Height Sharing He Never Wanted

Shazo chose a stretch of mudflat submerged beneath babbling water.

He drew upon the Wood Release chakra within him, clapped his hands together, and activated a ninjutsu.

[Wood Style: Sprout]

This was not Hashirama Senju's Wood Release ninjutsu, but one Shazo had only conceived today.

The technique was so crude that he had not even designed its hand seals. It relied entirely on his control over chakra to trigger its effects.

A ripple of chakra swept gently across the area, and tender shoots burst through the soil all over the barren riverbank.

The shoots struggled to grow, sprouting broad leaves when they reached a height of one centimeter.

The shape of those leaves proved that they were elm tree shoots.

Shazo was extremely pleased with the result.

On a flooded riverbank without any seeds, he had used nothing but Wood Release chakra to bring forth the elm tree shoots he wanted.

He repeatedly clapped his hands and cast the Wood Release ninjutsu, constantly sensing the flow of Wood Release chakra and adjusting the rhythm and techniques of the jutsu.

His newly awakened Wood Release Kekkei Genkai was still weak. After several hours, his Wood Release chakra was completely depleted.

Yet the lush elm trees standing across the riverbank proved that Shazo's training had produced satisfying results.

Finally, Shazo used Water Release to wash away all the elm trees and clear every trace from the riverbank before returning home.

It was time to sleep.

Though it was unlikely, what if the interval before he returned to the dream was one day? Wouldn't he miss his reunion with Demon Xiazhuo?

But the night passed without incident.

The next day, Shazo woke from his dream in pain, his body twitching.

Both of his legs had cramped at the same time.

Anyone who suffered from frequent cramps knew just how agonizing they were.

Shazo's big toes curled downward uncontrollably, while the muscles in his calves tightened to their limit, pulling hard enough that his foot bones cracked.

It felt as though they were about to be forcibly torn apart.

Ignoring the pain, Shazo desperately gripped his toes and bent them upward with all his strength.

Only after more than ten minutes did the cramping finally subside, and the muscles in his calves relax.

Covered in sweat and feeling awful, Shazo decided to take a shower.

But the moment he got out of bed, he realized that something was wrong with his balance. It was not because his muscles were sore and weak from the cramps—he had grown taller.

Over a single night, Shazo had grown from 170 centimeters to 175 centimeters, shooting up by five centimeters.

No wonder his legs had cramped. Even his skin and muscles felt taut.

Shazo immediately thought of the tall, burly Shazo from the Pirate World, then shuddered. Could I end up sharing his 250-centimeter height too?

That was a normal height in the Pirate World, still fifty centimeters short of the height exclusive to admirals. But in the world of Naruto, 250 centimeters would be completely ridiculous.

Ignoring his aching muscles, Shazo took a quick shower, then hurried to the Hokage Building. At the administrative department, he bought every ninjutsu manual, Sealing Technique text, forbidden technique record, and Kekkei Genkai reference he could find.

Before today, he had never cared about any ninjutsu beyond Earth Release and Water Release, and had never bought related materials.

He then went to the market and bought ten days' worth of food. Rice, flour, chicken, and pork filled half a cart, leaving the food merchant clicking his tongue in amazement.

He bought so much food because he feared his height might continue skyrocketing. If things went badly, he might have to cut off contact with society for a while to avoid causing a stir in Konoha.

For the next two days, Shazo stayed at home.

Every morning, he woke up from severe cramps.

In the mornings, he read materials on ninjutsu and Sealing Techniques, doing his best to memorize them.

In the afternoons, he exercised indoors and practiced hand seals and ninjutsu, working to restore his hand-seal proficiency as quickly as possible.

At night, under cover of darkness, he went to the Creek at the northeastern corner of the village to train his Wood Release ninjutsu and experiment with developing new Wood Release techniques.

If Hashirama Senju could develop them, then so could he.

But Shazo quickly proved that his talent for Wood Release truly could not compare to that of the First Hokage. That man was probably some kind of god.

Considering that Hashirama Senju was an idiot, perhaps he had sacrificed his intelligence in exchange for his Wood Release talent.

But Shazo was not discouraged. He would definitely develop a Wood Release Secret Technique no worse than Hashirama Senju's.

Right now, he had exceptional confidence in himself.

On the morning of the fourth day, Shazo did not cramp up. His wild growth spurt had stopped.

He nearly cried tears of joy. He had grown eighteen centimeters in three days; his muscles and skin simply could not keep up with the rate at which his bones were growing. Like Fat Head Monk, his skin had torn open.

If not for the vastly enhanced healing ability brought by his Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, Shazo's body would have been covered in dense horizontal cracks.

Just then, the courtyard gate was pushed open.

Uchiha Izumi walked in carrying a large bag of rice balls. The moment she saw Shazo, she was so startled that she dropped them all.

Pointing at her brother, who had grown a whole head taller in three days, she could only go, "Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh," unable to say a single word.

Shazo sighed, picked up the rice balls rolling across the ground, and pulled his sister inside.

Uchiha Izumi finally recovered. Her beautiful eyes widened as she asked, "Brother, how did you do it? How did you suddenly grow so tall?"

Shazo sighed. "It was an accident. It's complicated."

Izumi narrowed her eyes. "Then tell me slowly."

Shazo: "..."

"I made tremendous progress through my own efforts. My height is the price I have to pay."

(Furious)

Uchiha Izumi said, "Hmph, stupid brother! Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to."

"If the price of getting stronger is growing taller, then I want both."

Shazo smiled. "Why would a girl need to grow so tall? At thirteen, reaching 140 centimeters is enough."

"Hmph! Bad brother!" Uchiha Izumi complained angrily. "I'm already short among kids my age. Why won't you help me?"

Shazo had already gathered up all the rice balls that had fallen to the floor. He stuffed them into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

Seeing how resentful his sister was about her height, he smiled and promised, "How about this? If you still haven't reached 160 centimeters by the time you're sixteen, I'll personally help you grow taller. How does that sound?"

Uchiha Izumi's eyes immediately lit up. "It's a deal. Brother, you're not allowed to lie to me."

Shazo rubbed her head. "When have I ever lied to you?"

"Since I made a promise, I will definitely keep it."

Izumi's mood immediately improved. Then she ran out into the courtyard, brought in a small jar from outside the gate, and placed it on Shazo's table.

"Hehe, this is pickled vegetables Mom made. It's really delicious."

Shazo chuckled. "You little brat, why did you hide the pickles outside? Were you planning to take them back home?"

Uchiha Izumi grinned. "Of course not. I was going to wait until you finished all the rice balls before giving them to you."

"By then, you'd be full, and eating just pickles wouldn't taste good. That's your little sister's punishment!"

Shazo burst out laughing.

Izumi giggled too.

This was the punishment game they had played as children. It really brought back memories.