The Senju Clan training ground
"Ugh, this Wind Release: Rasenshuriken is still too Naruto-esque. It just doesn't fit the style of my Senju Clan."
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Uzumaki Naruto used the Lava Release chakra of the Four-Tails, Son Goku, to perform Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken. Its power was astounding. He could throw it, and when it hit its target, the Rasenshuriken would burst open, destroying everything over a huge area. It was powerful enough to sever the God Tree, and it also had a burning effect.
The Rasengan really was a divine technique. The Prince of Shinobi's techniques couldn't be anything but powerful. Not only could you add a single nature transformation, you could even add the chakra nature transformation of a Kekkei Genkai.
So what would happen if he added Wood Release?
Li Yu acted on the idea at once. He formed Hand Seals again and made a Wood Release Clone. Once more, he followed the same steps, and the clone poured green Wood Release chakra into the Rasengan. The Rasengan slowly turned from blue to green, while its control difficulty increased several times over.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The Rasengan exploded in Li Yu's hand and sent him flying. The clone went "bang" and turned into a piece of wood. The scattered green chakra seeped into the ground, making the plants grow rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, grass half a meter tall sprang up across the ground and along the walls. Everywhere he looked, there were thick patches of it.
"Damn, what a mess."
Li Yu shook his reddened right hand. Thanks to his extraordinary regenerative ability, it had healed within a few breaths.
Had he just added too much Wood Release chakra? Was the ratio off? Unwilling to give up, Li Yu experimented again and again.
Dozens of pieces of wood littered the ground, leaving the place in a mess. Grass covered the once-smooth ground, and the half-meter-high grass had already grown to over a meter.
Every time he felt he was about to succeed, it seemed he was still just a little short. That tiny difference seemed to affect the Rasengan's stability as a whole.
Li Yu lay in the grass, panting heavily.
"So developing ninjutsu really is hard. I came up with Wind Release: Rasenshuriken in one go, but maybe I just got lucky."
Looking at how the grass had started as just a few patches, but now covered the entire training ground, from the ground to the walls, growing over a meter tall, Li Yu felt as if a thousand horses made of mud and grass were stampeding through his heart.
The second round of the Chunin Ninja Exams
Konoha—the Forest of Death
Li Yu's Wood Clone had followed Uchiha Obito's team ever since they entered the forest.
With Wood Release's natural advantage, it could easily hide in the forest, constantly merging into the earth and trees and occasionally poking half its head out to observe the three of them.
The Wood Clone's stealth and tracking skills were almost on par with Black Zetsu's, making it incredibly elusive. That was also the purpose of training the clone this time: to prepare for the future.
As a fan of Kakashi, the Lord Kakashi of the Naruto world, Li Yu was quite interested in the fact that he had become a Jonin at just twelve years old, not to mention his signature dead-fish eyes.
"Kakashi, we've been in the forest for so long. How come we haven't seen anyone?"
Uchiha Obito, eager to show off in front of Nohara Rin, turned to ask Kakashi.
Kakashi glanced sideways at Uchiha Obito with his dead-fish eyes, then continued on in silence. ""
Seeing the disdainful look in Kakashi's eyes, it was as if he were saying, "I'll give you a look. Figure it out yourself."
"Hey, Kakashi, I'm talking to you!"
Kakashi's complete lack of reaction made Uchiha Obito toss his head. "Hmph, what a show-off."
"Just don't hold us back."
The offhand remark set Uchiha Obito off. He strode in front of Kakashi, ready to argue with him.
"Don't fight, you two. Minato-sensei said we're a team, so we need to stick together."
When Nohara Rin spoke up, Uchiha Obito immediately tossed his head again and let out an indignant "Hmph."
He clenched his fists in secret. When they ran into another team, he'd make sure to show off in front of Nohara Rin. Rin would definitely fall for him.
At the thought, Uchiha Obito blushed, his mind wandering.
Watching the three of them from behind, Li Yu's Wood Clone couldn't help chuckling. Watching Naruto before and seeing it all in person felt different. Maybe the anime just hadn't shown every side of a person's feelings.
Obito really was a lot like Naruto. At this age, Kakashi was even more of a show-off than Sasuke. He clearly cared deeply about friendship, yet pretended not to, putting the mission first.
The Wood Clone followed behind them, watching the show without hurrying and making sure the three in front never noticed it.
The Senju Clan training ground
After five days of nonstop experimentation, Li Yu finally found the right ratio for adding Wood Release chakra to the Rasengan. But even then, it couldn't stay stable for long before dispersing on its own.
This left Li Yu frustrated. He always felt he was just a little short.
"Didn't Naruto manage to make the Lava Release Rasenshuriken work?"
He thought back to how Naruto had created the Rasenshuriken in the anime.
"Could it be that I need to enter Tailed Beast Transformation?"
"Tailed Beast Transformation, Tailed Beast Transformation..."
He slapped the ground and shouted, "I've got it!"
He'd been stuck in a mental rut for so long, instinctively following the method he'd used for Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and forgetting the state Naruto had been in when he developed that technique.
"Naruto's Lava Release Rasenshuriken should really be called Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken."
"Sage Mode!"
Li Yu acted on the idea at once. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and absorbed the Natural Energy in the air.
Five minutes later, Li Yu made a Wood Clone. He formed a giant Rasengan in his right hand, and the clone immediately added Wood Release chakra.
He watched as the Rasengan slowly changed from blue to green.
"That's the feeling. I did it!"
The green Rasengan in his hand had a bright white halo circling it. It looked spectacular.
"Let's see how powerful you are."
He hurled it at a tree in the training ground that was thick enough for ten people to encircle. It wasn't as impressive as Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, nor did it have the scorching heat of Lava Release Rasenshuriken.
Thick vines shot out at high speed, twisting around the tree's trunk like a python coiling around its prey.
Within a few breaths, the tree groaned under the tremendous pressure.
"Bang!"
Wood splinters flew everywhere as the upper half of the tree shot dozens of meters into the air before crashing down. One heavy thud after another followed.
Seeing this, Li Yu excitedly rushed over to inspect the damage, swatting away the branches and leaves falling toward him.
After looking over the scene, Li Yu jumped up with delight, as excited as a child.
"Haha, I'm a genius! A genius!"
Li Yu kept praising himself, brimming with confidence.
"It's a new technique that hasn't appeared in Naruto: a Wood Release technique unique to Sage Mode. No one else can copy it—not even Naruto, the Prince of Shinobi!"
"Such power, and it only uses a little chakra. Next time, I'll find some thick-skinned target and give it a try."
Once his excitement had passed and he'd calmed down, Li Yu sat down and analyzed the damage using modern medicine.
In general, injuries to the human body could be divided into those caused by sharp objects and those caused by blunt force.
Sharp objects included knives, axes, and other cutting tools. They harmed the body by cutting, leaving clear lacerations.
Blunt force injuries came from sticks, fists and feet, impacts, falls, and crushing. They left no obvious external wounds, but caused internal bleeding in the organs and beneath the skin.
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken relied on sharp, rapidly spinning wind blades to attack its enemies, quickly slicing them apart.
The Wood Release Rasenshuriken Li Yu had developed, on the other hand, used rapidly spinning vines to crush its enemies. Wood Release could also absorb an enemy's chakra, becoming stronger against stronger foes.
Unless they could break free at once, they could only be crushed to pieces.
It was somewhat similar to Gaara's Sand Burial, which wrapped an enemy in sand and crushed them. But Wood Release combined with Senjutsu Chakra was even more powerful.
"Sage Art: Wood Release Rasenshuriken"—complete!