Civil-engineering bro…
Kai glanced around at the nearby three-bedroom, one-living-room wooden house and nodded in quiet approval.
Other people refined chakra in an instant.
Yamato built houses in an instant.
And not just any house—three bedrooms, one living room, plus a large independent balcony.
Honestly, who wouldn't praise that?
Most importantly:
Pure wood.
All natural.
No additives.
No formaldehyde.
After admiring it for a bit, Kai even offered some sincere advice.
"Yamato… A," he said thoughtfully.
"I think you should add a bathroom to the master bedroom."
"And the coffee table's a bit stingy—make it bigger."
"As for the balcony, add a hammock or a lounge chair. Sunbathe, take naps in summer—super comfortable."
As he spoke, new system prompts slowly surfaced before his eyes.
[Conversing with 'A' for ten minutes. Attempting to copy traits…]
[Copy failed.]
No surprise there.
The success rate was still miserable.
Honestly—
Beating people up was far more reliable.
Kai shook his head. The chatter that had been flowing nonstop abruptly stopped.
That alone made Yamato raise an eyebrow.
"…Why did you stop talking?"
After more than ten minutes of nonstop rambling, he'd almost gotten used to it.
Too bad Kai had already lost interest.
He sprawled on the ground, eyes dull, looking like he'd lost all strength and methods.
Yamato frowned.
But sensing that his own chakra had mostly recovered, he no longer hesitated.
"Let's go. I'm taking you to see Lord Danzo."
As he spoke, his arm transformed into massive wood, wrapping around the wooden cage.
It sealed shut like a five-meter-tall wooden egg, airtight and flawless.
But just as Yamato turned around to carry the "egg" away—
It shuddered.
"…Hm? Still resisting?"
Yamato remained calm, speaking flatly.
"This is the bloodline limit passed down from the First Hokage."
"Don't say it's you—even Kakashi-senpai would be stuck if I trapped him like this. He'd only be able to—"
CRACK—!!
In a blink, the thick wooden egg exploded again.
Like fireworks.
Countless wood fragments blasted outward, scattering into the air.
The sky turned brown with debris.
Yamato froze.
"…It—It—It blew up again?!"
He couldn't believe his eyes.
Twenty years of worldview and common sense shattered on the spot.
"This is a secret technique inherited from the First Hokage! How could it be broken so easily?!"
"…Am I training it wrong?"
Ordinary people truly couldn't break it.
But—
At the center of the flying wood chips, Kai glanced down at his palm.
A jagged piece of dark wood was wrapped in sinister, crimson chakra.
He sighed.
"Kurama's power plus Wood Release… when those two stack, the burst output is kind of terrifying."
Then he lifted his right hand and slapped forward toward Yamato, who stood frozen three meters away.
BOOM—!!
A three-meter-long crimson chakra hand formed instantly.
The surrounding temperature rose several degrees.
The wooden fragments still floating in the air ignited on contact.
Fwoosh—fwoosh—!
Flames erupted everywhere.
"What… what kind of jutsu is this?!"
Yamato panicked and rapidly formed seals.
"Wood Release: Wooden Locking Wall!"
Whoosh—!
Rows of wooden pillars surged from the ground, curving inward and stacking together into a domed barrier.
A real eggshell this time.
But before he could relax—
The crimson hand slammed down.
BANG—!!
The Wooden Locking Wall—capable of blocking A-rank techniques—
didn't last even one second.
It shattered instantly.
Left and right, pieces flew everywhere.
Yamato was forced to leap away.
But the massive chakra hand followed like it was locked on, relentless.
With no other choice, he formed seals again.
"Wood Release: Tree Boundary Wall!"
Crack—crack—crack—!
Wooden vines burst from the ground, intertwining into shields in front of the chakra hand.
SNAP—!
The vines broke apart.
But thankfully—
The crimson hand finally dispersed as its energy ran out.
"I—I blocked it…"
Yamato wiped sweat from his forehead, his entire body taut.
Only then did he realize—
His back was completely soaked with cold sweat.
He'd never imagined that a mere Uchiha boy still in the academy could put this much pressure on him.
"This… is way harder than an S-rank mission…"
He forced a crooked smile beneath the mask.
If other Root members saw this, they'd shout only one word:
Heretic.
Root operatives weren't supposed to show emotion.
"No wonder Lord Danzo wants to bring you in for questioning…"
"It's not your identity."
"It's your strength."
An academy student from the Uchiha clan—
someone who made a Root operative with elite-jōnin-level combat power feel fear.
Unbelievable.
But—
This was his retirement battle.
Yamato took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in his chest.
His eyes hardened.
"Today… I'm retiring on the spot!"
BAM—!
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, a tremendous force smashed into his abdomen.
His entire body was driven straight into the ground.
BOOM—!!
A crater five meters wide formed instantly.
Crack.
The faint sound of ribs snapping echoed out.
At the edge of the pit, Kai withdrew his left foot and sighed.
"You really are retiring on the spot."
Yamato was one of the few people in the ninja world who possessed Wood Release cells.
Kai couldn't even remember when this guy officially left Root and joined ANBU.
But whether it was Root or ANBU—
They both had irreconcilable conflicts with the Uchiha.
Kai might have lain low and "slacked off" for years, but that didn't mean he'd let the Konoha F4 target the Uchiha freely.
So if this guy didn't retire—
He'd have to move houses.
Permanently.
[Defeated Root Operative 'A'. Attempting to copy traits…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host has obtained Excellent Trait:
Wood Release · Wooden Locking Wall (Blue).]
"Defense-type ninjutsu?"
Kai shook his head and said directly,
"Stack it into Wood Release Cells · Fragment (Blue)."
With Light-Form Body already in his kit, defensive techniques weren't very useful to him.
As for protecting companions?
That would only become a weakness.
[Trait fusion in progress…]
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