Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

In that instant, the entire ground trembled. It was a muffled shudder originating from deep underground, as if something that had been slumbering beneath the earth for a long time was finally awakened.

Cracks began to form on the sandy ground, and then, the first tree seed broke through the soil.

It was a tender green sapling, only the length of a finger. Two tiny leaves unfurled, gleaming with a fresh green light in the sun. As it drilled out of the sand, it brought up a small pinch of dirt, its leaves still quivering slightly.

But this was only the beginning.

A second, a third, a fourth...

Countless seeds burst forth from the sand, patch after patch, connecting into a vast expanse.

They sprouted from the cracks, emerged from the dunes, and poked their heads out from the wetlands at the edge of the lake. It was as if an invisible hand had scattered a handful of seeds across the land, and they had all germinated in a single instant.

The saplings grew at an accelerating rate. In just a few breaths, they shot up from finger-length sprouts to knee-high plants. Their stems thickened, their leaves expanded, and their roots plunged deep into the sand like invisible hands firmly gripping the barren earth.

Then they continued to grow—knee-high, waist-high, as tall as a person...

The trunks thickened, the bark toughened, and the branches stretched out in all directions.

Initially, it was just a small area in front of Uchiha Taiga, roughly a few dozen meters in radius.

But soon, this perimeter began to expand outward.

The trees spread in all directions like a tidal wave, one after another, row after row. They climbed over the sand dunes, filled the depressions, bypassed the lake, and stretched all the way into the distance.

The dunes vanished beneath the cover of the trees, replaced by a sea of green canopies.

The blowing sand was blocked, and the dusty scent in the air faded, replaced by the fresh fragrance of vegetation. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the canopy, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

This area was transforming into a forest at an inconceivable speed.

And all of this happened within a matter of breaths.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Rasa stood at the very front. His mouth hung slightly open, and his eyes were wide, his pupils reflecting the wildly growing forest.

His mind went completely blank, devoid of any thoughts, save for a single realization echoing repeatedly... *This is Wood Style.*

Maki stood not far behind Rasa. His smile had long since vanished, replaced by an expression he had never worn before. His eyes bulged like saucers, his mouth agape, his jaw practically dropping to the ground.

The other Sunagakure shinobi were in a similar state.

Some had their mouths wide open, some held their breath, some subconsciously took a couple of steps back, and some simply plopped down onto the sand, staring up at the growing trees with absolute bewilderment in their eyes.

When had any of them ever witnessed such a spectacle?

These people, who had only ever heard tales of the miraculous and mighty Wood Style, were now truly witnessing its terrifying power. It was genuinely altering the landscape, turning a barren desert where not a single blade of grass grew into a dense, lush forest.

Standing among the crowd in the back, Chiyo's expression was the most complex.

She was old and had seen more than anyone else present. She had seen the Third Kazekage's Magnet Style: Iron Sand, witnessed the First Kazekage's grand vision and bold strategies, and experienced the rise and fall of Sunagakure.

She had also seen Wood Style.

Not just heard of it, but truly seen it with her own eyes.

It was during her youth, in that era of war, when she had once seen Senju Hashirama unleash Wood Style from afar. That time, just a distant glance at that power had left her too shocked to speak.

For decades, she had believed that such power would never appear in this world again.

But now, she was seeing it once more.

Her eyes were fixed intently on Uchiha Taiga's back. Against the backdrop of the trees, the young man's figure didn't seem tall; in fact, he looked somewhat frail.

Yet, it was this very silhouette that reminded her of that man.

Senju Hashirama.

The same power, the same posture, the same incomprehensible miracle.

Chiyo's gaze grew somewhat dazed. It was as if she had suddenly been transported back decades, seeing that man standing at the pinnacle of the forest.

Her younger brother beside her had also fallen into a daze. His lips trembled slightly as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out.

Yugito Nii stood on the other side of the crowd. Her face, however, didn't show much shock.

After all, she had traveled alongside Uchiha Taiga the entire way and had witnessed far too much.

But seeing this scene with her own eyes still left her awestruck.

She subconsciously clenched her fists, then slowly released them.

Then, she smiled.

"The gap... is just too massive."

The trees were still growing, and the perimeter was still expanding.

Rasa finally couldn't hold back anymore.

A surge of Gold Dust erupted from beneath his feet. The golden sand lifted him slowly into the air, quickly rising to a height of several dozen meters, allowing him to look down upon the land he had lived on for most of his life.

Then, his expression turned dazed.

As far as his eyes could see, all the way to the horizon, there were nothing but trees. They grew out of the sand, densely covering his entire field of vision.

A true forest had appeared in a place where no forest should exist.

And the borders of this forest were still continuously expanding.

Rasa opened his mouth to say something, but his throat felt blocked, rendering him speechless.

His eyes grew hot. Having lived in the desert for most of his life, he knew how precious water was, how rare trees were, and what the color green meant to this place.

And now, in just a few minutes, Uchiha Taiga had accomplished what he hadn't been able to do in decades.

