Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

The raindrops condensed into hundreds of densely packed senbon needles, shooting towards Tenzo like a swarm of bees in a storm. In the environment of Amegakure, using water-style techniques in battle is twice as effective with half the effort, not only saving a lot of chakra but also providing various benefits.

For example, now,

Those strands of rainwater, formed by condensation, are transparent and colorless, making them extremely difficult to spot with the naked eye when mixed in with the rain.

【Wood Release·Wooden Spindle Wall】

Without any choice,

Tenzang had no choice but to cower like a turtle. The curved wooden pillars rose from the ground and pieced together a defensive wall that looked like an overturned boat. It was sturdy and heavy, and firmly withstood the storm-like onslaught of the water senbon. The thuds of the impacts were incessant.

"Hiding won't help."

The hand seals in the white hand change again.

【Ice Release: Ice Prison Technique】

The strands of rainwater, formed from condensed droplets, struck the wooden ingot wall, leaving shallow, honeycomb-like pits before turning into flowing water. This water mixed with raindrops and splashed onto the wooden ingot wall, releasing a bone-chilling cold that instantly covered the wall with a layer of white frost.

This,

This is just the beginning.

The ice layer thickened at an astonishing speed. In less than three seconds, a 'iceberg' ten meters high appeared on the wooden wall. Not only on the ground, but the terrifying cold air even penetrated deep into the ground, forming layers of ice barriers underground as well.

have to say,

For Bai, the environment of Amegakure was a perfect combination of favorable timing and location.

Go somewhere else

Bai Ke couldn't create a ten-meter-tall 'iceberg' so easily.

"Oh? There's still the power to resist?"

After the iceberg forms

Bai, who was ready to back down, discovered that things were not over yet.

iceberg,

trembling.

Green shoots sprouted from the walls of the wooden ingot, which were frozen at the deepest part of the wall. They broke through the thick ice and took advantage of the cracks to grow at an astonishing speed, tearing the fine cracks open and turning them into wounds that were difficult to heal.

With a deafening roar, the majestic iceberg collapsed, and in its place, a towering tree abruptly appeared on the ruins of the main street of Amegakure.

"Wood Release... It's really tenacious."

Bai became increasingly distressed.

After freezing the Konoha ninja who used Wood Release, he was already planning to leave. In his opinion, temporarily restraining the ninja who used Wood Release was already a sufficient contribution. If he continued to take action, he might really anger the behemoth that is Konoha.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

Tianzang possesses an exceptionally strong will and considerable strength.

Although it was a short time

However, Zongxian arranged for a skilled member of the Uchiha clan to serve as a sparring partner for Tenzo, the only Wood Release ninja currently in the village.

In Konoha, where the name of the Senju clan has lost its former glory, the Uchiha clan is probably the clan that understands Wood Release the most. They are the most suitable sparring partners for Tenzo. After all, the one who understands a person best is often his enemy. The one who understands Hashirama Senju the most is not his younger brother Tobirama Senju, but Madara Uchiha.

Just as the Second Hokage put in a lot of effort to study the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan,

The Uchiha clan also spent a lot of time and effort studying Hashirama Senju's Wood Release. The clan's library contains research notes left by their ancestors such as Madara Uchiha and Izuna Uchiha.

Under the intense training of the Uchiha clan's experts, Tenzo, who had previously been left to grow freely in the Anbu by the Third and Fifth Hokage, made significant progress. Initially, he only relied on his Wood Release bloodline limit and was considered to have the strength of an ordinary Jonin.

So after those two months of intense training,

He is a genuine Jonin-level expert.

If we also consider the power of Wood Release, among the Jonin, Tenzo was one of those who possessed unique skills and was quite formidable in combat.

"Although using this move here might make me a burden later, ... if I don't do it, I'm no match for you." Standing beneath the towering tree, Tianzang looked at the handsome young man opposite him, who seemed like a celestial being, and couldn't help but feel a little envious.

Such a person,

That's what a true genius is, right?

Just like that young man named Uchiha Itachi, who had sparred with me before, he was only seventeen years old this year, yet he already possessed strength that many people could only dream of in their entire lives.

Compared to this kind of genius,

He was just a lucky guy who had inherited the Wood Release bloodline limit by sheer chance.

but--

Even if he cannot be compared with these true geniuses, he will never let down the Hokage's high expectations for him, even if it means sacrificing his life.

"So, your opponent is me. At the very least, don't try to get in the way of anyone else before I fall." Tenzo roared, his hands rapidly forming hand seals. Chakra surged out like a burst dam, causing his cheeks to flush red and veins to bulge on his forehead. He had almost squandered all the remaining chakra in his body.

Fortunately,

[Wood Release: Wood Human Technique]

Successfully released.

