"Wood Release: Vine Prison!"
Within the Grass Village, a tall figure raced in from the distance, a trail of fury burning behind him. His rage was a physical heat, scorching the air as he charged straight for Chiba, who was tangled in a thicket of glowing, sap-filled vines.
"Decades of foundation for our Grass Ninja Village," the figure roared, his voice trembling, "and you reduce it to ash in a single night?! You've earned yourself a death sentence! Flaying you alive wouldn't sate my hatred!"
The furious figure was the current leader of the Grass Village, the head of the 'Grass Seed' faction—Sōjun.
While Chiba had been occupied interrogating some small fry, Sōjun had finally used his wood-sensing technique to lock onto Chiba's location. He had the madman who was tearing his village apart dead to rights.
"Flay me alive?"
Chiba tested the bindings. A surge of chakra burst from within.
Crack. Snap. Pop.
The vines splintered. He brushed non-existent dust from his sleeve, his expression utterly bland as he waited for Sōjun to close the distance.
"A couple of weak wood techniques and you think you're Hashirama Senju?" Chiba snorted.
Sōjun saw Chiba break free so easily. He dug his heels into the earth, coming to a skidding halt as his face paled. "My Wood Release absorbs chakra! Once caught in the Vine Prison, escape is impossible! How did you—?!"
Chiba didn't bother answering.
What kind of bad habit is that? Mid-fight, asking your enemy how they countered you? You think this is an anime and you need to explain it to the audience?
I'm a Tailless Tailed Beast, you idiot. You think your little vines could hold me?
SWOOSH!
Chiba shot forward, meeting Sōjun head-on. He raised a hand, and a forty-meter-long blade of compressed paper solidified in the air. He brought it down in a vicious slash.
"Wood Release: Vine Shield!"
Sōjun's hands flew through seals. Thick, rope-like vines erupted from the ground, writhing and coiling into a dense, layered shield before him. It caught the descending paper blade with a heavy THUD.
"Hmph. Paper Dance: Shower of Blades!"
Chiba's blade dissolved mid-air, exploding into a swirling, razor-edged storm of countless paper shuriken. They rained down on Sōjun's position like metallic hail.
"Wood Release: Verdant Entanglement!"
Still holding his seals, Sōjun willed the grass and smaller vines around him to surge upward, weaving a dense, living cocoon around his body. He twisted his head, shouting toward the shadows. "Mui! Now!"
"Oh? A friend?"
Chiba's gaze flicked sideways. A figure with long black hair and a cloak surged from the darkness—the warden of Hozuki Castle, Mui.
"Fire Release: Heavenly Prison Fire!"
Mui went straight for his ultimate technique. Strange, rune-engraved flames burst from his palm, streaking toward Chiba like seeking tendrils of light. The binding power of this jutsu made Sōjun's vines look like children's toys.
SWOOSH!
Chiba aborted his assault on Sōjun, his body dissolving into a flurry of loose paper sheets. The Heavenly Prison flames closed on empty air. That technique had even restrained Satoru, empowered by the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Chiba wasn't about to test it personally.
Disrespect your enemy in your mind. Respect them in the fight. Or even the strong can crash and burn.
Rustle…
Chiba's form coalesced a dozen meters away.
Sōjun and Mui now stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Sōjun's face was dark with humiliation. "Mui. We take this madman down. Together."
He'd thought he could handle this alone. Needing rescue was a blow to his pride. He just wanted Chiba dead, and this chaos over.
"Need the heart intact… can't use Wind Scythes. One 'Grass' Release user, one Fire Release specialist…"
Chiba rubbed his chin, floating above them. "Hmm. Let's give my new toy a test run, then."
In another village, he might not risk such a showy move—getting bogged down in a war of attrition was a real danger. But in the Grass Village? He could afford to cut loose a little.
"Lava Release—Chakra Mode!"
Chiba's voice dropped. A torrent of scorching, orange-red chakra erupted from his body, wrapping around him like a second skin. It solidified into plates of glowing, semi-liquid magma. In the dim night, he looked like a knight clad in burning armor.
"Meteor Volcano: Smash!"
Chiba fell from the sky like a shooting star. His fists, wreathed in molten rock, slammed toward the ground where Mui and Sōjun stood.
BOOM!
The earth shattered. Rivers of lava sprayed outward. Mui shoved Sōjun clear and catapulted himself backward, barely avoiding the cataclysmic impact.
"Fire Release: Prison Fire Sword!"
Mui pivoted mid-air, lunging back in. He grasped a longsword materialized from condensed fire chakra, its blade etched with sealing runes, and thrust it straight at Chiba's heart.
"Grass-Style: Shattering Palm!"
Sōjun, his arms sheathed in chakra, unleashed his village's signature taijutsu. His hands blurred, striking like vipers at the joints of Chiba's arms and legs.
"Hmph. Lava Release: Granite!"
Chiba didn't dodge. He didn't block.
