Chapter 143: Entering the Temple and Lowering Your Hands
Wood Release—known throughout the shinobi world for its legendary ability to restrain the chakra of tailed beasts. A power etched into memory by the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, who subdued the Nine-Tails like it was a house pet.
But that was then.
And this was now.
Was Wood Release truly that absolute?
What happens when the user's chakra is inferior to the Jinchūriki?
What if—on top of that—the Jinchūriki isn't a wild beast, but a boy who has mastered the chakra inside him?
That's when the myth falls apart.
---
Ryosuke watched with calm indifference as Shimura Danzo was torn apart—again. A brutal spray of red scattered like crushed fruit, soaking the forest floor.
He didn't flinch.
He expected it.
Not every ninja who possessed Wood Release could reach Hashirama's level.
Transplanting his cells was not the same as inheriting his soul.
No, strength wasn't determined by technique alone. It was control. Precision. Power.
And Danzo, despite all his experiments, lacked all three.
---
"So strong… It's completely different from when I fought…"
In the sealed space, Naruto watched from within his own body, eyes wide, voice hushed.
This was his body. His power. He had transformed into the Nine-Tails form countless times—but never like this.
Ryosuke, using it for the first time, wielded it with terrifying grace. As though it were a finely tuned weapon forged for his hands alone.
Naruto could only stare.
Even Sasuke, even he—they were nowhere near this level.
Not even close.
"You'll catch up," Ryosuke said, as if reading his thoughts. "Eventually."
"But only if you stop chasing power for the sake of it and start building a real foundation."
His tone wasn't cruel. It was honest.
"The Sandaime taught you chakra control—tree climbing, walking on water. Basics."
"But that's only the beginning. Chakra control is a world of its own. You've barely scratched the surface."
"Your starting point is already higher than most. That's your bloodline. Your reserves are huge, probably more than any ordinary ninja could ever hope for."
"But having more chakra means your control has to be that much stronger."
"And with a tailed beast inside you? That challenge doubles."
While Ryosuke spoke, the battlefield erupted again.
Root ninjas rushed in like a black tide—hundreds of them, loyal only to Danzo, charging without hesitation.
Ryosuke's eyes didn't waver.
Small fry.
He drew a fraction of the Nine-Tails' chakra and turned it into crimson claws, sweeping across the battlefield.
Dozens of Root ninja were thrown back—some shredded on impact. The slower ones never stood a chance.
He showed no mercy.
Those who followed Danzo blindly were just as dangerous as their master.
The ANBU under Tiger's command stayed their hands—watching, hesitating. They had not been ordered to intervene, and for now, they chose restraint.
Smart.
Ryosuke's priority was Naruto's future. The death of Danzo's puppets wouldn't damage his reputation. It would only liberate it.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet."
Danzo spat compressed wind bullets toward Ryosuke with precision.
Sharp. Invisible. Deadly.
And completely ineffective.
The dense chakra around Ryosuke's body caught them before they could even get close, absorbing them into red mist.
From afar, Root operatives added Fire Style techniques—flames and wind combining in mid-air into devastating compound jutsu.
Fireballs rained down like miniature suns.
They sizzled. Roared. Ripped through the sky.
But they never touched him.
The Nine-Tails' chakra flared once more—thick, oppressive—and blasted the fireballs apart like candle flames caught in a hurricane.
"Is he… is he a monster?"
One young ANBU member couldn't contain his voice. His whisper turned into a shout of disbelief.
"Even the Hokage wouldn't survive that kind of attack—!"
At the front of the formation, Tiger glanced over but said nothing.
That boy hadn't seen real war. Not like he had.
A battle of thousands. Tens of thousands. The crushing pressure of a full-scale conflict where even a tailed beast could be brought to its knees by sheer numbers.
But even still…
This Jinchūriki?
This boy?
He was terrifying.
How old was he?
And yet he controlled the Nine-Tails' chakra like it was a natural extension of his will.
Tiger kept silent.
But in his heart—he agreed.
Ryosuke heard the murmurs. He ignored them.
He didn't need recognition.
He had power—and purpose.
Naruto's body thrummed with energy. Chakra reserves far beyond what any of these shinobi could comprehend.
The Nine-Tails sat silently within the seal, like a furnace that never cooled.
"RUSH!"
Danzo's voice cracked through the battlefield.
Raspy. Desperate.
But still filled with authority.
"We must take the Nine-Tails! He cannot be allowed to threaten the village!"
His words dripped with righteousness—but they were poison.
Ryosuke heard the desperation beneath the surface.
He watched as the Root operatives surged forward again—kunai in hand, jutsu primed.
They moved with suicidal resolve.
Some wept.
Others roared.
All of them believed in Danzo.
And Danzo ran with them.
The man himself—leader of Root, warhawk of Konoha—charged headlong into battle like a dying beast trying to reclaim its throne.
"We must capture the Jinchūriki!"
"He must not become a threat to the village!"
Danzo shouted his thoughts for all to hear, putting everything on display—his conviction, his resolve, his obsession.
He truly believed that everything he did was for Konoha. Every decision, every sacrifice, every secret. All of it, in his mind, came from a place of devotion to the village.
But to Ryosuke, it looked like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
He watched the Root soldiers charge with grim indifference, harvesting them like wheat with each passing second. There was no hesitation. No thrill. Just... disappointment.
