The place where Jokichi emerged was the spectator stands.
He stood atop the massive trees and looked around, taking in the entire surrounding situation at a glance.
First, due to the Deep Forest Emergence, the right half of the arena was completely occupied by lush green trees.
Inside the arena, the spectators had long since vanished. The nearby streets were also dead silent, save for the occasional clash of weapons and explosions.
Over a hundred Oto and Suna ninjas were engaged in combat with dozens of Konoha ninjas.
Among them, Jokichi spotted Guy, Kakashi, and Yamato.
And their opponents were Yakushi Kabuto, Baki, and Guren.
The two sides were locked in a bitter struggle.
Because they were on a battlefield, none of them dared to excessively consume their chakra. They mostly fought using taijutsu, ninja tools, and explosive tags. Even when they used ninjutsu, they only did so at opportune moments or when forced to.
As for Naruto and Gaara, their whereabouts were unknown.
Outside the arena, on the roof of a classic building.
The Sound Four had erected the purple-flamed Four Red Yang Formation. The Third Hokage was currently fighting a one-on-three battle against Orochimaru and the reanimated First and Second Hokage.
The gathered Anbu could do nothing against the barrier and could only watch helplessly from the outside.
In the distance, toward the borders of Konoha, thick plumes of black smoke were rising, accompanied by the occasional sound of explosions.
Even with ample preparation, facing the combined forces of Sunagakure—a fellow member of the Five Great Ninja Villages—and Otogakure, they were still somewhat at a disadvantage in terms of sheer numbers.
He really didn't know how those ninjas had managed to lie in ambush so close to Konoha.
In the anime, when the immortal duo of the Akatsuki entered Konoha, they were discovered almost immediately.
Perhaps it was because the immortal duo didn't deliberately try to hide!
Shaking his head, Jokichi tossed those random thoughts out of his mind and cast his gaze toward the tall building outside the arena.
The Third Hokage was fighting one against three, falling into a massive disadvantage.
If he didn't intervene to save him soon, he probably wouldn't be able to save him at all.
Therefore—
"Let me be the one to end this war!"
Jokichi clapped his hands together.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees."
"Crack, crack..."
Tender shoots broke through the earth, raising their bodies and rapidly growing and expanding. In an instant, they grew into towering giant trees.
Everything within a 5-kilometer radius became a dense forest.
Giant flower buds blossomed on the strange plants, and then they bloomed, scattering massive amounts of yellow pollen.
This sudden turn of events caused the fighting ninjas to stop one after another, and then each of them covered their noses and retreated.
In truth, they had already noticed Jokichi when his Deep Forest Emergence burst through the spectator stands.
However, because it didn't directly affect them, and because they were busy with the enemies in front of them, they ignored it.
Someone else will deal with him.
Everyone held this mindset and focused on battling the enemies right in front of them.
But now, they had no choice but to pay attention even if they didn't want to.
A forest spanning 5 kilometers enveloped everyone within it, and that yellow pollen completely saturated the entire woodland.
Their vision was obscured, they couldn't find their enemies, and they couldn't escape.
All that remained was despair.
"Thud, thud, thud..."
The ninjas fell down one after another.
Whether they were from Oto, Suna, or Konoha.
"Everyone from Konoha, please do not panic. This pollen only has a hallucinogenic and sleep-inducing effect. It won't cause any other harm." Jokichi stood on the highest treetop, holding a makeshift megaphone rolled out of newspaper, and shouted loudly.
Wood Release didn't have a function to distinguish between friend and foe.
To avoid harming his allies, he only scattered pollen that would make people fall unconscious.
"You detestable brat!"
An angry woman's roar echoed from within the forest.
Accompanying the voice, a dragon's roar resounded through the sky. A red crystal dragon soared into the air, with a woman standing on the dragon's head.
She wore green clothing, had her hair styled in her signature updo, and was quite attractive.
It was none other than Orochimaru's backup vessel, Guren, who possessed the Crystal Release Kekkei Genkai.
She stood on the dragon's head, her hands forming seals.
But before she could finish, the forest below seemed to come alive. Branches and vines shot out, wrapping tightly around the crystal dragon.
Then, they forcefully constricted.
"Crash!"
The crystal dragon shattered like glass. Guren proactively jumped down, landing on the branch of a large tree. Without stopping, she leaped toward another branch, and then the next.
The branches and vines rising from the forest were always one step too slow, unable to catch her.
In an instant, Guren closed in on Jokichi. When she was only five meters away, she leaped fiercely toward him, her hands rapidly forming seals in mid-air.
Jokichi smiled lightly at her.
Then, with a flash, his figure vanished from the spot.
While Guren was still in shock, Jokichi appeared right in front of her.
"Behave yourself!"
Saying this, he delivered a kick right to her stomach, sending her plummeting from the air down into the forest.
Countless branches and vines rushed over, binding her tightly.
Out of a wicked sense of humor, Jokichi applied the infamous tortoise-shell bondage technique he had learned about in his past life.
However, because his skills weren't quite up to par, the binding was a bit messy.
As a result, it backfired and created an entirely different, alluring flavor.
Seeing this, Jokichi hurriedly averted his gaze, afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.
However, it would have been better if he hadn't looked away.
The moment he shifted his gaze, he saw something that gave him a massive headache.
Orochimaru had taken the Sound Four and run away.
What the hell?
Didn't they fight for dozens of episodes in the anime?
How did it end so quickly here?
Wait, that's not right. My arms are perfectly fine, and I don't need anyone to support me while running away!
And the Third Hokage, although panting heavily, isn't dead either, right?
"This..."
Jokichi couldn't quite understand the situation.
The truth was, Orochimaru was scared off by Jokichi.
An Advent of a World of Flowering Trees spanning a 5-kilometer radius was a feat only the First Hokage could achieve while he was alive.
When Jokichi unleashed the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, it made Orochimaru mistakenly believe that Jokichi's strength had grown to the level of the First Hokage within this single month.
Realizing that the Konoha Crush plan had failed, he immediately took his people and fled.
However, what he didn't know was that Jokichi's Wood Release was nowhere near as powerful as he imagined.
Right now, the most he could use was the Wood Dragon Jutsu or the Gate of the Great God. He couldn't even use the Wood Human Jutsu, let alone an Advent of a World of Flowering Trees of this scale.
He had borrowed the chakra from the Ring of Shukaku to achieve this effect.
As for why he didn't use the much stronger Ring of Kurama...
Although the chakra of the Ring of Kurama was even more astonishing, that glittering golden special effect would undoubtedly act like a giant lightbulb on this battlefield.
Jokichi didn't want to attract unnecessary trouble, so he only used the Ring of Shukaku.
Besides, an Advent of a World of Flowering Trees with a 5-kilometer radius was more than enough.
Chakra wasn't about having as much as possible; it was about having enough to use.
However, Orochimaru's misunderstanding left Jokichi feeling incredibly depressed.
He had originally planned to obtain the chakra of the First and Second Hokage during this incident, using it to forge items related to them.
But now, that plan had fallen through.
"Fuck! If I had known, I would have gone and dealt with Orochimaru first." Jokichi was filled with intense regret.
Although doing so would have resulted in more casualties.
But what did the lives and deaths of a bunch of people he didn't know have to do with him?
...
Orochimaru fled, and the Fourth Kazekage was dead.
The elites who had infiltrated Konoha were caught in one fell swoop.
The tide had completely turned.
Konoha achieved victory.
The war was over.