A burly wooden figure, twenty meters tall and resembling the angry Arhat statue of the Fire Temple, appeared on the ruins. In Konoha Village, it would be an exceptionally tall figure, but in Amegakure, with its towering buildings, it wouldn't be so conspicuous... what a joke!

Such a big wooden figure,

It's impossible for it to go unnoticed anywhere.

Even in Amegakure, a village filled with high-rise buildings, there aren't many buildings that are more than twenty meters tall.

"...This isn't something you can deal with just by being a little serious." Looking up at the giant wooden figure, Bai sighed helplessly. Being a fence-sitter is really hard! The difficulty in striking the right balance is exceptionally high!

"Should we use...that move?"

Bai frowned slightly.

For a time,

I'm a little hesitant.

[Chapter 384. The Art of the Ice Realm Mirror]

Should we get serious?

Go all out here?

This problem didn't trouble Bai for too long.

The situation took a new turn while he hesitated. The pitch-black swarm of insects, like dark clouds, swept across the sky and surged toward Deidara, who was gleefully throwing bombs, forcing the bomb maniac to stop his bombing of the area below.

Focusing solely on dealing with the strongest member of the contemporary Aburame clan, Aburame Shiguro.

While fighting Aburame Torune, Jirobo was caught off guard and took a hit from the 'Eight Trigrams Empty Palm', which made him vomit blood. Fortunately, he was in the second stage of the Cursed Seal Release state and was not directly crippled by that palm. However, facing the attack from Aburame Torune and another Hyuga clan member who came to his aid, Hyuga Iroha, to be honest, even with the support of the Cursed Seal, Jirobo would have difficulty holding on, and defeat was only a matter of time.

the most important point is,

The wooden figure's heavy fist fell from the sky.

Simultaneously,

A chilling aura swept over him from behind, biting his skin and body.

Uchiha Itachi stood not far behind Haku, his hands forming hand seals, and unleashed an offensive ninjutsu.

"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet".

Six high-pressure water jets, spinning at high speed, rapidly shaped themselves by drawing in the surrounding moisture and then moved toward Bai Sha along different trajectories.

There's no need to feel conflicted anymore. If he were to hold back now, he would be playing with his life. To be honest, he wasn't afraid of death, but he had too many secrets about Lord Orochimaru in his mind. In this era where even the dead couldn't keep secrets, the best way to keep secrets was to survive.

So, Bai formed a hand seal, and a thin, pale ice mirror stood beside him. In an instant, the wooden figure's huge fist fell down, and six high-pressure water bullets, which looked like soft drills, also touched Bai's body.

however,

Itachi Uchiha saw it clearly: the moment the attack struck, the slender figure standing there stepped into the ice mirror first, and then the high-pressure water bullet and the wooden doll's fist shattered the ice mirror.

"Ice Release..."

His brow furrowed.

His intuition told him that this guy who used Ice Release wouldn't die so easily.

as predicted,

Just as that ice mirror shattered,

Uchiha Itachi saw ice mirrors appear out of thin air, hovering above the ruins. Slender figures moved in the ice mirrors, but none of them clearly reflected Bai's figure. They were blurry, like afterimages left after high-speed movement.

And the ice mirror

It is also constantly multiplying and increasing in all directions from the first ice mirror created by Bai, with each one about two or three meters apart, extending into the distance.

"Don't even think about escaping!!"

The veins on Tianzang's forehead throbbed and sprang.

The wooden figure raised its foot and stepped on the reflective ice mirrors on the ground. Although the thin, cicada-wing-like ice mirrors were not as fragile as they looked, the wooden figure's foot could deform even an iron plate, let alone an ice mirror. It was only natural that these ice mirrors would be crushed.

only--

This approach is ineffective.

If you can't destroy all the ice mirrors at once, then you can't harm Bai in the slightest.

Although the wooden golem is enormous and possesses destructive power with every move, just as an elephant cannot easily crush a colony of ants, without using a Wood Release technique tailored to the specific situation, the wooden golem alone cannot destroy all the rapidly multiplying ice mirrors in a very short time.

However, after using the Wooden Dummy Technique...

Tenzo was completely out of chakra to squander. Even the soldier pills couldn't extract any more power from his nearly depleted body. He could only force the wooden doll to continue fighting. Even though reinforcements had arrived, he didn't intend to lie down and rest peacefully.

Wooden figure

It continued to destroy the ever-expanding ice mirror.

"Now, I should be able to hand in my work, right?"

In the mirror, Bai looks back and gazes into the distance.

What he saw was Mujin punching and kicking away at the numerous ice mirrors he had created. Uchiha Itachi, who had used Water Release to ambush him, stood still and did not pursue. Oh, and there was also his subordinate Jirobo... who had fallen down as expected.