The Power of Nature!

"System query in progress... Query complete! To awaken Wood Release, one must locate a place where the power of nature converges..."

Liuxia stared intensely at the system interface before him, pondering to himself, A place where the power of nature converges... Could this so-called power of nature be the same mysterious energy absorbed during Sage Mode?

He couldn't help but recall his favorite xianxia novels from before his rebirth, where the energy utilized by cultivators was nothing other than this very power contained within the heavens and the earth!

This natural energy was truly wondrous, seemingly holding endless mysteries and potential.

Beyond Naruto's cheat-like application of Sage Mode, the energy absorbed by the Divine Tree planted by the Otsutsuki clan must surely have originated from the natural power of the planet itself!

The reason Wood Release possessed such overwhelming might was undoubtedly due to the influence of the Divine Tree's power.

With his peerless Wood Release, Senju Hashirama could treat the Nine-Tails like a mere toy with a single clap of his hands. Even when Uchiha Madara unleashed the earth-shattering Majestic Attire: Susanoo with his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he still could not overcome the terrifying, monstrous power of Hashirama's Wood Release.

Thinking of this, Liuxia felt an even greater sense of curiosity and longing for this mysterious power of nature.

If he could master this strength, he would certainly be able to fulfill the promise he made to Grandpa Taiyi. However, a place where the power of nature converges... that must refer to the three great sacred sites!

Shikkotsu Forest, Mount Myoboku, and Ryūchi Cave were collectively known as the three great sage regions. Among the "Legendary Sannin" of Konoha, Jiraiya trained at Mount Myoboku, Orochimaru at Ryūchi Cave, and Tsunade at Shikkotsu Forest.

As a descendant of the Senju clan, he possessed the unique advantage of being able to easily approach and master summoning ninjutsu—and thereby obtain the mysterious power from the three great sacred sites! At the thought of this, Liuxia couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

However, just as this excitement began to fade, he suddenly felt an indescribable exhaustion wash over him.

After all, having experienced immense grief followed immediately by the exhilarating news of the system's decompression, such a rollercoaster of emotions would be too much for anyone to handle.

Dragging his heavy feet, Liuxia returned to his room, collapsed onto his bed, and fell into a deep sleep before long...

"Xia! Xia! Wake up!"

Liuxia was startled awake in his sleep by a series of urgent shouts. He struggled to pry open his heavy eyelids, vaguely seeing a figure standing by his bedside.

"Nawaki, why so early? I haven't finished sleeping yet... let me doze for a bit longer..."

Liuxia muttered to himself, rolling over to continue his slumber.

However, Nawaki clearly had no intention of letting him off so easily. He grabbed Liuxia by the shoulders and shook him vigorously.

"No way! Big Sister said we're starting at the Ninja Academy soon, and she told me to come wake you up for training! If we don't get up now, it'll be trouble when she gets here!"

The moment Big Sister Tsunade was mentioned, Liuxia's sleepiness vanished without a trace. He knew Tsunade's temper all too well; despite her beautiful appearance and status as the princess of the Senju clan and the Land of Fire, he had no desire to experience her Strength of a Hundred punch. Just think of how Jiraiya had spent months in the hospital!

With a start, he sat up, hurriedly put on his clothes, and followed Nawaki toward the training ground.

Along the way, Nawaki complained about Tsunade while sharing his excitement for the upcoming life at the Ninja Academy. Liuxia, meanwhile, remained silent, contemplating the days ahead!

When they rushed to the training ground, the stone in their hearts finally settled—Tsunade hadn't arrived yet!

"Phew... that was close, we finally made it here before her!" someone said with a sense of relief.

"Heh heh heh, good thing Big Sister isn't here yet, or we'd be done for! I really don't get it—she's such a fierce tigress, what exactly does Brother Jiraiya see in her..."

Just as Nawaki was getting into the swing of things, he caught a glimpse of the terrified expression on Liuxia's face across from him and reflexively clamped his mouth shut.

He slowly turned around, only to collide head-on with Tsunade's smiling-yet-not-smiling gaze.

"Hmm? Nawaki, you're quite bold now, aren't you? Daring to talk bad about your big sister behind my back!"

Tsunade said with a full smile. Before the words had even left her lips, she raised her right hand and, with lightning speed, delivered a "sisterly" lesson to Nawaki.

After disciplining her younger brother, Tsunade's expression turned serious as she addressed the two of them: "You are about to begin your academy careers. Friction in the ninja world has been increasing these years; it's hard to say when another great war might break out."

Nawaki and Liuxia knew all too well that the strife in the ninja world had never ceased.

From the endless flames of war between clans to Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara leading their respective clans to overcome hardships together, pacify the world, and establish the hidden village system.

Yet, good times didn't last. After Madara's defection came the earth-shattering life-and-death duel between him and Hashirama, which ultimately led to both of their deaths.

Following that, other hidden villages saw the abundant resources of the Land of Fire and grew greedy, sparking the first large-scale war in the ninja world.

In the chaos of that war, to ensure the safe retreat of Konoha's younger generation, Senju Tobirama stepped forward as a decoy, leading the Gold and Silver Brothers into a trap, only to sacrifice himself heroically.

Liuxia was well aware that the Second Shinobi World War would break out in a few years, though the exact timing had long since blurred.

At this moment, he suddenly turned to look at Nawaki as if waking from a dream, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart—it seemed that Nawaki was the one who would tragically perish in this upcoming war.

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that? It's giving me the creeps." Nawaki felt a strange sense of panic under Liuxia's odd gaze.

"It's nothing, just feeling that a personality like yours, Brother Nawaki, might suffer in a war."

Liuxia scratched the back of his head, pretending to be indifferent as he replied to Nawaki.

"I'm the man who's going to be Hokage! I'm going to protect everyone just like Grandpa and Great-Uncle! A little war can't stop me. I'm super brave, okay?" After saying this, Nawaki gave his nose a cool wipe with his thumb.

"Xia is right! A fool like you will definitely be in danger on the battlefield! Even Great-Uncle..." Tsunade stopped mid-sentence, shook her head violently, and said, "Anyway, whether you want to be Hokage or protect the village, you must become strong, understand?"

"Understood!" the two replied in unison.

Tsunade nodded slightly and began to teach them the techniques and methods for drawing chakra from within their own bodies.

Her voice was low and powerful, as if it could pierce through one's very soul: "To successfully extract chakra from within, you must first focus your mind and concentrate your attention entirely within your own body..."

As Tsunade's explanation deepened, the two young men listened intently to every word, every sentence, and practiced the steps she described.

They closed their eyes, sensing the flow of air around them and the shifts in their own internal energy, attempting to guide these forces together to form a powerful and stable flow of chakra.