Wood Release Speculation

"Teacher, there is something I would like to discuss with you."

At dinner, Minato said to Tsunade, "For the next few days, I plan to have my Wood Clone go to the academy in my place."

Tsunade looked at him, puzzled. "Is something the matter?"

"Regarding Wood Release, aside from some large-scale ninjutsu, I have learned just about everything. I plan to start training in Light Release tomorrow."

Minato explained, "However, the nature of Light Release is quite unique; only the original body can manifest it, so it cannot be practiced using clones."

"Only the original body can use it?"

Tsunade's expression turned doubtful. It was the first time she had heard of a Kekkei Genkai that could not be utilized by clones, though she did not doubt the truth of Minato's words.

She had indeed never seen Minato's clones use Light Release, whether they were Shadow Clones or Wood Clones.

Furthermore, this ability was truly peculiar. Although it was called Light Release, judging by the fact that it could be released directly through physical stamina alone, it did not strictly fall within the standard chakra system.

Therefore, in this regard, she truly could not help Minato; he would have to develop it on his own.

"Very well."

After a moment of thought, Tsunade nodded readily. "This way, I won't have to get up early every day to take you two to the academy~"

"So, Sister Tsunade was only picking us up because of Minato?" Kushina immediately felt she had been misled.

"Of course~"

Tsunade acted as if it were a matter of course. "Have you ever heard of Wood Release?"

"I have. I remember it being the Kekkei Genkai of the First Hokage."

Kushina was confused. "Is there a problem with that? There should be many in Konoha, right?"

"There are not!"

Tsunade shook her head, her tone complex. "Ordinary Kekkei Genkai are indeed passed down to descendants, but Wood Release is different. Since my grandfather passed away, Wood Release has not appeared in Konoha for many years."

"For certain reasons, the power of Wood Release is vital to Konoha. Minato not only possesses Wood Release but also another Kekkei Genkai, as well as a physique and massive chakra reserves as powerful as my grandfather's."

"Therefore, even if I were to die, Minato must not come to any harm!"

"Is it really that serious?"

Kushina stared blankly at Minato.

With such talent, it was no wonder Sister Tsunade had been showing him off so much before.

"I never expected you to be this incredible?"

Kushina's tone was filled with amazement. "Two Kekkei Genkai!"

"It's alright, I suppose..."

Minato looked at Tsunade. "By the way, speaking of Wood Release, I've had some theories lately."

"Go on."

Tsunade was immediately intrigued; she was very curious about what Minato could have discovered.

"I believe that besides the nature transformation of water and earth chakra, Wood Release requires the support of immense vitality. In a sense, it could be considered a different kind of Kekkei Tōta."

"What?!"

Hearing this, Tsunade sat up straight abruptly. "How did you know that?"

Minato explained, "My constitution is very strong; even when injured, I can heal rapidly. Teacher, you once said that the First Hokage's physique was also incredibly powerful. I don't think that is a coincidence."

"Among the scrolls of the Senju Clan, Water Release and Earth Release are the most common. It is clear that throughout history, there have been no shortage of people who possessed these two nature transformations, yet very few have been able to combine them into Wood Release."

"I feel that something is missing—something imperceptible and easily overlooked. Certain things during my later training have only confirmed this suspicion."

Tsunade swallowed hard, struggling to contain her excitement. "What things?"

"Part of the First Hokage's Wood Release was achieved by stimulating the mutation of cells within the body to split them off."

Recalling the day he first mastered Wood Release ninjutsu, Minato continued, "My Shadow Clones cannot use these types of techniques, but my Wood Clones can. This shows that Wood Release has a certain connection to the user's physical body, beyond just the water and earth chakra attributes."

"Additionally, I discovered that if the same ninjutsu is released with the same amount of chakra, the Wood Release used by a Shadow Clone is far inferior to that of a Wood Clone in both power and suppression."

"In other words, without sufficient vitality to support it, even if one could awaken or synthesize Wood Release, the power would likely be far from ideal."

"Is it really like that?" Tsunade's expression was complex.

Minato did not know that ever since the First Hokage passed away, Konoha had been researching his cells, hoping to recreate Wood Release; she herself had even studied the Hashirama Cells.

It was precisely because of this that Tsunade knew just how monstrous the vitality of the Hashirama Cells was, which indirectly proved that Minato's hypothesis was correct.

"How great is the gap between them?"

"In terms of power, the Shadow Clone is only half as strong as the Wood Clone, and its suppression capability is only one-fourth."

"The gap is that large..." Tsunade frowned slightly.

Strong vitality implies a natural possession of powerful Yang Release chakra. Since a Shadow Clone is created from the chakra split from the original body, it naturally carries the Yang Release attribute.

If there is such a large gap even with identical source chakra, the gap between Minato and an ordinary person would likely be even greater.

"In other words, even if I can synthesize Wood Release, due to the difference in our constitutions, I won't be able to achieve the same power as you, Minato, right?"

Although Nawaki was a bit simple-minded, he wasn't stupid, and he quickly understood what Minato meant.

"That should be the case, but I think you should still give it a try, Nawaki."

Minato nodded. "After all, it is a Bloodline Limit; it's definitely stronger than a single elemental nature. Even if the suppression power is slightly inferior, it's more than enough for combat."

This thing was meant to suppress Tailed Beasts. Yamato's Wood Release was only one-fifth the power of the First Hokage's, yet it was still considered outstanding even among Jonin, and it could suppress Naruto's Tailed Beast transformation to a certain extent.

"I see..."

Nawaki's tone was melancholy, though he didn't feel any jealousy; he was already used to being hit with reality.

"In a sense, you're quite unlucky, kid."

Tsunade chuckled. "Whether it's Wood Release or Light Release, there's no one who can teach you anything; you can only explore it bit by bit on your own."

"It doesn't matter. According to the records on the scrolls, many of the First Hokage's Wood Release techniques were self-created as well."

Minato didn't mind these things; compared to functional ninjutsu, elemental ninjutsu were relatively much simpler.

"Does this mean I can only go to school with a Wood Clone tomorrow?"

Kushina pouted. "It feels a bit strange."

Nawaki, however, was suddenly stunned. "Wait, if that's the case, if I can learn Shadow Clone, could I also let a clone go to school for me?"

"You will go to school honestly!"

Tsunade raised her hand and knocked Nawaki on the head, producing a soft thud.

"That hurts!"

Nawaki rubbed his head, feeling indignant. "Why is it that Minato can use a clone to skip class?"

"Listen well. Although Shadow Clone is convenient, it has the drawback of accumulated fatigue. Minato possesses a powerful constitution and recovery ability comparable to Grandfather, so he can withstand it."

Tsunade warned him sternly, "But with a normal person's constitution, you cannot fully recover overnight. Fatigue that isn't fully recovered will accumulate over a long period, placing a great burden on the body. Once it exceeds the threshold, it can even threaten your life!"

"Your body is currently in a growth phase; doing this would very likely affect your physical development!"

"I see."

Kushina felt a bit regretful. "I actually wanted to try it, too."

Tsunade glanced at Kushina. "You could."

"Eh—"

Nawaki's eyes widened. "Why can Kushina do it?!"

"The greatest characteristic of the Uzumaki Clan is their vigorous life force."

Tsunade said indifferently, "If it's just one Shadow Clone, it won't have much of an impact. However, it's still a bit too early; let's talk about it in a couple of years."

"Mm!"

Kushina nodded obediently.

Nawaki watched this scene with cold eyes, feeling only that this world was so unfair, so chillingly cold...