Wood Release Conception

"Sorry, sorry, I'm late."

Shisui sat in the private room, looking at everyone with an apologetic expression.

"I didn't expect Kakashi-senpai to be here too. Ah, and this is...?"

"We ran into something rather unusual this afternoon, senpai."

Hearing Shisui's words, Hidezawa could not help but reveal a mischievous grin.

"Though it's better to keep this matter confidential, it really was quite interesting."

More than interesting—it could be called a major event that turned Inverted Heavenly Principles upside down for the Uchiha Clan!

Who had plotted to wipe out the Uchiha Clan?

Danzo!

And today, they had charged straight into Danzo's lair and fought inside. In a sense, didn't that count as getting revenge in advance?

Unfortunately, Shisui had not seized that chance for revenge. That truly was a pity.

"Uh, is that so...?"

Shisui clearly had no idea what Hidezawa was thinking. But since Hidezawa said it was confidential, he thought it over and decided not to ask.

Still, he really had been busy today. It was not, as he had told Yugao, because he had gone with Itachi Uchiha. He had gone to speak with his clan elder.

The Uchiha Clan's internal factions were actually quite complicated. Before the Nine-Tailed Fox Incident, there had been three factions.

One was the more radical faction, inheriting Uchiha Setsuna's ideology and constantly thinking of using force to make the Uchiha Clan "great again."

Another consisted of people like Shisui, who hoped to let the Uchiha Clan truly integrate into Konohagakure through peaceful means.

As for the final faction, they were the relatively neutral "just living their lives" group. They did not care how the others fought; whoever won, they would support.

But after the Nine-Tailed Fox Incident, the entire Uchiha Clan had been forcibly relocated to a remote area.

Coupled with the malicious slander spread through all kinds of rumors in Konohagakure, the entire Uchiha Clan could no longer endure it.

Those originally neutral "just living their lives" people had now mostly thrown in with the radicals, making life increasingly difficult for the relatively moderate people like Shisui.

Fortunately, Shisui had joined the Anbu, which counted as one way of earning the Hokage's trust.

But that was far from enough. More of them needed to gain that kind of trust as well, though Shisui felt they needed more people to help them.

This mission had clearly not only won Hidezawa's admiration; the Third Hokage's actions had also left a deep impression on Shisui.

Today, he had indirectly brought up Hidezawa while speaking with his elder. No matter what, Anbu missions could not be discussed carelessly.

What left him helpless was that his elder still seemed to trust their "own people" more.

"Alright, enough about that."

Hidezawa shook his head, raised the fruit juice in his cup, and said with a smile.

"It's rest time now, so let's not talk about mission-related matters. Too bad we can't drink alcohol, or we definitely wouldn't leave until we were drunk today."

"Come on, we're ninjas. How can we just drink recklessly?"

Yugao could not help speaking up when she heard that.

"Besides, don't forget the Three Prohibitions for Ninjas."

"But I've heard some things about Lord Jiraiya."

Hidezawa blinked and deliberately turned to look at Kakashi.

"Kakashi-senpai, Lord Jiraiya seemed not to care about the Three Prohibitions for Ninjas at all, but he was still a powerful ninja, right?"

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Kakashi coughed awkwardly several times. There was simply no way for him to answer that question.

Was he supposed to say that different people had different constitutions?

Wouldn't that be obvious nonsense?

"I think that, since we're young ninjas, alcohol can easily make us sleepy and dizzy, so it's better not to touch it."

Tenzō was rather straightforward. He scratched the back of his head before looking at Hidezawa.

"I remember we've all carried out similar missions before. We waited until the target got drunk, then went up and killed him."

"..."

Yugao and Shisui were left speechless. Hadn't they agreed not to talk about work?

Yet Hidezawa rubbed his chin, nodded, and replied.

"True. Drunk people are the easiest to deal with, and the easiest to disguise as accidents too—like falling from a building. But we've already killed so many people, so drinking a little..."

"Alright, that's enough!"

Yugao could not take it anymore. She grabbed Hidezawa by the shoulder and said.

"You two should both know when to stop."

"Senpai, you have the Sharingan too. I think we can exchange pointers."

Shisui felt a little awkward as well. He deliberately turned to Kakashi and said with a smile.

Kakashi's Sharingan had once sparked enormous controversy within the Uchiha Clan, but in the end, their clan head had suppressed the matter.

Shisui did not know why things had turned out that way. Since it had already happened, he had no right to criticize it, but he had to admit that Kakashi, an outsider, seemed to have mastered the Sharingan perfectly.

There had not been much opportunity before, but now it would be nice to have a proper exchange.

"Sure."

Kakashi did not refuse, and the two quickly began discussing in low voices.

Hidezawa pursed his lips and looked toward Tenzō, who was standing opposite him.

Wood Release was something Hidezawa had always been extremely curious about—and desperately wanted to get his hands on.

Although his physical constitution was now exceptionally strong, he did not dare guarantee that he could survive Hashirama Senju's cells. He would not casually gamble even on White Zetsu cells.

"After all, I don't have Tenzō's luck, nor do I have a Sharingan to balance things out."

In Hidezawa's eyes, Hashirama Senju was undoubtedly the most extraordinary Asura!

Leaving aside his Chakra, which seemed even more absurd than Naruto's with half the Nine-Tails added on, even his way of doing things was vastly different from other Asuras.

Throughout the thousand-year conflict between Indra and Asura, Indra had always believed in himself, while Asura had always believed in uniting everyone.

Yet when it came to him, he did unite people—but he did not need anyone's help at all. By himself, he had beaten Madara Uchiha senseless.

"So in the end, I still have to rely on myself."

Hidezawa stroked his chin. He had always believed that Wood Release was never a Kekkei Genkai. To put it more bluntly, Wood Release was actually a Kekkei Tōta!

Yamato's Wood Release, though Hidezawa did not know the exact proportions, was clearly a combination of Earth Release and Water Release.

But while that kind of Wood Release could not be called harmless, its greatest achievement was probably "benefiting the home furnishing industry."

"So the key to Wood Release should lie in controlling Yang Release. Only by injecting Yang Release power in the proper proportion can one achieve true Wood Release!"

Hidezawa silently muttered to himself. He felt that it was about time to begin preparing to build all of this.

He was indeed a Numerical Monster, but he still understood the dangerous situations that lay ahead.

Especially since he intended to inherit "Danzo's legacy." Without sufficient strength, what could he use to fight for it?

"What's wrong? Are you angry?"

Just as Hidezawa was thinking, Yugao's somewhat uneasy voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Sorry, I just felt that bringing up those topics at a time like this was a little..."

"Don't overthink it, Senior. I'm not that petty."

Hidezawa smiled and shook his head, cutting Yugao off.

"And that was my own problem. I got a little carried away after running into a former companion from Root. I should be thanking you, Senior, for stopping me in time."

"Is that so..."

Yugao blinked, while Hidezawa immediately nodded.

"Yes. I hope you'll continue looking after me from now on, Senior. Is that okay?"

"I told you, just call me Yugao."

Yugao first glared at Hidezawa, then nodded seriously.

"Don't worry. I'll definitely keep looking after you from now on."

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she suddenly froze.

How long, exactly, did "keep" mean?

A newbie author humbly begs for continued reading. Current follow-up reads determine everything for a book, and letting it sit too long can easily kill it.

Thanks to all you big shots, Onz