"Hm? His mouth isn't sealed…?"
Yamato narrowed his eyes slightly and formed seals again, clearly intending to stuff Kai's mouth shut with wood.
Whoosh—!
A wooden spike suddenly shot upward, extending as it thrust down from above.
Kai: "…That's a bit much, Yamato—A."
How had he never noticed before that Captain Yamato—who always looked so reliable—was this rough back when he was in Root?
Then again, Danzo's brainwashing skills really were on par with the Third Hokage's.
Shaking his head, Kai casually reached out and crushed the wooden spike, tearing it apart.
Crack.
Like tossing aside trash, he flung the splintered wood away.
He completely ignored the sharp intake of breath from the man opposite him—
the Root operative A, who would one day be known as Yamato.
"…What?"
Future Yamato was utterly baffled.
How does this kid know my identity?
He'd heard of the Uchiha clan's second son, sure—but only the name.
They'd never met. He didn't even recognize his face.
So how had this kid identified him at first glance?
Before he could think it through, something even more shocking happened.
This boy—not even ten years old—had just torn apart Wood Release with his bare hands.
Bare hands.
Yamato's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Since the day he'd been trained, he had never seen anyone do that.
You could dodge Wood Release.
Burn it with fire.
Avoid it entirely.
All of that made sense.
But tearing it apart by hand?
That was insane.
Without hesitation, Yamato spread his hands and began forming seals again.
But halfway through—
He froze.
A blade glimmered at his throat, cold and sharp.
Drip.
A thin line of blood seeped out.
Gulp.
When—
When did he get behind me?
Space-time ninjutsu?
No—impossible!
His pupils shrank as fear crept in.
Behind him stood a silent boy, not even ten, yet radiating overwhelming pressure.
The next second, the cold glint vanished.
Kai waved his hand.
"Let's go. Outside the village."
They were still inside Konoha. Any real fight would cause far too much damage—especially to buildings.
And compensation wasn't cheap.
Outside the village would be much more… comfortable.
As for whether letting Yamato go might cause trouble?
Kai didn't care.
The early Naruto world still had logic.
Information mattered.
With enough intel, even genin could kill jōnin—
like Shikamaru taking down Hidan.
Or Jiraiya dying to Pain, while Kakashi still managed to take one of the Six Paths with him.
All of those highlighted the importance of information.
As for the later era?
Giant Susanoo everywhere.
Sage techniques flying around.
Pure power creep.
"…Still."
Kai lowered his gaze slightly.
With offense, defense, and mobility already in one package, he himself was rapidly approaching that power-creep stage.
Once he solved Wood Release life drain and Sharingan bodily backlash, he'd truly be standing at the top of Konoha.
The Uchiha Massacre a year from now?
Honestly—
He felt like it could happen today.
Behind him, Yamato didn't hesitate.
This was his final mission as a Root operative.
He had to complete it.
Soon after—
Outside the village.
By the Naka River.
Yamato looked at the boy standing across from him and muttered a quiet apology.
Then—
He erupted into action.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Crash—!
With a single thrust of his hand, countless vine-like tendrils—each as thick as a thigh—shot forward.
Stronger.
Harder.
More oppressive than before.
"Hey, hey, calm down, uncle—we can talk first!"
Kai said while sidestepping easily.
Capturing Yamato wasn't the goal.
Wood Release was.
"Words are meaningless. Fight, boy!"
Kai: "…"
That line was way too chūnibyō.
Captain Yamato's character image was collapsing right before his eyes.
But for the sake of ten minutes of conversation and that precious copy chance, Kai kept dodging calmly.
"Your speed's not bad—but can you keep running?!"
"Come quietly with me!"
Confidence surged back into Yamato's chest.
Wood Release gave him that confidence.
He assumed the earlier failure was just poor execution.
Now he was going all out.
"Wood Release: Four-Pillar Prison!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wooden pillars erupted from the ground one after another, instantly sealing off a radius of more than ten meters around Kai.
And they were closing in.
From afar, it looked like a wooden cage.
Faint, mysterious markings glowed along the surface.
Impossible to break in.
Impossible to escape.
"Phew… what a troublesome Uchiha brat."
Only after finishing did Yamato wipe the sweat from his brow and relax.
His strength wasn't weak.
Thanks to Wood Release, he could easily suppress most jōnin.
So in his mind, capturing a mere Uchiha kid should've been effortless.
But just as he finished exhaling—
A voice came from inside the wooden prison.
"Uncle, can we chat now?"
"…Huh?"
Yamato's mouth twitched.
"Your mental fortitude is ridiculous."
A kid who hadn't even graduated the academy—
and he wasn't scared?
That wasn't normal.
Unbidden, Yamato recalled the scene of Kai ripping Wood Release apart with his hands.
One phrase surfaced in his mind:
Utterly fearless.
To be safe, he formed seals again.
Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding!
Wood Release: Four-Pillar House!
Wood Release: Continuous Pillar House!
One Wood Release technique after another appeared.
Inside the cage—
trees coiled and suppressed chakra.
Outside—
A complex wooden house rose from the ground, pressing down on the prison.
Then more houses appeared.
Like a miniature residential district, completely sealing the central cage.
"Ha… even Kakashi-senpai wouldn't escape this."
Only then did Yamato finally relax.
He leaned back against a wooden sofa, breathing heavily.
And then he heard Kai's exaggerated voice.
"Uncle, you really missed your calling by not going into real estate."
"With this Wood Release housing combo, do you know how many people would envy you?!"
Honestly—
Setting aside the Uchiha clan, Konoha had plenty of war orphans.
Even with stipends, most kids lived in poor conditions.
Take Naruto, for example.
Despite being the Fourth Hokage's son, he lived in a tiny two-story wooden apartment.
Not very spacious.
But if Yamato went all out—
Cut down trees around the village and built houses—
Housing shortages would cease to exist overnight.
As the conversation dragged on, system prompts finally appeared before Kai.
[Conversation Target: Root Operative 'A'.]
[Analyzing copyable traits…]
[Available Traits:
Wood Release Bloodline (Purple),
First Hokage Cells · Fragment (Purple),
Water Release Mastery (Blue),
Civil-Engineering Bro (Black)…]
Kai's eyes gleamed.
Finally.
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