Chapter 184 – Wood Release! The Terrified Eight-Tails
"It seems... we’ve arrived."
After several days of careful travel, Kitagawa Gen and his two companions had quietly crossed the Lightning Country’s border, slipping deep into its heartland.
Towering peaks rose into the clouds ahead, and distant thunder rumbled intermittently. Gen gave a small nod.
"This place... doesn’t look too bad."
"Tch. The scenery’s fine, I guess. But I’d rather see it all blow up. Hmm!"
Deidara nodded in agreent, then shook his head again, as if reconsidering. Terumi i, however, spoke in a low, steady voice.
"The air here is thick with moisture—it won’t hinder my jutsu. But this isn’t the ti for idle chatter. We need to focus."
During the journey, she had already seen enough to know both Deidara and Kitagawa Gen had an unreliable streak. Of course, she also knew it was mostly an act—still, a reminder never hurt.
"Relax. We’ll stick to the plan."
Gen rolled his neck, but i’s brows still knit in concern.
"I know... but are you sure you can take on the Raikage’s office alone?"
"Don’t worry—he’ll be fine."
Deidara sounded almost smug as he grabbed a lump of clay and fed it to the mouth on his palm.
"And if there’s trouble, he can just retreat. But you—don’t let your Water Release put out my explosions."
"Who said I’d be using Water Release?"
i raised an eyebrow. Gen cut in before the banter could go further.
"Alright—fly higher, avoid detection. Rember, we’re hitting high-value targets, not causing random chaos. Understood?"
"Got it!"
Deidara cracked his knuckles, i drew in a slow breath.
The clay bird streaked forward, and just as they were about to breach Kumogakure’s barrier, Gen flicked several kunai. They sliced through the air like hunting birds, slipping past the barrier.
The mont they crossed, Gen’s hands ford a quick seal—
Shff!
—And in an instant, all three of them were inside. Kumogakure sprawled below.
"They’ll react quickly. Start."
Before the words had even faded, Deidara’s bird surged downward. Swarms of clay spiders rained from the sky. i’s chakra boiled around her, though she still shot Gen a sideways glance.
"You’re sure about this?"
"Leave it to . Just don’t improvise."
Gen grinned—and leapt from the clay bird.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Explosions thundered one after another, massive fireballs rippling outward, shockwaves tearing through streets. Trees bent and splintered; weaker buildings crumbled instantly.
"Looks like the intel was right—that’s definitely their supply depot."
From above, Gen could see clearly: Deidara was staying disciplined, striking only the designated targets—gathering points for shinobi, key departnts, suspected storage areas. The chaos below ant at least one strike had hit the jackpot.
"Well then..."
Gen’s eyes glead white as he locked onto his personal target.
In a heartbeat, he dropped from the sky and landed on a windowsill. Looking inside, he smiled faintly.
"So... it really is here."
"You—!"
Dodai’s eyes went wide, realization dawning in an instant.
"You’re from Konoha... Kitagawa Gen!"
"Correct."
Gen’s tone was casual—but his kick was anything but.
THUD!
Even bracing himself, Dodai couldn’t match Gen’s speed. The blow drove into his chest, launching him back and slamming him into the eting room wall.
Panic erupted. No one had even considered that an enemy could slip past all their defenses without a sound.
No one had imagined that soone would dare attack them so brazenly.
"Konoha... there’s only one of them?"
"Small build, white hair, White Fang short blade, Purple Lighting —this guy’s Kitagawa Gen!"
"Damn it—it’s him! The one who cut off the Raikage’s arm... the one who killed him?!"
"He actually dared to co here?"
"Where’s the ANBU?!"
"Kill him! He dared to invade Kumogakure—he doesn’t leave here alive!"
The mont the village’s top brass recognized him, the room erupted in shouts. Gen, however, stood there as if it were a casual eting.
He slowly drew the short blade at his waist, tilted his head, and asked mildly,
"Strange... You attacked us first. Did you really think this day wouldn’t co?"
"Or maybe—"
Buzz—
Gen didn’t waste another word. The instant ANBU operatives burst into the room, his chakra flared like a sudden storm.
The blade flashed like an illusion, and in the blink of an eye, one ANBU was run clean through, blood dripping steadily from the tip.
"You still think this is nothing—just like when you plundered other villages’ kekkei genkai and secret arts? You think there’d be no price to pay?"
Before the words were cold, three more ANBU leapt high behind him, lightning crackling from their bodies as their swords ca crashing down.
