Hashirama Cells

Year 41 of the Konoha era.

It was another morning. Genichi, who had long since mastered the instantaneous casting of the "Transparent Rasengan" to ambush opponents head-on during combat, prepared to leave the training ground after remembering his appointment with his teacher, Orochimaru.

Passing by an adjacent training ground, he suddenly saw Minato Namikaze sitting quietly alone under a tree, reading a book with great focus.

Something was wrong—very, very wrong.

Minato had been grinding alongside Genichi since they were children; his diligence was plain for all to see. How could he be so leisurely reading a book in broad daylight?

Genichi suppressed his presence, lightened his footsteps, and slowly approached.

Suddenly, he lunged forward and slammed a hand onto the book: "What are you secretly reading, Minato?"

Minato was startled. He hadn't been particularly vigilant within the village, and he had been so engrossed in his reading that he hadn't noticed his surroundings.

"Oh, it's you, Genichi. This is a novel that Master Jiraiya recently wrote," Minato answered honestly.

Hm? Jiraiya's novel? Reading it in secret? Could it be?

It exists this early? Sigh, I really have to criticize this.

He closed the book to look at the cover—Tales of a Gutsy Ninja.

Genichi frowned. So it was this. He flipped through it briefly: "Why is it so short?"

Minato scratched his head and said with a smile: "Haha, Master Jiraiya said he was inspired by his new disciple. He's only just started writing it, but the story is quite good. I feel like that little junior brother must be a good person to get along with. When I have children in the future, I'm going to name one Naruto."

Hearing this, Genichi couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking to himself: The new disciple he's talking about is Nagato, right? He is indeed "easy to get along with"—just wait until you meet him and he performs a [Shinra Tensei] to make the whole village disappear.

"Have you mastered the Flying Thunder God? Can you use the Rasengan properly? Are you done with your taijutsu training? At your age, at this time of day, why aren't you training properly instead of reading novels here? Can you even sleep at night?" Genichi had no interest in the book and continued to pressure Minato.

Having long since grown accustomed to Genichi's occasional eccentricities, Minato just smiled, his heart remaining completely calm.

Arriving at the Forest of Death, inside Orochimaru's laboratory.

"These are the cells of the God of Shinobi. Isn't it miraculous? Even after being dead for decades, the corpse still retains such vitality. If it weren't for the fact that no soul can be detected, it would be as if Hashirama Senju hadn't died at all, but was merely sleeping."

Orochimaru looked at the treasure in the petri dish with obsession and continued: "According to your theory, the Kekkei Genkai—Wood Style—should be the fusion and transformation of Water Style and Earth Style chakra under the influence of Yang Release."

"Wood Style also manifests immense life force, with power far exceeding all other Kekkei Genkai. Do you want to join in? Let us recreate the power of the God of Shinobi together."

Perhaps it was the high-quality Yang Release of Asura's chakra that caused a special mutation when Wood Style was generated; perhaps the power of Sage Mode was highly compatible with Wood Style; or perhaps it was a case of Hashirama's own bloodline regressing, mutating toward the direction of the Divine Tree.

Genichi remained noncommittal. As the only Asura reincarnate capable of using Wood Style, Hashirama Senju was certainly powerful, but that did not mean Wood Style itself was inherently superior.

"Teacher, have you ever considered that Wood Style is just an ordinary bloodline limit?" Genichi spoke unhurriedly.

"Since when can a Kekkei Genkai be described as 'ordinary'? Not to mention, this is the power of the God of Shinobi who pacified the Warring States period—a Wood Style so unique that even his own descendants couldn't inherit it." Orochimaru hadn't expected such a cold reaction from his disciple, but considering Genichi's talent and insight, he continued to ask:

"You seem to have a different perspective. Tell me about it?"

Genichi looked at the data on the "Hashirama Cells" in his hand and continued: "Madara Uchiha's brother, Izuna, also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, yet he still died at the hands of the young Tobirama Senju. But can you imagine the Second Hokage defeating Madara Uchiha? Heh, not every Mangekyo user is Madara Uchiha."

