NOVEL WEB Chapter 42: Wood release reveal.
Minato was waiting. The moment he saw an opening, he vanished in a flash of yellow light—straight toward Kandachi.
Kandachi, experienced and cautious, had predicted the move. The instant Minato disappeared from sight, Kandachi activated his defense.
"Water Style: Water Barrier Jutsu!"
A swirling dome of water formed around him just in time.
Boom.
Minato's Rasengan slammed into the dome with explosive force, shattering the water shield into droplets. But Kandachi had already leapt back, unharmed, and countered with a barrage of water bullets while retreating to safety.
The battle intensified atop the massive floating body of the Conch King. Their exchange was so fierce that it began disturbing the misty genjutsu shrouding the battlefield. Within seconds, the fog began to fade, revealing the true landscape below.
Beneath them, hidden behind rocky terrain, Ren and Kakashi silently observed.
Five Rain shinobi remained below—three jonin and two special jonin—each handpicked by Hanzo himself. The tension in the air was palpable.
Kakashi glanced at Ren. "We can take them."
Ren remained quiet, calculating.
Then he nodded.
There was no point hiding anymore. Not now. He and Tsunade had reached the point where their strength could no longer be ignored—or concealed.
He made a decision.
He would reveal his Wood Release.
Ren explained everything to Kakashi, who stiffened in surprise. But the next moment, a faint smile touched his face.
"You're a Senju," Kakashi said. "The First Hokage's blood still runs strong."
Ren simply nodded in acknowledgment. There was no turning back now.
A plan formed quickly between them. Ren would launch a direct attack, drawing attention. Kakashi would use the distraction to eliminate the special jonin with surgical precision.
Above them, the clash between Minato and Kandachi continued.
Minato faced a major obstacle—he couldn't embed his Flying Thunder God kunai into the Conch King's shell. It was too dense, too smooth. Even throwing the kunai on it was unreliable, as the Conch King's constant movement made accurate placement nearly impossible.
So Minato adapted.
He began marking different spots on the Conch King's surface with his fingers as he dashed across it, leaving invisible seals without needing to land a blade. Each seal was subtle, silent, and lethal.
Kandachi didn't make it easy. He combined water-style attacks with the Conch King's monstrous support. Whip-like tongues lashed out at Minato from all directions, and its back pores periodically launched high-velocity needles. The platform itself had become a battlefield designed to kill.
Meanwhile, Ren disappeared into the earth using Mayfly. He resurfaced behind a jonin who was too absorbed in the battle above to notice.
Boom.
Ren's chakra-enhanced fist struck the back of the jonin's skull. The head cracked and collapsed like a crushed melon. The man dropped dead instantly.
The remaining jonin and special jonin turned in shock. Their eyes locked on the young boy calmly stepping out of the shadows.
"A kid...?"
"He just took down Riki with one hit!"
Two jonin and two special jonin immediately surrounded him, unleashing a hailstorm of elemental jutsu—flames, wind blades, lightning arcs—and a deadly spread of shuriken.
Ren didn't flinch.
With a single hand sign, he created a full circular wooden dome around himself. The barrage slammed into the structure. Explosions followed, shaking the battlefield and sending dust flying.
The Rain shinobi waited for the smoke to clear, preparing for a second strike.
But when the dust settled, there was no body.
Only the dome remained—now split open and retreating back into the earth.
Crack.
From the ground, a forest of sharp, flexible wooden roots erupted, swift and precise like serpents. They shot forward, twisting and entangling all four Rain ninja before they could react.
In moments, they were immobilized. Their chakra suppressed by the overwhelming nature of Wood Release.
Kakashi appeared in a flash. Without a word, he drove a lightning-charged kunai straight through a jonin's skull. The body dropped, lifeless.
Ren followed with ruthless efficiency. A wooden spear shot from the ground and impaled another jonin through the chest.
The two special jonin struggled, panic in their eyes, but it was too late. Ren stepped forward and used his jutsu to pull their bodies underground, leaving only their horrified faces exposed.
The once-elite task force of Hidden Rain—handpicked by Hanzo himself—was reduced to nothing.
Two children had destroyed them.
Kakashi wasted no time. He moved to the captured daimyo's son, quickly removing his bindings.
The boy was bloody, bruised, and barely conscious.
"Help..." he whispered weakly before collapsing again.
Ren stepped beside him and knelt down.
"I've got this."
He placed a steady hand on the boy's chest, then activated the Mystic Palm Technique—a high-level medical jutsu passed down by none other than Tsunade.
Kakashi was visibly surprised. To see Ren not only capable of Wood Release but also advanced healing jutsu—it was astonishing. But considering who his teacher was, it made perfect sense.
Within seconds, the boy's wounds began to close. His ragged breathing evened out.
The daimyo's son opened his eyes slowly, confused, then saw the Konoha headbands.
"You... you saved me..."
And then, with a faint smile, he passed out again—safe, healed, and out of danger.
A thunderous explosion echoed from above.
Both Ren and Kakashi looked up.
The Conch King had vanished in a burst of smoke, its massive body de-summoned.
Through the fading smoke, Minato stood at the center of the sky platform, gripping Kandachi by the throat.
Kandachi's body was broken. Blood soaked his torn robes. His stomach was severely wounded. Minato's expression was cold and calm.
The battle was over.
Moments earlier, Kandachi had made one final push. He unleashed a massive water tornado, while commanding the Conch King to unleash its deadliest attacks. Whips lashed out. Needles flew.
Minato had prepared for this.
He activated his newest technique.
Lightning Release: Thunderbolt.
A stream of raw lightning surged from his outstretched hand, cutting through the water tornado and electrocuting everything in its path.
Caught off guard, Kandachi was momentarily paralyzed.
He tried to recover, ordering the Conch King to attack, but Minato was already gone—teleported to the nearest seal, directly behind him.
Kandachi reacted with his Water Barrier Jutsu again.
But this time, Minato was ready.
With his right hand, he slashed through the barrier using a lightning-infused kunai. And with his left, he drove a Rasengan straight into Kandachi's stomach.
The Rain commander was defeated.
What had happened just moments ago was the turning point.
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Author's Note – A Small Update from Me
Hey everyone, Dreaming\_Dragon97 here!
I wanted to take a moment to share something with you all. After some thought, I'm planning not to give Ren any Dōjutsu. Personally, I feel that as a Senju, adding a Dōjutsu kind of breaks the balance and theme of his growth. I'm sorry for my earlier foolishness on the matter—I might've gotten a bit carried away with the hype.
That said, this story belongs to all of us, and if you—my amazing readers—still want Ren to have a Dōjutsu, then please let me know right here in the comments of this paragraph. If the majority of you want it, who am I to say no?
Alternatively, if you have suggestions for new jutsu, abilities, or ideas to make Ren's growth more unique without a Dōjutsu, feel free to drop them too. I love reading your ideas!
Also, I've been thinking about writing another meeting between Ren and the God when he turns ten. Would you all be interested in that? Yes or no—just let me know.
Thanks for all your support and engagement!
—Dreaming_Dragon97
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