"Are you… a Konoha shinobi?"
At first, Jiraiya thought his opponent was just short in stature. But now, staring at the boy's youthful face, he realized with a jolt that he really was just a child.
That immature face struck Jiraiya's heart like a bolt of thunder.
"Yes," Yuichi said calmly. "I'm a Konoha ninja. A Genin who only graduated this year."
Jiraiya's eyelids twitched.
Genin?
Does that kind of performance… look like a freshly graduated Genin?
The boy's mastery of Water Style alone was terrifying.
"What about… your Wood Style?" Jiraiya demanded.
Yuichi shrugged slightly. "Nothing special. Just like everyone else, one day it suddenly awakened."
"One day…?"
So, this boy really did awaken the power of Wood Style.
The Wood Style… awakened in him.
Could this kid be—?
And then another thought struck him.
"That strange, crushing strength you used earlier… Could he also carry Senju blood?"
The Senju clan had long since abandoned their surname, blending into Konoha. Many in the village carried traces of Senju lineage.
But very few had ever inherited the clan's true power.
In Konoha's darker days, countless cruel experiments had been performed in secret—desperate attempts to recreate Wood Style through Senju descendants.
After all, their bodies were closest to the First Hokage's. They were the most "suitable" test subjects.
Even his own teacher, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, had quietly allowed those labs to exist.
And now, the very power Konoha's higher-ups had dreamed of reclaiming… had appeared.
Not in some test subject. Not in a chosen heir.
But in a boy—a Genin.
And this boy wielded it with frightening ease.
The Wood Style that surrounded the battlefield pulsed with life, filling the space with unshakable vitality.
Jiraiya knew all too well—no matter how wildly he unleashed his ninjutsu, breaking through this cage would not be easy.
"Heh… hehehe…" Jiraiya chuckled under his breath.
"Tell me, Konoha Genin… why are you here to kill me?"
Yuichi's eyes narrowed slightly. "Does the reason matter?"
"Of course it does."
Yuichi let out a quiet snort. Since the man wanted words…
Then he would give them.
And besides… it was almost time.
"You're my greatest obstacle to becoming Hokage," Yuichi said coldly.
"So that's it," Jiraiya murmured, his expression heavy. "You need me out of the way."
Disappointment filled his eyes.
For a moment, he had hoped.
A boy of unfathomable talent. A genius who had awakened Wood Style.
If this child grew to even half the level of the First Hokage, the shinobi world could have known peace for another fifty years.
But Yuichi's voice suddenly echoed from behind him.
"Surprised?"
Jiraiya stiffened.
"I even know the Rasengan," Yuichi continued. "At that moment, you should've reacted faster… but because I used Rasengan, your response slowed—just a little."
Puff!
Blood splattered.