"Wood Release: Wooden Man Technique!"
Shin Uchiha whispered internally as he stood atop the colossal wooden construct, staring down at the massive puppet looming before him.
Two towering entities clashed in the heart of Roran, evoking the image of titans locked in combat.
The Wooden Man caught the giant puppet's fist, pushing back with sheer force. The ground trembled with each step the puppet was forced to take, the impact akin to an earthquake.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Every retreating step of the puppet sent shockwaves through the city, the trembling felt even miles away.
Mikoto, Kanako, and the citizens of Roran barely held their footing as the streets cracked beneath them. Meanwhile, deep within the control chamber, Ebizo and his group grimaced, their confidence rattled by the sheer power of Shin's Wood Release.
"This man must die immediately! Alert the Third Kazekage at once!" Ebizo barked orders while his hands never ceased moving.
Kakakaka!!!
The puppet's armored plating retracted, revealing an array of hidden weapons embedded within its chest.
At the same time, the puppet's clawed hands rotated at high speed, transforming into enormous drills that spun menacingly toward the Wooden Man.
Shin didn't flinch. The sixty-meter-tall wooden titan clenched its fists and struck with devastating force.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
The massive wooden dragon coiled around the Wooden Man sprang to life. With a deafening roar, it lunged forward, coiling around the puppet and constricting it in place. The overwhelming force rendered its weapons and drills useless.
Boom!!!
The Wooden Man's iron-clad fist came crashing down. With just one earth-shaking punch, half of the giant puppet was obliterated!
Shattered clay fragments rained upon the streets. Yet, inside the control chamber, a smirk played on Ebizo's lips.
"In Roran, our puppetry is supreme!"
Suddenly, an intricate network of chakra threads shot out, pulling every shattered fragment back together.
In mere moments, the colossal puppet reconstructed itself, standing tall once more, seemingly invincible.
Ebizo's confidence soared.
"Let's see how long he lasts. With the power of the Dragon Vein, we can fight endlessly from a distance. Even a ninja who wields the legendary Wood Release will be ground down eventually."
"Puppet Technique: Super Dragon Vein Flame Bomb!"
The puppet's head split open, an enormous sphere of raw energy forming at its core.
A blinding burst of violet chakra surged forth, hurtling directly toward Shin atop the Wooden Man.
Bang!
With incredible reflexes, the Wooden Man reached out, catching the energy bomb mid-air—its sheer power rivaling a Tailed Beast Ball.
"Eat it yourself."
With an effortless motion, Shin redirected the attack, shoving the volatile mass straight into the puppet's body.
BOOM!!!!
The resulting explosion sent shockwaves across the battlefield, flames reaching into the sky. The force of the blast obliterated structures, reducing an entire district to rubble.
Mikoto and Kanako barely evaded the destruction, stumbling into an underground passage that led them beneath the city.
What they found there was an entirely different world.
The ruins of an ancient courtyard lay hidden below, bathed in golden light from cracks in the ceiling above. It was a stark contrast to the war-torn battlefield above—serene, untouched by the chaos.
"There's someone here!" Kanako whispered sharply.
They turned toward a shadowed corner where a girl with raven-black hair crouched, fear etched across her face.
She clutched her head and muttered, "Are you here to kill me?"
"Huh?"
Mikoto and Kanako exchanged bewildered glances.
Meanwhile, back in the city, Shin narrowed his eyes at the reassembled giant puppet. His patience had run out.
No matter how much damage he inflicted, the puppet restored itself with the endless power of the Dragon Vein. Worse still, more clay puppets swarmed from every direction, fusing into the behemoth, increasing its size until it stood level with the Wooden Man.
"These things aren't ordinary puppets," Shin noted, his gaze sharp. "They're sustained by a fusion of clay, chakra threads, and the Dragon Vein itself. Magnetic Release is useless against them."
His expression turned cruel, a sinister smile creeping across his face.
"In that case, let's be a little more... ruthless."
Bringing his hands together, he unleashed a flood of chakra, the sheer volume warping the air around him.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World!"
Buzz—
A translucent cube formed between his palms before expanding outward, enveloping the battlefield in blinding light.
Ebizo's eyes widened in horror as the colossal puppet, along with an entire district spanning several football fields, was instantly caught within the growing cube.
"This... this is—?!"
The next moment, everything within the barrier disintegrated into atomic dust.
BOOM!!!
Nothing remained. Every puppet, every construct, even the land itself within the barrier's reach—gone without a trace.
Inside the control chamber, the screens displaying puppet visuals went black.
Ebizo and his team sat frozen in place, their bodies rigid with shock.
"Dust Release…!?"
"Impossible! That's the Tsuchikage's secret technique! No one else should possess it!"
"But... but that scene just now—"
Ebizo's voice trembled as he muttered in disbelief, his mind unable to process the sheer devastation.
Shin exhaled deeply, his chakra reserves drained from the large-scale attack.
"Expanding the range, increasing the power, and sustaining the Dust Release technique takes an absurd amount of chakra," he muttered. "No wonder Ōnoki rarely used it."
The power of Dust Release was unparalleled in destruction, but its cost was immense. Even a shinobi with the reserves of Madara or Hashirama would hesitate to wield it recklessly.
"Even with Sage Mode and the Yin Seal, I can't keep spamming this. If I could, I'd just wipe this place off the map with a hundred of them."
He sighed, leaping down from the Wooden Man's head, heading toward Mikoto and Kanako's location.
Meanwhile, at the outskirts of Roran, the Third Kazekage arrived in a flurry of iron sand. His sharp gaze fell upon Ebizo, whose face was now lined with deep, aged creases.
The Kazekage frowned.
"What happened?"
Ebizo, still in shock, barely managed to respond.
"Konoha… No, is he even from Konoha?"
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"He has Wood Release. He has Dust Release. And he's stronger than Ōnoki himself."
Ebizo's hands trembled as he spoke, as if questioning his own reality.
"Who is he?" he whispered. "And how can anyone possess such terrifying power?"
--------
Dear Readers
Join Patreon for Complete Novel (240 Chapters) and 100 Early Chapters
https://www.patreon.com/dd44
--------
Bonus Chapter - 150 Power Stones