Thrown hard onto the ground, Yakumo lay in the crater, not seriously injured, but gazing up at Uchiha Shinji with a face full of shock!
"He pretended to be caught in my genjutsu?"
"That was part of his strategy too?"
"But why... why wasn't he actually caught in my genjutsu?!"
At that moment, countless doubts flooded her heart.
This outcome was something she had never expected—nor could she accept the reality of once again being defeated by Shinji.
Standing atop a tree that had lost its chakra stimulation and was slowly falling silent, Shinji looked down at the astonished Yakumo.
"Heh."
With a soft chuckle, he lifted the corners of his mouth slightly.
No one probably understood Yakumo's genjutsu better than him.
Moreover, the Koryugan was a top-tier dojutsu, capable of seeing through an opponent's chakra flow and blood circulation, predicting their movements, and even controlling their blood!
Precisely because he understood this, he had always avoided close combat with Yakumo.
All the previous confrontations, stalemates, retreats, and even escapes had only been to wear down Yakumo's condition and lower her vigilance.
To make her, thinking she had victory in hand, expose a fatal weakness.
The final ambush—he had deliberately acted as though he was exhausted and launching a desperate attack, all just to make the heavily depleted Yakumo drop her guard further. Otherwise, if Yakumo had unleashed her full genjutsu abilities, even if Shinji could break free, he would have wasted too much time and ended up half-dead under her monstrous strength punches.
This was the only method he could think of to defeat Yakumo without activating the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Because Yakumo, who simultaneously wielded both Wood Release and the Koryugan, was simply too overwhelming.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Fūhime leapt onto Shinji's shoulder, licking her paw proudly as she said, "Haha, we won again!"
"Ahh, lost again..."
Yakumo sighed helplessly.
Inside her spiritual world, Idou was hopping mad, shouting, "Unforgivable! You're useless! Let me out, I'll teach that Shinji a lesson and show him our true strength!"
Yakumo thought silently, "Forget it... In such a passive situation, he still found my opening. Honestly, I can't say the loss was unfair."
Calming down to reflect for a moment, Yakumo realized where she had gone wrong.
Idou was still furious: "Hmph! Next time if you mess up again, it's my turn to take over!"
Not far away—
Seeing the battle between Shinji and Yakumo end like this, many spectators were left stunned.
Shizune looked astonished: "Lady Tsunade, how could this happen?"
Tsunade shook her head slightly.
From the moment Yakumo continuously activated Wood Release yet failed to take down Shinji, she had sensed something amiss.
Yakumo, after all, wasn't the First Hokage; she couldn't maintain such high-intensity Wood Release for long.
As the battle dragged on, Yakumo's flaws would only grow more obvious.
Elsewhere—
Jiraiya clicked his tongue in amazement: "This little Uchiha brat is really something! To seize such a fleeting chance—what a beautiful reversal!"
Kakashi's expression grew heavier.
Now more than ever, he felt he needed to urgently advise the Third Hokage to prioritize Uchiha Shinji's development—at the very least assigning him an exceptional jōnin instructor—lest Shinji start harboring resentment toward the Hidden Leaf.
The other leading jōnin from the various villages were all equally surprised.
Kirigakure's Terumi Mei frowned slightly: "Even Kurama Yakumo lost..."
Sunagakure's Chiyo commented, "It seems from the beginning, that Uchiha Shinji's strategy was to exhaust his opponent first, then patiently wait for a winning opportunity. For someone so young to judge the situation so calmly—remarkable!"
The jōnin leader from Kumogakure nodded: "Indeed. That Uchiha boy is unusually composed. His victory wasn't luck."
The Iwagakure jōnin added, "Still, it was Kurama Yakumo who gave him the chance. If she had been just a little more cautious, no matter how calm that Uchiha boy is, he couldn't have resisted absolute power."
After exchanging a few evaluations, the jōnin leaders quietly began reassessing the potential of Wood Release.
Even though their own village's talents hadn't managed to properly test Yakumo's Wood Release, Shinji had inadvertently done them a huge favor—thoroughly exposing its capabilities.
And judging by Yakumo's performance so far, Wood Release had already surpassed the vast majority of Bloodline Limits, making it an extremely worthwhile power to research.
Very quickly, the jōnin leaders exchanged glances, seemingly reaching a tacit agreement.
Chiyo of the Sand was the first to speak: "For the upcoming transplant operation, our villages should work together."
Terumi Mei agreed, "I second that."
"So do I."
The jōnin leaders from Kumogakure and Iwagakure also nodded.
Each of them had brought along a few volunteers to undergo the transplantation of the First Hokage's cells.After witnessing the might of Wood Release, their expectations for the operation had only grown.
On the battlefield—
Shinji landed beside Yakumo, extending his hand: "You're not hurt, are you?"
Yakumo coldly brushed herself off and got up on her own, saying, "This time... you won again!"
Shinji withdrew his hand: "I look forward to our next battle."
"Next time, I won't be looking up at you anymore!"With a huff, Yakumo leapt away, disappearing from Shinji's sight.
Watching Yakumo's retreating figure, Shinji smiled slightly, then glanced around at the now-silent forest, muttering to himself: "Yakumo's Wood Release..."
From a purely scale perspective—
Yakumo's Wood Release at this point was comparable to the version summoned during the original timeline's Chūnin Exams, when Orochimaru used Edo Tensei to revive the First Hokage.
But in terms of raw power and finesse, it was still a little lacking.
Against regular shinobi—even jōnin—her Wood Release could exert overwhelming dominance. However, against elite jōnin or Kage-level shinobi, the suppressive power wasn't nearly as absolute.
"Looks like it's not that Wood Release is inherently that strong... it's just that the First Hokage was too monstrous," Shinji mused internally.
The Wood Release itself had been glorified too much by the legend of the First Hokage. In reality, true Wood Release might only be at the level demonstrated by someone like Yamato—a strong Bloodline Limit, but not invincible.
In the eyes of Hidden Leaf's villagers, however, their concept of Wood Release had blended with the immense vitality of the Senju clan and the reincarnation power of Asura Ōtsutsuki.
If the First Hokage was the standard...
Then except for Uchiha Madara, who single-handedly ignited the Fourth Great Ninja War, no one's Wood Release would ever be considered "good enough."