Nothing happened during the night.
At 5 a.m. the next morning, Shawn woke up right on time.
Since he had no assigned missions, he washed up and left the Root base. He found a small wooded area nearby and immediately began his daily physical training.
After an hour of conditioning, he moved on to chakra control training.
Half an hour later, Shawn stopped and frowned slightly.
"Sixteen years old… for the original me, my talent had already been mostly used up."
"From here on out, it would've just been experience and slow accumulation. Ordinary jōnin would've been the ceiling—elite jōnin or Kage level wouldn't even be worth dreaming about."
True geniuses usually showed their brilliance in their early teens—
especially those with the potential to reach Kage level.
People like Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, Shisui Uchiha, and Itachi Uchiha were all examples.
At Shawn's age, lacking jōnin-level combat strength meant that one's natural potential was already close to exhaustion.
But now—with awakened memories and Hashirama cells—
the upper limit was no longer so clear.
Especially when it came to ninjutsu.
"If my talent in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu doesn't improve much, that'll be troublesome."
"Then I'd have no choice but to rely on brute force—hit hard and overwhelm."
After a short rest, Shawn headed toward Konoha's central area.
He needed to buy balloons and rubber balls—materials for practicing the Rasengan.
Strictly speaking, this technique didn't suit his current fighting style.
But as a no-hand-seal A-rank jutsu, it was perfect for testing something important—
Whether his awakened mind had also improved his ninjutsu talent.
If not, then even Wood Release might prove difficult to master.
After buying the balloons and balls—and grabbing breakfast—Shawn returned to the Root base and began Rasengan training.
Rasengan Training – Step One
Inject chakra into a water balloon.
Rotate it.
Finally—make it burst.
In terms of theory, Shawn had his own understanding.
Chakra rotation alone wasn't enough.
There was also compression.
Compressing highly condensed chakra while rotating it would create terrifying outward tearing force.
Simple in theory.
Extremely difficult in practice.
An hour later, Shawn stopped and couldn't help but sigh.
"Naruto may be simple-minded… but his talent really isn't low at all."
Putting the water balloons aside, Shawn exited the base and arrived at Training Ground Nine, located right next to Root headquarters.
Danzo hadn't arrived yet, so Shawn decided to test his Wind Release.
Wind Release Practice
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Shawn clapped his hands together and quickly formed three hand seals:
Ram → Horse → Rooster
After completing the seals, he inhaled sharply—and exhaled.
Boom!
A violent gale erupted forward, sweeping everything in its path.
"About one second for three hand seals… still a bit slow."
Unsatisfied, Shawn took out a shuriken.
He blew gently.
Wind Release chakra attached itself, causing the shuriken to spin at extreme speed.
With a flick of his arm, it shot forward like a rotating windmill—
cutting cleanly through three trees before the chakra was exhausted, finally embedding itself in the fourth.
"Decent power."
"With advanced throwing skills, this could significantly increase lethality."
He was quite satisfied with this technique.
No hand seals.
Fast activation.
Next, Shawn drew the ninjatō on his back.
Buzz—
Wind Release chakra surged into the blade, dramatically increasing its sharpness.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
This was the only B-rank jutsu Shawn had mastered—a technique considered jōnin-level in difficulty.
Even so, he hadn't fully mastered it.
At present, he could only reinforce his blade to enhance cutting power.
The true form of this technique—demonstrated by Danzo Shimura against Sasuke—involved solidifying Wind Release chakra into a blade-like extension.
Unfortunately, Shawn's previous chakra control and Wind Release mastery hadn't been sufficient to reach that stage.
Still—even partial mastery, combined with solid swordsmanship, had made him an elite among chūnin.
Of course, ninjutsu rank didn't equal power—it represented learning difficulty.
But high difficulty usually meant high requirements:
chakra quantity, control, shape transformation, and nature transformation.
That also meant the lower limit of power was rarely low.
Ultimately, what truly determined a jutsu's strength was:
Chakra quantity
Shape transformation
Nature transformation
"Great Breakthrough lacks killing power—it's mostly support."
"Wind-enhanced shuriken relies on throwing skill."
"For me, the most important is still Vacuum Blade."
Sheathing his sword, Shawn reflected:
"I do have talent in swordsmanship. Instead of copying Danzo, I could pursue a White Fang–style path—high attack, high speed."
"That means sharper Wind Release nature transformation…"
"Or combining it with shape transformation for even greater cutting power."
Asuma Sarutobi's Wind Release focused on making chakra thinner and sharper.
Shawn thought deeply.
"So besides improving nature transformation… what about shape transformation?"
"Serrated?"
"Flowing, ultra-thin cutting wind?"
As these thoughts formed, footsteps approached.
Shawn snapped back to reality, turned around, and immediately bowed.
"Lord Danzo!"
Danzo nodded lightly.
"Next, we begin Wood Release training."
"The first technique I'll teach you is Wood Locking Wall. It only requires three hand seals."
"Rooster → Ram → Snake."
Shawn nodded quickly and raised his hands.
Danzo continued calmly,
"Wood Release is a unique kekkei genkai—created by fusing Earth Release and Water Release."
"When forming seals, you must simultaneously perform both nature transformations and merge them into Wood Release."
After saying that, Danzo simply watched.
Shawn: …That's it?
Suppressing his expression, Shawn replied seriously,
"Yes, Lord Danzo. I understand. I will do my best."
He formed the seals again.
This time, he refined chakra.
Earth Release.
Water Release.
Thanks to Hashirama cells, both natures emerged instinctively, without special training.
The two chakra types flowed through his network, guided by the seals—
naturally merging into a new nature.
Wood Release.
Shawn was secretly delighted.
This was far easier than expected.
He immediately guided the chakra into the ground beneath his feet.
Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!
In the next instant—
The earth split open.
Rectangular wooden pillars burst upward, aligning neatly to form a solid wooden wall three feet in front of him.
It worked.
For the first time, even Danzo's calm expression revealed joy.
Konoha finally had another Wood Release user.
And this one—
Belonged to him, Shimura Danzo.