Chidori

As for the results of the experiment, Yin Jie naturally knew them well.

Orochimaru had transplanted Hashirama's cells into a total of sixty infants, but in the end, only one infant had survived by chance, barely merging with Hashirama's cells and gaining the power of Wood Release.

Orochimaru, however, did not know about this.

That infant was none other than Ka, the Root shinobi from the original story; later, the ANBU shinobi Tenzo; and eventually Yamato, the Wood Release shinobi who temporarily served as Team Seven's captain when Kakashi Hatake was injured.

However, although Yamato had successfully obtained the power of Wood Release, his fusion with Hashirama's cells was incomplete. He did not possess Hashirama Senju's monstrous physique or immense reserves of chakra, much less know Sage Techniques.

As a result, his Wood Release naturally could not unleash the mountain-shifting, sea-filling terror of Hashirama Senju's Wood Release.

If Yin Jie remembered correctly, Yamato's Wood Release possessed, at most, only twenty percent of the original's power. In terms of practical combat strength, his most powerful—or perhaps most useful—Wood Release ninjutsu was likely Wood Release: Four Pillars House Technique, which could instantly create a large cluster of houses.

In that case, Orochimaru's recent busyness was probably because his Wood Release experiment had reached its most critical stage, leaving him with no spare energy to spare.

Yin Jie was not in a hurry. After all, his Sharingan was still only at the two-tomoe stage...

Several more days passed.

Having waited in vain for Orochimaru to finish his experiment, Yin Jie registered for this year's Chunin Exams at Danzo Shimura's request.

Recently, conflicts had been breaking out frequently along the borders of every nation.

Friction of all sizes occurred almost daily, including incidents like the Hidden Cloud jonin Yin Jie had encountered while invading the Land of Fire, as well as Kushina Uzumaki's kidnapping.

A dark cloud called the Third Shinobi World War was on the verge of shrouding the entire shinobi world.

Thus, the major hidden villages, none of which were prepared for war and none of which wished to truly be drawn into the flames of conflict, had no choice but to sit down together and negotiate.

That was how this joint Chunin Exam came about.

The location was naturally set in the victor of the Second Shinobi World War: the Hidden Leaf Village.

Among the other four great hidden villages, the Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Rock Village would each send their elite genin to the Hidden Leaf to participate in this joint Chunin Exam, while the Hidden Cloud Village had explicitly rejected the proposal.

As for the Hidden Mist Village, isolated overseas and absent from the previous Shinobi World War, it continued its policy of "closing the country," not even bothering to acknowledge what was happening on the shinobi continent.

"Is that Yin Jie? Come in!"

With a creak, a gentle woman with long black hair opened the door and welcomed Yin Jie inside.

"Mikoto!"

Yin Jie was not surprised that the person opening the door was Uchiha Mikoto. After all, he had already guessed that Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto were living together.

"I came to see Brother Fugaku!"

As he spoke, Yin Jie took off his shoes and headed toward the living room.

He had run into some difficulties while practicing Lightning Release ninjutsu. His teacher, Orochimaru, had recently been occupied with the Wood Release experiment and had no time for him, so he could only come to Uchiha Fugaku for guidance.

Although Uchiha Fugaku rarely used Lightning Release in ordinary circumstances, he was indeed a jonin within the Uchiha Clan who possessed Lightning-nature chakra and was relatively skilled in Lightning Release.

At the very least, he was several levels stronger than Brother Yasashiro.

Uchiha Yasashiro, who also possessed Lightning-nature chakra, had personally told Yin Jie that.

"Yin Jie's here! Have a seat!"

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku emerged from the bathroom with a smile on his face. He wore a dark bathrobe, and droplets occasionally fell from his wet hair.

He had just finished bathing and was preparing to leave for work at the Konoha Military Police Force. But since Yin Jie had come to visit, he could simply delay going in for a while.

After all, he was the captain of the Konoha Military Police Force. Although examinees from the Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Rock Village had been arriving one after another these past few days, he trusted his subordinates.

Uchiha Mikoto could not help smiling at the sight, her eyes curving into lovely crescents. She then closed the door, turned, and walked into the kitchen, bringing a cup of tea each for Yin Jie and Fugaku.

Crackle, crackle!

Azure arcs of electricity danced continuously across Yin Jie's palm.

But that was as far as it went. The moment he increased his chakra output any further, his palm—especially the meridians within it—would be injured by the violent Lightning Release chakra.

"Form high-intensity electrical currents from Lightning Release chakra and coat the entire hand, turning it into a lightning blade sharp enough to cut through iron and pierce everything blocking the path ahead!"

"Then, use Lightning Release chakra to stimulate the cells throughout the body, continuously accelerating during a straight-line thrust to generate even more terrifying piercing and cutting power!"

Yin Jie explained the development concept behind the unfinished Lightning Release ninjutsu in his hand to Uchiha Fugaku.

That was right. What Yin Jie wanted to complete was the A-rank Lightning Release ninjutsu developed by Kakashi Hatake in the original story, one exceptionally compatible with the Uchiha Clan: Lightning Release: Chidori!

Although, during his previous battle against the Hidden Cloud jonin, he had discovered that ordinary ninjutsu attacks could not break through the enemy's defenses and had ultimately won through a combination of genjutsu and an explosive strike from the Sword of the Thunder God—

After the battle ended and he returned to the village, he had wanted to develop another decisive technique of his own that could settle a battle in a single blow.

And after careful consideration, Chidori was the best choice for him at this stage.

After all, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan could perfectly compensate for its weakness of being unable to accurately lock onto targets while moving at high speed.

That was also the key reason why Lightning Release: Chidori was so compatible with the Uchiha Clan.

Not to mention that Lightning Release: Chidori possessed enormous potential for further development.

For example, its advanced version that Yin Jie knew of, Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter, which made far less noise when activated.

There were also derivative techniques used by Uchiha Sasuke, such as Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear, Lightning Release: Chidori Current, Lightning Release: Chidori Senbon, Lightning Release: Chidori Shuriken, Lightning Release: Chidori Blade, and more.

And then there was Lightning Release: Kirin, also developed by Uchiha Sasuke, which could guide natural lightning and unleash power comparable to an S-rank ninjutsu!