Itachi's gaze pierced through the fading embers, landing on Yao. His tone betrayed no emotion.
"On my way back to Konoha, I heard some rumors."
"I heard... you have mastered Wood Style, and even suppressed the rampaging One-Tailed Shukaku during the Chunin Exams?"
"If that is true... why didn't you use Wood Style just now?"
"Or are those rumors... merely exaggerations?"
This was one of the things Uchiha Itachi wanted to verify most.
Wood Style was the power of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. It had essentially gone extinct with the First's passing.
His brother!
How could an Uchiha clansman possibly master such power?
If it was false, that would naturally be best; but if it was true...
What lay behind this fact made Itachi feel a twinge of unease.
Yao spread his hands at the question. "Oh, you mean Wood Style. I didn't use it because... I was afraid I might accidentally kill you."
"After all, we're just sparring, not fighting to the death!"
"..."
The air went silent for a second.
In the distance, the observing Guy almost stumbled. The corners of Kakashi's mouth twitched, and even his feeling of weakness lessened slightly.
Kisame, shouldering Samehada, wore an amused expression on his shark-like face.
"Itachi-san... this brother of yours is quite arrogant!"
"I'm feeling a bit annoyed. Do you want me to teach him a lesson for you?"
Uchiha Itachi ignored Kisame. The three tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, connecting into the triangular pinwheel pattern. "You can... try!"
"Fine!"
Yao nodded. "Since you want to see it so badly, then... I'll let you see it with your own eyes!"
With that, Yao wasted no more words and slammed his palms together.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!
The originally calm surface of the river instantly boiled over.
Countless thick, knotted vines and giant trees, like ancient beasts that had slumbered for eons, tore through the riverbed, broke the water's surface, and shot into the sky.
They grew, spread, and entwined with madness, the friction of wood against wood creating ear-splitting creaks.
In the blink of an eye!
Right there on the river, a lush, primitive forest filled with savage vitality was created out of thin air.
The dense canopy blotted out the sun, thick branches spanned the river channel, and tangled roots plunged into the depths.
"Th-this is...!!!"
The amusement and annoyance on Kisame Hoshigaki's face vanished instantly, replaced by unparalleled shock.
He even subconsciously retreated several steps with Samehada on his shoulder, distancing himself from the edge of the frantically expanding forest.
"The First Hokage's... Wood Style?! You've got to be kidding! Itachi-san, your brother... actually mastered this kind of power?!"
Kisame looked at Uchiha Itachi, only to find that his partner had also fallen into silence.
Itachi leaped back, landing atop a large tree in the distance.
His crimson Mangekyō Sharingan stared fixedly at the forest on the river.
Beneath his mask-like face, a tumultuous storm raged.
It's true!
The rumors weren't exaggerated; they might have even been conservative!
This scale of Wood Style... perhaps it cannot compare to the First Hokage, but its essence is absolutely power from the same source!
My brother... what exactly has happened to him? Why would the Uchiha bloodline master Wood Style?
The river breeze blew past, rustling the leaves of the newborn forest.
Yao stood on the thickest tree trunk, looking down at Itachi on the distant treetop, his three tomoe spinning slowly.
"Do you see it?"
"Next, let me witness the ultimate power of our Uchiha clan... Susanoo!"
Uchiha Itachi's pupils contracted slightly as he looked deeply at his brother. "Yao! You know quite a lot!"
Yao shrugged. "Although I have no talent for the Sharingan, I am still an Uchiha, after all!"
"I more or less know a thing or two about those ancient secrets passed down in the clan!"
"...Very well!"
Itachi slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the triangular pinwheel Mangekyō Sharingan was spinning to its limit.
Two lines of fresh blood slowly trickled down from the corners of his eyes.
At the same time.
A massive, violent surge of orange-red chakra erupted from Itachi's body like a volcanic explosion.
The chakra condensed rapidly, forming a skeletal giant over ten meters tall, consisting only of the upper body, in the blink of an eye.
The orange-red chakra skeleton radiated a heart-palpitating pressure, and invisible flames burned within its hollow eye sockets.
"Th-what is that thing?" Might Guy's eyes widened into perfect circles, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.
He had never seen such a bizarre and powerful form of chakra.
The cigarette in Asuma's mouth fell forgotten as he muttered, "The Uchiha clan actually hid this kind of power?"
Kurenai Yuhi's face was pale as she gripped Asuma's arm tightly. She felt as though her very soul was trembling.
Even Kisame Hoshigaki put away his spectator's expression, his face turning grave.
He had been partners with Itachi for years, yet this was the first time he had seen Susanoo.
Yao was the calmest of them all. He shook his head. "Susanoo's first form? I'm being underestimated!"
He slammed his palms together again!
"Wood Style: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
Boom!
Countless massive logs and vines converged madly, restructuring and shaping themselves.
A wooden giant, in no way inferior in size to the Susanoo skeleton—perhaps even slightly more robust—rose from the ground.
Clad in crude wooden armor, it radiated a vitality as heavy as a mountain and an oppressive, crushing presence.
"He's even learned the Wood Golem Jutsu?" Itachi was shocked once more.
"I'm attacking!"
With a thought from Yao.
The towering Wood Golem took heavy strides forward, clenched its fist, and punched straight at Itachi's Susanoo opposite it.
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Naruto : I'm an Uchiha Who Can Use Wood (90 Chapters, Ongoing)
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The air exploded with an overwhelmed roar wherever the fist passed.
Itachi's eyes narrowed. He immediately manipulated his Susanoo to swing its equally massive skeletal arm, meeting the attack with a punch of its own.
The orange-red chakra fist and the deep brown wooden fist collided violently above the river surface.
BOOM!!!
It was like two mountain peaks crashing together. The deafening explosion instantly deafened the spectators watching from afar.
A violent shockwave blasted outward in a ring, pressing a massive depression into the river surface and sending splashes of water shooting a hundred meters into the air.
Crack!
A fracturing sound rang out. Fine cracks actually appeared on the orange-red skeletal arm of the Susanoo.
The Wood Golem was relentless. Its other fist followed up immediately with another strike. Itachi controlled Susanoo to block.
Bang! Boom!
Two more loud crashes.
The Susanoo was knocked sliding backward by the immense force.
More cracks burst open on the skeletal frame covering its body.
"Again!"
Yao was exhilarated. The Wood Golem's attacks came like a violent storm—fierce, unmatched in power, and ceaseless in momentum.
"Mere first-form Susanoo... is completely no match!"
Itachi painfully pushed his Mangekyō Sharingan, shedding crimson tears of blood.
"Is this the First Hokage's Wood Style? Truly terrifying!"