Chapter 229:
Codename: Little Gray.
Initial appearance: Little Gray.
The latest model of liquid-state robot—not only does it possess perfect camouflage abilities, it can also perform hand seals and use ninjutsu.
Little Gray opened its eyes and looked at the clone Gray Wolf and Jiraiya standing in front of it. In a childlike voice, it said, "Daddy, Mommy."
While the clone Gray Wolf was wiping away tears of emotion, Jiraiya only felt a wave of nausea.
After leaving the Hidden Leaf Village, Sasuke and his group were halfway en route to Mount Myōboku.
"Wait a second, someone's coming."
Sasuke suddenly stopped and held back the four children trailing behind him.
As his words fell, a figure indeed appeared before the group.
"Sasuke."
"Yamato? What are you doing here?" Sasuke's expression turned wary. "If I remember correctly, you're supposed to be monitoring Umbrella right now."
"Naruto sent someone to call me back to the village. By the way, what mission are you carrying out that required you to leave the village?"
Yamato spoke as his eyes glanced toward the four children behind Sasuke.
Sasuke's missions were usually high-risk and extremely dangerous—there was no way he would bring children along, let alone four at once.
To an outsider, it looked like one carry and four trolls, and this was a ranked match no less.
"...Yamato, do you know the current state of the village?"
Sasuke's expression turned grim. He couldn't be sure whether the Yamato before him was real or a fake. If he was real, letting him return to the village recklessly could cost them a valuable asset. But if he was a fake, keeping him nearby was a dangerous unknown.
"The village? Something happened to the Leaf Village?!" Yamato's face turned anxious. "That's impossible! With you and Naruto there, what could possibly happen to the village?! Don't tell me... it's S.H.I.E.L.D.?!"
"It's not S.H.I.E.L.D.—but it's definitely related. Right now, there are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who've infiltrated the village. Some have even replaced original villagers…"
As Sasuke explained, Shuyu, who stood behind him, quietly stared at Yamato, the Mangekyō Sharingan spinning in his eyes.
"So that's what's going on…"
After hearing Sasuke's explanation, Yamato fell into serious contemplation, his face filled with concern.
At that moment, Sasuke looked down at Shuyu, who shook his head slightly. Sasuke immediately hurled a shuriken at Yamato.
"What are you doing, Sasuke?! Don't tell me… you've been replaced too?!"
Yamato quickly retreated to evade the shuriken.
Ignoring Yamato's words, Sasuke drew the Kusanagi Sword. Lightning crackled around him as he charged.
"Should we help him?" Shinki asked, watching Sasuke dash forward.
"No need." Shuyu shook his head. "Trust Sasuke's strength. Our job is to protect ourselves."
"Wood Release: Thorn Killing Technique!" Yamato slammed both hands into the ground. Vines burst from the earth and coiled around Sasuke's legs. "How did you spot the flaw?"
"You can use ninjutsu…" Sasuke muttered gravely, raising the Kusanagi Sword and pointing it at Yamato. "Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Electricity gathered at the tip of the blade and fired straight at Yamato.
The current struck Yamato square in the chest—but failed to cause any real damage.
"Not talking? Fine. I'll just collect combat data from this fight and let Dad analyze it later."
Yamato didn't bother keeping up the act. Though he hadn't dropped the disguise, he now spoke in a childish voice.
"That voice… sounds like it belongs to someone under ten…" Sarada frowned at Yamato.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
Yamato infused chakra into seed-like implants, causing them to grow rapidly into a towering wooden giant.
Standing atop the wooden giant's head, Yamato looked down on the group.
"Wood Human Technique!"
Among the group, only Sarada—who could also use Wood Release—truly understood how powerful this technique was.
With her current chakra reserves, Sarada knew full well she couldn't reach this level.
"Susanoo!"
A violet Susanoo appeared beneath Sasuke's feet, manifesting a bow and arrow in its hands. Black flames formed the arrowhead, which fired toward the Wood Human.
"Wood Release: Ranking Shield Technique!"
A row of grotesque, fang-faced wooden shields rose in front of the wooden giant, blocking Sasuke's attack. Yamato looked up at Sasuke in the sky.
Although Susanoo gave Sasuke an aerial advantage, he hadn't fully taken to the skies—after all, behind him stood Sarada, Shuyu, Shinki, and Tentō. If he rose too high, he would leave the children exposed to attack.
"Now it's my turn to fight back!" As Yamato defended, he formed another set of hand seals. "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Chakra flowed once more into the seeds, and a massive wooden dragon emerged from the earth, coiling around Susanoo and restraining it.
"Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
Yamato brought his hands together and summoned an enormous wooden statue with countless arms—a colossal Buddha-like entity.
"That's… the First Hokage's technique!" Sarada gasped in shock. Even Shuyu's expression darkened slightly.
"A technique like that should only be usable by the First Hokage…" Shinki said grimly.
"I don't know if the Flame Dragon Armor can withstand this…" Tentō's legs were trembling. After all, he was just the son of a feudal lord. Raised in luxury and lacking formal training, it was only natural for him to be scared when facing a battle of this magnitude.
"Wood Release: Top Transformed Buddha!"
As Yamato's childish voice rang out, the countless arms of the giant wooden Buddha came crashing down on Sasuke's Susanoo.
All the arms struck in unison, unleashing a violent shockwave that tore through the land. Even century-old trees were uprooted.
"Susanoo!"
Shuyu quickly summoned his own Susanoo to shield the group, but even so, they were still blown away.
Once the dust settled, Shuyu crawled out of the rubble, his face and clothes covered in dirt, looking around at the ravaged battlefield.
"Is everyone okay?"
"I'm fine."
Shinki, Tentō, and Sarada also got up from the ground one after another.
"Daddy!"
Following Sarada's voice, they turned to look—Sasuke was kneeling with one hand propped on the Kusanagi Sword, panting heavily.
"Impressive… even Susanoo survived that."
Yamato walked toward Sasuke, speaking once more in his childish voice.