Just like before, the meeting inside the Soul Palace ended quickly.
Mist flooded the ancient halls.
The three Ethans were separated once again and returned to their respective worlds.
Pirate-World Ethan awakened aboard the Sun Pirates’ ship to the sound of cheering crewmates.
Wizard Ethan returned to preparing for his first year at Hogwarts.
And in the Naruto world— war was approaching.
This was still the era before hidden villages.
Before Konoha.
Before the shinobi system evolved into nations and military institutions.
Back then, the world belonged to clans.
And above all others stood two names feared across the Shinobi World.
The Senju.
The Uchiha.
Their war had already lasted for generations.
In many ways, the history of their conflict was the history of the Shinobi World itself.
As the fighting intensified, so did the need for logistics.
Supply routes.
Reconnaissance.
Sabotage.
Counter-ambushes.
The moment Senju Ethan returned from the Soul Palace, the clan assigned him a mission.
He was to join a strike squad targeting what appeared to be an Uchiha supply convoy.
Operations like this had become routine.
The Senju attacked Uchiha logistics.
The Uchiha retaliated against Senju logistics.
Over time, both sides adapted.
Every ambush became a deadly contest of deception and counter-deception.
Ethan’s squad tracked the target for two full days before finally locating the enemy camp.
Night had already fallen.
The Uchiha had established camp beside a river downstream.
Meanwhile, the Senju strike team hid silently within the nearby forest.
“The Sharingan may not match the Byakugan in terms of scouting,” the squad leader warned quietly, “but its perception is still dangerous.” His gaze swept over the younger members of the squad.
“Control your Chakra carefully.” “Do not expose yourselves.” He repeated the warning multiple times.
Most of the squad was young.
Very few had extensive experience fighting the Uchiha.
Some were entering their first real battlefield.
His eyes lingered briefly on Ethan before he sighed inwardly.
Young shinobi without combat experience died first.
That was simply reality.
Under the cover of darkness, the squad slipped silently into the river and began swimming toward the enemy camp.
Ethan stayed near the rear of the formation.
And gradually— a bad feeling crept over him.
Something was wrong.
The enemy sentries were too sparse.
The perimeter wasn’t properly secured.
Especially near the riverbank.
There were no guards at all.
Even stranger— the camp was unnaturally quiet.
Too quiet.
Like everyone inside had fallen into a deep sleep.
That kind of negligence was suicidal during wartime.
Ethan wanted to warn the squad leader immediately, but the man had already moved too far ahead.
Only after reaching shore did Ethan finally get close enough to voice his concerns.
Unfortunately, the leader barely took him seriously.
Too young.
Too inexperienced.
Ethan sighed inwardly.
If he couldn’t convince them, then he’d simply stay alert himself.
The squad leader quietly infiltrated the nearest tent.
Meanwhile, the rest of the strike force spread through the camp, waiting for the signal to eliminate the sleeping Uchiha simultaneously.
Then— instead of a signal— a scream tore through the night.
A horrific scream.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed instantly.
Shit.
At the same moment, flames erupted from every direction.
The entire camp lit up.
Dark figures emerged from the shadows.
Dozens.
No— hundreds.
Uchiha shinobi surrounded them from all sides.
And then Ethan saw it— their squad leader being dragged out of the tent like a corpse.
They had walked directly into a trap.
“Break through!” One Senju shinobi shouted in panic before immediately fleeing.
Others followed instinctively, scattering in different directions.
“Idiots!” Ethan couldn’t stop himself from shouting.
“Splitting up now is suicide!” “They prepared for that already!” And he was right.
The fleeing Senju were intercepted almost immediately by hidden Uchiha forces waiting outside the perimeter.
One after another, they were cut down.
The remaining Senju instantly realized the truth.
Without hesitation, they regrouped around Ethan.
“Attack!” The lead Uchiha clearly had no intention of allowing them to recover.
The battlefield exploded into chaos.
Steel clashed.
Ninjutsu roared.
Blood stained the riverbank.
After only a few exchanges, Ethan understood the situation completely.
These weren’t logistics personnel.
Not even remotely.
Every enemy here was elite.
The so-called supply convoy had been bait from the very beginning.
“We’ll make the Senju bleed tonight!” The Uchiha held both the numerical advantage and the terrain advantage.
The Senju line was pushed backward almost immediately.
But— the Uchiha had overlooked one critical detail.
After synchronizing with the Soul Palace again, Ethan’s talent, Chakra reserves, and overall strength had all increased dramatically.
His Wood Release mastery had advanced enough that he could now barely use truly high-level techniques.
As the Senju formation neared collapse— Ethan stepped forward.
His hands blurred through hand seals.
The earth trembled violently.
Then the forest exploded upward.
Massive trees erupted from the ground at terrifying speed, spreading outward into an endless sea of wood that swallowed the battlefield whole.
Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.
This was the strongest Wood Release technique Ethan currently possessed.
But it wasn’t complete.
Even if he exhausted every drop of Chakra he had, he still couldn’t reproduce Hashirama Senju’s true version.
What Ethan created was closer to Yamato’s weaker variation.
Even so— its destructive power still hovered somewhere between A-Rank Ninjutsu and S-Rank Ninjutsu.
And against ordinary Uchiha shinobi?
That was already overwhelming.
The entire forest became a living predator under Ethan’s control.
Branches lashed out like giant serpents.
Roots erupted beneath enemy feet.
Vines constricted.
Trees crushed.
The Uchiha suddenly found themselves trapped inside a battlefield where the terrain itself was trying to kill them.
Naturally, many among them specialized in Fire Release.
Flames erupted across the forest as they desperately attempted to burn through the Wood Release.
But they had never faced true Wood Release before.
The fire spread quickly— yet the forest regenerated even faster.
No matter how much they burned, endless trees continued swallowing the battlefield.
The sight alone was enough to drive people into despair.
And this— was only an incomplete version of Deep Forest Emergence.
The battle reversed instantly.
Protected by Ethan’s Wood Release, the surviving Senju launched a vicious counterattack.
Uchiha shinobi fell one after another beneath the forest canopy.
Within moments, the tactical advantage completely flipped.
This was the terror of Wood Release on a battlefield.
A power capable of changing wars.
By the time the forest finally settled, the surviving Uchiha had already broken and fled.
Completely drained, Ethan made no attempt to pursue them.
His Chakra reserves were empty.
The surviving Senju slowly gathered around him, their faces filled with awe and disbelief.
“Ethan!” One of them spoke excitedly.
“If you hadn’t been here, we’d all be dead!” Another stared at the endless forest surrounding them.
“You can use Lord Hashirama’s Wood Release?!” Then realization struck several of them at the same time.
“We heard Clan Head Hashirama personally selected young disciples to train in Wood Release…” Their eyes widened.
“Wait…” “You’re one of them?!”