"What is that!?"
Watching the seafloor grow brighter and brighter, Byaran's footsteps came to a jarring halt. His eyes darted around, filled with suspicion and dread.
It was as if the ocean beneath him had become the final resting place of the sun, and now—it was the moment of sunrise!
The sun beneath the waves and the moon in the sky were sharply divided by the surface of the sea.
Then—
While the seagulls flapped their wings in unease, letting out ghostly cries, and the air grew thick and heavy—Byaran realized the sea surface was rising.
In a terrifyingly short span of less than two seconds, the water was pushed nearly 200 meters into the air. The entire surface loomed like a massive, white mountain made of surging brine.
Under the cold radiance of the moon, Byaran swallowed hard. He turned his head and barked at the White Zetsu on his shoulder:
"Something is coming out!"
"Quickly! Attach to my body! We're leaving!"
He could feel it—the sea beneath him was trembling violently, shaking with a primal rage as it lifted him higher into the sky. The chaotic currents made it nearly impossible to maintain his footing.
As he leaped backward across the white waves, seeing that the spiral-faced Zetsu (Guruguru) hadn't moved, Byaran glared at him again!
"Wow... so spectacular~" Guruguru was staring at the mountain of water, completely entranced.
"What are you dazing for!?" Byaran roared in frustration.
"Oh, right, right..." Guruguru snapped out of it, took one last look at the scene, and immediately transformed his body into wood-like branches, wrapping around Byaran like a suit of pale armor.
A colossal amount of chakra surged into Byaran's body, making the elderly Third Mizukage feel as agile and vigorous as he was in his youth.
"Ha..."
Byaran let out a long, irrepressible sigh of satisfaction. But he didn't have time to savor this burst of power. His face grew serious as he leaped across the water in a desperate retreat!
Behind him, the high-rising "mountain" of water began to look like a giant head of white broccoli. It expanded frantically in an instant, exploding outward in every direction!
From the center of the mountain, everything burst apart. Deep beneath the waves, something had detonated, sending a shockwave that blasted nearly a million tons of seawater into the sky. The resulting water column reached a height of 1,000 meters!
—BOOM!!!
Amidst the deafening roar, a lithe figure leaped out. Using the shockwave's momentum, the figure cleared nearly 800 meters across the sea in a single bound! Like a seabird gliding through the air, he was chasing after Byaran!
It was Ren Uchiha!
The newly constructed Sage Heart couldn't contain all the natural energy gathered from a 10,000-meter radius. Once his heart reached its limit, he used the Regeneration Barrier to vent the excess energy, detonating it 100 meters underwater to launch himself after the Mizukage.
The distance between them was closing at a staggering speed!
Dammit... how is this kid doing this?!
Byaran felt his scalp tingle as he looked back at the horrific scene. Not only could he not produce such a phenomenon, but he also wouldn't have survived being at the center of it—let alone used it as a propellant to play "human cannonball" in the sky.
Seeing that he could no longer evade, Byaran dug his heels into the churning water, skidding to a halt. He gritted his teeth, spun around, and slammed his palms together!
"Since you're so eager to die!"
"Then... let me show you something that surpasses an ordinary Uchiha. A power that belongs only to that man—"
A cold light flashed in Byaran's eyes as his face turned fierce.
"The Forbidden Power of the World!"
With the massive chakra provided by Guruguru, combined with Byaran's Ice Style and the Zetsu's mastery of the five elements and Wood Style:
"Wood Style: Wood Human Technique!"
Byaran's hands remained clasped as his gaze narrowed. The pale, Zetsu-encased palms slammed onto the surface of the sea!
In an instant, countless thick branches erupted from the water. They surged, twisted, and converged, forming a gargantuan wooden figure 40 meters tall. It sat cross-legged upon the sea, weathering the incoming tsunami and giant waves.
From the forehead of the Buddha-like figure, six heads opened their mouths, spitting out six ice dragons!
"Six-Release: Ice Dragon Biting Explosion!"
The six dragons lunged toward Ren, each carrying the power of a different elemental release: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning!
Unlike the smaller Wood Man Guruguru used with Yamato in the future, this one lacked the "Thousand Hands" on its back. It possessed only a Buddha's halo, sitting stationary on the sea. Its melee reach was limited to what its two wooden palms could touch.
However, even with this "budget" version of the Wood Human Technique, Byaran was confident. In the face of a power that had been lost for years—the power of the God of Shinobi—Ren Uchiha was no match!
Ren, hurtling through the air, was genuinely shocked.
He stared at the massive Wood Man, the six elemental ice dragons, and Byaran standing atop the figure's head, his clothes shredded and his body covered in that pale, swirling mass.
His pupils contracted sharply!
He had expected the Land of Water to be under Madara's thumb. He had expected the Third Mizukage to have ties to the true Asura of the ninja world. But seeing this Wood Man and the entity known as Guruguru—the very Zetsu that would later possess Obito Uchiha and lead him into tragedy—Ren's heart sank.
This meant—Uchiha Madara had truly noticed him!
The encounter with the Mist ninja was no accident. His actions were likely interfering with the "Eye of the Moon" plan to the point that Madara wanted him dead!
I don't have much time left!
Ren realized he had to kill Uchiha Madara before the old man deemed him a high enough threat to reclaim the Rinnegan and act personally.
The urgency felt like a weight on his soul. Madara's power was unquestionable; even in his old age, if he took back even one Rinnegan from Nagato and used Limbo: Border Jail, no one in the current world could stand against him. That was the boundary of the Six Paths level.
But, as long as the Rinnegan was still with Nagato, there was still room to maneuver. An old Madara without the Rinnegan was terrifying, but not invincible.
Ren narrowed his eyes, focusing his mind on the Third Mizukage standing before him.
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