Only at this moment did he truly understand Uchiha Taiga's might.

Rasa took a deep breath, calming his emotions.

The growth of the trees finally slowed down. The frequency of seeds breaking through the soil decreased, the growth rate of the new saplings decelerated, and the fully grown trees stopped getting taller.

They began to stretch their branches and leaves sideways, spreading their canopies wider and driving their roots deeper, as if consolidating the territory they had just conquered.

Uchiha Taiga released his hands and gently exhaled.

A Wood Style jutsu of this scale was also a drain on him. Although he hadn't reached his limit, it wasn't as effortless as he made it appear.

He looked up and saw Rasa hovering in mid-air.

"Rasa, bring me up."

Rasa snapped out of his daze. He didn't hesitate, nor did he even ask why.

Several streams of Gold Dust separated from beneath his feet. The golden sand cascaded down from the sky like flowing water, converging at Uchiha Taiga's feet before slowly rising, forming a golden platform beneath him.

The platform steadily supported Uchiha Taiga, carrying him slowly into the air.

Uchiha Taiga stood slightly higher than Rasa. The wind blew from afar, making the hem of his clothes flutter loudly. He looked down at the forest below, then at the distant desert, and nodded.

"Not bad."

He muttered softly, as if evaluating his own work.

Then, he raised his hands again.

Just as Rasa was about to ask what he was doing, he saw Uchiha Taiga's hands begin to form hand signs.

"Water Style: Great Rain Explosion Jutsu!"

Uchiha Taiga shouted in a low voice, then tilted his head back.

He opened his mouth, and a thin stream of water shot out from his throat, blasting straight up into the sky.

Initially, the water stream was only as thick as a finger, resembling a thin white silk thread gleaming in the sunlight. But soon, it began to thicken and widen—from the width of a finger to that of an arm, from an arm to a bucket, and from a bucket into a massive geyser soaring into the heavens.

The geyser surged into the sky and then violently burst apart.

It was like a bomb made of water detonating in the sky. Countless water droplets scattered in all directions, transforming into a massive curtain of rain that poured down with a torrential clatter.

This scene shocked everyone.

The Sunagakure shinobi tilted their heads up at the sky, watching the water droplets fall from above, hitting their faces, hands, clothes, and the earth.

It was real, tangible water.

Chiyo's mouth hung wide open, Ebizo's eyes were perfectly round, and Maki's jaw dropped once again.

"Water Style?"

Someone muttered, their voice trembling with disbelief. "A Water Style jutsu of this scale?"

Water Style wasn't a rarity; there were plenty of shinobi across the Five Great Nations who could use it.

But a Water Style jutsu of this magnitude was something they had never even heard of, let alone seen with their own eyes.

Spewing a curtain of rain from one's mouth to cause a heavy downpour over a radius of several kilometers—this was no longer an ordinary Water Style jutsu. This was a power capable of altering the hydrological environment of an entire region.

What shocked them even more was that after the rain fell on the newly grown trees, white vapor began to rise from the canopies. The vapor ascended into the sky, condensed in the cold air, and formed even more clouds.

The clouds gathered thicker and denser, quickly turning from white to gray, and from gray to a dark, heavy leaden color.

A muffled clap of thunder echoed from the clouds.

*Rumble...*

The sound wasn't loud, but it was deep and heavy, as if something was rolling within the clouds.

Following that came a second clap, then a third. The thunder grew more frequent and louder, rolling in from the distance.

Then, the rain returned.

Not the kind spewed from Uchiha Taiga's mouth, but true, natural rain falling from the clouds.

The dense raindrops fell, pattering against the leaves with a crackling sound, splashing into little blooms of water on the ground, and hitting the faces of the Sunagakure shinobi, snapping them out of their shock.

Rasa stood on the Gold Dust platform. The rain beat against his Hokage robes, soaking his hair and clothes.

But he didn't move, not even raising a hand to wipe the rain from his face.

He simply tilted his head up, looking at the sky, at the clouds, and at the rain falling from them.

His lips trembled slightly.

Uchiha Taiga stood at a higher vantage point. The rain beat down on him, but he made no move to shield himself, simply letting the rain wash over him.

He looked at the forest below, then at the rain clouds in the sky, and nodded, looking highly satisfied.

"Alright, let's head back."

His tone remained as relaxed as ever, as if he had just done something completely trivial.

"This rain will last for a while. With the Wood Style forest locking in the moisture, it'll be enough to permanently set this landscape."

He looked down at Rasa standing on the Gold Dust platform and noticed that Rasa was looking up at him, his face covered in rain and his eyes red.

"As long as this area is properly managed from now on to prevent the spread of wind and sand, a natural ecosystem will form, and this forest will gradually expand outward."

Uchiha Taiga smiled as he spoke, patting Rasa on the shoulder. "See? This is the true use of ninjutsu, not all that fighting and killing."

With that said, he jumped down from the Gold Dust platform.