Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Uchiha Taiga stepped forward and placed his hand on the trunk. With his fingers slightly spread, his palm pressed against the rough bark, feeling its texture and temperature.

The trunk grew slightly warm beneath his hand, as if blood were flowing beneath it, giving off a comforting heat.

The next moment, the trunk began to tremble violently. From its roots to its canopy, it shook like a person shivering in the cold.

The branches and leaves in the canopy rustled loudly, sending foliage drifting down like snowflakes fluttering in the air. Something surged within the trunk, like water flowing underground or wind rushing through a pipe.

Nagato and Yugito Nii immediately sensed a unique chakra emerging within the tree.

This chakra was unlike that of ordinary ninjas. It was thicker, purer, and denser, like a mass of highly compressed gas flowing through the trunk. Its fluctuations were also strange—sometimes strong, sometimes weak, sometimes fast, sometimes slow—pulsing like a beating heart.

Reiko cheered, patting the trunk with her small hands and pressing her little face against the bark.

"Wow, the tree wants to talk!"

Her crisp, childish voice echoed through the cavernous space.

"Do you want to play with me?"

She looked up at the canopy with her large black eyes, filled with anticipation.

Taiga smiled faintly. He pulled his hand back, took two steps away, and looked up at the tree. His gaze swept from its roots to its canopy, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. Keep growing. It won't be long before you can go outside."

As if hearing something delightful, the tree immediately began to shake vigorously.

Its branches swayed, its leaves rustled, and its trunk bent slightly before straightening up. The entire canopy looked like a person roaring with laughter.

That joy was palpable, expressed through the fluctuations of its chakra. It was happy, incredibly happy.

Taiga looked at it, the corners of his mouth curling up, and spoke.

"Alright, quiet down."

Instantly, the tree quieted down like an obedient puppy.

The branches stopped swaying, the leaves stopped rustling, and the trunk stopped trembling. The entire tree stood perfectly straight and motionless, like a person standing at attention.

But it was still breathing and growing, continuing to emit that unique chakra.

Taiga smiled faintly, the curve of his lips deepening.

"Good. Obedient children get rewards. I'll give you something delicious."

With that, he pressed his hand against the trunk once more.

His palm rested flat against the bark, his fingers curling slightly as he applied pressure.

The next moment, two pitch-black lines surfaced on his face. Starting from his eyelids, they extended down his cheekbones all the way to his chin. The markings looked like two dried tear tracks, appearing exceptionally striking against his pale face.

At the same time, a gust of wind swept through the cavernous underground space.

The wind didn't blow in from the outside; it was caused by the sudden circulation of air within the subterranean chamber.

The wind wasn't particularly strong, but it was enough to rustle the clothes and hair of everyone present. The hem of Nagato's white cloak fluttered, Yugito's braid swayed behind her, and Reiko's little skirt blew upward, prompting her to reach down and hold it in place.

The tree immediately reacted as if it had been injected with a stimulant. The entire tree swayed like a person dancing. Its leaves grew at a visible rate, turning from a tender light green to a deep, rich green. Small leaves expanded into large ones, sprouting from the branches one after another until they formed a dense canopy.

The trunk also inched taller, growing from twenty or thirty meters to thirty or forty meters high. The canopy grew larger and denser, blocking out more of the ambient light and casting an even larger shadow on the ground.

This transformation lasted for a brief moment.

The tree's growth then slowed down, shifting from rapid to sluggish, until it nearly came to a halt.

It didn't seem satisfied. It wanted to keep growing, much like a starving person who had just eaten a single bowl of rice, tasted how good it was, and craved more.

A branch reached down from the canopy.

The branch was thick—about the size of an arm—and drooped from high above, tracing an arc through the air.

The tip of the branch landed on Taiga's arm, touching it gently. It was like a child probing, confirming, and cautiously asking, "Is this okay?"

Seeing this, Nagato frowned.

"Be careful."

His voice wasn't loud, but his tone was heavy with warning.

Yugito also looked confused. She glanced at the branch, then at Nagato.

"What's wrong?"

Nagato's gaze remained fixed on the branch.

"The God Tree wants his flesh and blood."

Yugito's expression immediately changed. She leaned forward and raised her hand.

"No!"

Her gaze shifted from Nagato to Taiga, her eyes filled with worry. She quickly asked, "It's eating human flesh. Does this mean it failed?"

