In the orphanage's front courtyard, weeds grew everywhere.
The air still held the damp, earthy stink left over from last night.
Sen walked straight to the center of the courtyard.
It was the only spot without any tree cover, where the sun beat down the hardest.
He stopped, slowly spread his arms, and raised his head.
"That little brat's possessed! Get your butt over here and sweep the floor!"
Aunt Li's gruff, clanging voice exploded from the hallway, shaking dust from the walls.
Ishikawa leaned against the doorframe, hopping around like an ant on a hot pan.
"Sen! Get back here! Aunt Li's going to fetch the feather duster!"
Sen paid no attention to the commotion behind him.
He contentedly narrowed his eyes and let the golden morning sunlight wash over him.
In his heart, he silently uttered four words.
"Photosynthesis, activate."
The system's prompt had barely sounded when a marvelous change took place.
The sunlight falling on him had been nothing more than a faint warmth.
Now, it seemed to turn into a tangible current of warmth, surging through his hundred and eight thousand pores and burrowing into his skin.
The current barreled through his meridians, rapidly transforming into the purest chakra.
The pitiful little chakra bar in Sen's six-year-old body.
In the blink of an eye, it was filled to the brim.
It even kept overflowing.
His meridians felt faintly swollen, like he'd eaten so much he was about to burst.
"This... this is ridiculous."
Sen swallowed, feeling the surging power inside him that seemed like it would never run out.
He had to test whether this was all just his imagination.
What drained the most chakra in Naruto?
High-intensity exercise and using jutsu, of course.
He didn't know any jutsu yet, so he'd have to burn energy by running.
No sooner thought than done.
Sen's eyes snapped open, and he lowered his stance.
He pushed off hard from the uneven dirt with his toes.
He shot forward like a cannonball, zipping away with a "whoosh."
A few orphans were still pulling weeds in the courtyard.
They only felt a gust of wind rush past. Sen had already circled half the courtyard.
"Did that kid take the wrong medicine?"
One of the older orphans rubbed his eyes, looking like he'd seen a ghost.
Ishikawa's jaw nearly hit the floor as he pointed at the blur, stammering.
"H-he gets winded just walking a few steps! How's he running like a rabbit today?"
Just then, Aunt Li charged out with a half-meter-long feather duster in hand.
"Sen Senju! You stop right there! I'll break your legs today!"
Aunt Li trembled with rage, her plump body jiggling as she charged after him on her thick, short legs.
Sen raced along, then looked back and pulled a face.
"Aunt Li, if you can catch me with that figure, I'll wash your dishes for a whole month!"
"You little bastard! Just you wait till I get my hands on you!"
The old woman and the boy put on quite a chase through the orphanage's rundown front courtyard.
Five laps.
Ten laps.
Twenty laps.
Ten minutes passed.
Aunt Li had long since run out of steam.
Her knees buckled, and she flopped onto the flagstones with a thud, panting heavily.
Sweat poured from her forehead like soybeans, splattering into the dirt.
"Ugh... my poor back... Where does that little brat get all that energy...?"
Aunt Li wasn't the only one exhausted. Even the orphans watching had grown tired.
They dropped their weeding hoes and sat down on the steps.
"Is he ever going to stop? How many laps has he run?"
"I guess he's never run before in his life and wants to get his fill today."
Ishikawa swallowed and stared at Sen, who was still racing around, his eyes full of concern.
Meanwhile, Sen was completely overcome with joy.
He was running much faster than any malnourished six-year-old should have been able to.
At this intensity, his stamina should've been draining like crazy.
But!
For every bit of stamina he used up, the sunlight overhead immediately replenished twice as much!
His chakra was the same. It showed no signs of running dry—instead, it grew more abundant the more he used.
His breathing was frighteningly steady, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.
Racing against the wind, Sen couldn't help grinning.
"It really is an infinite engine! As long as there's light in the sky, I'll never run out of chakra!"
