Tenzo stood dressed in the impeccable dark uniform of a Leaf Jonin, his forehead protector aligned perfectly without the slightest tilt.
His honest-looking face featured a pair of dark, spirited eyes. At first glance, one would think Tenzo was merely a plain, unremarkable "nobody" among the Leaf's Jonin ranks.
If one didn't know beforehand that Tenzo was the Chief of the Leaf's Anbu, nothing in his appearance would suggest it—let alone that he was one of the "Top Three in the Leaf" mentioned by Hayama Shiragumo.
Compared to the sharp, aggressive edge Hayama displayed in battle, Tenzo seemed almost harmless, even though he possessed the Wood Style.
Then, a massive Wood Human rose from the earth, standing tall enough to touch the heavens, while a ferocious, coiled Dragon roared toward the sky.
The Wood Style secret techniques that once dominated the world had appeared once more in the shinobi world that had once bowed before them.
Standing atop the Wood Human's head, Tenzo clasped his hands together. With a calm expression, he controlled the titan beneath his feet, making it stride toward the enemies ahead.
Each step covered dozens of meters, and with every footfall, the very earth trembled.
Originally, Tenzo's Wood Style lacked this level of power, and he certainly couldn't manifest the Wood Human or the Wood Dragon.
But ever since the Sage Mark appeared, everything had changed.
A fundamental shift had occurred between the Wood Style and the Sage Mark.
He had previously possessed the strength of an elite Jonin, but after obtaining the Sage Mark, it was as if a spark had fallen into a pool of oil. The seemingly ordinary oil had erupted into a towering inferno!
At that moment, Ohnoki gritted his teeth as he watched the Wood Human marching toward him.
He had initially thought Tenzo was just some lucky kid who happened to possess the Wood Style. He hadn't expected the man to reveal his true strength until this very second.
Wood Style: Wood Human Technique.
It was a technique on par with a Perfect Susanoo.
"Roshi!" Ohnoki bellowed from the sky.
"Shut up, I know!"
Below Ohnoki, a short, red-haired middle-aged man stepped forward, snapping coldly at the Tsuchikage in the sky.
This was Roshi. He had once left the village in a fit of rage to wander the world due to political disagreements with Ohnoki. If the Leaf hadn't initiated the Fourth Shinobi World War, he wouldn't have returned to the Hidden Stone Village.
Naturally, he had no patience for Ohnoki.
"Son Goku, get ready," Roshi whispered, looking up at the massive Wood Human looming over them.
"Roshi, even for me..." the voice of the Four-Tails, Son Goku, echoed in Roshi's mind.
He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear. Even a being as powerful as a Tailed Beast was no match for that Wood Human.
"There are some things that someone simply has to do."
Roshi's words held no hint of retreat. His gaze remained locked on the Wood Human.
"If that's the case..."
"Then let's go!"
Searing, violent chakra erupted from Roshi's body!
Boiling lava, reeking of sulfur, began to spread outward from him as the center. At the same time, the chakra on Roshi's body grew so dense it turned physical. Four tails made of pure chakra swayed gently, the intense heat they radiated distorting the very air.
But it didn't stop there!
Their opponent was using the signature technique of the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama Senju. A mere Tailed Beast Cloak mode wouldn't be enough to face it.
His size ballooned; his body expanded.
Until...
"ROAR!"
A beast-like howl tore through the battlefield!
A massive ape appeared—wearing a golden crown, covered in crimson fur, with four tails at its back. Its size was in no way inferior to the Wood Human!
Roshi's Tailed Beast transformation seemed to take a long time, but in reality, it happened in an instant. Before the Wood Human could even reach him, he had already become the Four-Tails, Son Goku!
"The Four-Tails, is it?"
Standing atop the Wood Human, Tenzo's expression didn't flicker as he looked at the Tailed Beast that matched his titan in size. He continued walking straight toward his opponent.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Son Goku beat his chest with his massive fists, letting out a dull, thundering sound, and then lunged at the Wood Human!
As the Four-Tails charged, the Wood Human clenched its fist and threw a heavy punch straight at the beast's face!
The punch whistled through the air, carrying a roar of its own.
Faced with this strike, the Four-Tails didn't dare be careless. It swung both fists simultaneously to intercept the Wood Human's single punch!
A violent shockwave exploded between them, nearly blowing Ohnoki right out of the sky!
Seizing the moment, Ohnoki acted immediately. A faint white glow appeared between his palms, forming a translucent white cube!
Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu.
Under Ohnoki's control, the white cube flew straight toward Tenzo!
Particle Style.
Created by the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, it was a Kekkei Tota that combined Wind, Fire, and Earth chakra—a level beyond even Kekkei Genkai. It could disintegrate any matter into its most basic molecular form.
