Just like before, the three Chu Yangs only spent a brief moment conversing in the soul palace before the mysterious mist flooded the hall, swallowing them whole.
When they awoke, their consciousnesses had returned to their respective worlds.
The One Piece world's Chu Yang was standing on the deck of a pirate ship, accepting the ecstatic cheers of his Fish-Men crewmates.
The Magic world's Chu Yang was excitedly preparing for his upcoming enrollment at his new school.
And in the Naruto world...
A massive war—one destined to completely alter the geopolitical landscape of the entire ninja world—was rapidly approaching.
In this current era, Hidden Ninja Villages did not yet exist. It was the era of the warring clans, an age where chaos, bloodshed, and endless war were the absolute main themes of life.
Within the ninja world, the two most powerful and prestigious clans were currently mobilizing their full combat strength, preparing for a grand, decisive final battle.
The Senju Clan.
The Uchiha Clan.
The bloody war between these two families had lasted for generations. In a sense, the history of their endless conflict was the history of the ninja world.
As the war raged on and the battle lines stretched ever longer, the demand for supplies and logistics became increasingly critical.
The moment Chu Yang's consciousness returned from the soul palace, he immediately received a direct order from the clan. He was to join a specialized strike squad tasked with intercepting and destroying an Uchiha logistics unit.
This type of mission had become the gruesome norm of the war.
The Senju Clan's supply lines were frequently ambushed by the Uchiha as well. The two sides went back and forth, gradually adapting to these raids. As their vigilance grew, simple ambushes evolved into deadly, high-stakes games of reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance.
Chu Yang's strike squad had spent two full days relentlessly tracking the enemy logistics unit across the open plains before finally pinpointing their location.
As night fell, the Uchiha logistics unit set up camp downstream along a small river. Chu Yang and his team were currently lying in ambush within a dense thicket just a short distance from the riverbank.
"Although the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan isn't as proficient at pure reconnaissance as the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, it still possesses incredibly powerful observational capabilities," the squad captain whispered, repeatedly warning his team. "When we move out, you must strictly control the flow of your chakra. Do absolutely nothing to draw their attention."
The captain was overly cautious because the members of this squad were all very young and lacked significant experience fighting the Uchiha.
There was even a young teenager who had just officially joined the war effort.
The captain let his gaze linger on Chu Yang for a moment before secretly shaking his head. Young, inexperienced kids like him are always the first to die on the battlefield.
Under the heavy cover of night, the squad silently slipped into the freezing river, slowly and carefully swimming toward the enemy camp.
Bringing up the rear, Chu Yang suddenly sensed something was horribly wrong.
The number of enemy sentries was suspiciously low. They didn't even cover the entire perimeter of the camp. Specifically, the side facing the riverbank was entirely unguarded; not a single shadow could be seen.
Furthermore, the camp was far too quiet. It was as if every single person inside the tents had fallen into a deathly deep sleep.
Displaying both of these vulnerabilities out in the wild was incredibly dangerous—and completely out of character for seasoned Uchiha shinobi.
Chu Yang wanted to speak up and warn the captain, but the man was swimming at the very front of the formation, too far away for a safe whisper.
It was only after they silently breached the shore that Chu Yang finally had the chance to voice his concerns in the captain's ear. Unfortunately, seeing how young the boy was, the captain dismissed the warning entirely, not taking it to heart.
Chu Yang sighed inwardly. Since I can't talk him out of it, I guess I'll just have to watch my own back.
The captain silently slipped into the main tent...
The rest of the squad scattered around the perimeter, waiting for the captain's signal to simultaneously strike and assassinate the resting Uchiha clansmen.
But the signal never came.
Instead, a bloodcurdling, agonizing scream shattered the silence of the night!
Oh, shit!
In that exact same second, blinding flares lit up from all directions! The entire camp was instantly illuminated as dozens of black silhouettes surged from the shadows. The camp was swarming with fully armed Uchiha shinobi!
The next moment...
Chu Yang watched as the Uchiha dragged their captain out of the main tent like a dead dog.
It was a trap! They had walked right into an ambush!
"Break out! Fall back!" someone in the Senju squad suddenly screamed.
Panic erupted. Several terrified shinobi immediately turned and bolted in different directions, desperately trying to break through the encirclement.
