With a thought, Yao created a Wood Clone. The clone landed not far away and clapped its hands together.
The ground swelled, and a wooden man similar in size to Susanoo rose up, assuming a combat stance.
Fighting against himself was the safest and most efficient way to spar.
It trained both his Wood Release and his Susanoo—killing two birds with one stone!
"Let's try ranged attacks first!"
Yao stood within the crystal on Susanoo's forehead, his gaze sharpening.
"Susanoo: Ninety-Nine!"
Susanoo's heavy Tengu chest armor suddenly opened to the sides, revealing the orange magatama on its chest.
The magatama shone brilliantly, and countless emerald-green chakra arrows shot out like a torrential rain.
The whistling sound of tearing air rang out as a deadly green curtain of light covered the wooden man.
Facing this dense ranged bombardment, the wooden man controlled by the Wood Clone did not dodge. instead, it crossed its arms in front of itself.
"Wood Release: Hōbi Technique!"
A massive, thick wooden shield condensed in front of the wooden man, forming the most solid barrier.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!!!
The dense chakra arrows bombarded the wooden shield in succession, making dull, drum-like impact sounds.
The arrows contained extreme penetrating power; the wooden shield was blasted with flying splinters, and cracks and holes appeared on its surface.
In the blink of an eye, it was turned into a sieve and looked about to collapse completely.
"Hah!"
The wooden man controlled by the Wood Clone suddenly charged out from behind the shattered shield. Its massive fist tore through the air, smashing ruthlessly toward Susanoo's head.
"Again!"
Yao's thoughts raced.
The gigantic spiral sword in Susanoo's hand rose abruptly, the blade spinning at a terrifying speed.
The rotation created a shrill whistling sound, forming a visible chakra drill vortex at the tip that exuded an indestructible sharpness.
Without dodging or yielding, the spiral drill went straight to meet the wooden man's giant fist.
Crack! Crackle!
Upon contact with the spiral drill, the wooden man's hard fist shattered inch by inch.
The destruction spread rapidly up the arm, and the entire thick wooden limb was twisted into a sky full of sawdust and fragments.
With just one strike, one of the wooden man's arms was destroyed.
But the most troublesome thing about Wood Release was its powerful regeneration ability.
Countless tiny wood fibers grew frantically, and a brand-new, intact arm was quickly reshaped.
"Haha! Again!"
The fighting spirit in Yao's eyes burned even brighter.
This indestructible, regenerating target with incredible strength was the perfect subject for honing his Susanoo.
The rotation speed of the spiral sword in Susanoo's hand increased again as it launched an offensive against the wooden man.
Not to be outdone, the wooden man swung its fists, creating gusts of fierce wind.
It clashed violently once more with the terrifying spiral drill.
For a time, the desolate valley was filled with constant booming, while wood chips and fragments of chakra scattered everywhere.
...
In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
The remote valley on the border of the Land of Fire was now completely unrecognizable.
It was covered in craters and gullies of varying depths, with charred burn marks and broken wooden debris visible everywhere.
These were the "battle scars" left by Yao's frantic training over these past few days, pitting his Susanoo against his Wood Release in a bombardment of power.
"Phew!"
Yao slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air. The emerald-green Susanoo quickly dispersed into specks of light that filled the sky.
The rapidly spinning crimson windmill pattern in his eyes also slowly came to a halt, reverting to the three-tomoe form.
"The development of the Mangekyō and the initial mastery of Susanoo... can be put aside for now!"
Feeling the more condensed and tamed ocular power within him, Yao evaluated the results of this half-month.
The growth of his ocular power and his adaptability to Susanoo had both met his expectations, perhaps even slightly exceeding them.
But Yao was also clear about one thing.
The power of the Mangekyō Sharingan didn't actually offer a massive boost to his current power system.
It was more like icing on the cake, adding a powerful trump card and tactical form for critical moments, but it wasn't a qualitative change.
