Konoha Village.
Within the underground experimental base concealed beneath the Forest of Death.
Tatsuya, clad in a white lab coat, stood silently before a large cultivation tank. Inside the tank, the naked body of a young man, appearing to be seventeen or eighteen years old, floated suspended in a bubbling, nutrient-rich fluid.
Suddenly, the naked youth's eyelids twitched. Following this, his eyes began to move rapidly beneath his lids, as if dreaming. Soon, the young man's eyes snapped open. Through the transparent plasteel of the cultivation tank, Tatsuya and the newly awakened youth made eye contact. After a moment of careful, silent observation, a synchronised smile appeared on both Tatsuya's and the youth's faces.
An Earth Grudge Fear clone body, meticulously prepared and suitable for the sacrificial ritual, had finally been successfully cultivated to maturity.
Seeing this, Tatsuya began to operate the nearby array of instruments, initiating the sequence to release the clone youth from the tank. Due to the extended period spent suspended within the cultivation tank, the youth's body was still weak and pliant upon emerging, utterly unable to stand independently. Tatsuya carefully moved him onto a nearby surgical table, laying him flat on his back.
Immediately after, Tatsuya's hands began to form a complex series of seals.
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke erupted, and a young man dressed in a pristine white robe with elegant gold trim appeared beside Tatsuya. Seeing the inert clone body lying on the surgical table, a look of keen delight appeared on this newly summoned young man's face. "It's finally complete," he said, his voice filled with anticipation.
Tatsuya nodded, a hint of satisfaction in his own voice. "Indeed. It has fully taken form."
This young man in the white and gold-trimmed robe was one of the advanced clone bodies Tatsuya had previously created. This particular clone was significantly different from his ordinary combat clones; a substantial quantity of Hashirama Senju's potent cells had been successfully integrated into its very being. After a considerable period of adaptation and stabilization, this clone was already capable of performing some basic Wood Style ninjutsu. However, due to the inherent limitation of not being a truly permanent existence yet, Tatsuya hadn't allowed it to experiment with the more powerful Wood Style techniques that consumed excessive amounts of chakra.
Now, only one final, crucial step was required to transform it into a truly permanent, autonomous clone.
Hearing Tatsuya's confirmation, the clone youth was overjoyed. "Then, I shall begin," he declared with determination. With that, the clone youth decisively pulled open the front of his robe, revealing his bare chest. Across his sternum, his skin was stretched taut over a dense, pulsating network of black, fibrous threads.
These black threads, once exposed to the air, immediately and rapidly extended, like living tendrils, snaking towards the chest of the sacrificial clone body lying motionless on the surgical table. They quickly pierced the skin of the clone on the table, then burrowed deeper into its flesh with unnerving speed.
Several minutes later, these black threads, having done their work, coiled together into a tight, writhing mass and began to slowly retract from the sacrificial clone body's chest. As the black threads withdrew, the body of the clone on the surgical table rapidly withered and shriveled, its life force draining away as if all its flesh and blood had been completely and utterly absorbed. Simultaneously, within the densely coiled mass of black threads, a fresh, crimson heart could be clearly seen, beating with a strong, steady rhythm. The black threads connected to this stolen heart continuously supplied it with vital nutrients, sustaining it even after its gruesome separation from its original body.
After successfully seizing the sacrificial clone body's heart, the black threads rapidly retracted further. Soon, they, along with the newly acquired, still-beating heart, re-entered the Hashirama-cell clone youth's body through his chest. Once all the black threads had fully retracted into his system, the residual Shadow Clone essence that Tatsuya had initially sealed within him to animate the body rapidly dissolved and dissipated. In its place, a true, independent consciousness—formed from the potent chakra and a sliver of will Tatsuya had deliberately left within the clone body—awakened and took root.
The clone youth's eyes snapped open, no longer vacant but filled with a new, sentient light. A permanent clone, a true extension of Tatsuya's will yet possessing its own potential for growth, had officially been formed.
Looking at the youth whose eyes were now wide open and aware, Tatsuya smiled and said, "From now on, you are a new member of the Divine Court. Your codename will be Fujin."
"Fujin?" the newly permanent clone murmured thoughtfully, testing the sound of his new designation. "That's a good name." This clone body originally possessed both Water and Earth chakra natures. Having just acquired the Wind nature from the sacrificed clone via the stolen heart, its affinity for Wind Release would now significantly surpass that of most ordinary ninja. Tatsuya planned for this clone, Fujin, to primarily cultivate and master Wind Style and Wood Style ninjutsu in the future.
"Let's go. It's time for me to see your true strength," Tatsuya said, a keen, appraising glint flashing in his eyes as these thoughts crossed his mind. With that, his figure flickered and vanished from the laboratory in an instant.
In the laboratory, Fujin, seeing Tatsuya depart, also gave a slight nod, then flickered and disappeared from the spot, following his creator.
Northern border of the Land of Fire, a desolate, windswept desert area situated several tens of kilometers from the infamous Mountain Graveyard.
