Itachi and his anbu group cut their way through the forest on the third floor.
Soon, they reach one-third of the way across the area.
Swish… swish… swish…
Suddenly, several tree branches attack the group from all angles.
Shiing…
Sasuke and Itachi draw their blade and slice the tree branches surrounding them.
"I knew it. There is no way anything that freak Orochimaru experiments on is normal." The vice-captain shakes his head.
The vice-captain also draws his sword and slices the trees. A few anbus get tangled into the branches and their comrades attempt to free them.
"Eeek…"
Yuri's sudden scream startles them. Itachi and Sasuke quickly turn to her.
"What happened lady Yuri?" Sasuke asks her.
"A face… I-I… Just now I saw a face on one of the tree trunks." Yuri points towards a tree with trembling fingers.
"What?" The anbu team members are startled by her observation.
"Which tree?" They quickly glance at the tree.
Shiing…
Sasuke draws his sword and slices the tree into several pieces.
"There!" Yuri points towards another tree.
"I got a glimpse of a face on that tree for a second!" Yuri points towards another tree.
Sasuke slices the second tree into several wood logs.
Suddenly, several trees from all directions attack them at the same time. For the next few minutes, the group struggles to clear wave after wave of attacks from the nearby trees.
Some trees even regenerate their broken branches and attack them with increased vigor.
Itachi was only able to calm the situation after burning a ring of Amaterasu flames around them.
"What kind of forest is this?" The group stares at their surroundings with trepidation.
"Hmm… I seem to have heard of this before." Itachi recalls some information from his memory.
"Izuna Nii-san shared his experience of his encounter with a tree-person like this before. According to him, this tree person is a member of an ancient clan called the Shinrin clan. The members of this clan claimed to be the descendants of the Divine tree Shinju and possess powerful abilities to control the forest and they possess powerful regeneration and endurance. Though the only side-effect is, as they grow older, their body slowly becomes more and more like trees. At that stage, they can transfer their consciousness between trees and save their lives at a critical moment. They can even revive themselves from a small sapling, though they have to pay the price with their vitality. Izuna Nii-san calls them Treants." Itachi explains to them.
"Wow, they are really all kinds of strange clans and techniques in the shinobi world," Yuri exclaims in surprise.
"So, how should we deal with him?" Sasuke asks him.
"Let's burn the entire forest!" Itachi speaks loudly.
"Alright!"
Swish… swish…
Sasuke makes a series of hand signs and takes a deep breath.
"Fire release…"
Whoosh…
Suddenly, a giant branch erupts from the ground and strikes Sasuke.
Swoosh…
Sasuke quickly jumps back and avoids the attack, canceling his jutsu.
Rumble… Rumble…
Suddenly, the entire third-floor shakes. Massive roots and branches erupt from every corner of the forest.
A rip opens up on the ground and another massive wooden hand sprouts from the ground.
The surrounding trees quickly fuse with the branches and soon a gigantic monster of around eight to nine meters stands in front of the group.
Several vines wrap around the giant tree monster to form a thorn armor. The tips of the thorn shimmer with a purple hue, a sign of the deadly poison on them.
The eyes of the giant monster glow with an eerie red light.
HUAAAH…
The monster releases a shrill scream and attacks the group with its giant arm.
Whoosh…
The group swiftly dodges the attack.
Sasuke quickly climbs over the arm of the giant tree monster and slices across its body with his katana. The vines and roots on its surfaces rip apart to release poisonous green liquid.
Swoosh…
Sasuke jumps back and avoids a barrage of vicious thorns.
"Is that its blood?" Yuri glances at the dripping green liquid full of vitality.
"It seems poisonous." An Uzu clan elder remarks.
The giant tree monster raises its arms and slams them on the ground. Several roots, vines, and thorns spontaneously grow out of the ground to create a bramble maze.
The group quickly disperses and separates from each other to avoid the attack.
Massive pink flowers grow on the brambles. These pink flowers open up and releases pollen in their surroundings.
A few anbus inhale the pollen despite their respirator mask. The anbus quickly falls into hallucination and genjutsu.
"Don't inhale those pollens. It's hallucinogenic." Itachi quickly warns them.
Yuri and the Uzu clan elders throw a few scrolls around to create an isolation barrier. A few anbus also escape within the barrier.
The vice-leader and other few elite anbu members use their chakra saber to slice and dice the endless branches of the giant tree monster. A few of them even attack the tree with all sorts of ninjutsu to no effect.
Several seeds grow on the back of the giant treant.