Danzo's performance so far? Mediocre.
Was this the man they said shaped the shadows of Konoha?
Each technique thrown at Ryosuke crumbled like paper. His body, now far more powerful than it had been during the Land of Waves incident, simply refused to break. Even S-rank ninjutsu barely scratched him.
And Naruto's body, with its superior constitution, was leagues above Shinji's body.
One by one, Root shinobi fell. Their comrades died before their eyes—ripped apart, shredded, dismembered—and yet they still charged forward. Their faith was absolute. They obeyed Danzo's command like zealots, convinced that Naruto's power truly was a threat to Konoha.
"Captain… are we really not going to do anything?"
A voice spoke from the ANBU formation—low, uncertain.
Dozens of masked warriors stood frozen, fists clenched. Even if they didn't agree with Root, they wore the same uniform. Fought under the same banners. Bled for the same village.
Watching this one-sided slaughter tore at them.
But—
"Stand down," Tiger ordered sharply. "Anyone who disobeys will be removed from the ANBU immediately."
His tone was absolute.
These young shinobi still saw the world in black and white. But Tiger… Tiger had lived through the grey.
He'd served under the Second Hokage himself. He had seen war, betrayal, chaos. This night felt wrong, and he knew better than to act rashly.
Yes, he'd given the wrong order earlier. Danzo's manipulation had caught him off guard.
But now? Now he could see things clearly.
Naruto hadn't retaliated with intent to kill. Even during the earlier skirmish, most had only been wounded—lightly. If he truly wanted to, the ANBU would've been reduced to corpses.
This meant one thing:
Uzumaki Naruto wasn't an enemy of the village.
And now that ANBU had arrived, Naruto's restraint was gone. He showed no mercy to Root or Danzo. The last attack had been full force, aimed directly at Shimura Danzo.
That meant something had changed.
Tiger narrowed his eyes.
Danzo had clearly made a move tonight without higher approval. That much was obvious now.
He often acted first and reported later.
As an old colleague, Tiger had already made his own judgment—but the final call would have to wait until the Sandaime arrived.
…If he ever did.
Why is the Third Hokage taking so long?
They should've seen signs of movement from the village by now. At the very least, someone stationed on the perimeter should have returned.
But nothing.
"Wood Release: Kōan Nyūgū Chūishō."
So that's it.
Under the cover of dying subordinates, Danzo advanced. And with his most powerful Wood Release technique, he made his move.
Ryosuke immediately understood what he was trying to do.
A massive wooden palm—shaped like a Buddhist deity's hand—descended from above. Carved on its surface was the kanji for "submission."
Danzo's twisted expression was reflected in Ryosuke's calm, unblinking eyes.
Kōan Nyūgū Chūishō.
A technique combining both Yin Release and Wood Release.
Once, Hashirama Senju had used this to suppress the Nine-Tails when it was controlled by Madara Uchiha.
And now, Danzo dared to replay history.
"Don't take that head-on," Kurama warned, speaking for the first time since the battle began.
"Yeah, no kidding."
Ryosuke chuckled and leapt into the air without hesitation.
This was Naruto's body—not his. He had no intention of risking it recklessly.
"Three-Way Sealing Formation!"
A light green barrier flared to life, rising from the trees and enclosing Ryosuke within a tight perimeter.
The escape routes vanished instantly.
Within the barrier, only Ryosuke, Danzo, and a handful of surviving Root remained.
"You can't escape now!" Danzo roared, slamming the wooden palm toward him.
His rage distorted his chakra, his face twisted by frustration. His perfect plan, unraveling at the seams.
"Escape?" Ryosuke murmured, arching a brow. "This setup… not bad."
He said it more to Naruto than to his enemies.
Ryosuke rarely provoked opponents mid-battle. He preferred silence. Efficiency.
But Danzo?
Danzo needed to be provoked. He needed to lose control.
Now, as the massive palm fell toward him, Ryosuke was completely still.
Another three-tomoe Sharingan... I'll take that.
An intense pressure exploded from Naruto's body—no, from Ryosuke, through Naruto.
It wasn't Kurama's chakra this time.
It was something else.
Something divine.
Thousands of meters away, on Ryosuke's real body, his white Byakugan eyes glowed brighter than moonlight. After his third evolution, his vision had transcended human limits—his Byakugan now matched that of the Ōtsutsuki.
As if a god had descended.
Naruto's crimson animalistic eyes lit with eerie brilliance. The air distorted.
And then—
Collapse.
Everything within a dozen meters around him was flattened instantly, crushed as though a meteor had fallen from the heavens.
The wooden palm? Disintegrated.
The barrier? Shattered into fragments.
Danzo, the Root shinobi, even the barrier casters outside—
All of them were struck by a crushing, invisible force. Pressure from above, pressure from below. Pressure that left no time to scream.
Bones never had the chance to break—because they were obliterated.
The battlefield fell silent.
Then came the sound of a distant wind.
Dust scattered.
And where once there had been trees and earth and life—
—there was now only a massive crater.
Danzo Shimura was gone.
The Root ninjas were gone.
All of them, crushed into dust and fused into the soil.
At the center of the crater, Uzumaki Naruto hovered midair, bathed in the blood-red glow of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
His expression calm.
Eyes sharp.
He said nothing.
But he looked down on them all—
like a god among men.
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