Wood Release Scroll

"Because I've already mastered Wood Release."

Genma remained calm and composed.

Tsunade's pupils contracted in shock. She slapped her palm on the table and straightened up, her ample bosom jiggling. "What?"

Genma met Tsunade's gaze. "Lady Tsunade, I've already mastered Wood Release, though I did it by taking a shortcut."

Tsunade stared at Genma. "Kid, if you dare lie to me, I'll beat your ass black and blue."

Genma's eyelid twitched. Then he stood up. "Come with me!"

They left one after the other, and Genma led her into a deserted patch of woods.

There were plenty of places like this in Konoha. There was no need to go somewhere remote.

Tsunade stopped and folded her arms across her chest, looking down at Genma. "What was this shortcut you mentioned?"

Genma placed a hand on the trunk of a large tree. "This..."

He began refining Wood Release chakra, and blue-green eyeshadow appeared around his eyes.

Tsunade watched, her pupils contracting sharply. Her arms dropped to her sides without her realizing it. "What... is going on?"

Genma didn't drain the tree dry. He only refined a portion of its power.

He explained to the stunned Tsunade, "As you can see, I combined spiritual energy with the cellular energy of plants to refine Wood Release chakra."

Tsunade instinctively stepped forward and exclaimed, "How is something like that even possible?"

Genma smiled, then poured the Wood Release chakra he'd refined into the nearby tree, which had almost lost all its leaves and had just had some of its power drained. The tree immediately seemed to enter spring again.

Buds sprouted from its branches, quickly growing into lush green leaves that stood out from those on the other trees.

Tsunade stared blankly at it for a while before turning her gaze to Genma, who had already stopped and lost the eyeshadow around his eyes. "How did you do it?"

Genma spread his hands. "Since we can refine chakra from human cells, isn't it only reasonable that we can do the same with plant cells?"

This little brat really was asking to get punched!

Looking at Genma's expression, Tsunade felt her hands itching and her fists clenching.

But she held back, afraid she might accidentally beat him to death.

After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Tsunade looked at the tree. "So you can only use Wood Release with chakra refined from plants?"

Genma nodded. "For now, yes."

"But this power is affecting my body and steadily improving it."

Tsunade mulled over his words and understood what he was implying.

She didn't ask any more questions and turned to leave. "Come on. You can have the Wood Release Secret Technique."

Genma blinked. "Huh? Lady Tsunade, don't you want to try learning it?"

Tsunade glanced back. "This kind of abnormal thing is impossible for a normal person to learn."

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

Genma hurried after her, muttering, "You're being too hasty, reaching a conclusion before even trying."

"What if you learn it?"

When they got home, Tsunade immediately went to fetch the Wood Release scroll.

The scroll wasn't large, but when Genma opened it, he found it contained an astonishing amount of material. It was full of the Wood Release Secret Techniques left behind by Senju Hashirama.

It included everything from the Wood Locking Wall to the Wood Dragon Technique, and even the True Several Thousand Hands, which required Sage Mode.

Genma was delighted. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade waved a hand, looking a little wistful. "It's not as if anyone other than you can master Wood Release anyway."

As Genma put away the scroll, he said, "In theory, there isn't much fundamental difference between refining chakra from our own cells and refining it from the cells of plants or other animals."

"From my own training, the hardest part is sensing the energy in plant cells."

"Once you can sense it, refining it comes naturally."

"Of course, you also have to be careful not to take too much. It's best to keep the proportions of spiritual energy, physical energy, and plant-cell energy at one-to-one-to-one. Don't exceed your own chakra limit, or you risk turning into wood."

Tsunade gave Genma a slightly peculiar look, then waved a hand. "I understand. I'll give it a try when I have time."

"But don't go spreading the training method around."

Genma smiled. "I only told you because you're one of us, Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade gave a quiet snort and said nothing.

Still, she felt a little pleased.

Genma didn't stay at Tsunade's place for long. Now that he had the techniques, he needed to devote himself to training.

The days passed one by one.

After taking some time to rest, Hatake Sakumo became even busier than before.

He had clearly accepted Genma's point of view and was trying to make up for the losses from the failed mission this way.

Fortunately, both Genma and Kakashi were self-disciplined. They didn't need anyone constantly keeping an eye on them.

In the blink of an eye, autumn turned to winter, and winter to spring.

Konoha Hospital.

After an operation, Genma took off his white protective gown in the changing room and waited in the corridor for a while. Eventually, his mother came out with Shizune.

"Genma, are you planning to have lunch at the hospital?"

Kazekaze Ritsuka asked. She hoped her son would have lunch at the hospital with Shizune.

She really liked that girl.

Genma glanced at Shizune. "Shizune and I are going to see Lady Tsunade."

Ritsuka looked a little disappointed. "All right, then. Go ahead, and don't keep Lady Tsunade waiting."

"Goodbye, Mom!"

"Goodbye, Auntie!"

After waving goodbye, Genma and Shizune headed out.

They had both assisted in the operation that day. Ritsuka was the one supervising them.

This was part of Konoha's newly launched Medical Ninja Training Program, headed by Tsunade.

Of course, Tsunade wasn't teaching the students herself.

Genma knew the reason, but still asked Shizune, "Shizune, do you know why Lady Tsunade doesn't come to the hospital?"

Shizune thought for a moment. "Maybe she's developing a new medical technique?"

If Tsunade stayed in the village, she had to work. She didn't need to when she went on missions, but Sarutobi Hiruzen would be heartbroken if such a powerful medical ninja weren't put to work at Konoha Hospital.

Tsunade had given in and, following Genma's suggestion, set up this medical ninja training program.

In other words, it was night school combined with experienced ninjas training newcomers.

Students at the Ninja Academy who already had some basic ninja training could sign up. On evenings when they didn't have classes, they would receive instruction from Konoha's medical ninjas at Konoha Hospital.

Then, on weekends, they would observe the hospital's medical ninjas or even perform procedures themselves.

Genma and Shizune were already quite skilled at Medical Ninjutsu, so they were allowed to participate in procedures directly.

Their teammate Nohara Rin was still in the night-school training stage.

Since it was the weekend, Nohara Rin was probably in the training room practicing on small animals.

"Even if she's developing new techniques, surely she has time to come to the hospital?"

"If Lady Tsunade taught the students herself, she'd probably attract more people to become medical ninjas."

"I think she's just slacking off."

Genma planned to use this excuse to see if he could expose Tsunade's Hemophobia.

He needed to bring it to light before they could treat it.

Although Shizune also thought Tsunade showed signs of slacking off, she still came to her defense. "Maybe Lady Tsunade needs to concentrate completely."

"Besides, it wouldn't make much difference whether Lady Tsunade was there or not when it came to teaching, would it?"

"Medical ninjas have even stricter requirements. A lot of people just don't qualify!"

Hearing Shizune's words, Genma sighed. "All right. Looks like I won't be able to convince Lady Tsunade."

Shizune gave an embarrassed little smile, then cleverly asked, "Genma, do you have some other reason for bringing this up?"

What a clever girl.

Genma praised her silently, then thought for a moment before answering, "I just feel like Lady Tsunade might be hiding something."

Shizune was surprised. "Huh? Do you think so?"

"I don't think I've noticed anything at all."