Roots

While Haruto interrogated the captured Jonin, Aki went to the forest to dispose of the enemy's body. Upon reaching the designated spot, he quickly found the body missing its head.

Bending his knees, Aki prepared to burn the remains using his lightning chakra, but something unexpected happened.

"No fucking way," he muttered, eyes wide in amazement. He hadn't expected this to be his first unlock.

Roots suddenly sprouted from the ground as his hand reached for the body, enveloping it in a cocoon of tangled wood.

Aki instinctively tried to tear them away, not wanting to let the dead ninja suffer chakra drainage. But the roots resisted, their grip too strong for him to break. Just as he contemplated using a Rasengan, the roots receded, sinking back into the earth.

'Nativity of the God-Tree.' Aki thought to himself naming the ability from what he had just witnessed. 'No damn way'.

This was crazy tree roots of good tree appeared from under his feet, he could feel them connected to himself. They had drained the already dead ninja too much turning him into dust.

'Well, the cleanup is done.' Aki thought to himself, though a bit displeased by the way.

Aki does not want to become a parasite like the Otsutsuki clan. Visiting different planets, planting god trees, then harvesting them, untill the planet is dead.

Does that mean Aki hates his new power? It is half a yes and half a no. yes because its an almost invincible trump card right now.

And the answer is no because it does not sit right with his morals. This is why this ability will only be used against either his enemies or the entities that must be killed like the Otsutsuki clan.

Aki glanced at his own pale skin—it was becoming paler, almost vampiric. If this continued, he'd reach Mitsuki like white skin soon. Still, he had work to do. Time to move on to the next body.

Roots did not appear on the rest of the enemy corpses, maybe their chakra had already dissipated or there was a cooldown placed on the ability because of his young body.

Aki returned to the camp, "So, how's the investigation", he asked the shinobi tasked with extracting information.

"The enemy's waiting in the valley to the south, a path we can't avoid," Haruto replied, frustration evident in his voice. "We're working on a plan, but it could be a trap."

"True," Aki nodded. "It might be a bait for us."

Haruto continued, "Exactly. Even though we know they're there, avoiding the valley isn't an option. According to Intel, there are more than 20 ninjas, including three Jonin."

"According to the intel, the enemy has more than 20 ninjas, among them are at least 3 Jonin."

This had Aki thinking, could he turn the tables with his team composed of three Jonin (Yugito the S-rank, Haruto, and Kazuo) and two Chunin (Aki and Daichi).

He could fight and obliterate a normal Jonin with no problem as he did to one of the ambushers. But this time it is a big group and they have a princess to escort.

Her four palanquin bearers are non-ninja strongmen, nothing worth mentioning.

In this situation, navigating the valley should be extremely challenging. There is a chance that the information they have is totally incorrect.

What if they have 4 or 6 Jonin, or even worse someone like Naruto, someone who went Super-Kage level with only Genin qualifications.

Seven Swordsmen of the Mist would be pretty much unbeatable at this point. Of course, Yugito will be able to handle a few but they are not winning against all seven.

"This is going to be tough" Aki sighed and went under a tree to sit and make plans.

The worship of plant life already made sense, as the God Tree had appeared in him and most likely already started the fusion.

Maybe by the time he is old enough, he and ten tails would be the same fused being like Kaguya was or at least it was still fusing with Kaguya, before her defeat.

If he could control these roots of the world tree, the ambush would be no issue at all. The problem was that he couldn't do so.

"Byakugan," Aki thought it wasn't yet time to drop their guard.

This could very well be a diversion by the enemy, they might experience even more attacks even before the valley, and he was right.

Aki made out several silhouettes in his vision, "Yugito san, Haruto san", he raised his hands and indicated a direction for each of them, assigning 2 enemies to each Jonin.

"Kazuo san, and Daichi, you both stay alert," Aki instructed, then went for a target himself. According to his Byakugan vision and newly discovered sensory ability, there were a total of six enemy ninjas.

He had assigned two ninjas each to Yugito and Haruto, while he, himself went for the remaining two.

These ninjas, who may as well also be one of the scout groups, were nothing special. Their appearance had heightened the group's alertness for any ambush throughout the night.

Aki and the two jonin had easily dispatched them and returned. "Yugito san, Haruto san, you two rest up"

"With two groups' assault failing it is unlikely for a third to happen" Aki continued "I will keep my Byakugan active the entire night"

"You're good," Daichi said and went towards the campfire, leaving Aki stunned.

Aki decided to not think about Daichi's change in attitude and jumped over a tree, with his Byakugan active, the entire region was under his surveillance.

The night passed without incident Haruto and Yugito couldn't sleep even with Aki's repeated reassurances. After all, two raids happened during the night and Aki wasn't even a full-fledged Jonin yet.

Yes, Aki could win against multiple Jonins in a fight but he still lacked experience, if one of the Elite Jonins or someone close to the rank showed up, Aki would certainly have trouble.

As dawn broke, Princess Kanna's soft humming drifted from within her palanquin. The early morning light bathed the campsite in a golden glow, and Aki watched as she gracefully stepped out.

Her eyes scanned the camp, lingering on the exhausted faces of her escorts. Despite her situation, her calm demeanor was unsettlingly regal.

She approached Aki, her eyes taking in his pale complexion and sleepless face. "It seems you've taken quite the burden upon yourself," she said softly, her voice gentle but firm.

Aki stood, brushing off the dirt from his clothing. "It's nothing, Princess. Just doing my duty."

"Perhaps." She glanced at the horizon; her face unreadable. "But even a ninja of your strength needs rest. Sacrificing yourself for others can only take you so far."

Aki's eyes flickered, a hint of surprise flashing across his face. There was something in her tone—was it concern?

Kanna continued, "I've heard of warriors who wield immense power, only to lose themselves in it. Don't let that happen to you." She tilted her head slightly, her gaze piercing. "We still have a long journey ahead, and I need you at your best."

The princess chatted with each of the ninja during their morning breakfast. The team was ready to move after the breakfast and collecting the defense equipment they had setup beforehand.

'Nativity of the world tree is dangerous' Aki thought to himself 'I need to learn to control it soon or a disaster might happen.'

Aki was extremely worried, though fusion with ten tails might be what later became wood release genes for Hashirama. This part of his new power made him excited.

Maybe, just maybe Aki would be able to learn wood release without stealing Hashirama cells during 4th Great Ninja War or from Orochimaru's lab, preferring the former as Oro-san is dangerous for now.

For jutsu, Aki had decided to focus on learning the Raikage signature technique, the lightning chakra mode.

Third Raikage with this technique had almost impenetrable defense which could only be broken through with his own hellstab jutsu.

Naruto really had trouble with this opponent, until he talked to the 8 tails and figure out to redirect Raikage's own technique towards himself.

Aki's goal with this technique isn't just a lightning chakra mode covering entire body in lightning, but it is to make an entire cloak made of lightning.

There must be a surprise when he can control lightning enough to create fabric out of it and cover himself in visible cloak similar to KCM or Juubito/Juubidara's cloak.

During Aki's inner monologue, the group came out of the forest area and was now moving on the stone terrain soon they will reach the valley specified by the interrogation.