He surged forward, meeting their attacks head-on.
The sealing fire-sword. Sōjun's chakra-enhanced strikes.
Upon contact with Chiba's molten armor, they didn't clang or spark.
They hissed. They vaporized. They were simply… gone.
"NO!!!"
Twin looks of utter horror flashed across their faces. Their full-power attacks hadn't even scratched his defense. This enemy was on a level they couldn't comprehend.
BOOM!
As they tried to disengage, the magma armor covering Chiba's torso violently exploded. Liquid fire splashed over them.
"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Agonizing heat seared their skin. If Chiba hadn't wanted them alive, that single burst would have reduced them to cinders.
These two were just unlucky. Sōjun's discount Wood Release paired with Mui's prison-style fire techniques could give any other Kage-level fighter a serious, potentially losing battle.
Too bad they'd met Chiba. His 'hero pool' was too deep. No matter the opponent, he could pull out a template that hard-countered them, leaving them utterly dismantled.
SWOOSH!
Sōjun and Mui, screaming through gritted teeth, fled in opposite directions.
Chiba was faster. As Sōjun's horrified eyes met his, dark tendrils of Jiongu shot from Chiba's palm. They pierced the Grass leader's chest with surgical precision and withdrew, clutching a still-beating, vital heart.
As for Mui? If he got away, he got away. Chiba couldn't be bothered to chase him down. Let the future Hokage deal with him later.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Chiba discarded the old Root ninja's heart and threaded Sōjun's into the network of dark threads within him. A stronger, more vibrant pulse of power flooded his veins.
"Not bad. This one's a significant upgrade… Now, let's see if I can use it."
The Jiongu could steal chakra natures, but whether it granted access to a stolen Kekkei Genkai was untested. Time for a live experiment.
"WOOD STYLE, GOOOOOOOO!"
Chiba slammed his palms together. He willed the Jiongu threads connected to Sōjun's heart to merge water and earth chakra, then channel that hybrid energy outward, aiming it at the patch of grass under his feet.
He shouted until his throat felt raw.
Finally, the grass beneath him quivered. Then it exploded. Blades thickened and stretched, shooting upward four, five meters tall in the blink of an eye.
"Whoooo! It actually works! We're in business!"
Chiba's eyes lit up. Discount Wood Release was still Wood Release! Paired with his discount Uchiha bloodline, a Susano'o-clad wooden Buddha wasn't just a dream!
"Gotta say, Wood Release is way more user-friendly than the Sharingan. Just clap your hands and yell loud enough. Nice. Very nice."
Chiba nodded, satisfied. This trip to the Grass Village hadn't been a waste. The haul was fantastic. It'd be perfect if he could bag one more target before leaving.
If he remembered right, the original Uzumaki Karin was born in this village. And his target was her mother.
"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"
He'd dallied too long. More Grass ninja were swarming toward his location. Chiba scattered a handful of paper tags across the ground.
Boom-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
A chain reaction of deafening explosions filled the air.
And with a flicker of space-time, Chiba was gone.
On the western edge of the Grass Village, a dilapidated building stood alone in the outskirts.
BANG!
Several burly Grass ninja kicked the rusted door off its hinges. They barged in, grabbed a red-haired woman who'd jolted awake from her sleep, and began dragging her out without a word.
"Let me go! LET ME GO!"
The woman thrashed wildly.
But malnourished, her chakra perpetually drained, her struggles were pathetic. Her weak punches and kicks against the ninjas' backs were less than annoying.
"Shut up and behave!"
One ninja finally lost his patience. He drove a fist hard into the woman's stomach, knocking the wind from her. "Some Leaf bastard attacked the village. The infirmary's overflowing. We didn't keep you around for free. Time to earn your keep, Yakunin."
"Yeah. Be good. If you perform well, we might even toss you a scrap of meat later."
Their tone wasn't one used for a person. It was the tone used for a trained animal—a useful pet.
A 'Medicine Human' was what they called captured Uzumaki clan members. Any injured ninja could bite the Yakunin and rapidly replenish their chakra and vitality. That was her function.
Thud.
The woman's legs buckled. She nearly collapsed. The ninjas didn't slow. They just kept dragging her.
Her calves scraped along the rough ground, leaving twin trails in the dirt. The exposed skin burned, raw and bleeding.
"You monsters… I won't… submit…"
The red-haired woman had no strength left to resist. She could only curse weakly as they hauled her along like a sack.
These Grass Village scum didn't care about her. They just sucked her dry, day after day, until there was nothing left.
She'd seen other clansmen discarded like trash when they were finally used up. She, Uzumaki Karin, was the last 'Yakunin' left in the Grass Village.
"Someone… please… save me from this hell… Sage of Six Paths… can you hear me…?"
Hopeless tears overflowed, tracing lines through the dirt on her cheeks. Tortured and powerless, her last refuge was a plea to a distant, silent god.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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