Sen Chisato

What could the fully awakened Kekkei Genkai, Wood Release, bring Sen Chisato?

A powerful body, recovery abilities beyond ordinary people, an enormous chakra reserve, the foundation for power at the very pinnacle of the Shinobi World, a huge boost to his allies' affection for him, and deadly provocation for anyone who wasn't on his side!

He could attack and defend, take hits and dish them out, boost his teammates' morale, draw all the enemy fire, and even unleash massive-area attacks and crowd control.

In short, a well-rounded powerhouse!

That was why spending five years working on Orochimaru had been well worth it.

Since Orochimaru had chosen him as a test subject for Wood Release, he had survived three experiments!

Of course, that was how Orochimaru saw it.

In reality, after he buried the people who had died in the Wood Release experiments, his system panel had already indicated that Wood Release was beginning to awaken.

Though its awakening was still too weak, and Wood Release had yet to properly synchronize with his body, causing him certain problems, he had escaped the risk of dying in the experiments from the very first one.

After he "survived" that first experiment, Orochimaru had finally taken notice of him.

From then on, he became Orochimaru's favorite.

Orochimaru no longer treated him as merely a Wood Release test subject. He began training him, teaching him all sorts of ninja skills and giving him plenty of combat experience.

And besides, among the corpses he had "planted," everything except the Wood Release Fruit had matured, and he had reaped a huge haul.

So even before leaving the beginner's village, he was no pushover.

He opened his personal status panel.

[Name: Sen Chisato]

[Age: 10]

[Date of Birth: October 10, Year 38 of Konoha]

[Chakra Natures: Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, Earth, Yang]

[Special Attribute: Kekkei Genkai: Wood Release (Not Fully Awakened)]

[Chakra: 3 Kakashi (measured against an adult Kakashi's chakra)]

[Skills]

[Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs (After awakening the Kekkei Genkai, Wood Release, wooden spikes sprout from various parts of the body to attack enemies. By using chakra, the spikes can branch out and extend farther, inflicting damage across the enemy's entire body)]

[Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique (Gathers chakra and spits a huge fireball from the mouth. The fireball's size depends on the amount of chakra gathered)]

[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique (Spits a series of fireballs from the mouth. Their different trajectories make them effective for both attacking and disrupting enemies)]

[Earth Style: Earth Wall (Uses chakra to build a sturdy wall with excellent defensive properties)]

[Earth Style: Earth Rising Spears (Uses chakra to create sharp, solid spikes from the ground beneath an enemy to attack them)]

[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (Uses chakra to blow enemies away with a gust of wind breathed from the mouth)]

[Great Waterfall Technique (Uses chakra to spew a huge mass of water from the mouth and crash it into enemies)]

[Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu (Uses chakra to form a water dragon that charges at and bites enemies)]

[Taijutsu: Konoha-Style Taijutsu (Basic), Orochi-Style Taijutsu (Cannot be used because his body has not been modified)]

[Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu (Uses chakra to create numerous shuriken shadow clones, effective against groups)]

"With my current strength, I can just about call myself a 'Ten-Mile Slope Sword God.' Once the Wood Release Fruit matures and Wood Release fully awakens, I'll be a fake max-level powerhouse ready to leave the beginner's village!"

Sen Chisato closed his status panel, dusted himself off, and stood up, his face full of eager anticipation for the future.

"Then the number of people who can threaten me will drop dramatically!"

Even with Wood Release, his age and physique would keep him from becoming invincible overnight.

And with all those old schemers lurking in the shadows of the Shinobi World, he would still need to be careful.

But once Wood Release fully awakened, he'd be able to go out and have some fun!

It was Year 48 of Konoha, and the Shinobi World War was raging.

For most people, war meant immense danger, death and fear, separation and loss...

But for Sen Chisato, war was a treasure trove!

Just imagine: if he buried tens of thousands of corpses, how many rewards would he get?

Forget the Kekkei Genkai he might find. Just think about chakra and ninjutsu...

Heh. Whether it was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the "Professor of Ninja," Orochimaru, the "once-in-fifty-years genius," or Kakashi, the "Copy Ninja," none of them could hold a candle to Sen Chisato!

Wait, no. Kakashi hadn't earned that title yet.

Tsk. He wasn't even a unit of chakra measurement yet.

"I have to urge Lord Orochimaru to continue the experiments and get my Wood Release fully awakened as soon as possible. Then I'll have to bluff... persuade Lord Orochimaru to take me to the battlefield!"

The wheat in the fields was ripe. If he didn't hurry up and harvest it, it would all go to waste!

"Waste is shameful, so I hope Lord Orochimaru knows what's good for him!"

Thinking this, Sen Chisato grabbed his wooden cart and raced back to the secret underground laboratory.

The moment he entered, Sen Chisato called out, "Lord Orochimaru, I'm back!"

His lively, cheerful voice was just like that of a child coming home for dinner after a day of playing outside. Orochimaru, naturally, was the parent waiting at home.

Sen Chisato put on a good performance, but there were unwelcome guests at "home" right now.

Three people stood at the laboratory entrance. One had bandages wrapped around his face, his right arm in a sling. His lone visible eye was filled with cold calculation, and his gloomy expression made it seem as though the whole world owed him money.

Though, in this case, someone really did owe him money.

The famous Hokage Advisor, the fearsome "Darkness of Konoha," and leader of Root—Shimura Danzō—had come to collect his debt, accompanied by two bodyguards.

After all, he was Orochimaru's biggest angel investor.

Shimura Danzō glanced at Sen Chisato, then paid him no further attention.

Thud!

He slammed his cane against the floor and demanded coldly, "Orochimaru, how is your research coming along?"

"There's been some progress," Orochimaru replied calmly.

Shimura Danzō's eyes lit up. "So someone adapted to Lord Hashirama's cells and survived?"

"Indeed." Orochimaru nodded without denying it.

"Where is that person?" Shimura Danzō pressed, growing even more impatient. "Hand him over to me at once!"

"Not yet." Orochimaru refused outright. "The experiment isn't finished, and the results are flawed."

Shimura Danzō's face turned icy. "I gave you so much funding and secretly brought you so many people, and this is all you have to show for it?"

"If I tell Hiruzen what you've been doing, you know exactly what will happen!"

The smile disappeared from Orochimaru's face. He hated being threatened!

Shimura Danzō paid no heed to Orochimaru's expression and pressed on. "If you don't want to lose your chance at the Hokage Position, don't try to play games with me!"

Orochimaru's expression darkened, but he said nothing.

As the Third's disciple and one of the Konoha Sannin, he currently enjoyed the greatest prestige in the village and was the best candidate to become the next Hokage.

Though he already had greater ambitions, the Hokage Position still held some appeal for him as a Konoha Ninja.

If the secret of his human experiments got out, he wouldn't just lose his chance at becoming Hokage—he might not even be able to remain in Konoha. He would have no choice but to become a missing-nin.

That was the danger of making a deal with a tiger!

Watching the scene, Sen Chisato's eyes darted about.

Here was his chance!

He had just been wondering how to "persuade" Orochimaru to take him to the battlefield, and Shimura Danzō had immediately set him up with the perfect assist.

As expected, all the terrible things people said about Shimura Danzō were just slander from fools!

Shimura Danzō was a good man!

With a grateful heart, Sen Chisato dropped his wooden cart and asked in his childish voice, "Lord Orochimaru, do you need me to kill them?"