However, if Particle Style were truly that invincible, the "God of Shinobi" would have been Mu, not Hashirama Senju.
If Particle Style were truly that strong, then Mu and the young Ohnoki wouldn't have been utterly crushed by Madara Uchiha in the past!
Tenzo looked up at the translucent cube flying toward him. With a single thought, the Wood Dragon coiled around the Wood Human surged forward.
Any ninjutsu, including Sage Art, is ultimately an application of chakra. And the Wood Dragon Technique specialized in suppressing and absorbing chakra!
The Wood Dragon's massive frame moved with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, it reached the Particle Style cube and opened its maw, swallowing the technique whole!
The terrifying power of the Particle Style grew dim under the Wood Dragon's chakra absorption, eventually turning into pure energy that fed back into the dragon itself.
Ohnoki watched this, lowering his hands, his brow furrowed deeply.
As expected, Particle Style is ineffective...
The Wood Dragon flew back and coiled around the Wood Human again, staying vigilant against Ohnoki's next move.
Tenzo looked at the Four-Tails before him and formed a hand seal.
Sage Art: Wood Style: Kakuan-Style Entirety Enlightenment Enclosure Ash-Hand.
Against a Tailed Beast, sealing jutsu was the most effective method. And as it happened, Tenzo considered himself quite proficient in sealing.
The Wood Human extended its other palm, reaching for the Four-Tails' head.
Seeing this, the Four-Tails gritted its teeth while struggling against the Wood Human, warning its Jinchuriki, Roshi.
"That's Hashirama Senju's sealing technique! Even the Nine-Tails couldn't break free once it was pinned down!"
"Think of something, fast!"
Roshi didn't respond. Instead, he looked in a specific direction.
There stood a sturdy, middle-aged man in a standard Hidden Stone flak jacket. It was the Tsuchikage's son, Kitsuchi.
Kitsuchi saw the Four-Tails about to be restrained and rapidly formed hand seals. He slammed a palm onto the ground and roared:
"Earth Style: Mountain Sandwich Technique!"
Instantly, as Kitsuchi's jutsu took effect, the earth trembled!
Two massive, hemispherical crusts of earth erupted from the ground, slamming together to crush Tenzo and the Wood Human between them!
Seeing this, Tenzo's hand seal for the Ash-Hand shifted instantly into another Wood Style technique.
He shouted in a low voice:
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Life was instantly breathed into the ground as Tenzo injected his chakra. Countless massive branches tore through the soil, propping up the hemispherical mountains while simultaneously surging toward the Four-Tails!
Having been personally sealed by Hashirama Senju once before, Son Goku knew exactly how powerful this technique was. He immediately tried to pull away while Tenzo was switching jutsu, but Tenzo wasn't about to let him escape.
The countless massive branches pierced through the "Mountain Sandwich" and pursued the Four-Tails like a shadow!
The chase of the giant trees looked slow, but in reality, they moved with extreme speed and covered a vast area.
Thwack! One branch stabbed into the earth, and when it reappeared, it had become ten or twenty branches.
And so it multiplied. The range of the Deep Forest Emergence was immense, spreading across the entire battlefield in a short time!
It wasn't just Tenzo's target, the Four-Tails—even the Five-Tails Jinchuriki and Kisame Hoshigaki, who were fighting Tsunade and Jiraiya further away, were caught in the chaos!
While facing three top-tier experts simultaneously, Tenzo still had the spare energy to help Jiraiya and Tsunade shoulder the pressure!
Just as the Four-Tails was about to be surrounded and captured by the layers of the Deep Forest Emergence, a white cylinder descended like a sword from the heavens, instantly severing and obliterating the branches surging toward the beast!
Particle Style: Primitive World Detachment!
It was Ohnoki in the sky!
As a possessor of an "overpowered" offensive tool, even something as strong as Particle Style could only serve as a supporting move when faced with the Wood Style!
The Four-Tails took the opportunity to rapidly build up chakra!
Tenzo watched this and maneuvered the Wood Human to close the distance quickly!
After resolving the crisis for the Four-Tails, Ohnoki in the sky also formed seals.
"Earth Style: Golem Jutsu!"
A massive stone warrior emerged from the ground. Ohnoki was attempting to counter Wood Style with Earth Style.
However, Tenzo barely gave it a glance. The remaining massive branches around him swarmed the stone golem that tried to block his path!
In mere moments, the golem was bound by the branches. Under the immense pressure, the wood crushed the stone into powder, like a giant python constricting its prey!
But in those few moments, the Four-Tails had finished gathering chakra. A terrifying black sphere of pure energy appeared before it!
