Improved Wood Release

Uchiha Ying Yue took a deep breath. Every Wood Release technique within the scroll contained immense power; possessing these techniques would elevate his strength to a new level.

Ying Yue decided to begin practicing these powerful Wood Release techniques immediately, choosing one of the classic arts: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.

This technique was the signature jutsu of Senju Hashirama, capable of rapidly forming a dense forest on the battlefield, which could be used not only to trap enemies but also for cover and offense.

Ying Yue stood in an open training ground, adjusting his breathing and focusing his mind.

Following the instructions on the scroll, Ying Yue began to concentrate chakra within his body, then guided the energy of the earth through the nature of his Wood Release chakra.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!" Ying Yue shouted, his hands forming seals in a blur before he slammed them onto the ground.

Ying Yue could feel his chakra flowing rapidly, seeping into the earth and merging with the natural energy of the ley lines. A moment later, the ground began to tremble, and trees burst forth from the soil, expanding in all directions.

However, Ying Yue soon discovered that the situation was not as he had expected.

Although the trees grew rapidly, Ying Yue quickly realized that this forest was nowhere near as powerful or grand as the one conjured by Senju Hashirama.

He recalled the scroll's description of Senju Hashirama's use of the technique: an endless forest that completely covered the battlefield, with trees towering into the clouds, blocking out the sun, and even capable of directly suppressing Tailed Beasts.

The forest before him, while still a sea of trees, was insignificant in scale and power compared to the original technique.

Ying Yue stared at the trees, a sense of frustration rising in his heart. This was not the result he had hoped for.

He had assumed that with his own talent and the enhancement of his Sage Body, he would be able to unleash powerful Wood Release techniques, but reality told him that his power was still far from sufficient to command such a formidable jutsu.

"This is hardly a Deep Forest Emergence; at best, it's just a 'Sea of Trees Emergence'..." Ying Yue whispered to himself with a self-deprecating smile, his heart filled with disappointment.

Uchiha Ying Yue stood in the relatively sparse grove, his mind replaying the casting process over and over.

Ying Yue realized that although his chakra reserves had increased significantly, there was still a massive gap in his control and execution of Wood Release.

It seems my Sage Body and chakra control are not yet enough to support the power of Senju Hashirama's Wood Release, Ying Yue pondered silently.

Furthermore, most of Senju Hashirama's Wood Release required only a single Snake seal. Even more outrageous was that sometimes, Hashirama didn't even use seals—he would just clap his hands together and whatever he wanted would appear. Uchiha Madara was the same. If those two titans were alive, they would probably say, "What serious ninja uses hand seals? Isn't jutsu just a matter of having hands? Tobirama, do you even use seals?"

For powerhouses like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara who suppressed the Ninja World, their control over their internal chakra had likely reached a terrifying level, rendering the use of hand seals to guide jutsu completely unnecessary; they were existences that defied common sense.

However, this was very unfriendly to Ying Yue, who was trying to learn Hashirama's Wood Release. The requirements for releasing many of these jutsu were too high, and Senju Hashirama had left no records on how to guide them through hand seals. Perhaps Hashirama never imagined that his successors would encounter such difficulties.

Therefore, Ying Yue decided to start incorporating his own practical situation to develop some low-threshold Wood Release techniques that better suited his current capabilities.

Ying Yue decided to start with basic Wood Release techniques, attempting to better control his chakra and execute techniques within his ability by increasing the number of hand seals or simplifying the arts.

Ying Yue first chose "Wood Release: Wood Clone" as his test subject.

The Wood Clone technique was originally a simple art. Senju Hashirama could create multiple wood clones in an instant, yet Ying Yue found that he required more hand seals than the scroll indicated to ensure the stability of the clones.

Ying Yue decided to add some extra hand seals to ensure precise chakra control.

Through repeated practice, Ying Yue gradually found the optimal hand-sealing method for his own Wood Clones. Although this slightly delayed the speed of the technique, it greatly increased his success rate.

Over nearly half a month of constant experimentation, Ying Yue gradually formed a Wood Release training system suited to his current strength.

By simplifying or adding hand-sealing steps, he brought some high-difficulty techniques down into a range he could master.

Ultimately, Ying Yue successfully developed several low-threshold Wood Release techniques. While their power was far from the original versions used by Senju Hashirama, they provided Ying Yue with practical combat tools at his current stage.

Wood Release: Sea of Trees Emergence: By increasing the hand-sealing steps, Ying Yue simplified the "Deep Forest Emergence" that Senju Hashirama could perform into a smaller-scale "Sea of Trees Emergence." While it could not cover the entire battlefield, it was sufficient to handle general combat scenarios.

Wood Release: Wood Clone: Through more hand seals and chakra control, although he could not perform multiple wood clones like Hashirama, Ying Yue could generate sturdier wood clones in battle. While slightly slower, the durability and combat effectiveness of the clones were enhanced.

Wood Release: Cutting Technique: A simplified version of the Diamond Wood attack, used to pierce enemies. After stabbing into the enemy's body, he could continue to use hand seals to make it branch out and grow, piercing the enemy's body from the inside.

Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall: A defensive ninjutsu where a row of wooden pillars curves up from the ground to form an arched wall to protect himself.

At the same time, because the Wood Release he currently mastered was not powerful enough to rapidly absorb the opponent's chakra, unlike Senju Hashirama's method of causing massive damage through entanglement and binding, Ying Yue's Wood Release leaned more toward piercing opponents with sharp wooden spikes. While this attack method was relatively simple, it could deliver a fatal blow to an enemy in an instant.

After obtaining the Wood Release inheritance of Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Ying Yue's life gradually returned to calm.

Although he understood that he bore the heavy responsibility of reviving the Senju Clan, he also knew that the accumulation of power and training was a long-term process that could not be achieved overnight.

Uchiha Ying Yue persisted in his training every day, constantly improving his chakra control and the proficiency of his ninjutsu.

Ying Yue also had his Wood Clones attend classes at the Ninja Academy to learn the basic knowledge of the Ninja World, making up for his deficiencies in theory and culture.

In this way, Ying Yue could engage in high-intensity training while ensuring his studies at the Ninja Academy did not fall behind.

During one of his daily training sessions, Ying Yue arrived at a secluded training ground, hoping to further hone his taijutsu.

Although Wood Release was his primary combat method, Ying Yue knew well the importance of taijutsu in battle. Facing the Otsutsuki Clan in the future, ninjutsu would be severely restricted; aside from taijutsu, only Sage Arts could inflict damage on Six Paths-level beings.

Just as Ying Yue was practicing his taijutsu, he inadvertently saw a father and son in the other corner of the training ground engaged in an intense taijutsu spar. Although the father's movements were no longer as agile as they were in his youth, every strike contained steady power, while the son's movements appeared fierce and full of vitality.