Subject No. 13, though he possessed the transplanted cells of Hashirama Senju, had only borrowed strength—not true mastery over Wood Release.
Under normal conditions, he could barely control the chakra flow to wield the technique.
But during the battle against Uchiha Byakuya, he recklessly pushed the Wood Release beyond its limits, only to be overwhelmed by Byakuya's merciless assault.
Fatally wounded, Subject No. 13 lost control over the implanted Hashirama cells.
The cells went berserk.
A surge of life-force chakra erupted from his body, and the vegetation around him exploded in growth—wild, uncontrollable, and predatory.
Countless trees burst from the ground, writhing like serpents, devouring everything in their path.
The first to fall were the Root operatives.
"Aaaaagh—what is this?!..."
"Help! I can't—gahhhh!!..."
Screams tore through the air as over a dozen Root members were engulfed by rampaging branches, shredded and absorbed by the unchecked Wood Release.
But it didn't stop there.
The chaos spread in all directions. Trees sprouted violently, crashing into formations and tearing through squads.
Ninjas from the Sarutobi, Shimura, and Mito clans were swept away, their cries echoing as they were swallowed by the sea of monstrous foliage.
"Damn it, what's going on?!"
"Is this what the Root was hiding?!"
"Those bastards have doomed us all!"
"Retreat—RETREAT IMMEDIATELY!"
The assault from Subject No. 13—combined with Byakuya's earlier rampage—shattered their morale.
What had started as an operation to eliminate a rogue Uchiha had turned into a massacre.
The surviving ninjas fled, panic overriding reason.
Byakuya, standing amidst the destruction, didn't pursue.
He didn't need to.
He wanted them to flee.
He wanted them to carry this terror back to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Only through fear… despair… would Byakuya harvest the negative energy he needed.
Konoha Village – Hokage Office, War Room
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat silently, smoke curling from his freshly lit pipe.
Beside him were Shimura Danzo, Utane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura, all grim-faced, waiting for news from the frontlines.
"Sarutobi, it's been hours…"
"Still no report? What's happening out there?"
"Surely by now, Uchiha Byakuya has been dealt with?"
The two advisors pressed for answers, their voices tight with anxiety.
"No word yet," Hiruzen muttered, narrowing his eyes. "But the operation should be concluding soon…"
Danzo leaned forward confidently.
"Do not worry. We mobilized the entire Root organization. And more importantly—Subject No. 13. With Hashirama's cells, he wields Wood Release. That alone will be enough to erase Byakuya."
The words reassured the others.
"Yes… yes. With that power, Byakuya stands no chance," Koharu said, sipping her tea. "That Uchiha… should never have been allowed to grow so arrogant."
They settled into uneasy silence.
Suddenly—
BANG!
The door slammed open.
Startled, Koharu and Homura spilled tea over themselves.
"Idiots! Don't you know how to knock?!"
But the panicked ANBU agent ignored their scolding and spoke directly to Hiruzen:
"Third Hokage… we have a situation."
"…The mission—has failed!"
"Byakuya's strength is too terrifying… We're no match for him at all!"
The Sarutobi clan ninja was gasping for breath, his face pale and drenched in sweat as he knelt before the elders.
He had barely escaped with his life after facing Byakuya. The ambush squad had been annihilated.
He knew what that meant — not just the failure of the mission, but the impending wrath of Byakuya. The Uchiha would not simply spare them. Not the Root, not the Sarutobi, not any of them.
Without pause, he had rushed back to Konoha and reported the failure to Sarutobi Hiruzen himself.
"What!? What did you just say!?"
"Say it again!"
"Mission… failed!?"
The four present elders all slammed their hands on the table and rose to their feet, shocked and disbelieving.
"Failed!? How is that even possible!?"
"With that many elite shinobi? With Wood Release on our side?!"
Danzo Shimura was the most furious.
He had mobilized nearly the entire Root force for this mission, even deploying Subject No. 13 — a dangerous asset who had just stabilized after receiving Hashirama Senju's cells.
In Danzo's mind, the mission was foolproof. Failure wasn't even a scenario.
So when he heard it had failed, his rage boiled over.
"What happened out there!?" Danzo snapped.
"You said you used Wood Release… Then why the hell didn't it work!?"
"We did!" the ninja cried. "Subject No. 13 used it! He overwhelmed the battlefield with the Deep Forest Emergence technique!"
"But… even that wasn't enough. Byakuya's Susanoo shattered it. His chakra… it was monstrous. It wasn't something human beings could fight against."
Silence fell for a moment.
The expressions of everyone present shifted from disbelief to dread.
"Impossible…" someone whispered.
"Even the First Hokage used Wood Release to subdue Madara Uchiha!"
"You're telling me even that power can't stop Byakuya?!"
Koharu Utatane's voice trembled. "Hiruzen… what do we do now?"
"Yes, Sarutobi!" Mito Kado echoed, visibly panicked.
"If Byakuya learns what we've been doing in the shadows—about the experimentation, the assassination orders—he'll never let us live…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen stayed silent for a long moment.
His pipe had dropped from his fingers.
This wasn't just a failed mission.
It was the beginning of their end.
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