Tailed Beast Bomb!
"Go!" With a low shout from the Four-Tails, the black sphere hurtled toward Tenzo on the Wood Human at extreme speed!
The remaining branches were shattered by the Tailed Beast Bomb as it flew toward Tenzo with a terrifying, ear-piercing whistle!
Ohnoki watched intensely from the sky.
With Particle Style countered by the Wood Dragon, the Tailed Beast Bomb was their strongest offensive option!
However, the scene that followed sent a chill down even Ohnoki's spine.
The giant Wood Human actually reached out its hand and caught the Tailed Beast Bomb, which was pulsating with horrifying chakra!
And the Tailed Beast Bomb remained condensed in the Wood Human's hand without exploding!
Everyone on the battlefield was stunned!
Next, the Wood Human took a few rapid strides forward, its massive body leaping into the air. It slammed the Tailed Beast Bomb held in its hand directly into the Four-Tails' face!
Under the Wood Human's force, the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded at point-blank range against the Four-Tails!
Atop the Wood Human, Tenzo crouched down as a wooden shield protected him, sealing him off perfectly to resist the power of the blast!
Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall.
This was the strongest defensive technique in the Wood Style repertoire. Hashirama Senju had once used this move to tank the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.
Blinding light and searing heat swept across the battlefield, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
When the explosion cleared, Tenzo immediately deactivated the Wood Locking Wall to survey the surroundings.
The Four-Tails was in a wretched state. Its beautiful, soft red fur was scorched black, and one of the golden rings on its head was broken.
Despite that, it wasn't dead.
Tenzo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the beast.
This is taking a bit too long...
He planned to end this quickly. He was currently pinning down three top experts: the Four-Tails, the Tsuchikage, and Kitsuchi.
But Jiraiya, who lacked the help of the Mount Myoboku toads, was having a close call against the Five-Tails Jinchuriki's taijutsu. Jiraiya couldn't hold out much longer.
Meanwhile, the Four-Tails was truly enraged. But since even its strongest move, the Tailed Beast Bomb, had been useless, what else could it do?
However, the Four-Tails had another ability.
"Lava Style!"
"Flower-Fruit Mountain!"
The Four-Tails stomped the ground and roared!
Under the beast's Lava Style, the entire earth around it rapidly turned into boiling magma! Even the Wood Human's feet showed signs of catching fire as it stood in the lava!
Seeing this, Tenzo no longer hesitated. A new technique was complete!
"Sage Art: Wood Style: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
The earth shook once more as giant branches erupted from the ground again.
It looked no different from before.
Except countless massive pink flower buds appeared across the battlefield. In the middle of the noisy, chaotic fight, those giant buds bloomed.
The flowers were vibrant and beautiful—stunningly so.
But... the more beautiful they were, the more poisonous they were!
Pale yellow pollen began to drift out. In a heartbeat, the pollen spread throughout the area!
Ohnoki was startled and tried to flee.
But then came the sound of a dragon's cry. The Wood Dragon coiled around the Wood Human had already lunged at him! Ohnoki had no choice but to engage it.
By now, the pale yellow pollen had saturated the entire battlefield!
Tenzo watched the scene calmly. He continued to drive the pollen's expansion. He wasn't just planning to suppress the Four-Tails, defeat Ohnoki, and take down Kitsuchi—he intended to deal with the Five-Tails Jinchuriki and Kisame Hoshigaki all at once!
The battle in the Land of Grass had dragged on for too long.
He was originally supposed to go to the Land of Rain with Kakashi, but being reassigned to the Land of Grass at the last minute made him realize the battlefield had shifted.
But in his view, no matter what changes occurred...
The solution was to resolve the enemy with maximum speed and absolute power. No matter what happened, the enemy would find it hard to cause any trouble.
This way, he could free himself up to support other battlefields as needed.
"For Lord Hokage."
"For the Leaf... please, all of you, just fall."
This was the first time Tenzo had spoken since the battle began. His words were cold and biting, a sharp contrast to his outward appearance.
At that moment, a large white bird appeared high in the sky.
Kakashi watched the battlefield below, which was filled with drifting pale yellow pollen. His heart remained untroubled.
It seemed he had made the trip for nothing.
The battle in the Land of Grass was already over.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's the situation down there?"
On the bird, Deidara widened his eyes, trying to see the battlefield below. But the ubiquitous, spreading pollen obscured his vision, making it impossible to see clearly.
Only Sasori of the Red Sand watched the scene in silence. Neither the Hidden Stone Village nor Kisame Hoshigaki of the Akatsuki possessed such a technique.
Which meant... this was the work of someone from the Leaf.
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