Chapter 106: Removing the Root
"Remember this feeling well. Don't let your thoughts wander."
Shiromo reminded Temari.
Although this wasn't something that could only be experienced once, for everyone, the first time was always the most unforgettable.
If Gaara, Temari, and the others wanted to improve their strength and become part of the force opposing the Ōtsutsuki clan, then they had to master attacks that used natural energy.
Otherwise, to the Ōtsutsuki, who could casually absorb chakra-based ninjutsu, they would be nothing more than humanoid power banks.
Temari's abilities were purely Wind Release.
If she didn't want her only future highlight to be blowing Uchiha Madara away once, forcing him to open his second phase and enter the ninjutsu stage, then she had to take this seriously.
"I'm not letting my thoughts wander…"
Temari was just about to stubbornly retort when she realized that the hand Shiromo had resting on her shoulder had slid down her arm and taken hold of her hand. Her body instantly stiffened.
"Y-you, you, what are you doing?!"
"You can't move right now. I'm helping you open the fan."
Unlike Gaara, who controlled sand directly, Temari's Wind Release was habitually used through her three-star fan. Since she couldn't move at the moment, Shiromo naturally had to grab her hand to open the fan and swing it.
Whoosh!
Holding Temari's hand, Shiromo swept the fan, releasing a violent gale.
The wind spread outward from Shiromo and the others as the center, continuously expanding.
Sand and gravel from all around were relentlessly drawn into it.
In the Blood Dragon Eye arc, there had been a Bloodline Limit user from the Land of Water who possessed Typhoon Release.
His displayed ability was that, at full power, he could block a single slash from Sasuke's Susanoo for a few seconds.
A bit of a waste of that name, really.
When that Typhoon Release user was young, because of his bloodline limit, he had been treated as the source of disasters, bullied, and driven out of his village.
One could only say that he was truly wronged.
The energy contained in even the smallest real typhoon over the course of an hour was equivalent to the explosion of several thousand nuclear bombs.
His Typhoon Release was essentially just a more powerful form of Wind Release, without any other special effects.
The only difference was that his Wind Release came from an innate bloodline.
A bloodline limit wasn't necessarily acquired at birth, but anything acquired at birth was definitely a bloodline limit.
In short, if something truly deserved to be called "Typhoon Release," then the Wind Release that Shiromo was currently guiding Temari to use, this level of power, barely qualified.
This was the might of nature itself.
One minute later.
Shiromo's group landed on the rocky layer below.
They were positioned in the eye of the storm and indeed hadn't been directly attacked, but because the surrounding sand had been swept away, the sandy ground beneath their feet had also begun to collapse and sink.
At this moment, only a thin layer of sand remained beneath them.
But everyone's attention was focused on something else.
With the sand completely cleared away, a gigantic root system was revealed before their eyes.
At the very top of the root lay the seal of the Dragon Vein.
"So this is one of the severed roots of the Divine Tree. Now we finally understand what the Dragon Vein really is."
Shiromo released Temari, whom he had been holding during the fall, and stepped forward to inspect it.
He placed his hand on it and sensed its depth.
This root extended very deep into the rocky strata below.
"What's going on here?"
Gaara asked seriously.
This concerned the lifeblood of the Land of Wind, he couldn't afford not to care.
A tree root that went deep underground, combined with Shiromo's earlier story about the Sage of Six Paths' mother planting the tree, gave him a bad feeling.
"It's more or less the same as what I guessed before."
Shiromo turned to face everyone. "This Divine Tree's root broke off here, and over the course of thousands of years, it's been continuously absorbing the natural energy of this land, preventing the land from repairing itself. That's why the Land of Wind has always been a desert."
"What?! Are you saying that without this thing, the Land of Wind would have become as fertile as the Land of Fire long ago?"
Temari asked in shock.
"That's exactly it."
Shiromo nodded.
The ninja world's Earth was just that special.
The natural energy contained in even a small portion of the Land of Wind was enough to produce a fruit that could cause a qualitative leap in Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's power.
If this root hadn't been left here to block the land's self-repair, the entire ninja world might have long since turned into a sustainable, endlessly productive Divine Tree plantation.
Of course, the Ōtsutsuki clan wouldn't think that way. They would only think that since the ninja world's Earth was so remarkable, draining it completely in one go would yield an even more powerful fruit.
"There's actually one more point. It's a bit ironic when you think about it."
Shiromo looked up toward the sealed area above, thought of something, and suddenly smiled.
"Huh? What is it?"
Temari was curious.
"Actually, after the Sage of Six Paths' mother ascended to the heavens, even if this thing really had broken off and stayed underground, once it lost its source of power, it wouldn't have taken long for it to wither away and rot in the earth."
"I have no idea which genius back then set up a seal above it, forcibly plugging the leakage of this root's life force."
"So this root continued to play the role of a Divine Tree, constantly absorbing the natural energy of this region over thousands of years and converting it into chakra."
"That filled its root system with an enormous amount of chakra, and people ended up treating it as some kind of 'lifeblood of the land', the Dragon Vein."
Shiromo had already guessed part of this outcome long ago.
After all, the Dragon Vein contained "chakra," which meant it was absolutely impossible for it to have formed naturally.
"So what do we do now?"
Gaara asked.
"Pull the root out and destroy it."
Shiromo gave his answer. "If you don't deal with it, then even if you master the ability I just demonstrated to you, using natural energy to accelerate the land's recovery, it would still be a drop in the bucket."
"It would be like filling a swimming pool while draining it at the same time."
"On the other hand, if we solve this problem, then in the absence of other external interference, even if we do nothing at all, the land will recover sooner or later."
"There's so much chakra contained in the Dragon Vein. If we destroy it directly, wouldn't that cause a natural disaster?"
Gaara frowned deeply.
"That's right. On this point, the local legends aren't wrong. Destroying the Dragon Vein would indeed cause the land to collapse. So before destroying it, it's best to absorb as much of the chakra inside as possible."
As soon as Shiromo finished speaking, he saw Uchiha Hikari silently walk toward the tree root.
Just as she raised her hand, about to place it on the root, Shiromo appeared in front of her, and her hand ended up pressing against Shiromo's chest.
"Uchiha Great-Grandma, you're not alone anymore. Don't always think about shouldering everything by yourself. Why not discuss it with everyone? How do you know there aren't other solutions?"
Shiromo grabbed the hand pressed against his chest and slowly lowered it.
"You're right, I… wait, what did you just call me?!"
Hikari was about to apologize in embarrassment when she suddenly froze.
"Is there a problem?"
Shiromo shrugged innocently.
"…N-no problem!"
Uchiha Hikari ground her teeth, snorted, stomped her foot, and ran off to the side to sulk.
She was clearly still a girl, her physical age and mental age were both that of a girl. Just because her seniority was high, she got called "Great-Grandma." That was way too much!
(End of this chapter)