Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

This Wood Release chakra quickly spread through his chakra points, reaching his entire body and affecting even the deepest genes within him.

At the same time, Kirito, who was sitting cross-legged on the rock, was enveloped in a layer of green chakra.

The weeds around the rock beneath him began to grow wildly, and this phenomenon spread rapidly, eventually reaching Kirito, with plants within a radius of 100 meters growing rapidly.

In just a few minutes, the weeds grew to more than ten meters tall, some wildflowers became gigantic, producing flowers dozens of times larger than before, and a large number of trees also became towering trees. Due to insufficient space, many trees were piled together, eventually forming strange, fused giant trees.

However, whether it was flowers, grass, or trees, they all automatically avoided the central rock, so as not to have the slightest impact on the black-haired boy on the large rock who was emitting green light all over his body.

While the plants and trees were rapidly growing wildly, Kirito also entered a different state. He transformed into a seed, and then experienced germination and growth, growing from a sapling into a towering tree.

During this process, he was repeatedly struck by lightning and wildfires, and lost his life several times. However, he miraculously recovered time and time again by absorbing the abundant life force brought by the earth and water. This made him deeply understand what the true power of Wood Release is.

That was the plant's miraculous resilience and vitality.

"So this is Wood Release."

Kirito reopened his eyes and looked at the rapidly growing sapling in his palm. He gazed at it with an excited look, praising the miracle of life, and sighed deeply.

The sapling grew taller and taller until, under Kirito's control, it fell from his palm and took root in the rock beneath him. The roots quickly enveloped the rock and eventually took root in the earth.

Before long, a towering tree appeared in the forest. Kirito sat on its canopy, gazing in a certain direction—the direction where the Third Hokage's soul aura resided.

On the other side, in the Valley of the End, on a giant stone statue that looks exactly like Madara Uchiha, Madara is looking solemnly in a certain direction, which is the direction where Kirito is.

"Lord Madara, that's the power of Wood Release, isn't it?"

Black Zetsu, hidden in Madara Uchiha's shadow, suddenly spoke.

Having possessed White Zetsu for so long, it was naturally very sensitive to the aura of Wood Release. Just now, it sensed a unique Wood Release aura. At first, its aura was very weak, but now it was so powerful that it was wary of it.

"That's right, it is Wood Release, but it is not the Wood Release of Hashirama Senju."

Madara Uchiha replied with a solemn expression.

After acquiring Hashirama Senju's Sage Art Wood Release Chakra, his perception of Wood Release Chakra became much sharper than Black Zetsu's, and he gained a deeper understanding of Wood Release Chakra.

Therefore, he detected Kirito's Wood Release aura earlier than Black Zetsu, and instantly recognized that this Wood Release power was completely different from that of Hashirama Senju. Although it also contained vitality, it also contained decay within it.

Wood Release chakra imbued with the power of decay.

Although Madara Uchiha didn't know what kind of Wood Release chakra ability it was, based on his understanding of Wood Release, it must be extraordinary.

"Who exactly is it? Who developed this entirely new Wood Release power?"

Madara Uchiha thought to himself, filled with doubt.

Soon, he found out who had unleashed the new Wood Release power; the person with the new Wood Release power was rapidly moving towards him.

"The Valley of the End, huh? They really chose a very meaningful place."

Kirito moved through the forest on a huge, ever-extending tree branch, and then saw in the distance a waterfall canyon with two giant stone statues.

Chapter 298: The Broken Negotiations, Another Battle with Uchiha Madara

"It's him!"

Madara Uchiha used his Sharingan to look at Kirito, who was moving on a tree branch in the distance, and said in a gloomy blue tone.

His most feared enemy was actually the one who obtained the new Wood Release power, which couldn't be worse news for him.

Wood Release was one of his trump cards, a power he had painstakingly taken from Hashirama Senju, yet now it had been obtained by an excessively young junior.

What's even more outrageous is that the other party obtained it entirely through their own efforts.

"The Wood Release technique, belonging to the natives of the ninja world, has been created. This kid is really amazing."

Black Zetsu thought to himself.

What's the deal with Hashirama Senju's Wood Release? It should be the most knowledgeable creature in the ninja world. It clearly obtained its power by borrowing Ashura's power. Ashura was able to obtain Wood Release power thanks to his Otsutsuki clan bloodline and the power of the Divine Tree.

However, the fact that such powerful strength was obtained by a native through his own efforts truly shocked Black Zetsu.

He did not underestimate this localized Wood Release power; on the contrary, he found Kirito's Wood Release power, which was completely different from that of Hashirama Senju, to be extremely terrifying.

Perhaps Kirito Tohsaka did not have the bloodline of the Otsutsuki clan, and the Wood Release power he possessed was not as effective against Tailed Beasts as Hashirama Senju's Wood Release power.

However, compared to Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, Kirito Tohsaka's Wood Release is undoubtedly more favored by the ninja world. It must have some kind of terrifying special ability, and it may even be able to suppress Hashirama Senju's Wood Release by taking advantage of its home field.

In short, Madara Uchiha's trump card, Wood Release, is completely gone, which also greatly weakens Hashirama Senju, a powerful fighter.

The situation suddenly became unpredictable again.

"I'm here, Madara Uchiha. Where's the Third Hokage?"

Kirito didn't hide. He jumped up from the tree branch, unfurled a pair of chakra wings, and flew quickly towards the Valley of the End. Then he shouted loudly at the statue of Uchiha Madara.

"Arrogant brat."

Madara Uchiha cursed inwardly when he heard Kirito call him by his name.

Then, he formed a hand seal, and a coffin quickly appeared behind him. As the coffin lid fell, the Third Hokage appeared in front of Kirito.