"Idiots!" Chu Yang couldn't help but curse out loud. "Scattering our forces right now is suicide! They've literally set up traps waiting for us to run!"
True to his word, the Senju clansmen who attempted to blindly break out were instantly cut down by hidden enemies lying in wait.
The brutal slaughter immediately sobered up the remaining Senju shinobi. Realizing the grim reality of their situation, they rapidly converged on Chu Yang's position, forming a tight defensive circle.
"Kill them all!"
The leading Uchiha clearly had no intention of giving them a moment to breathe.
A fierce, chaotic battle erupted instantly!
After clashing with the enemies just a few times, Chu Yang realized their combat prowess was exceptionally high. There was absolutely no way these were just logistics personnel.
This so-called "supply unit" had been elite bait from the very beginning!
"We will make the Senju pay in blood!"
The Uchiha had come fully prepared. Facing overwhelming disadvantages in both raw strength and sheer numbers, Chu Yang's squad was rapidly losing ground, teetering on the brink of total annihilation.
However!
The Uchiha Clan had made one fatal miscalculation.
Having just returned from the soul palace, Chu Yang's innate talent, chakra capacity, and physical power had exploded, instantly tripling in strength!
With his current proficiency in Wood Release and his massively expanded chakra reserves, he was now barely capable of executing a portion of a true, ultimate-tier Wood Release ninjutsu.
Just as the Senju squad was being pushed to the brink of death, Chu Yang stepped forward and rapidly clapped his hands together, forming a specific hand seal.
The earth began to violently tremble.
Countless massive, thick tree trunks violently erupted from the ground! In a matter of seconds, they rapidly expanded and intertwined, forming a terrifying sea of wood that completely engulfed the Uchiha shinobi.
[Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence]
This was the only ultimate-tier ninjutsu Chu Yang currently knew. However, it wasn't the complete, legendary version of Deep Forest Emergence. Even if Chu Yang completely drained every last drop of chakra in his body, the scale of this jutsu was only a fraction of the original.
It was much closer to Yamato's downgraded version of the technique. The destructive power hadn't reached the pinnacle 'S-Rank' of an ultimate jutsu; it currently sat somewhere between A-Rank and S-Rank.
But even so... against these Uchiha clansmen, it was more than enough.
Under Chu Yang's precise control, the entire sea of trees transformed into a forest of man-eating demons. The writhing vines and massive branches relentlessly crushed, strangled, and imprisoned the Uchiha shinobi.
Engulfed by the surging timber, the enemy had absolutely nowhere to stand. Every single inch of ground they stepped on became a deadly weapon.
Naturally, the Uchiha Clan possessed no shortage of masters highly proficient in Fire Release. Refusing to sit still and await death, they unleashed a massive barrage of fire jutsu, desperately attempting to burn the encroaching forest to ash.
Clearly, they had never experienced the true horror of Wood Release.
The speed at which their flames destroyed the wood couldn't even begin to compare to the speed at which the forest regenerated.
No matter how hard they fought, their vision was constantly swallowed by an endless, suffocating sea of writhing timber, filling their hearts with absolute despair.
And this was merely the incomplete version of Deep Forest Emergence!
With the enemy completely suppressed and locked down by the forest, the Senju clansmen seized the opportunity to launch a devastating counterattack!
With the assistance of the other Senju, the vast majority of the Uchiha shinobi were brutally slaughtered within the sea of trees. In the blink of an eye, the overwhelming offensive and defensive advantage had been completely reversed by Chu Yang!
This was the true, terrifying power of Wood Release on the battlefield. It was a power capable of single-handedly dictating the outcome of a small-scale war!
After the Wood Release finished its rampage, the few surviving enemies, their spirits utterly broken by the sheer horror of the jutsu, turned and fled into the night.
Completely exhausted, Chu Yang didn't bother chasing after them.
The surviving Senju clansmen immediately gathered around Chu Yang, their eyes filled with intense, overwhelming gratitude.
"Yang! Thank the gods for you! If it weren't for you, every single one of us would have died here tonight!"
"I can't believe you actually know Lord Hashirama's Wood Release!"
"I heard Lord Hashirama took in a group of young people as his personal disciples to teach them his unique jutsu... don't tell me you're actually one of them?!"
The clansmen stared at Chu Yang, their faces painted with profound shock and awe.