After all, he already possessed the Sage Body and powerful Wood Release.
"It's time to continue training in Sage Mode!" Yao looked into the distance, his expression becoming serious.
Sage Mode was the key!
Once he successfully mastered Sage Mode, the amplification would be all-encompassing!
Speed, strength, defense, sensory abilities, ninjutsu power... everything would be enhanced exponentially.
Especially for Wood Release, senjutsu chakra would absolutely cause a heaven-and-earth transformation in its capabilities.
That was the key to truly stepping into the Super Kage level!
With only Wood Release or the Mangekyō Sharingan, he was still just considered Kage level!
"Before that..."
Yao thought to himself, "I need to go home first. Tsunade's inauguration ceremony as the Fifth Hokage should be in the next few days!"
"It's better to show my face at such an important occasion!"
Although he had no interest in getting involved in the power transition of Konoha.
As a major combat power on the surface of Konoha and the nominal head of the Uchiha clan.
He still had to attend a ceremony where the symbolic meaning outweighed the practical significance.
Whoosh!
Activating the Flying Thunder God Technique, Yao vanished instantly from the desolate valley.
...
In preparation for Tsunade's inauguration as the Fifth Hokage, the Konoha higher-ups had clearly begun to build momentum with full force.
Over the past few days.
Information about Tsunade was circulating everywhere in the village.
Granddaughter of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju; the illustrious reputation and glorious battle achievements of one of Konoha's "Sannin"...
This information quickly diluted the sorrow, fear, and worry about the future following the Third Hokage's sacrifice.
People were full of anticipation, discussing the legendary kunoichi, Tsunade.
They looked forward to her leading Konoha out of its slump and restoring its glory.
That evening.
The setting sun dyed the Uchiha clan district a warm gold as three figures appeared at the entrance.
It was Tsunade, Jiraiya, and a bouncing Naruto Uzumaki.
It was Karin who opened the door.
She looked nervously at the three people outside. Hearing the commotion, Yao and Sasuke also walked out of the house.
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Naruto : I'm an Uchiha Who Can Use Wood (Simulpub, Ongoing)
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"Yao!"
Seeing Yao, Naruto immediately shouted happily and rushed over, a brilliant smile on his face.
"Naruto!"
A smile also appeared on Yao's face as he habitually ruffled Naruto's dazzling blond hair. "Haven't seen you for a few days, seems like you've grown a bit taller again, kid?"
"Hey, hey, hey! Yao, you jerk, stop touching my head!"
Naruto quickly shrunk his neck to dodge, then turned back to point at Tsunade and Jiraiya behind him, shouting:
"It was Granny Tsunade who said she wanted to see you, so we came over!"
Yao nodded and looked toward the two heavyweights at the door.
He stepped forward, bowing slightly in greeting. "Greetings, Lady Tsunade, Lord Jiraiya!"
Tsunade and Jiraiya were, after all, seniors of the village.
As the Uchiha clan head, he had to show at least this much etiquette.
"Hehe, no need to be so polite, kid!" Jiraiya said with a chuckle, his arms crossed.
His gaze swept over Yao and Sasuke, pausing for a moment on Yao's three-tomoe Sharingan.
He remembered that when they met at the Hokage's office last time, Yao didn't have the three tomoe yet. It had only been a few days; had he already awakened the three tomoe?
This kid was freakishly talented!
Tsunade didn't speak.
From the moment she entered, her beautiful amber eyes had been fixed tightly on Yao, scrutinizing him.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, as if sensing something, Tsunade let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
Immediately after, she reached out and pressed her hand directly onto Yao's shoulder, her palm glowing with a soft green chakra light.
In just two seconds.
The expression on Tsunade's face instantly became extremely colorful—shock, astonishment, confusion, disbelief.
"Such massive chakra... this surging life force..."
Tsunade's tone was certain, yet filled with incredulity: "A constitution... just like Grandfather's?!"