Wood Release Revival Project

What had given the Senju Clan and the Third Hokage the idea of restoring Wood Release to its former glory was Hashirama's terrifying Wood Release Chakra.

Although Hashirama had died and his soul had scattered between heaven and earth,

his physical body had remained horrifyingly alive beneath the power of his Wood Release Chakra.

In a sense, Hashirama had not died. His soul was simply no longer in his body.

If there were a ninjutsu capable of summoning a soul back from the underworld into reality, the God of Shinobi could very well return to the ninja world.

His body could sustain him for at least another hundred years.

That was the power of the God of Shinobi and Wood Release—so powerful it defied comprehension.

It was no wonder the Senju Clan and the Third Hokage both wanted to possess Wood Release again.

Not long after the Ninja World War ended, the Senju Clan's new patriarch and the Third Hokage gathered every Konoha ninja skilled in research at a secret base to study the revival of Wood Release. Danzo was also a member of the research team.

After extensive discussion, research, and verification, they concluded that the most promising method was to cultivate Hashirama's cells, which were saturated with Wood Release Chakra, then implant them into other ninjas. Their cells would slowly assimilate Hashirama's cells, allowing them to gain a new Wood Release.

Unfortunately, Hashirama's cells were far too invasive. None of the experimental ninjas could withstand them. Their Chakra and bodies were consumed by Hashirama's cells, turning them into small trees covered in green branches and leaves.

At that point, the Wood Release Revival Project should have been halted.

But the Senju Clan was unwilling to accept that.

They believed the test subjects had failed to withstand the erosion of Hashirama's cells because they lacked the Senju Clan's bloodline.

Only Senju Clan ninjas who inherited the same bloodline as Hashirama could survive the erosion of his cells.

However, everyone had underestimated the power of Hashirama's cells.

Many powerful Senju Clan ninjas, including the new patriarch, likewise failed to endure the erosion of Hashirama's cells. All of them died.

After that, the Wood Release Revival Project completely collapsed.

The Senju Clan also declined completely after the deaths of so many powerful members.

The Uchiha Clan no longer had a ninja clan capable of suppressing them.

The arrogant hearts of the Uchiha, once restrained by the Senju Clan, grew ever more arrogant.

That had been an error in judgment by the Third Hokage back then. Now, he had no desire to lose even more ninjas by restarting the Wood Release Revival Project.

Setting that aside, after the Wood Release Revival Project had failed, all the researchers withdrew from that research base.

The Third Hokage himself had never returned to that secret base.

Only Danzo had continued conducting certain research there over the years. Danzo would certainly know whether the equipment used to study the First Hokage's Cells back then was still usable.

When Danzo realized the Third Hokage was asking about the equipment not because he intended to restart the Wood Release Revival Project, a trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes.

In truth, he had never stopped researching the Wood Release Revival Project over the years.

Unfortunately, one man's strength was limited. The greatest restriction was money.

If the Third Hokage endorsed it and the research was conducted in Konoha's name, there would be far more funding, and progress could be greatly accelerated.

Unfortunately, the Third Hokage had no intention of restarting the project.

If he was not restarting the Wood Release Revival Project, why was the Third Hokage asking about the secret base's equipment?

Danzo voiced the doubt in his heart.

"You only need to answer whether that research equipment can still be used," the Third Hokage said, unwilling to explain further.

"It can," Danzo responded.

"That's enough. You may leave," the Third Hokage said.

"What a mystery." Danzo's eyes flickered. He knew there had to be some secret behind the Third Hokage's questions about the equipment, but... forget it. He should establish Root first.

Danzo turned and left.

The Third Hokage sat in his chair and smoked. After thinking it over, he still felt somewhat unwilling to give up and decided to wait another month.

If there was still no hope of a breakthrough with Li Yao, he would send him to Danzo and have Danzo study that man's cells. Perhaps they could discover why he was immune to genjutsu and use it to develop ninjutsu capable of countering Uchiha genjutsu.

One month later.

Night.

Anbu Interrogation Room Three.

The Third Hokage pushed open the door and walked over to the torture bed.

Li Yao lay on the bed with his eyes closed. An IV needle was inserted into his arm, and he was now surviving entirely on the nutrients in the drip.

One last time.

The Third Hokage formed hand seals and unleashed the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique once more.

After a while, the Third Hokage released his hand seals, glanced at Li Yao on the bed in disappointment, then turned and left.

Over the course of that month, he had visited the interrogation room three times. Including this visit, it made four.

Li Yao was still in a vegetative state, his body surviving on instinctive breathing alone.

The Chakra in his body remained unusual, immune to every genjutsu intrusion.

The Third Hokage had finally given up.

"Send him to Root. Someone there will receive him."

Outside the interrogation room, after arranging Li Yao's next steps, the Third Hokage patted Baku on the shoulder and said, "You've worked hard during this time. From now on, you will resume your identities as the Anbu Explosion Squad and continue carrying out Anbu missions."

"Yes, Lord Hokage." Baku's eyes shone as he looked at the Third Hokage, his body trembling slightly.

The Third Hokage smiled, then left.

After the Third Hokage departed, the Explosion Squad members immediately pushed the torture bed toward the Root Base.

On the torture bed, Li Yao sensed his body being moved out of the interrogation room and quietly prepared himself. At the first sign of anything wrong, he would launch a desperate final strike.

By then, he had successfully condensed Sealing Jutsu Formula Chakra identical to the Sealing Jutsu Formula on his body.

Because this sealing Chakra was the same as the Chakra within the Sealing Jutsu Formula, the formula could not recognize Li Yao's Chakra.

Therefore, Li Yao could remove the Sealing Jutsu Formula on his body at any time.

But he did not. He continued to maintain the appearance of being sealed.

Unless he was forced into a dead end, Li Yao would not easily expose a flaw.

He now had the confidence to turn the tables from a hopeless position.

As long as he was given time, he would definitely escape Konoha.

This was where the benefits of merging his soul with Chakra had to be mentioned.

First, Li Yao's control over Chakra had improved another step.

Previously, he had only possessed absolute control over the shape transformations of Chakra.

Now, he also possessed absolute control over changes in the nature of his own Chakra, allowing him to easily replicate and condense Chakra of various attributes.

Most crucially, however, after his soul merged with Chakra, the Chakra sensing ability he gained was absurdly powerful.

Especially when it came into contact with his Chakra, his sensing ability reached a monstrous level akin to x-ray vision, allowing him to perceive the nature transformations and shape transformations of ninjutsu Chakra.

Under his perception, the sealing-attribute Chakra within the Sealing Jutsu Formula on his body was like something laid bare beneath x-ray vision. He could perceive its corresponding nature transformations and shape transformations.

This made it much easier for Li Yao to replicate and condense the sealing-attribute Chakra of the Sealing Jutsu Formula.

With absolute control over Chakra's nature transformations and shape transformations, combined with the ability to perceive the nature transformations and shape transformations of ninjutsu Chakra, it meant Li Yao could learn any ninjutsu.

Whether it was conventional ninjutsu of the five basic attributes or new-attribute ninjutsu from fused-attribute Kekkei Genkai, as long as he could perceive the relevant nature transformations and shape transformations, Li Yao could learn them.

As long as he could perceive a ninjutsu's Chakra nature transformations and shape transformations, he could condense identical ninjutsu Chakra and unleash the corresponding ninjutsu.

This was the truth Li Yao had discovered through his experiments while condensing Sealing Jutsu Formula Chakra over the past month.