"I am! I am! I am!"
Within the domain of the Deep Forest Emergence, thick, gnarled roots surged outward, instantly compressing the surrounding space.
Crack!
Boom!
The nearby buildings crumbled one after another. Explosions erupted continuously, leaving no structure intact. Smoke and dust filled the air, engulfing everything in chaos.
For a moment, the entire field fell into stunned silence.
The ten Root operatives all widened their eyes in shock.
In their minds, a figure emerged—the image of a past Hokage.
A man who had once reshaped the entire Valley of the End through a single battle.
Among them, a masked ninja wearing a Sharingan lens fixated his gaze, the three tomoe in his eye spinning. He clearly saw chakra threads emerging from Takayama Haru's body, so dense they were nearly material.
Such chakra… they couldn't handle it at all.
The roots around them trembled, radiating a terrifying aura. Every one of them began to shiver instinctively.
Even Takayama himself could feel his chakra surging wildly within him. It was completely different from what it had been just a few days ago!
He stood motionless in place, but sweat trickled down the backs of everyone watching.
And it wasn't just those caught inside the Forest Domain—outside, even the Hokage, along with Kushina Uzumaki's grandmother Mito and the others, felt a suffocating pressure descending upon them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi exclaimed in disbelief,
"This is Haru's chakra?"
Even Mito was taken aback. In the past few days, Takayama Haru had seemed like a layabout, doing nothing all day, his favorite activity being sleep. The old woman had already begun to feel disappointed in him.
But now… she understood.
Takayama Haru was a genius.
And geniuses were often prideful and odd—just like old people. They looked lazy on the surface, but they were never what they seemed.
Mito sighed and said,
"As expected of a child of the Senju bloodline."
Then she turned to Minato and asked,
"Is Kushina inside as well?"
Minato quickly nodded.
"Yes. Haru pulled Kushina in with him..."
Mito's eyes immediately sparkled.
Haru and Kushina, two young people together inside a dangerous jutsu? What a great opportunity to deepen their bond.
She immediately raised her hand to stop Hiruzen.
"Wait, Sarutobi. Since he used Deep Forest Emergence, I don't think there's much danger."
Sarutobi stared at her speechlessly.
Just moments ago, you were freaking out—and now you don't want me to go in?
Meanwhile, a bad feeling rose in the heart of Yamaka Kazekaze, the Root team's leader.
The intel on this kid… it's wrong. He's not just an ordinary jonin-level ninja!
"Charge!"
Kazekaze roared furiously, the ground beneath him cracking as he launched himself at Takayama Haru.
At the same time, the others sprang into action.
The masked Sharingan user's eye began to bleed at the corner.
"Genjutsu—Golden Binding Technique!"
The Golden Binding Technique—a Sharingan-based illusion that traps enemies in an illusory world, freezing them in place. Once caught, the victim becomes unable to move.
But this level of genjutsu… was completely ineffective against Haru.
"It didn't work?!"
And it wasn't just the Uchiha's chakra illusions.
Mental manipulation techniques from the Yamanaka clan didn't work either.
The Aburame clan's parasitic insects couldn't even get close.
In every direction, countless roots and vines twisted and surged, whipping through the air, lashing out at the ten Root operatives like a living forest of wrath.
"Shit!"
The roots and vines thickened with every passing second, vibrant and filled with life. It was precisely this overwhelming vitality that inspired paralyzing fear. Everyone broke into a cold sweat.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Root ninjas leapt and dashed between the vines and branches, their figures flickering through the tangle with practiced agility.
They were forced to slash through some roots and vines that couldn't be avoided.
They used transformation jutsu and shadow clones where they could.
But it wasn't enough.
The vines sprouted faster than they could react, shooting out like arrows, filling every inch of space.
Even shadow clones couldn't handle the sheer volume. After all, they weren't from a bloodline clan; they didn't have the chakra to match.
"Retreat!"
Kazekaze quickly shouted. Things had gone terribly wrong.
Takayama Haru's strength had far exceeded their expectations.
They had already assumed the worst-case scenario, but reality had outstripped even their darkest predictions.
The ten operatives immediately turned and fled.
But the vines moved faster—like flying spears, they shot forward at lightning speed.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Ahhh!"
"Agh!"
Several screams echoed in the air. Within seconds, all ten Root members were wrapped up tightly like cocoons.
Massive roots rose on all sides, blocking every escape route for Kazekaze.
In an instant, he too was caught, wrapped up tightly like the others.
Boom!
Substitution Jutsu!
Twenty meters away, Kazekaze reappeared, gasping for air. He turned around—
And his pupils shrank.
When did Haru get here?!
All his comrades were already bound.
And the area around him?
All filled with Takayama Haru's clones. Everywhere.
One man versus ten—and Haru won?!
With narrowed eyes, Haru looked at the masked Kazekaze standing before him.
"Are you the leader?"