Upon receiving official news from Hidden Leaf, the villages of Cloud, Sand, and Rock, much like Mist, did not display overly intense reactions to the reappearance of "Wood Release" in Hidden Leaf.
Everyone understood that the Akatsuki organization, coveting each village's tailed beasts, was the greatest threat facing the five major shinobi villages at present.
But "Wood Release" was, after all, "Wood Release"!
Hidden Leaf's First Hokage had relied on the power of "Wood Release" to almost single-handedly reshape the millennia-long Warring States pattern of the shinobi world, ushering the shinobi realm into a new era of villages.
Now that "Wood Release" had resurfaced, whether someone in Hidden Leaf might reignite ambitions of unifying the world was something no one could predict.
Thus, beneath their outwardly mild responses, each village secretly activated contingency plans—some dispatched spies to Hidden Leaf to steal Tsunade's surgical data, while others formed teams to initiate their own experimental surgeries.
In short, regardless of whether they had previously coveted "Wood Release," every village, for the sake of their own security, now had to do their utmost to get their hands on it.
Rain Village.
News of "Wood Release" resurfacing quickly reached here as well.
In the Akatsuki organization's break room, Biwa Juzo, while polishing his Decapitating Carving Knife, asked Itachi, "Itachi, you've probably heard about the recent events in Hidden Leaf, right?"
Before Itachi could respond, Scorpion snorted from the other side, "Hmph, I didn't expect Hidden Leaf to start that kind of surgery again!"
Seemingly triggered by some memory, Kakuzu remarked, "'Wood Release'... It's been so long it almost feels nostalgic!"
Hidan chuckled, "Are you reminiscing about the days when 'Wood Release' beat you down?"
Kakuzu's face darkened. "Do you want me to tear you apart?"
Ignoring the bickering between Kakuzu and Hidan, Hiruko said, "I heard this surgery was personally overseen by Tsunade, and the one implanted with Hashirama's cells is the heiress of Hidden Leaf's Kurama clan, Kurama Yakumo!"
"Kurama? Never heard of them," Deidara muttered.
Hiruko explained, "The Kurama clan used to be one of Hidden Leaf's prominent noble families, but later…"
Deidara interrupted, "Later, did they get wiped out like the Uchiha?"
Itachi cast a cold glance his way.
Deidara shrugged. "Just asking casually, hm!"
Hiruko said helplessly, "The Kurama clan wasn't exterminated. It's just that their successors lacked exceptional talent, which gradually led to the family's decline."
Seeing Deidara about to quip again, Hiruko didn't give him the chance. "What I'm trying to say isn't about the Kurama clan itself, but about Kurama Yakumo as a person! I've received word that this heiress of the Kurama main family didn't just gain 'Wood Release'—it's not that simple."
At Hiruko's words, everyone present turned their attention to him, even Kurozuka Raiga, who carried a large bundle and usually kept to himself in the corner.
"According to reliable sources, Kurama Yakumo has awakened a dojutsu Bloodline Limit never before seen in the shinobi world!" Pausing for a moment, Hiruko added, "And that entirely new dojutsu Bloodline Limit has been named 'Koryugan' by Hidden Leaf!"
The group collectively froze.
Itachi furrowed his brow.
Scorpion's eyes lit up.
In the corner, Kurozuka Raiga instinctively glanced at the bundle on his back.
After a moment, Biwa Juzo spoke up, "Koryugan? Why does that name sound so similar to our Mist Village's Hogan?"
"That name reminds me of a dojutsu called 'Blood Dragon Eye,'" Kakuzu said, seemingly lost in another memory.
As the oldest among them, having survived from the Warring States era to the present in his own peculiar way, Kakuzu was privy to obscure knowledge like the "Blood Dragon Eye," which was a mystery to most shinobi.
Scorpion remarked, "To awaken a completely new dojutsu Bloodline Limit and withstand the cells of Hidden Leaf's First Hokage, this heiress of the Kurama clan must be a once-in-a-century genius!"
Hiruko glanced at the silent Itachi and smiled. "Indeed, a genius. Even Itachi's little brother, who awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, was easily defeated by her."
Itachi remained expressionless.
Scorpion grinned. "She's starting to pique my interest!"
Hiruko shifted the topic. "However, in the process of challenging the geniuses of Hidden Leaf's shinobi academy, she didn't manage to have the last laugh."
"What?!" Scorpion exclaimed, surprised. "There's a kid in Hidden Leaf's shinobi academy who can beat 'Wood Release'?"
Looking at Itachi, Hiruko said, "Another Uchiha!"
"Uchiha Shinji?" Scorpion immediately caught on.
Previously, he'd sent Yoxiao to Hidden Leaf to abduct Uchiha Shinji, hoping to test whether intense stimulation could awaken the boy's Sharingan. Unexpectedly, Yoxiao—a dojutsu Bloodline Limit shinobi with Hogan—fell to a few Hidden Leaf brats, which had irritated Scorpion for quite a while.
Hiruko nodded. "That's right, Uchiha Shinji!"
Deidara chimed in, "She's got 'Wood Release' and a brand-new dojutsu Bloodline Limit, yet she can't beat an Uchiha kid without an awakened Sharingan. Seems this so-called Kurama genius you're talking about isn't all that impressive, hm!"
Kakuzu added, "Maybe Koryugan is just an ordinary dojutsu Bloodline Limit with little use in combat!"
Clearly unwilling to admit that "Wood Release" might be weak, he instinctively assumed Kurama Yakumo's loss stemmed from an underwhelming "Koryugan."
At the central round tower of Rain Village.
Nagato and Konan were also discussing Hidden Leaf's resurgence of "Wood Release."
"Hidden Leaf bringing back 'Wood Release' at this moment must be aimed at us!" Konan said with a worried expression. "If they can mass-produce 'Wood Release' shinobi through surgery, our plans could face massive setbacks!"
Nagato, seated in his wooden chair, nodded lightly.
Even he couldn't ignore the legendary might of "Wood Release." Now that Hidden Leaf might have the ability to mass-produce "Wood Release" shinobi, he'd have to revise his strategies.
In a shadowy cave.
After hearing Zetsu's report, Obito chuckled lightly. "Looks like Akatsuki's brief period of laying low is about to end!"
Zetsu agreed with Obito's assessment. "Mm, Nagato will likely take action!"
"Wood Release…"
Chewing on the word, Obito soon dropped the playful expression from his face.
"Wood Release," his personal trump card, had now been mastered by another shinobi—and their mastery might even surpass his own.
No matter who heard this news, their feelings would be complicated.
After a long pause, he asked, "And what's this about Koryugan?"
Zetsu shook his head. "I've never heard of such a dojutsu. It might truly be, as Hidden Leaf claims, a brand-new dojutsu Bloodline Limit!"
Obito instructed, "Investigate it thoroughly! I can't shake the feeling that 'Wood Release' and 'Koryugan' emerging at the same time is too convenient—like someone's pulling strings behind the scenes!"