"Wood Release? The Kekkei Genkai unique to that legendary God of the Shinobi World?"
"That's right. My grandfather once saw Hashirama Senju fight. He used the same techniques as this brat."
Kōki had not expected anyone among the Sand ninja to recognize Wood Release so quickly, but it did not matter. None of the Sand ninja here were going to survive anyway.
"No, the news that Wood Release has reappeared in Konoha is too important. Someone has to take this intelligence back."
"Kanzaki, run! We'll hold him off. Make sure you bring back the intelligence about Wood Release."
A man who held considerable standing among the Sand ninja gave orders to a Sand ninja named Kanzaki. He believed the news of Wood Release was too important, and judging by the situation, they had no way to deal with Kōki. If this continued, all of them would only die meaningless deaths at Kōki's hands.
Upon hearing the order, the Sand ninja named Kanzaki also understood the importance of this intelligence. He immediately turned to flee.
But just as he lifted his foot to leave, three or four vines grew from the ground beneath him. They quickly wound their way up Kanzaki's body. Before long, the vines wrapped around him gradually took the shape of a tree, crushing his body.
"How... is that possible?"
With a bang, Kanzaki's body was crushed into a bloody pulp and disappeared between the gaps in the tree.
"Wood Release: Tree Binding Eternal Burial."
"None of you are leaving here alive." Kōki had prepared to intercept them the moment he noticed their movements. His mind was full of rage that needed an outlet. How could he let even one of them escape?
"Don't get too full of yourself, brat!"
Even though Kōki's Wood Release had frightened them, the Sand ninja could not stomach his arrogant tone. They all formed hand seals to fight back.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Various release techniques rushed toward Kōki. Unflustered, he brought his hands together. "Wood Release: Wood Expulsion Jutsu!"
Using this defensive Wood Release ninjutsu, which could defend against attacks from Madara Uchiha's Susanoo, to block the Sand ninja's ninjutsu was truly overkill. But Kōki did not care. All he wanted now was to vent, regardless of everything else.
After this round of ninjutsu attacks, before the Sand ninja could begin a second round, several vines extended from Kōki's arm toward the Sunagakure ninja.
Faced with Kōki's attack, the few remaining Sand ninja understood the danger of his Wood Release and scattered to dodge.
Watching the Sand ninja leap around like fleas, unable to catch them for the moment, Kōki finally lost his patience. With a clap, he pressed his hands together. He no longer wanted these Sand ninja to live even one second longer. "Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!"
The ground began to shake, and an enormous wooden golem rose from it, its fierce expression resembling a wrathful guardian deity.
Kōki stood atop the wooden golem's head, looking down at the Sand ninja. Faced with the towering wooden golem that had appeared before them, the Sand ninja were too frightened to move, their faces filled with despair.
"No, this is beyond anything we can handle."
"Damn it!"
"Why has Wood Release reappeared in Konoha?"
Elsewhere, Minato and the others, who were hurrying toward Kōki, could also see the wooden golem's enormous silhouette from their position.
Realizing that something had changed without their knowledge, they could only quicken their pace.
"Die, you insects from Sunagakure!"
Standing atop the wooden golem's head, Kōki controlled the golem beneath his feet. It raised its mountain-sized fist and smashed it down toward the Sand ninja's position.
Even the various powerful release techniques those Sand ninja unleashed could not stop the wooden golem's attack.
For a moment, the earth split and crumbled, and wood and stone flew everywhere. The powerful shock wave from the impact forcibly expanded the battlefield several times over. Violent tremors erupted from the battlefield, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi, far away in his office in Konoha, felt a slight shaking.
Before long, the dust cleared. The already sizable battlefield had sunk considerably into a semicircular depression, as though a meteorite had struck it.
All the Sand ninja hit head-on by the wooden golem's blow were dead. Not one survived.
Even in his fury, Kōki retained a shred of reason. He had used Wood Expulsion Jutsu to protect the people on his side, even the corpses.
Dragging his exhausted body, he staggered around the battlefield for a while and found Mamoru Uehara. Mamoru Uehara had not died immediately after the Sand ninja's surprise attack. He was still alive, but ordinary Medical Ninjutsu could no longer save him.
"Kōki, you're already a ninja who can stand on his own." Despite his grievous wounds, Mamoru Uehara still praised Kōki.
At Mamoru Uehara's words, Kōki could no longer maintain his calm expression. Tears immediately streamed from the corners of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Uehara. I didn't save Katsuto, and I didn't save Yui. In the end, I couldn't even save you." Overcome with emotion, Kōki's legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees beside Mamoru Uehara.
He had thought he was merely an observer in this Shinobi World, not a participant. He had always felt a sense of unreality, always feeling that one day he would return to that peaceful world.
But Mamoru Uehara, Masato Yoshino, and Yui Fujiwara had formed bonds with him without his realizing it, and he had paid them no heed. Only after losing them did he truly understand that he had long since become inseparable from this world.
But the price of that understanding was too great, so great that Kōki could not bear it all at once.
"Kōki, don't be sad. This is how ninja end up."
"But if it's you, Kōki, you can definitely break the fate of ninja. I've always believed that."
"Oh, right, Kōki. Were Yui and Katsuto smiling when they passed?"
"Yes," Kōki replied through his sobs.
"I thought so. They've always been my pride, and so have you."
After saying that, Mamoru Uehara stopped breathing.
Kōki's eyes were filled with sorrow, but he pulled himself together. He made several coffins with Wood Release and placed the bodies of Mamoru Uehara, Katsuto, and Yui inside. At the same time, he used his remaining chakra to fill the coffins with vitality, preserving the activity of the cells in their bodies.
He could not bring them back to life now, but in the future, he would definitely resurrect Mamoru Uehara and the others.
He would let them know that the fate of ninja could be broken too.