In that instant, the steel found its mark—only to sink into empty air, stabbing instead into the already-dead ANBU.
"Damn—Flying Thunder God!"
"Good guess," Gen said coolly from behind them, "but useless."
The White Fang short blade swept across their backs before they could react. Three bodies hit the floor.
"If I recall," Gen went on, flicking blood from his blade, "you used the sa tricks on Konoha before. The Hyūga incident—we haven’t forgotten."
He glanced at the grim faces around him and smiled faintly.
"Don’t think stealing from others is your right. And don’t act like revenge is so great injustice. The truth is—the ones most deserving to die... are you."
Boom—
The man he’d kicked away—Dodai—suddenly surged to his feet, chakra raging through his body.
In a heartbeat, his hands blurred into a completed seal.
"Lava Release: Rubber Prison!"
Yellow, rubber-like spheres erupted outward, expanding rapidly until they filled nearly the entire eting room.
"Get out of here! I can’t hold him for long!" Dodai shouted. The situation was disastrous—he didn’t know how many enemies there were or what was happening outside, but this one Kitagawa Gen alone was enough to wipe them all out.
If he took them all down in one strike, Kumogakure would be finished.
"No," Gen’s voice cut through the air. "You’re wrong. You won’t even last a few seconds."
The rubber prison had barely ford before purple lightning blazed around Gen. Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier.
Crack... crack...
With a shattering roar, the prison exploded apart. The lightning spread like a storm—and the short blade was already thrusting toward Dodai.
"This... impossible..." Dodai’s face went pale. The other elders were equally stunned.
They knew Dodai’s skill—yet his jutsu had been destroyed almost instantly?
"It’s over..." soone muttered.
And then—salvation from the ground.
A figure burst upward, red chakra surging around him, lightning sparking wildly from his fra. In a flash, his sword ca swinging down.
"Super-Vibrating Lightning Blade!"
Boom—!
The two blades t, their chakra colliding in a deafening roar that sent everyone in the room sprawling.
"Killer B?" Gen raised an eyebrow—recognizing the newcor instantly.
"You’re Kitagawa Gen?"
Killer B’s eyes burned with a quiet hatred. Normally, he was a cheerful, eccentric man. But his brother had died at the hands of this very person—and there was no smile in him now.
"That’s right," Gen said evenly.
"Sorry. I don’t know you, but I have to avenge my brother. So... die!"
With his roar, Killer B’s chakra erupted even more violently. Even Gen looked slightly impressed.
"As expected of a complete Eight-Tails jinchūriki. But..."
Boom—!
Gen’s chakra exploded again—so vast even the "system" wouldn’t bother counting. It was monstrous.
"This brat... how can he have so much chakra?" The Eight-Tails’ voice rumbled in Killer B’s mind, shock in every syllable.
And worse—it could feel sothing far more terrifying buried within that chakra.
"This boy is no ordinary enemy. He’s dangerous—be careful!"
"Dangerous?" Killer B frowned in confusion—then a flash of purple lightning flared in front of him.
Pain lanced through his chest and he was sent flying backward.
In that mont, he saw Gen’s single-handed seal. The sheer force of his chakra made even the Eight-Tails shudder in fear.
"What... is this?" Killer B began—but the beast’s roar drowned him out.
"Watch out!"
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees."
In an instant, vines burst from the earth, roaring upward with the sound of a thousand branches splitting stone. They surged toward Killer B—and toward every other Kumogakure elder present.
"Hahahaha! Now that’s an explosion! Art!"
Above, Deidara laughed wildly at the sea of fire rising from their targets.
Beside him, i Terumi scanned the surroundings, her voice low and sharp.
"Be careful. We’re being watched. And don’t overdo it—rember why we’re here."
"Tch. Fine..." Deidara muttered, though his gaze drifted toward the Raikage’s tower.
"I wonder how Gen’s doing—"
His eyes suddenly widened.
"What?" i turned, and her own expression froze.
Massive vines had erupted across the tower, intertwining into an overwhelming mass.
In the next instant, the entire structure was torn apart, a colossal tree blasting through the roof.
Below, the vines wove together into a dense forest.
"Wood... Release?" i’s disbelief was plain. But before she could say more, a terrifying chakra washed over them.
ROAR—!
The bellow shook the heavens. Smoke and dust swirled through the flas and trees, and in that haze, a mountain-sized beast began to erge—its violent chakra stabbing into the sky.
---
Reviews
All reviews (0)