This wasn't just photosynthesis.
It was a human-shaped power bank, plus an infinite chakra bar and an immortality cheat!
Other people had to keep track of how much chakra they had left when they fought.
When he fought, all he'd have to worry about was whether the sun was bright enough.
Caught up in the excitement, he sprinted around the courtyard three more times.
He only stopped when it felt like the steady influx of Natural Energy was about to burst his meridians.
He came to a reluctant halt, digging a little hole in the dirt.
"Whew—feels great!"
Sen stood in a sheltered corner of the courtyard and let out a long breath.
The sunlight was still scorching.
His body felt light, filled with enough strength to punch a bull to death.
But the power was too great, and as a beginner, he couldn't control even a fraction of it.
On top of that, his emotions were running high, and his heart was beating a little faster than usual.
He had just raised his hand to pick his nose.
When his fingertip suddenly grew hot.
A wisp of pure, visible green chakra spilled uncontrollably from the tip of his index finger.
"Damn, I'm leaking!"
Sen's heart lurched. He hurriedly tried to focus and force the chakra back inside.
But the green energy was like a little snake with a mind of its own. It dripped onto a piece of deadwood in the corner beside him.
It was a broken branch that had been lying there for who knew how many years, completely dead and covered in grayish-white mold.
A miracle unfolded right before Sen's eyes.
The moment the green light touched the deadwood.
It was absorbed in an instant, like a drop of water falling into a shriveled sponge.
Then came a series of tiny cracking sounds.
A small crack split open across the surface of the lifeless wood.
A tender, bright green shoot trembled as it poked through the crack!
Under the sunlight, the shoot stretched out its delicate form, brimming with life.
It seemed to be declaring its rebirth to the world.
Sen drew in a sharp breath.
He froze, his scalp prickling as if struck by electricity.
New life from deadwood!
This was real Wood Release!
He could create trees out of thin air and give life to dead things!
Compared to what he'd just felt from all that running around, this was on a completely different level.
This was the power Hashirama Senju had used to bring an age of war to an end.
If anyone who knew what they were looking at—like the Third Hokage or that bandage-wrapped old schemer underground—saw this,
he'd be tied up and strapped to an operating table tomorrow, with every drop of blood drained from his body.
"Sen! What are you doing over in that corner?"
Ishikawa shouted from nearby.
"Aunt Li's about to get back up. Aren't you coming over to apologize?"
With footsteps pattering closer, Ishikawa ran toward him on his short legs.
Sen's heart gave a thump. His alarm bells started ringing.
The first rule of the cautious path: never reveal your trump card while you're weak!
He reacted in a flash, lifting his right foot and stomping on the newly sprouted branch.
He ground down hard with his toe.
He crushed the conspicuous green shoot and the entire piece of deadwood into the soft dirt.
He even kicked some dry grass over the spot, thoroughly covering up the traces.
Ishikawa ran up, panting, and glanced down at Sen's feet in confusion.
"What are you sneaking around and stomping on here?"
Ishikawa sniffed, his chubby face scrunching up.
Sen put on an innocent air and shoved his hands into the patched pockets of his pants.
He whistled and shrugged.
"Nothing. I was running too fast and couldn't stop in time. I stepped in some unknown creature's droppings."
Ishikawa covered his nose in disgust and backed away two big steps as if fleeing a plague.
"Ew! Gross! Can't you have a little more hygiene?"
Ishikawa looked Sen up and down, curiosity written all over his face.
"But what was with you just now? How'd you suddenly run so fast without getting winded?"
Sen turned to look at the towering Kage Rock beyond the orphanage wall.
A blade of foxtail grass he'd plucked from nearby hung from his mouth.
The corner of his lips curled into an unreadable smile.
"Didn't I tell you, Ishikawa?"
Sen reached out and patted Ishikawa's chubby shoulder, lowering his voice.
"I'm in a good mood today. I feel like I'm... about to grow leaves."
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