Swoosh, swoosh~
Two figures flickered into existence one after another, materializing out of thin air. It was Tatsuya and his new permanent clone, Fujin. This particular travel route was one Tatsuya had recently developed and scouted, with kunai marked with the unique, intricate seal formulas of the Flying Thunder God Technique carefully buried at strategic points all along the way. Tatsuya had specifically chosen this remote and uninhabited area for the express purpose of conveniently and safely experimenting with various powerful ninjutsu without fear of collateral damage or unwanted observation.
At this advanced stage of his power, when Tatsuya and his more potent clones wanted to test out new or particularly destructive ninjutsu, the resulting commotion and environmental impact were simply too great for more populated areas. Only a desolate and isolated region like this, rarely frequented by other ninja, was suitable for such endeavors.
At this moment, Tatsuya was still blissfully unaware that Obito Uchiha's primary lair, the dreaded Mountain Graveyard, was located not far from this very spot. In his previous life, Tatsuya had merely been an ordinary, casual anime enthusiast; he hadn't meticulously researched or memorized the exact geographical location of Obito's hidden base of operations. If he had known its proximity, Tatsuya certainly wouldn't have chosen this particular location for his sensitive experiments.
"Alright, Fujin, let's begin!" Tatsuya said, standing shoulder to shoulder with his new clone on a large, weathered rock formation within a sparse patch of hardy desert trees, a look of eager anticipation lighting up his face. "Show me the true, legendary power of Wood Style!" Wood Style—he could finally witness firsthand, and command, a measure of the incredible power once wielded only by the First Hokage.
"Understood," Fujin nodded in acknowledgment, his expression serious and focused. Then, his hands began to blur through a rapid series of intricate hand seals. "Yin-Yang Seal: Release!"
In an instant, a massive, almost overwhelming surge of potent chakra erupted from deep within Fujin's body. His hands continued to move without pause, forming seal after seal with practiced ease, finally clasping together tightly in a gesture of immense power.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
RUMBLE!
An immense wave of life-infused chakra rapidly spread outwards with Fujin at its epicenter. Simultaneously, the very ground began to tremble and crack with deep, thunderous booming sounds that resonated across the desert. Across the boundless, barren expanse of sand, massive, towering trees suddenly and violently erupted from the earth. A dense, almost impenetrable forest of colossal trees burst forth from the sandy ground, their trunks thick as ancient pillars, their branches soaring towards the sky. Very quickly, a vast, sprawling, primeval forest had materialized as if from nothing in the very heart of the desolate desert.
Whoosh~
After a few breathtaking moments, an expansive, vibrant green forest stood before Tatsuya's astonished eyes, where only barren sand had been moments before. Beside him, Fujin's hands remained tightly clasped, his brow furrowed in concentration. Beneath their feet, one of the massive trees continued to grow and warp at an astonishing rate, quickly twisting and transforming into the recognizable shape of a gigantic, ferocious wooden dragon. This was the legendary Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu.
The Wood Dragon coiled and circled in the low sky, its wooden scales glinting. Below it, a vaguely humanoid figure began to rapidly grow out from the earth, formed of countless intertwined branches and roots, continuously expanding in size until it formed a colossal wooden golem, a Wood Human, standing tens of meters tall. The Wood Dragon then coiled its immense body around the Wood Human, an avatar of pure, destructive natural power. This was the equally renowned Wood Style: Wood Human Jutsu.
After successively unleashing these three incredibly high-level and chakra-intensive Wood Style ninjutsu, Fujin finally unclenched his hands, his breath coming in slight, shallow gasps. These three powerful techniques had consumed a significant and noticeable amount of his considerable chakra reserves.
"Not bad! Not bad at all!" Standing atop the Wood Dragon's massive head, Tatsuya gazed out at the breathtaking sea of verdant trees that had explosively sprung up from the barren earth, a look of deep and profound satisfaction in his eyes. Fujin's innate strength and affinity for Wood Style had somewhat exceeded even his optimistic initial expectations. He hadn't thought that in such a remarkably short period since his "birth," his new clone would be able to master Wood Style ninjutsu to such a proficient and devastating degree. The First Hokage Hashirama Senju's Sage Body, and the cells derived from it, truly were extraordinary. Given time, Tatsuya mused, and with the continuous, synergistic enhancement provided by his own unique Fujinhoin that was integrated into Fujin's being, his new clone might very well be able to reach a level of power comparable to Hashirama himself in the future.
"Let's go. Time to head back," Tatsuya said softly, glancing at Fujin with a pleased expression. With that, both their figures vanished from the Wood Dragon's head in a flicker of movement.
With Tatsuya and Fujin's departure, and without the sustaining infusion of their potent Wood Style chakra, the enormous Wood Human and the fearsome Wood Dragon slowly began to sag and collapse. Then, almost as if by magic, countless tiny saplings rapidly sprouted from their decaying wooden forms, and soon, their original, imposing shapes were no longer discernible, blending seamlessly into the newly formed, unnaturally vibrant forest.
Several minutes after Tatsuya and Fujin had left the area, a giant, sinister Venus flytrap-like plant slowly rose from behind one of the massive, newly created trees. Its two leaf-like jaws slowly parted, and White Zetsu, looking out at the dense, sprawling, and utterly inexplicable sea of trees, exclaimed in utter, unadulterated shock, his voice a high-pitched screech, "This is… Wood Style!"