At this moment, the Third Hokage was unconscious, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Using the blood-sensing ability of his Sharingan in his right eye socket, Kirito discovered that the Third Hokage had not been turned into an Edo Tensei puppet by Madara Uchiha and was still alive.

"Hand it over, Kirito Tohsaka. The Rinnegan should be returned to its rightful owner."

After bringing out the Third Hokage, Madara Uchiha immediately proposed the terms of the deal.

Without wasting words, Kirito quickly took out a Rinnegan from a storage-type sealing scroll.

Upon seeing the Rinnegan, Madara Uchiha immediately began to secretly mobilize his chakra, attempting to activate some kind of ninjutsu to elicit a response from the Rinnegan.

As a cunning and resourceful strategist, how could Madara Uchiha not have a backup plan with his Rinnegan? He boldly transplanted the precious Rinnegan into Nagato's body, and of course, he took all sorts of precautions.

For example, if someone tries to destroy the Rinnegan, the transcription seal hidden in the Rinnegan will immediately activate, releasing a powerful ninjutsu to attack the enemy and forcing the Rinnegan to retaliate on its own.

Madara Uchiha is now planning to activate the transcription seal hidden in the Rinnegan, catching Kirito off guard.

However, no matter how he tried, the transcription seal hidden in the Rinnegan could not be activated, as if something was severing the connection between him and the transcription seal.

Kirito used his Byakugan to see Madara Uchiha's little tricks and sneered, "Stop trying to play tricks. It's useless. This Rinnegan has already been sealed by my sealing technique. No matter what tricks you leave inside it, it won't work now."

"Hmph, give me back the Rinnegan, and I'll return it to Konoha in perfect condition."

Madara Uchiha said somewhat angrily that his little trick had been discovered.

As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the Third Hokage by the neck, pulled him out of the coffin, and held him up toward Kirito.

"One eye for one eye."

Kirito said coldly.

He hadn't forgotten that Sakumo Hatake was still in Madara Uchiha's hands. Madara had offered the Third Hokage for a pair of Rinnegan, and that wasn't a good enough bargaining chip.

Upon hearing this, Madara Uchiha snapped his fingers, and a white Zetsu with a large belly emerged from the stone statue.

Then, Sakumo Hatake's head grew out of White Zetsu's enormous belly.

By this time, Hatake Sakumo had become extremely thin, his face looked decades older, and it was clear at a glance that he was very weak.

Kirito rolled his eyes at Sakumo Hatake and realized that although his teacher was still alive, he was practically dead. His body was like a severely shattered piece of porcelain, only to be forcibly glued back together by the vigorous life force of the White Zetsu.

If emergency treatment isn't administered soon, even with the White Zetsu's continued vitality to prolong their lives, they will still die.

"Your teacher is very lucky to still be alive. He should thank me. He's still alive thanks to me. You should have noticed that his body hasn't collapsed yet because my subordinates are using special medical ninjutsu to keep him alive. Once they stop helping him, he'll be a corpse. But if you know what's good for you and return the Rinnegan to me, I can give you this subordinate along with you."

Madara Uchiha said, feigning generosity.

"..."

Kirito remained silent.

He didn't believe Madara Uchiha's nonsense. This guy would most likely order White Zetsu to commit suicide as soon as he exchanged the Rinnegan, or activate the backup plan hidden in Sakumo Hatake and White Zetsu.

"Boy, don't test my patience. If I don't get the Rinnegan back today, not only will those two die, but Konoha will also perish with them."

Seeing that Kirito remained silent, Madara Uchiha impatiently threatened him.

"You can try it. Anyway, once you do it, your Rinnegan will be gone. Although I don't know how you obtained the legendary Rinnegan that only the Sage of Six Paths possessed, I know how important it is to you. Without it, your conspiracy, which you've been plotting for decades, will most likely not be able to succeed."

"If you know what's good for you, hand them over to me first. I'll return the Rinnegan to you once I've determined they're not in any danger."

Kirito, undeterred, turned the tables and threatened Madara Uchiha instead.

Without the Rinnegan, Madara Uchiha could not activate the Eye of the Moon Plan, nor could he realize his ultimate dream.

He didn't believe that Madara Uchiha would dare to gamble with the Rinnegan.

He knew that Madara Uchiha had already staked everything on achieving the Eye of the Moon plan.

He can't afford to lose.

Conversely, he might watch Sakumo Hatake and the Third Hokage die here, but he would still retain the possibility of saving Konoha from Madara Uchiha. Even if he couldn't save Konoha, he wouldn't let it be completely destroyed, and there would be hope for a comeback.

"Impossible, you give me your eyes and your body in one hand."

Madara Uchiha refused without hesitation.

"Then there's nothing I can do. I don't trust you, you wicked bastard who has no bottom line even when it comes to playing with the dead."

Kirito retorted sarcastically.

Madara Uchiha was so enraged by Kirito's sarcasm that he laughed in anger, staring at Kirito with an increasingly cold and murderous gaze.

Both sides are so assertive, neither intending to relinquish control in this deal, and there is a serious lack of trust between them.

For a time, the deal stalled.

"It seems you have no sincerity at all. Then let's end this deal here. I will definitely avenge Master Hatake and Lord Third in the future. And this eye, you can forget about ever getting it again."

Kirito broke the deadlock first, speaking firmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, he closed his right palm and crushed the Rinnegan in front of Madara Uchiha.

"you wanna die!"

Upon seeing this, Madara Uchiha instantly became furious.

A high-pressure water jet suddenly shot out from the forest beneath Kirito, aimed directly at his right hand.

Not only that, a huge tree root stretched out from the forest and shot towards Kirito at high speed.

Enraged, Madara Uchiha immediately unleashed the two Edo Tensei puppets, Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju, hidden in the forest.