Some teachers guide with wisdom. Others… simply say "do it like this."
The night passed without incident.
At five in the morning, Hoshishita Shu woke up precisely on time.
Since he hadn't been assigned any missions, he washed up, left the Root base, and headed to a small forest nearby to begin his usual physical training.
After an hour of physical conditioning, he moved on to chakra control exercises.
Thirty minutes later, Shu stopped and frowned slightly.
"Sixteen years old…"
"For the original me, my talent had already been mostly realized by this age."
"From here on, improvement would mainly rely on experience and long-term refinement."
"Ordinary jonin would be the limit."
"As for elite jonin or Kage-level… that would've been impossible."
True geniuses usually revealed their brilliance during their teenage years.
Especially those with the potential to become Kage.
People like Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi were all examples.
By Shu's age, if someone hadn't already reached jonin-level strength, it meant their potential was nearly exhausted.
But now things were different.
He had awakened the wisdom of his past life.
And he possessed Hashirama's cells.
Just how much those factors could raise his potential ceiling… remained to be seen.
Especially in ninjutsu.
"If my talent in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu hasn't improved significantly…"
"That could become troublesome."
"In the future, I might have no choice but to rely on brute force."
After resting briefly, Shu stood and headed toward Konoha's central district.
He needed to buy balloons and rubber balls.
They were necessary for practicing the technique he wanted to recreate—compressed, rotating chakra modeled after the Tailed Beast Ball.
Strictly speaking, it didn't fit his current combat style very well.
But training this hand-seal–less, high-level chakra control method could reveal something important.
For example—
Whether awakening his past-life memories had improved his talent for ninjutsu.
If not, then even Wood Release might be impossible for him to master.
After purchasing balloons and rubber balls—and grabbing breakfast along the way—Shu returned to the Root base and immediately began training.
The first step was simple:
Inject chakra into a water balloon and rotate it until the balloon burst.
At least, that was the theory.
Shu had his own understanding of the method.
Inject chakra.
Rotate it.
But there was also another key step—
Compression.
If chakra was compressed sufficiently while rotating, the spinning chakra would generate an extremely destructive outward tearing force.
Of course, understanding the theory was one thing.
Executing it was another.
An hour later, Shu stopped and sighed inwardly.
"Naruto may be a bit simple-minded…"
"But his talent really isn't low at all."
Putting aside the water-filled balloons, Shu left the room and walked toward Training Ground Nine beside the Root base.
Danzo hadn't arrived yet.
Since he had time, Shu decided to test his Wind Release techniques.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
He brought his hands together and formed three seals in rapid succession.
Boar.
Horse.
Rooster.
After completing the hand seals, Shu inhaled deeply and exhaled.
Boom!
A violent gust burst forward, sweeping across the clearing.
"Three seals per second…"
"A bit slow."
Shu frowned slightly.
Next, he took out a shuriken.
Blowing gently toward it, he infused Wind Release chakra into the weapon, causing it to spin rapidly.
With a flick of his arm, the shuriken shot forward like a spinning windmill.
It sliced through three trees in succession before the Wind Release chakra dissipated, finally embedding itself into the trunk of a fourth tree.
"Not bad."
"If combined with precise shuriken-throwing techniques, the threat level against enemies could increase significantly."
Shu was quite satisfied with the technique.
After all, it required no hand seals and could be activated extremely quickly.
Next—
He drew the ninja sword strapped to his back.
Buzz.
As Wind Release chakra flowed into the blade, its sharpness increased dramatically.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade."
This was the only B-rank ninjutsu Shu had mastered—a technique considered jonin-level difficulty.
But in reality, he hadn't fully mastered it.
Right now, he could only enhance his sword's cutting ability.
The true form of this B-rank technique was the version Danzo used against Uchiha Sasuke—where Wind Release chakra was injected into a kunai and manifested into a tangible blade.
Unfortunately, Shu's chakra control and mastery of Wind Release nature transformation had previously been insufficient.
He had never completed the technique fully.
Even so—
Combined with his solid swordsmanship, this partial mastery had still made him an elite among chunin.
Of course, ninjutsu rankings didn't directly represent destructive power.
They primarily represented learning difficulty.
However, techniques that were difficult to learn usually had high requirements:
Large chakra reserves.
Precise chakra control.
Advanced shape transformation.
Advanced nature transformation.
Because of that, even the lower limit of their power was rarely weak.
What truly determined a technique's power were those same factors:
Chakra quantity.
Shape transformation.
Nature transformation.
"Great Breakthrough doesn't have much killing power. It's more of a support technique."
"Shuriken Wind Release relies heavily on throwing skill."
"For me, the most important technique is still Vacuum Blade."
Sheathing his sword, Shu continued thinking.
"I do have some talent in swordsmanship."
"So instead of following Danzo's style…"
"I should develop something closer to the White Fang of Konoha—high speed and overwhelming cutting power."
"That means improving Wind Release nature transformation to make it even sharper…"
"Or combining it with shape transformation to increase its lethality."
Asuma Sarutobi's training philosophy for Wind Release nature transformation was simple—
Make it thinner.
Make it sharper.
Shu pondered.
"So besides improving nature transformation…"
"What direction could shape transformation take?"
"Cutting… flowing wind chakra that's thinner and sharper?"
"Or perhaps…"
"A serrated form?"
Just as he was thinking, footsteps approached.
Shu snapped out of his thoughts.
Turning around, he immediately bowed respectfully.
"Lord Danzo!"
Danzo nodded slightly.
"Next, we will begin your Wood Release training."
"The first technique I will teach you is called Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall."
"There are only three hand seals."
"Rooster. Boar. Snake."
Shu nodded quickly and raised his hands to begin forming the seals.
Danzo continued explaining, "The Wood Release kekkei genkai is a new nature transformation created by fusing Earth Release and Water Release."
"When forming the hand seals, you must simultaneously perform both nature transformations and merge them to create Wood Release."
After saying that, Danzo simply stood there and watched.
Hoshishita Shu blinked.
…That's it?
Suppressing his expression with great effort, Shu nodded quickly.
"Yes, Lord Danzo. I understand. I will work hard!"
Then he formed the hand seals again.
The previous attempt had been without chakra.
This time, he refined chakra.
Two types—
Water Release.
Earth Release.
This was one of the benefits brought by Hashirama's cells.
As the seals formed, those chakra natures emerged almost instinctively from his body.
No special training required.
The two different chakra natures flowed through his chakra network.
Under the guidance of the hand seals, they naturally merged.
A new nature transformation formed.
Wood Release.
A flash of excitement appeared in Shu's eyes.
The process was far easier than he had expected.
He immediately directed the chakra into the ground through the soles of his feet.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
In the next moment—
The earth split apart.
Square wooden pillars burst upward from the ground, rising side by side to form a solid wooden wall three meters in front of him.
Success.
Even Danzo, who maintained a calm expression, couldn't hide the joy flickering in his eyes.
Konoha…
Finally had a new Wood Release user.
And that person—
It belonged to Shimura Danzo.
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