Kakuzu's previous sea of fire had already evaporated the lake water surrounding the Great Tree of Takigakure. This time, as he released another large-scale Fire Release, it directly engulfed the trunk of the Great Tree of Takigakure.
The Takigakure Shinobi collectively released Water Release to extinguish the fire, but the blaze was too intense and had already reached the trunk.
Shibuki pleaded with Kakuzu, "Lord Kakuzu, please save the great tree!"
Kakuzu glanced at the giant tree in the center of the lake. It was a massive tree over several hundred years old, practically a microcosm of Takigakure.
Because the Hero Water it produced granted Shinobi extraordinary power, generations of Takigakure villagers had always revered it as a sacred tree.
When Kakuzu was young, he, like Shibuki, had also looked up to this ancient tree that guarded the Village.
But he was no longer naive.
This tree couldn't protect anything; otherwise, they wouldn't have broken in to fight here.
Kakuzu ignored Shibuki's pleas.
It was Jiraiya who was kind-hearted, ordering Gamaken to release Water Release to put out the fire.
With a few bursts of Water Release from Gamaken, the flames licking the Great Tree of Takigakure were doused.
Shibuki knelt before Jiraiya and Gamaken, repeatedly kowtowing to them. "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord."
Jiraiya patted Shibuki's head. "Child, run for your life! This is no place for you to stay."
Shibuki looked at the Great Tree of Takigakure and the Seven-Tails atop Shisui's head.
These were the Village's greatest treasures, yet at this moment, not a single Takigakure Shinobi could stand up to protect them.
Jiraiya said to Shibuki, "Don't worry, child. I am Jiraiya of Konoha's Sannin. I will definitely help you protect the ancient tree and the Seven-Tails."
"Jiraiya of the Sannin!"
Shibuki looked in shock at the kindly, white-haired middle-aged man before him. He had heard of this title; he was a top-tier legendary Shinobi of the Shinobi World.
Jiraiya called over a Takigakure Shinobi and had him take Shibuki away from the battlefield.
Inside Susanoo, Ryou looked at the Great Tree of Takigakure, using crude vocabulary to describe its majesty.
"It's so damn big!"
Konan's face flushed, and she tapped Ryou on the head. "No swearing!"
The Great Tree of Takigakure was rooted in the center of the water, its countless dark green leaves trembling slightly in the breeze, with roots exposed on a patch of open ground like coiled dragons.
The trunk was unimaginably thick, extending infinitely upward to support a massive canopy that blocked out the sun.
At first glance, it truly resembled the origin of chakra—the God Tree—but the Great Tree of Takigakure was only a hundred meters tall.
The God Tree is the Ten-Tails' God Tree form and the origin of chakra; its trunk pierces the clouds like a World Tree.
The Great Tree of Takigakure was far inferior to the Ten-Tails' God Tree, but it was no ordinary tree either.
It produced a special sap called Hero Water, which, when consumed, could instantly increase one's chakra by tenfold.
However, it had powerful side effects; drinking it once could shorten one's lifespan by several years to decades.
Furthermore, the amount of Hero Water was scarce; it took the ancient tree a hundred years to refine it.
Takigakure had always strictly controlled the use of Hero Water, leaving the decision to use it to the leader only when the Village faced total destruction.
Ryou surmised that the Great Tree of Takigakure produced Hero Water by absorbing natural energy, as only natural energy from heaven and earth could give Hero Water such immense power.
Ryou rubbed his chin, attempting to find a connection between the Great Tree of Takigakure and the God Tree.
Could the Great Tree of Takigakure have been formed from a branch of the God Tree?
But that didn't quite make sense.
Because the God Tree has the characteristic of absorbing chakra, if the Great Tree of Takigakure had that same trait, no life would exist in its surrounding territory.
The God Tree's devouring nature would suck dry all life in its vicinity.
Looking at the environment and the Village around the Great Tree of Takigakure, it lacked the devouring characteristic of the God Tree.
In fact, trees like the chakra tree do exist in the Shinobi World.
Chakra paper is a thin paper made from a special type of wood. What makes this wood special?
