The Prototype of Artificial Wood Release

Takuma locked himself in his father's underground training room for three full days.

He ate, drank, slept, and took care of everything else in the space, which was less than thirty square meters. Diagrams of chakra flow covered the walls, and dozens of discarded sheets of draft paper littered the floor.

"Wrong."

Takuma crumpled the draft he had just finished and tossed it into the corner.

During his attempt three days ago, he had managed to make three kinds of energy coexist in his palm for less than two seconds, producing a sliver of plant fiber less than a centimeter long.

He had repeated the same steps countless times since then, and every attempt had ended in failure.

The problem was stability.

Water Release chakra and Earth Release chakra naturally repelled each other. In theory, Natural Energy could act as a buffer between them and prevent the two elements from coming into direct contact.

But in practice, Natural Energy itself fluctuated too wildly to maintain a stable interface.

Takuma slumped onto the floor and stared up at the dim yellow bulb in the ceiling.

"How did Senju Hashirama manage it..." he murmured.

The First Hokage's Wood Release needed no intermediary. Water Release and Earth Release blended naturally inside him, as easily as breathing.

That Kekkei Genkai was encoded in his genes, a gift from the heavens. It wasn't something that could be recreated with formulas and experiments.

Someone kicked the door to the training room open from the outside.

"Mori Takuma!"

Tenten stood in the doorway, holding a food container.

"Do you know how long you've been in here? Boss Li said he hasn't seen you at all. Your dad said you were training. Fine, train all you want, but you still have to eat!"

Takuma sat up, and his stomach let out a tremendous growl at just the right moment.

"I've been eating Military Ration Pills."

Tenten walked in and set the food container down hard in the only clean corner. "Can you really call those a meal?"

Takuma opened the container. Inside were rice, grilled fish, and miso soup, all still steaming.

He paused.

"Did you make this?"

"I bought it." Tenten turned her head away and leaned against the wall with her arms folded. "Ichiraku Ramen was closed today, so I got it from the Set Meal Shop on the corner. Hurry up and eat. Then tell me what you've been working on."

Takuma took a couple of bites of rice, considering how to explain.

He hadn't told Tenten about Wood Release yet.

The whole thing was so far-fetched—a descendant of the Senju with no Kekkei Genkai trying to forcefully imitate Wood Release using Cursed Seal energy.

Even he felt like he was making it up.

But under Tenten's interrogating stare, he explained the whole story.

The results of his Chakra Paper tests for Water Release, Earth Release, and Yang Release.

His idea of using Cursed Seal energy as an intermediary.

The three-layer structure.

Countless failed experiments.

And the two seconds in which he had managed to produce plant fiber.

Tenten listened, then fell silent for a long while.

"So you want to create artificial Wood Release?"

"Pretty much." Takuma shoved the last piece of grilled fish into his mouth and spoke indistinctly. "But it wouldn't really be Wood Release. The First Hokage's level of Wood Release is out of the question. I just want to make something usable—something that can restrain enemies, help with defense, and won't break the moment it gets touched. That's all."

"You can't make it work because you can't control the Natural Energy?"

"Right. The Natural Energy in the Cursed Seal is too wild. It's no good as a buffer."

Tenten tilted her head and thought for a moment. Then she suddenly said, "Why don't you try doing it the other way around?"

Takuma looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Your current idea is water + Natural Energy + earth, arranged in three concentric layers. But you said Water Release and Earth Release repel each other, and Natural Energy can't stabilize the interface." Tenten walked over to the wall and pointed at the messy sketches. "Why not just keep water and earth from touching directly?"

"That's what I'm doing. I've got Natural Energy between them—"

"No." Tenten cut him off. "You're making Natural Energy touch both water and earth at the same time. That demands way too much stability from it. Try a different approach—use Water Release chakra to wrap around the Natural Energy and form a core. Then wrap that in a layer of Earth Release chakra. Let the Natural Energy touch only the water, without coming into direct contact with the earth."

"You mean... make Natural Energy the core, instead of the buffer?"

"Exactly. Let the Water Release chakra do the buffering. Water is naturally fluid and permeable, so it's much better suited to buffering than earth. The Natural Energy stays sealed inside and only needs to provide the 'life' aspect. Earth Release on the outermost layer provides 'form.' Water connects the two."

Takuma set down his bowl and stared at the sketches on the wall, eyes wide.

