Sou! Sou! Sou!
Within the Tree World, thick roots surged from every direction, twisting and coiling until they squeezed the surrounding space.
Click!
Click!
Buildings around them cracked and collapsed one after another, explosions echoing through the air. Not a single intact brick or tile remained; smoke and dust billowed everywhere.
For a moment, everyone watching was stunned.
The ten elite operatives of Root stared wide-eyed.
In their minds, a single figure emerged—the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
The man who had reshaped the Valley of the End in a single battle.
Among them, a masked shinobi with the Sharingan activated—three tomoe spinning—caught sight of something terrifying. He could clearly see a chakra around Ryoma so dense and potent it was almost tangible.
Such chakra… it was overwhelming, unbearable even for seasoned Root shinobi.
The tree roots swayed ominously, exuding crushing pressure that made even the battle-hardened tremble.
Ryoma could feel his chakra surging violently—completely different from just a few days ago.
He didn't move. He didn't need to. His stillness alone was enough to make cold sweat run down the backs of his enemies.
Even those outside the Tree Realm—Hiruzen Sarutobi, Uzumaki Mito, Minato Namikaze, and others—could feel that suffocating pressure.
"This… this is Ryoma's chakra?" Hiruzen asked in surprise.
Mito's eyes widened. Just days ago, Ryoma had done nothing but lounge around and sleep. She had been a little disappointed in him.
Now she understood.
Ryoma was a genius.
And geniuses often carried a pride that made them seem idle—just like Hashirama in his youth.
"It's truly the blood of the Senju clan…" Mito murmured with a sigh.
Her gaze shifted to Minato. "Is Kushina inside as well?"
Minato nodded. "Yes—Ryoma pulled her in with him."
A spark lit up in Mito's eyes. Two young people, alone inside the Tree Realm—an excellent opportunity to build their bond.
She turned to Hiruzen and said, "Wait, Ape Hiruzen. Since Ryoma used Tree Realm Birth, there's no danger to her."
Hiruzen gave her a look of disbelief. A moment ago, she was all worked up about going in—and now she wanted to wait?
Back inside, Yamanaka Kaze, Root's squad leader, felt a sudden dread. This young man's power… it wasn't just the strength of a regular jōnin.
"Attack!" he barked.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he lunged toward Ryoma.
The masked Sharingan user's eyes bled from the strain as he unleashed his jutsu.
"Illusion—Golden Binding Technique!"
This Sharingan genjutsu trapped the enemy in an illusory world, locking their body in place.
But against Ryoma—it did nothing.
"What?! It's ineffective?!"
It wasn't just the Sharingan's genjutsu.
Yamanaka Kaze's mind-transfer techniques failed. The Aburame clan's parasites couldn't even get close—slashed apart by writhing roots before they could reach him.
Countless roots and wooden vines whipped forward in a storm of motion, thicker and thicker with every passing second, brimming with vibrant green life.
In that overwhelming vitality, the Root shinobi felt nothing but dread, cold sweat running down their backs.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The Tree Realm had become their prison.
The ten Root operatives darted between the massive vines of the Tree Realm, leaping and weaving through the chaos.
At times, they were forced to hack apart the roots and vines they couldn't avoid.
They relied on Body Flicker and Shadow Clone Jutsu to evade, but the relentless assault left them no room to breathe.
Yet no matter how fast they moved, more monstrous roots erupted from the ground, squeezing the space tighter and tighter until it was nothing but a writhing forest of wood.
Even Shadow Clones couldn't hold out for long—these were ordinary shinobi without any kekkei genkai to match this level of power.
"Retreat!" Yamanaka Kaze barked sharply, his voice edged with alarm.
Ryoma's strength was far beyond anything they had predicted.
They had already prepared for the worst… yet Ryoma's true power exceeded even their highest estimations.
At his order, the Root shinobi turned to flee—
—but the vines moved faster.
Like arrows loosed from a bow, they shot through the air.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
"Ah!"
"Gah!"
Screams rang out as, in mere seconds, all ten were ensnared. Massive roots coiled around them like ropes, binding them tightly like rice dumplings.
From every direction, enormous tree roots sealed off Yamanaka Kaze's escape.
In an instant, he too was wrapped in a crushing bind.
Bang!
A puff of smoke—Substitution Jutsu.
Twenty meters away, Yamanaka Kaze reappeared, panting in relief. But when he turned—
His eyes widened in shock.
When had Ryoma appeared right in front of him?
Behind Ryoma, all his comrades were already bound. And surrounding them—dozens more Ryomas, each one a clone.
One against ten… and Ryoma had won without breaking a sweat.
Ryoma's gaze narrowed at the masked Yamanaka.
"So… you're the leader?"