It can grow by absorbing chakra.
Ryou felt that the source tree of chakra paper was more like the God Tree.
However, the Great Tree of Takigakure wasn't entirely without the traits of the God Tree; wasn't its ability to produce Hero Water just like the God Tree producing chakra fruit?
Perhaps the Great Tree of Takigakure was formed from a section of the God Tree's trunk. Growing in the territory of Takigakure, it had long since merged with the land, and the energy it absorbed was the higher-level natural energy of the world's cycle.
It was just that the efficiency was too low, requiring a hundred years to convert it into Hero Water.
A Life Spore appeared stealthily in Ryou's hand.
He cast his Life Spore into the earth, moving it toward the Great Tree of Takigakure.
Soon, Ryou's spore merged with the Great Tree of Takigakure, and his will took control of the massive tree.
With the Great Tree of Takigakure's massive size combined with the chakra-devouring trait of Ryou's spore, wouldn't this combination be like a mini Ten-Tails?
Ryou let the spore continue to acclimate to the ancient tree, then looked at Konan and Nagato.
"Konan, Nagato, take the people from Kusagakure and Amegakure and evacuate!"
"I will capture the Seven-Tails and bring it back."
Nagato shook his head. "No, Konan and I have grown stronger. We need to prove ourselves too."
Nagato had the Adamantine Sealing Chains as his trump card, and Konan had the Dance of the Shikigami, which feared no physical attacks.
They were supposed to capture the Seven-Tails this time, but they hadn't expected Jiraiya, Kakuzu, and the others to break into Takigakure.
Konan and Nagato were unwilling to give up; they were determined to capture the Seven-Tails.
Ryou glanced at Konan.
Konan nodded. "With your spore, our chakra has fully recovered. Let us fight together!"
Konan and Nagato no longer wanted to remain powerless.
Yahiko's death the last time was due to their incompetence, which led to Yahiko being captured by Hanzo.
It was also because they lacked power that Yahiko committed suicide in front of them.
And then there was the destruction of Yahiko's body by the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion from the Giant Tenseigan.
This was a triple betrayal.
This was the lesson taught by their comrade's death: in this world, if you fall behind, you get beaten.
One must become strong to avoid being taken advantage of.
"Fine, but don't stray too far from me, and don't look directly into that Uchiha youth's eyes."
Ryou nodded, then had Candy convey the order for Shirakawa, Mui, and the others to evacuate.
Ryou wasn't particularly wary of Jiraiya and Kakuzu.
Jiraiya had been defeated by Ryou once, and Ryou was well-acquainted with the details of Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear.
What he feared most was Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.
Shisui's Kotoamatsukami is the ultimate genjutsu, capable of absolutely altering a person's will, and this change is permanent.
For example, if someone likes playing Valorant and cries for their mother all day, such a person is basically beyond saving.
But a single brainwashing session with Kotoamatsukami would make them normal.
The control priority of Kotoamatsukami is higher than many Forbidden Jutsu. It is the officially recognized strongest genjutsu, capable of modifying a target's will without them noticing.
In the original work, Itachi was controlled by Kabuto's Reanimation seal and Senjutsu chakra, but after being modified by Kotoamatsukami, the command for Itachi to "obey Kabuto's orders" was forcibly replaced with "protect Konoha."
This is arguably the strongest genjutsu; even Infinite Tsukuyomi cannot permanently change a person's will.
Infinite Tsukuyomi's strength lies in its range, while Kotoamatsukami's strength lies in its single-target effect.
Furthermore, Kotoamatsukami does not require eye contact; one only needs to see the target to control them silently, and the victim will not realize they are being controlled.
During the Five Kage Summit, Danzo hid Shisui's eye inside bandages and silently controlled Mifune.
Against the strongest sound-based genjutsu, Toad Song of Death, Ryou could still destroy his own ears to counter it by not listening.
But against Kotoamatsukami, there is no solution!
It directly invades the brain in the form of genjutsu energy, brutal and unreasonable.
Then again, Kotoamatsukami is a Mangekyo genjutsu, so could a Shinobi with the Mangekyo Sharingan counter it?