God of Shinobi

"Waking up to find myself back in the village?"

Senju Hashirama withdrew his gaze, his eyes landing on Tsunade: "Little Tsunade!?"

Tsunade looked at Senju Hashirama, her eyes brimming with tears: "Grandfather!"

Senju Hashirama revealed a simple, honest smile: "I never expected you to have grown up so beautiful, Little Tsunade!"

"It seems quite a bit of time has passed."

Tsunade struggled to compose herself and spoke: "It has been over twenty years."

Senju Hashirama sighed with deep emotion: "Has it been that long?"

"How is the village now?"

"Who is the Hokage, and where is Tobirama?"

Tsunade's gaze dimmed: "Second Grandfather passed away over a decade ago due to the war."

"The current Hokage is the Third, my teacher Sarutobi Hiruzen. The village is doing fine for now, so you don't need to worry too much, Grandfather."

Senju Hashirama's expression grew heavy: "I never imagined Tobirama would also... As expected, no era is without war!"

As the two caught up, Kazekaze Genma and the others listened quietly without interrupting.

After a long while, Senju Hashirama felt he had learned enough and ended the somewhat heavy topic, turning his gaze toward Kazekaze Genma and the others: "Little Tsunade, are these all your disciples?"

Tsunade introduced them: "Shizune and Huixiang are, but this guy is not."

Senju Hashirama's gaze fell on Kazekaze Genma: "It was this child who summoned me."

He was somewhat surprised: "It seems he is quite an extraordinary genius!"

To be able to summon him from the Pure Land at such a young age—he was stronger than Tobirama.

Seeing the topic shift to him, Kazekaze Genma smiled and spoke: "Lord First Hokage, I am Kazekaze Genma. Although I am not a disciple of Lady Tsunade, I am a close friend of hers."

Tsunade pursed her lips, emphasizing: "A junior!"

Senju Hashirama laughed heartily: "It is good to have a friend like you."

"However, since the village is fine for the moment, did you have some other problem to solve by summoning me?"

Just as Kazekaze Genma was about to speak, Tsunade cut in: "This guy modified the Summoning Jutsu and wanted to test it, so he summoned you."

A massive black pot was dumped right onto Kazekaze Genma's head.

Tsunade knew she had gone a bit too far, and her face flushed slightly.

Kazekaze Genma couldn't be bothered to deflect the blame: "There are indeed some questions regarding ninjutsu that I would like to ask you, though I am not sure if summoning you like this is too much of an intrusion."

Senju Hashirama didn't mind at all: "Of course not, but..."

He rubbed his chin in thought: "If it is a matter of ninjutsu, perhaps it would be better to ask Tobirama."

"Hahaha~"

Senju Hashirama suddenly laughed and scratched his head: "Tobirama is indeed much better at teaching others."

Shizune and Huixiang looked at Senju Hashirama in this state and couldn't help but exchange glances.

Is this the God of Shinobi?

He doesn't seem to have any dignity at all!

Upon hearing this, Kazekaze Genma's eyes lit up, and he seized the opportunity: "Yes, Lord First Hokage, if the chance arises, I will certainly ask Lord Second Hokage for guidance."

"However, when it comes to Wood Release, I fear only you can provide the necessary insight, right?"

Senju Hashirama was surprised once more. He looked Kazekaze Genma up and down, only then noticing something peculiar: "You do indeed have a power of Wood Release within you, but..."

Senju Hashirama hesitated, as he sensed this power did not originate from his own cells, nor was it quite the same as the fusion of chakra nature transformations.

Kazekaze Genma noticed Senju Hashirama's confusion and secretly marveled at his formidable sensory abilities, though he immediately explained himself aloud.

Senju Hashirama was deeply shocked upon hearing this: "You truly are a greater genius than Tobirama to have pioneered such a line of thought."

He gave Kazekaze Genma a thumbs-up and then said: "If it is just Wood Release ninjutsu, shouldn't Tsunade and the village have the techniques I left behind?"

Tsunade said: "I have already given them to him, though I don't know to what extent he has mastered them."

As she spoke, she glanced at Kazekaze Genma.

Kazekaze Genma said: "I don't have many questions regarding the specific ninjutsu, but Lord First Hokage, does Wood Release count as creating life?"

This question left everyone stunned.

Shizune was the first to speak: "Genma, surely that doesn't count, right?"

Kazekaze Genma countered: "Why not?"

"Is it because you don't consider plants to be life? Or is it that the Kekkei Genkai of Wood Release isn't actually creating plants out of thin air?"

"Or perhaps, once living plants are created, they simply cannot survive without the continued nourishment of chakra?"

Though he appeared to be asking Shizune, he was actually asking Senju Hashirama and the others as well.

Tsunade pondered, "Plants are certainly life in the broad sense; after all, they possess cells and biological activity, unlike dead matter such as metal or soil."

"Setting aside Lightning Release, Fire Release, and Wind Release, if Earth Release and Water Release are used to create soil and water via chakra, they vanish once the chakra support is lost."

"But Wood Release..."

Tsunade looked toward her grandfather.

Genma and the other two also looked at Senju Hashirama.

Senju Hashirama rubbed his chin, wearing a contemplative expression. Seeing everyone looking at him, he raised his head and laughed, "That is indeed a very interesting and profound question!"

"There are indeed different situations when performing Wood Release. For instance, simply creating wood—hmm... I mean without a root system, like the kind used for building houses—that should count as inanimate, right?"

"The second type involves injecting chakra into the ground to act as a source of life, accelerating the growth of existing tree roots and seeds."

"Of course, most of the time it is actually created directly from chakra, with the chakra itself serving as the life force for the tree's growth."

"As for whether it can remain permanently, aside from the second method, it actually depends on the will of the user."

Genma nodded; he now encountered these three situations when using Wood Release himself.

In the beginning, he could only use Wood Release to accelerate the growth of existing plants.

As things stood now.

Wood Release could clearly be said to create life, as plants are a form of life.

Of course, his exploration of such a question was essentially a deep dive into the conversion between matter and energy.

The Yin-Yang Release is touted as a technique capable of creating life, but in reality, it is not so narrow as to only create life.

Perhaps "creating all things" would be a more fitting description.

It is just that life, or rather intelligent life like humans, might be the most difficult to create.

Throughout the history of the Ninja World, only the Sage of Six Paths has created the Nine Tailed Beasts.

As for the matter created by Yin-Yang Release, Genma remembered that the Truth-Seeking Orb and the Black Receiver used by Pain both belonged to things created by Yin-Yang Release.

"Genma, why are you looking into this?"

Shizune voiced the doubt in her heart, and Huixiang nodded along.

Senju Hashirama smiled and answered for Genma, "It must be to help understand the Yin-Yang Release, right?"

"You are very much like Tobirama!"

Genma found that a bit strange; why was he always bringing up Tobirama?

Shizune and Huixiang looked blank; their knowledge base was insufficient.

Tsunade said, "This guy thinks that the Chakra Refinement Technique is also a type of Yin-Yang Release."

Senju Hashirama frowned in thought, "Chakra Refinement Technique..."

How could this be understood as a Yin-Yang Release?

Children these days are truly different.

If Tobirama were here, such a question surely wouldn't stump him!