Chapter 56

Yamato executed a Substitution Jutsu, instantly reappearing some distance away. His hand signs were already complete as he shouted, "Wood Release: Silent Binding Jutsu!" The moment his voice fell, the flat ground of the training area suddenly bulged and cracked. Sturdy tree trunks erupted from the earth, growing and extending rapidly, surging towards Ren with fierce speed!

"It's the Captain's Wood Release ninjutsu!"

"He used Wood Release so quickly? It seems the Captain takes this kid seriously!"

"It's a rare treat to see the Captain use Wood Release, a jutsu only mastered by the First Hokage!"

Exclamations rippled through the spectators. Ren, however, was unfazed. Without even turning his head, he simply raised his elbow and struck the incoming tree trunk.

"Konoha Rising Crag!"

Click!

The moment Ren's elbow connected with the flying tree trunk, cracks began to spider across its surface, spreading in all directions.

"Break!" Ren roared.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of explosions followed. The trunk connecting Ren and Yamato ruptured from the inside, instantly shattering into multiple segments that flew outwards as countless pieces.

"What?!" Surprise flickered in Yamato's eyes. He hadn't expected his Wood Release jutsu to be shattered by sheer taijutsu! Seeing this, Yamato's expression grew incredibly solemn. It seemed he had indeed encountered a very difficult opponent today.

His Wood Release ninjutsu, while powerful, was somewhat disadvantaged against a strength-focused ninja like Ren. However, Ren wasn't just a pure strength ninja, who were typically bulky and slow. Ren had just demonstrated a speed even greater than his own elite Jōnin level. This was a truly formidable opponent.

Yamato's masked face furrowed in thought. Since a direct confrontation wasn't working, he had to find another approach. Unbeknownst to even Yamato himself, he had completely disregarded Ren's age, now treating him as a powerful adversary he needed to overcome.

'What a troublesome opponent. In terms of taijutsu, I'm no match. To avoid him fighting me in close quarters, it seems I can only use this trick. Let's see how you handle this!'

Muttering to himself, Yamato formed hand signs once more.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

This was a move created by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, a kekkei genkai that only Yamato, with his inherited Wood Release, could perform. Yamato channeled his chakra as a source of life, and several tree saplings burst from the training ground's earth. They grew at a visible speed, and in just a dozen seconds, the entire training ground transformed into a vast forest!

"This... this is the First Lord's ninjutsu!" "Oh my god! Captain Tenzō has even learned this jutsu!" "It's over, it's over! With this jutsu unleashed, that kid is definitely done for. This is a ninjutsu invented by the First Lord!"

The massive forest enveloped the entire training ground. Ren stood in the middle, surrounded by vines and branches attacking him from every direction, pressing him step by step. Ren constantly changed his position, leaping through the dense jungle. The tree trunks and vines relentlessly pursued him, attacking from various angles.

Whoosh!

A long vine pierced directly through Ren's body. With a bang, Ren's body turned into a dead tree and fell from the air.

Substitution Jutsu!

Yamato seemed to have anticipated this. He remained calm, simply channeling his chakra again to control four more vines, directing them towards Ren's previous position.

Whoosh!

The vines struck Ren again. Yamato secretly shook his head, recognizing it as another clone. With a bang, Ren's clone vanished once more.

A faint smile touched the corner of Yamato's mouth as he glanced skyward. Yamato frantically poured his chakra into the growing trees, supplying them with nutrients. Then, ten wrist-thick vines erupted from the ground, blocking all of Ren's escape routes and winding towards him from different directions.

"This time, you can't hide anymore!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Ren's wrists, ankles, thighs, and arms were all ensnared by the vines flying from different directions, leaving him no escape. The vines then constricted sharply, binding Ren's body to a tree trunk. The tendrils quickly merged with the wood, embedding Ren's entire body within the trunk, completely immobilizing him.

"Phew, I finally restrained him." Seeing Ren's body unable to move before him, Yamato raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, finally letting out a sigh of relief. Those restricted by his ninjutsu, even a Kage-level powerhouse, couldn't easily escape. The vines and trunks binding him would continuously absorb chakra from the bound person until their chakra was fully depleted, at which point the bound person would themselves become nourishment for the tree. This was the true terrifying aspect of the Wood Release kekkei genkai. While the scale of this jutsu performed by Yamato couldn't compare to that of the First Hokage, it was still considered a very terrifying ultimate move at the Elite Jōnin level.

"Ren, surrender. Five minutes have passed. Even if you surrender now, you will pass this test," Yamato called out loudly to Ren from a distance. As he had agreed before, he hadn't truly harmed Ren. Of course, even so, the strength Ren had shown was enough to earn their approval.

"Oh? Surrender?"

Though bound to the trunk, Ren showed no panic. His eyes remained calm and relaxed. He didn't even attempt to struggle, simply standing there quietly, as if he were a condescending king.

"In my dictionary, the word surrender has never been mentioned! Hahahaha!"

Ren's unbridled laughter echoed through the shadows. The sheer arrogance in his laughter, his courage in the face of danger, coupled with the strength he had already displayed, even earned him some respect from many of the Anbu members present.

Yamato's eyes narrowed slightly. "It seems I can only make you suffer a little bit!" Yamato's hand clenched sharply. The tree trunks binding Ren suddenly constricted. Yamato decided to let these tree trunks absorb all the chakra from Ren's body! He wanted to see if Ren would surrender even without chakra!

But at this moment, Ren, in the distance, a strange smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He asked Yamato, "Captain Tenzō, haven't you discovered anything strange yet?"

Yamato was stunned for a moment. Immediately, he sensed something was wrong.

'Wait, wait a minute!'

Yamato's eyes widened suddenly, filled with an unbelievable look. Because those large tree trunks and vines he had manipulated were not only not extracting chakra from Ren's body, but instead, his own chakra was being sucked away through the trunk! The rate of chakra loss was even faster than when he had used ninjutsu!

'How is this going?!'

Yamato's face was instantly filled with horror. He looked at the young man in the distance as if looking at a monster, asking loudly with a trembling voice: "You, how did you do it?!"

Ren smiled and said nothing. How did he do it? In fact, he did nothing. The task of collecting Wood Release Chakra had been released in his system, but he had always put it on hold, lacking a chance to complete it. Now was his best opportunity to complete the task. He only needed to come into contact with the trees spawned by the Wood Release chakra; the system could automatically absorb the chakra from Yamato's body and use it for himself.

So, the entire situation before them could only be said that Yamato had fallen into the trap set up by Ren from the very beginning. Ren allowed himself to be bound by Yamato's vines, not because he truly had no way to escape, but simply to find a better way to let the system automatically absorb the Wood Release chakra.

Yamato, he was fooled!