Nagato shook his head, his eyes still on the tree.

"Quite the opposite."

His voice was calm.

"It's too successful."

Taiga grinned, not even turning his head.

"Yeah, it really is too successful."

His voice was casual, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary.

He spoke to Yugito, his tone still relaxed.

"Take Reiko and step back for now."

Although Yugito was extremely worried, she did as she was told.

She walked over to the tree, bent down, and picked Reiko up.

Held in her arms, Reiko turned her little head back and forth, her eyes darting between the tree and Taiga. She didn't cry or fuss; she just stared with wide, curious eyes.

Yugito retreated a dozen meters away. Her gaze remained on Taiga, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed.

Taiga chuckled. The sound wasn't loud, but it was clear.

"Don't worry."

His voice was soft, carrying a comforting tone.

"This thing doesn't just eat any human flesh. It has to be mine."

He paused, looking at the branch that was still gently touching his arm.

"Because I am far too special."

With that, he stopped wasting words. He raised his other hand and rolled up his sleeve, pushing it past his elbow to reveal his entire forearm. His arm was pale with distinct muscle definition, and blue veins were visible beneath the skin.

He brought two fingers together and swiped his fingertips across his arm.

With just a light swipe, his fingers acted like a sharp blade. The skin split open beneath his touch, leaving a hand-length gash on his forearm. The flesh curled back, exposing the red muscle and white fascia underneath. Blood welled up from the wound, trickling down his arm and dripping onto the ground with faint pattering sounds.

As if smelling a delicacy, the leaves at the tip of the branch trembled slightly.

Then it moved, lunging forward abruptly.

The tip of the branch pierced into Taiga's flesh like a needle, stabbing right into the wound and burying itself among the curled edges of his skin.

It began to feed.

Acting like a straw, the tip of the branch lodged in Taiga's arm and slowly siphoned the contents of his body.

The branch squirmed slightly, like a tube gulping down water.

The trunk gave a joyful shudder, like a person letting out a satisfied yawn after a full meal.

The leaves rustled loudly, sounding like someone humming a soft tune.

The entire tree trembled, shaking even more violently than before.

At the same time, Taiga's arm visibly withered away.

From his shoulder to his elbow, and from his elbow to his wrist, the muscles atrophied, the skin sagged, and the blood vessels shrank.

In the blink of an eye, his entire forearm was reduced to skin and bones. The skin clung tightly to the bone, clearly outlining the shape of his skeleton and joints.

Bulging veins stood out, looking like earthworms crawling beneath his skin.

The sight was inexplicably horrifying.

A living person's arm going from full and healthy to shriveled and emaciated in an instant—transforming from flesh and blood to mere skin and bones—was truly terrifying.

Nagato merely frowned as he watched, remaining silent.

His gaze rested on the branch. His expression was calm, showing no signs of concern over the gruesome display.

Yugito was slightly worried, but she didn't pay it much mind either.

Compared to Nagato, as his lover, she understood Taiga much better. Naturally, she didn't believe a minor incident like this would cause him any irreparable harm.

She simply stood there holding Reiko, quietly watching the situation unfold.

Reiko felt nothing but curiosity.

She stared wide-eyed at Taiga's arm, her small face devoid of any fear.

Only Taiga was grinning.

"Good. If you can eat, then eat your fill."

His voice was laced with excitement.

Suddenly, at a certain moment, he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? It actually matured early?"

Looking back at the tree, it had stopped feeding on his flesh and blood at that very moment.

The branch pulled out of Taiga's arm, beads of blood still hanging from the leaves at its tip. It retracted back into the canopy like a snake slithering into its hole. The trunk stopped trembling, the leaves stopped rustling, and the entire tree fell silent.

But that silence lasted for only a split second.

Then it began to expand, blowing up like a balloon suddenly filled with air.

The trunk grew from the thickness of a bucket to the width of a round table, and then to the size of a room. The canopy expanded from tens of meters wide to hundreds of meters, and then to thousands of meters across. Its branches stretched out in all directions like countless arms, and its leaves clung densely to the boughs like innumerable scales.

It was growing, expanding at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Roots bulged from beneath the ground, coiling over the soil like giant pythons. The trunk grew taller and taller, and the canopy grew larger and larger. The entire tree was swelling, expanding, and claiming more and more space.

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