"Wood Style: Four-Pillar Prison!"
"Wood Style: Wood Ingot Wall!"
"Wood Style: Wood Clone!"
"Wood Style: Tree-Binding Eternal Burial!"
"Wood Style: Birth of the Tree World!"
A surge of life burst from the ground. The dead, cracked earth around Ryuuto transformed into a growing forest, the air thick with green chakra.
He grinned. "So this is Wood Style, huh? Damn… this power's insane."
The leaves rustled with his excitement. "Guess I'd better find someone to test it on."
After regrouping with Gwen, Susan, and the others, Ryuuto decided to join the X-Men's mission team, tagging along with Bobby (Iceman) and Colossus.
Their target: a violent mutant known as Jugor, wanted for multiple murders across New York.
"Captain, it's rare to see you out in the field. Something big today?" Bobby asked, eyes wide.
Colossus added, "Yeah, is the target special this time?"
Ryuuto cracked a lazy smile. "Nah. Just felt like punching something. Let's move."
In a blur of movement, he shot ahead, leaving them both in the dust.
"Guess that's our cue," Bobby muttered, forcing a grin before freezing the ground under his feet to chase after him.
Meanwhile, deep in a filthy New York slum, a scene straight out of a nightmare was playing out.
A massive, greasy mutant had a man hoisted by the throat. His gang of thugs stood around, laughing and cheering.
"Please! I gave you everything! Let me go!" the man begged, gasping.
Jugor sneered. "Who said I wanted your pocket change, huh? You think I'm that cheap?"
He squeezed harder, his sausage-thick fingers digging in until the man's eyes bulged.
"You think you can tell me what to do? You think I care?"
The victim kicked uselessly, his voice breaking. "Help! Somebody help!"
Jugor's smirk widened. "Scream louder. Let's see if anyone's dumb enough to come save you."
When the man bit his finger in desperation, Jugor's expression darkened.
"You bit me? Oh, you're dead."
Without hesitation, he slammed the man into a wall. Bone cracked. Brains splattered. The gang erupted in cheers.
"Boss, you're the king of New York!"
"Yeah! Way tougher than those Avengers clowns!"
Jugor chuckled, brushing imaginary dust off his oversized jacket. "Damn right. Let's get outta here—"
A voice cut through the air like thunder.
"You murder someone and think you can just walk away? You really are bottom-tier trash."
The laughter stopped. Heads snapped around.
"Who said that!?" one of the goons barked. "Come out, coward! You wanna die tonight?"
He didn't even finish the sentence before a shuriken buried itself in his chest with a crack, piercing his heart clean through. Blood splashed onto the pavement.
The others froze.
Jugor's smile vanished. His eyes snapped upward—to the roof.
Ryuuto stood there, coat fluttering in the breeze, with Bobby and Colossus beside him.
Killing one of his men wasn't the issue. Doing it in front of him? That was a slap to his oversized ego.
"You've got guts, kid," Jugor growled. "You just signed your own death warrant."
Ryuuto smirked, leaping down. "You're one to talk, big guy. You picked the wrong day to breathe near me."
A dozen shuriken spun through the air toward Jugor.
The mutant yawned. "Please."
He flexed his grotesque belly, and the projectiles ricocheted off harmlessly. "You think those toys can scratch me?"
He didn't even notice Ryuuto's foot coming until it smashed into his face. The Leaf Great Whirlwind sent him reeling backward, the ground cracking beneath his weight.
Jugor spat blood. "You'll regret that, brat!"
He lunged, grabbing Ryuuto and swinging him like a rag doll toward the nearest wall—
—but his hands crushed only a wooden log.
Crack!
Ryuuto's voice came from above, calm and sharp. "Ever heard of a substitution technique, fatass?"
His fingers blurred into seals.
"Wood Style: Four-Pillar Prison!"
The ground erupted. Massive wooden pillars burst up, forming a cage around Jugor. The wood groaned as it tightened, pinning his limbs and dragging him to his knees.
Jugor's face twisted with rage, his veins bulging red. "You think this will stop me!?"
Ryuuto's smirk darkened. "No. But it'll make the next part easier."
The earth trembled as roots crawled up the mutant's body, coiling tighter.
"Let's see how long you can scream before the trees shut you up."