"Therefore, not every Wood Style user will be Hashirama Senju. What is powerful is always the person, not the technique."

"Instead of gambling with living human lives to find the one-in-ten-thousand lucky soul who can withstand the 'Hashirama Cells' just to awaken an ordinary 'Wood Style,' it would be better to focus our attention on more valuable areas."

"More valuable areas? What would that be?" Orochimaru licked his lips, even more curious about Genichi's thoughts.

"It is life force—powerful life force. A ninja's training is mostly limited by a fragile body and insufficient chakra reserves. If we can suppress the corrosive nature of the 'Hashirama Cells' and refine them into a serum that enhances physical constitution..."

Genichi continued to explain his idea: "Combined with the fact that 'Hashirama Cells' are extremely easy to cultivate, we could massively boost the potential and strength of our ninjas. Konoha, or even the entire Ninja World, would enter a new era."

Before Orochimaru could recover from the future he had just described, Genichi added: "If you really want to use Wood Style, it's not impossible."

Usually, Orochimaru felt a sense of intellectual superiority over other ninjas, especially Jiraiya. In this regard, the only one who could make him feel frustrated was his own disciple.

Orochimaru couldn't help but sigh: "You have another idea? Even if one day you told me you were the reincarnation of the 'Ancestor of Chakra'—the Sage of Six Paths—I wouldn't be surprised."

Genichi knew his own situation well. Orochimaru was exploring a path without any direction, while he himself roughly knew where the destination lay, which allowed him to repeatedly find the key to the problems.

"Heh, how could that be? Back to the point: if the corrosive ability of the 'Hashirama Cells' that others cannot withstand is due to Hashirama's powerful Yang Release, then what should we do next?" Genichi asked with a smile.

"Are you talking about Yin Release? The Sharingan?" Having entered the zone, Orochimaru immediately thought of the answer: "The Senju clan and the Uchiha clan, is it? How interesting. After a thousand years of fighting, they are suddenly united, and even their powers can complement each other."

"It's a real pity." Thinking of his teacher's and Shimura Danzō's attitude toward the Uchiha clan, it was impossible to use the First Hokage's cells to enhance the Uchiha's power.

"The village won't agree to it. You might not understand, but the Konoha high-ups and the Uchiha..."

"I know, so we can only wait to pursue these experiments later—when you or I become Hokage. Only then can we continue to explore the mysteries of chakra." Genichi interrupted: "So, Teacher Orochimaru, do you have any desire to become Hokage right now?"

To be honest, over the years, influenced by this disciple's occasional brilliant ideas and the special intelligence he had gathered from either the Senju or Uchiha clans, Orochimaru had secretly established several research projects. His daily schedule was packed, and he didn't even forget to build a few laboratories during the war.

Thinking of Sarutobi Hiruzen spending a large amount of time in the office dealing with administrative affairs every day, Orochimaru had absolutely no interest in the position of Hokage; he only wanted to stay in the laboratory and explore the meaning of life.

Orochimaru looked at Genichi deeply before saying: "Have you already felt the shackles of the village, Genichi? I believe becoming Hokage is a meaningless endeavor, so naturally, I have no such thoughts. But if you are interested in the position of Hokage, I will stand up and support you."

There was no time to be Hokage, but raising a disciple who would become Hokage wouldn't be bad either.

"Then many thanks, Teacher Orochimaru. Oh, by the way, Teacher, you wouldn't perform human experiments on your own villagers in front of a future Hokage, would you?" Genichi thought of Orochimaru's defection in the original story and issued a reminder.

"Is this an order from the Hokage? It seems I have no choice but to obey," Orochimaru teased.

At this moment, having not experienced the death of Nawaki or the series of events where his teacher chose Minato Namikaze as Hokage, Orochimaru had no intention of leaving Konoha.