Chapter 109: His First Taste of Wood Release, the Thrill of a Map-Wide Attack

Boom!

Yasaka Magatama exploded inside Hōzuki Castle Prison!

The enormous prison was blasted apart from the middle, while the violent winds and shockwaves completely destroyed every building!

"Hōzuki Castle has exploded!"

"What happened?"

"Damn it, the Box of Ultimate Bliss is about to be activated! Could something have gone wrong?!"

A group of Hidden Grass shinobi were crossing the sea, running across its surface toward the island.

Earlier, Reiji hadn’t fought for long inside the Hidden Grass Village. He had simply grabbed one of the elders and left.

At the time, no one had dared to step forward and stop him!

Only after Reiji had left the Hidden Grass Village did these people dare to take action.

When they saw Reiji heading toward the island where Hōzuki Castle was located, they immediately gave chase!

Their Hidden Grass Village’s secret weapon, the Box of Ultimate Bliss, was inside Hōzuki Castle.

If something happened to the Box of Ultimate Bliss, then all the efforts their Hidden Grass Village had made over the years for the revival of their village would be wasted!

The Hidden Grass Village immediately mobilized all of its shinobi, who rushed across the sea toward the island where Hōzuki Castle was located.

However, before they could even reach the island, they saw an enormous explosion erupt from it!

"Speed up! Get onto the island as quickly as possible!"

"The top priority is protecting the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Only after that do we deal with that guy!"

A leading Hidden Grass shinobi frowned as he issued the order.

The large group of Grass shinobi followed the order and sped toward the island.

On the island.

Amid the ruins.

Boom!

The second form of Susanoo struggled violently and pushed away all the rubble pressing down on its head.

The golden giant, five or six stories tall, leaped high into the air and landed on top of the ruins.

Although the close-range explosion of Yasaka Magatama had also affected Susanoo, the defensive power of its second form was strong enough that it had suffered no real damage.

However...

Satori was in a much worse state.

After desperately pushing away the rubble pressing down on him, his body was covered in wounds, leaving him in a miserable state.

Even though he could sense people’s emotions and use that ability to predict their attacks and dodge in advance...

How was he supposed to dodge an explosion that indiscriminately covered the entire area?!

This lunatic!

The explosion had even hit him at such close range!

And yet...

Wasn’t he afraid of dying?

Satori looked up.

The golden Susanoo opposite him showed virtually no change.

The explosion just now seemed to have been effortlessly endured by the other party!

"So... so powerful!"

Karin’s mouth fell open in shock.

She had been standing inside Susanoo the entire time and had not been affected by the explosion at all.

However, looking at the fact that the entire prison had been destroyed, she could still understand just how powerful that explosion had been.

If she hadn’t been protected by this strange golden armor outside, she would have been blown to pieces already!

Suddenly thinking of something, Karin’s face instantly turned pale.

"My mother... she couldn’t have been killed in the explosion too, right?"

Reiji looked back at her.

"Your mother should have already been devoured by that monster."

Reiji wasn’t entirely certain about Karin’s mother’s current state either.

She should have been sacrificed to the Box of Ultimate Bliss by the Hidden Grass Village, but exactly what kind of state she was in now and how she was related to that monster was complicated.

Karin’s face instantly became deathly pale.

Satori flapped its wings as it flew through the air, letting out a strange laugh.

"Was this little girl’s mother a red-haired female ninja?"

"I’ve already eaten her. Heh, her chakra tasted delicious!"

That woman’s chakra alone was equivalent to that of dozens of ordinary people.

And she also possessed extremely powerful vitality.

Crash!

Among the ruins on the ground.

Two more people crawled out.

The lord of Hōzuki Castle, Mūi, and the envoy from the Hidden Stone Village.

At this moment, both of them were covered in wounds and blood, struggling to crawl out from the ruins.

When Satori had first appeared, he had immediately killed one of the elders.

Afterward, several people had scattered and fled, and two more elders had been killed.

Then, while they were escaping, another enormous explosion suddenly occurred!

Only because the two of them were strong enough had they managed to survive the blast.

"This is..."

Mūi’s face was covered in wounds and blood as he looked around in confusion.

What had happened?

Was this Hōzuki Castle Prison?

How had it been reduced to this state?!

"Uchiha Reiji!"

The Hidden Stone envoy exclaimed in shock.

The moment he saw Reiji standing inside the golden Susanoo giant, he recognized him.

Before the current invasion of the Land of Fire began, the Third Tsuchikage had shown them information about Uchiha Reiji, including a portrait of him.

Mūi, however, was still completely confused.

He had some impression of Uchiha Reiji.

Wasn’t he the young man who had launched a coup and killed the Third Hokage?

Was that the boy?

Why was he here?

What exactly had happened?!

The Hidden Grass Village had worked hard for decades and had finally opened the Box of Ultimate Bliss, only for a monster that ran around slaughtering people to emerge!

They had been chased around by the monster, fleeing for their lives, only for Hōzuki Castle to explode!

After barely surviving, they were now confronted with this scene before them.

At this moment.

A large group of Hidden Grass shinobi also arrived on the island.

"Lord Mūi, this guy suddenly invaded our village earlier!"

A Grass shinobi immediately ran over and reported.

Someone noticed Karin hiding behind Reiji and shouted angrily,

"Hey! You little brat! Where do you think you’re standing?!"

"You’re actually standing with the person who attacked our village! Are you looking to get yourself killed?!"

Karin’s body trembled, and she moved even farther behind Reiji.

Reiji chuckled twice.

"You bunch of trash were so frightened by me earlier that you didn’t even dare move. And now you’ve found your courage again."

"What? Does bullying a little girl make you feel superior?"

By now, the Hidden Grass shinobi had surrounded Reiji from all directions.

Seeing that their opponent was surrounded, many of them were still wary of that strange golden giant, but their confidence had increased considerably.

"Don’t be afraid! He’s alone. There’s no way he can be a match for all of us!"

"Even if we just exhaust his chakra, we can grind him to death!"

"That golden giant is incredibly powerful, so don’t engage it at close range. Use ninjutsu and ninja tools from a distance and wear him down!"

The Hidden Grass shinobi encouraged one another.

"How truly fearless the ignorant are."

Reiji shook his head.

"Perfect. I’ve recently mastered an interesting ninjutsu. I’ll use all of you to test it."

As he spoke, Reiji brought his hands together with a sharp clap and shouted,

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

After obtaining Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release talent, this was the first time he had used Wood Release!

Rumble!

The island began to shake!

Countless towering trees burst through the ground and shot into the sky, completely covering the entire island!

Within just a few breaths, all the Hidden Grass shinobi, including Satori flying in the sky, were completely engulfed by the enormous forest!

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