The order of the three layers shifted—

Innermost layer: Natural Energy (the life aspect, providing the source of energy for plant growth)

Middle layer: Water Release chakra (the fluid aspect, buffering the pressure difference between the inner and outer layers and transmitting life energy)

Outermost layer: Earth Release chakra (the form aspect, constraining the overall structure and providing the plant's "skeleton")

There was no need to make Natural Energy touch both elements at once.

It only had to touch water, and then the water could touch earth.

Water was a bridge, not a barrier.

The barrier itself had been the mistake—he didn't need to keep water and earth apart. He needed them to make orderly contact through water as a medium.

Takuma sprang to his feet, almost kicking over the food container in his haste. "I'll try it."

Takuma gathered his chakra again.

The Cursed Seal warmed slightly. He drew out a wisp of deep green Natural Energy and condensed it into a tiny core the size of a mung bean in the palm of his left hand.

Using the technique he used to control Water Wall, he manipulated the Water Release chakra into a thin film and slowly wrapped it around the Natural Energy core.

Once the water film covered the Natural Energy core, it formed an unstable sphere with two layers, trembling slightly.

This time, however, Takuma didn't rush to add the outer shell of Earth Release chakra. Instead, he adjusted the density of the water film bit by bit.

Sweat slid down his forehead and dripped from the tip of his nose onto the floor.

Tenten held her breath in the doorway, afraid to make a sound.

At last, the water film stabilized.

The two-layer sphere rotated slowly in his palm, like a tiny glass marble, with a faint green glow at its center.

Takuma took a deep breath and formed a one-handed seal with his right hand. Earth Release chakra surged from his chakra pathways.

He divided it into countless fine strands and wound them around the surface of the water film like vines.

The earthen strands were in place.

The three kinds of energy formed an entirely new structure: Natural Energy at the core, Water Release chakra in the middle, and a mesh shell woven from Earth Release chakra on the outside.

The three-layer structure remained stable in his palm, rotating slowly and giving off a gentle green glow.

Takuma could hardly believe it.

"...It worked?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the green light suddenly brightened.

A deep green vine emerged through a gap in the mesh earthen shell.

It was only as thick as a finger and less than twenty centimeters long. Fine ridges ran along its surface, and its tip curled like a tiny grapevine tendril.

Takuma tried to guide it with chakra. The tip of the vine quivered and slowly bent to the left.

He tried cutting it with a kunai, but it left only a shallow mark on the vine's surface.

Tenten slowly let out a breath in the doorway, only then realizing her palms were drenched with sweat.

"What are you going to call it?"

Takuma looked at the deep green vine wriggling slowly in his palm and thought for a moment.

"Mimicry Wood Release: Vine."

He closed his fist, and the vine dispersed into green chakra particles, merging back into his body.

Only a faint green mark remained on his palm, like a tiny vine tattoo.

At that moment, the system's icy voice sounded in his mind—

[Event detected: The budding of an artificial Kekkei Genkai]

[Evaluation: With the wisdom of a mortal, you have stolen the authority of a god. You're still a hundred thousand miles from true Wood Release, but the path has appeared.]

[Witness complete. Reward: one draw]

The roulette wheel spun in his consciousness before finally stopping on a silver orb of light.

The orb cracked open, and a palm-sized piece of bread dropped into the draw space.

[Elven Lembas Bread]

[Source: Elven travel rations from The Lord of the Rings]

[Effect: One bite provides enough food for an entire day. This piece contains twelve bites and can sustain basic energy needs for twelve days. It also has a mild restorative effect that can speed up recovery from fatigue, but it cannot replace Medical Ninjutsu treatment for serious injuries.]

[Note: One piece is as filling as a meal, but don't expect it to cure an illness. Also—it's sickeningly sweet, so it's best eaten with water.]

Takuma lowered his gaze to the faint green vine-shaped mark on his other palm.

He turned toward Tenten in the doorway and grinned.

"Tenten."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Tenten froze for a moment, then turned her head away, the tips of her ears faintly reddening.

"What are you thanking me for? I only suggested an idea. You're the one who made it work."

"Still, someone had to suggest it." Takuma walked over to the doorway and stood beside her. "My dad's method was to force water and earth together, and mine was to use Natural Energy as glue. Both were dead ends. Your idea was the exact opposite, and that's what worked."