Puff… puff… puff…
The giant leech seeds fly around the floor and enter the ground. Soon, several small treants of three to four meters in height sprout from the ground. These treants navigate through the bramble maze and attack the anbu members.
At the center of the room, only Itachi and Sasuke are left to fight the giant tree.
"Amaterasu doesn't affect him!" Both of them are shocked by this discovery.
They attempted to burn off the giant monster with Amaterasu. However, the giant tree will separate the burnt part from its body and outlast the flames with its massive reserve of chakra and vitality. If they have to compare the reserve of chakra of this giant tree, then it's on par with that of a tailed beast.
"Genjutsu also doesn't work on him, since his mind is a cluster of messy thoughts." Itachi shakes his head after a failed Tsukiyomi attempt.
"SUSANOO!!"
For the first time, both Itachi and Sasuke use their Susanoo. A giant humanoid chakra construct surrounds their body.
Bang…
Itachi's Susanoo blocks a punch from the giant treant. A bow and chakra arrow appears in the hands of Sasuke's Susanoo. The Susanoo nocks the arrow on the crossbow and infuses the tip of the arrow with Amaterasu.
Shoom…
Sasuke fires the arrow towards the heart of the giant treant.
Swoosh…
The arrows swiftly penetrate through the thorn armor and pierce the chest of the giant Treant. Black flames engulf the giant treant's chest.
GROOARR…
The giant treant releases a painful shriek and smashes its arms on the ground.
Several vines erupt from the ground and tangle Sasuke's entire Susanoo. The vines tightly wrap around his Susanoo in an attempt to squeeze and break his Susanoo to pieces.
Itachi uses this opportunity to free himself from the Treant's roots and stab his head with his Totsuka blade.
The Totsuka blade quickly slices the giant's Treant's head and seals a portion of its head.
BANG…
The giant, headless body of the Treant falls to the ground.
"Is it dead?" Sasuke slices the several overgrown roots and vines around his Susanoo and stares at the giant fallen body of the Treant.
"Careful! I can still sense its vitality." Yuri warns them from within the barrier.
The rest of the members of the anbu continue their battle with smaller Treants.
GROOOAR…
With a loud shriek several roots, vines, and brambles sprout from other and pierce towards the ceiling.
The head of Treant regenerates rapidly and it opens its red eyes.
"What, it can still regenerate?!" Sasuke gasps in surprise.
Suddenly, Sasuke senses something and warns others.
"Everyone, quick, lie down on the ground!"
The anbus and Uzu clan members quickly lie down on the earth.
"Sage Art: Inferno Release: Great Pheonix Decimation Wave,"
Sasuke also quickly dispels his Susanoo and lies down on the ground.
A bright phoenix-shaped beam of red-light flashes across the entire third floor. The beam slices and burns everything it touches. It cleaves the giant Treant in half and rapidly incinerates its entire body in ashes.
The temperature of the surrounding rapidly rises by several hundred degrees.
A diamond-shaped mark on Itachi's wrist disappears.
"Everyone, quickly move to the next floor."
Itachi's attack destroys a hidden passage on the ground. The group quickly dives into the passage. Itachi also follows after them.
Swish… swish… swish…
Yuri makes a series of hand signs and quickly seals the passage to the third floor since the third floor has become an inferno hellscape.
"Looks like we have to search for an alternate path for our return." The Vice-captain shakes his head, and the group moves forward.
"Let's destroy the fourth-floor barrier and see what monstrosities are hiding within this floor." He adds.
The barrier-breaking group and the Uzu clan members quickly pick up their pace while the medic-nins and Yuri treat the wounded shinobis from the previous floor.
A few shinobis are critically injured and are unable to proceed.
"Looks like this is how far I will go, captain!" A young anbu member with a fist-size hole in his thigh shakes his head.
"I am sorry, captain, I couldn't beat the crap out of that bastard Kabuto alongside you." Another shinobi with a hole in his waist grimaces in pain.
"You don't need to push yourself too much." Itachi shakes his head.
The medic-nin and Yuri cauterize their wounds to prevent bleeding.
"Captain, I have run out of chakra! I will guard these fellows." Another anbu member proposes.
"What, you want to skip your duty, you bastard?" One of the wounded anbu members berates him.
"It's alright! You can guard them." Itachi nods to give his approval.
"Look, even the captain approves of it." The anbu member grins at him.
"Fine!" The wounded anbu harrumphs and winces in pain as Yuri treats his other injuries.
Half an hour later, the barrier breaks down, and the group moves forward after sufficient rest.