The Prototype of Artificial Wood Release

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

He ate, slept, and lived within that space of less than thirty square meters. The walls were densely covered with diagrams of chakra flow trajectories, and dozens of discarded draft papers were scattered across the floor.

"Not quite."

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

During that attempt three days ago, he had successfully managed to make three types of energy coexist in his palm for less than two seconds, sprouting a piece of plant fiber less than a centimeter long.

Since then, he had repeated the same steps many times, but every single attempt ended in failure.

The problem lay in stability.

Water Release chakra and Earth Release chakra were naturally repulsive; Natural Energy acted as a buffer in the middle, which theoretically should have prevented the two elements from coming into direct contact.

However, in actual practice, the volatility of the Natural Energy itself was too high, making it impossible to maintain a stable interface layer.

Takuma slumped on the floor, staring up at the dim lightbulb on the ceiling.

"How on earth did Senju Hashirama do it..." he muttered to himself.

The First Hokage's Wood Release required no intermediate medium; Water and Earth elements fused naturally within his body, as simple as breathing.

That was a Kekkei Genkai carved into his genes, a gift bestowed by the heavens, not something that could be replicated through formulas and experiments.

The door to the training room was kicked open from the outside.

"Mori Takuma!"

Tenten stood at the doorway, carrying a food container in her hand.

"Do you have any idea how long you've been in here? Boss Li said he hasn't seen a shadow of you, and your dad said you were training. Training is one thing, but are you not even going to eat?"

Takuma sat up from the floor, his stomach letting out a loud growl at the perfect moment.

"I've been eating Military Ration Pills."

Tenten walked in and set the container heavily on the only clean corner. "Can you really call that stuff food?"

Takuma opened the container to find rice, grilled fish, and miso soup, still steaming.

He paused for a moment.

"You made this?"

"I bought it." Tenten turned her head away, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "Ichiraku Ramen wasn't open today, so I got it from that set meal shop on the corner. Eat up, and when you're done, tell me what you're working on."

Takuma shoveled down a few bites of rice, weighing how to explain.

He hadn't told Tenten about the Wood Release yet.

The whole thing was too absurd—a descendant of the Senju without a Kekkei Genkai trying to forcibly simulate Wood Release using Cursed Seal energy.

Even to him, it sounded like he was bragging.

But facing Tenten's interrogating gaze, he laid out the cause and effect.

The results of his chakra paper tests for Water, Earth, and Yang Release.

The concept of using Cursed Seal energy as an intermediate medium.

The three-layer structural model.

The countless failed experiments.

And the single two-second success where he managed to sprout plant fiber.

Tenten listened in silence for a long while.

"So you want to create artificial Wood Release?"

"Something like that." Takuma stuffed the last piece of grilled fish into his mouth and mumbled, "But not exactly Wood Release. Wood Release on the level of the First Hokage is out of the question. I just want to create something functional—something that can restrain enemies, assist in defense, and won't shatter at a touch—it's that simple."

"You can't do it right now because you can't control the Natural Energy?"

"Right. The Natural Energy in the Cursed Seal is too violent; it's not qualified to be a buffer layer."

Tenten tilted her head, thinking, then suddenly said, "Why don't you try doing it in reverse?"

Takuma looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Your current approach is Water + Natural Energy + Earth, three concentric spheres. But you said Water and Earth repel each other, and the Natural Energy can't stabilize the interface." Tenten walked to the wall and pointed at the messy draft diagrams. "Then why don't you just stop letting Water and Earth touch directly?"

"That's what I'm doing! I have the Natural Energy in between—"

"No." Tenten interrupted him. "You're using Natural Energy to touch both Water and Earth at the same time, which puts too high a demand on the stability of the Natural Energy. Change your thinking—use Water Release chakra to wrap the Natural Energy into a core. Then wrap a layer of Earth Release chakra around the outside. Let the Natural Energy only touch the Water, not the Earth."

"You mean... let the Natural Energy just be the core, not the buffer layer?"

"Exactly. Leave the buffer work to the Water Release chakra. Water is naturally fluid and permeable; it's much better suited for buffering than Earth. The Natural Energy is sealed in the very center, only needing to provide the 'life' attribute. The Earth element provides the 'form' on the outermost layer. Water connects the two in the middle."

Takuma put down his bowl, staring blankly at the diagrams on the wall.

The order of the three-layer structure rearranged itself—

Innermost layer: Natural Energy (Life attribute, providing the source power for plant growth)

Middle layer: Water Release chakra (Flow attribute, buffering the pressure difference between inside and outside, transmitting life energy)

Outermost layer: Earth Release chakra (Form attribute, constraining the overall structure, providing the plant's "skeleton")

There was no need for the Natural Energy to touch both elements simultaneously.

It only needed to touch the Water, and the Water would then touch the Earth.

Water was the bridge, not the barrier.

The idea of a barrier was wrong to begin with—he didn't need to separate Water and Earth, but to let them interact in an orderly fashion through the medium of Water.

Takuma stood up, moving so fast he nearly knocked over the food container. "I'll try it."

Takuma channeled his chakra once more.

The Cursed Seal mark grew slightly warm, and a wisp of deep green Natural Energy was drawn out, condensing into a core the size of a mung bean in his left palm.

Using the technique for controlling a Water Wall, he manipulated his Water Release chakra, letting it form a thin film of water that slowly enveloped the Natural Energy core.

After the water film wrapped around the core, it formed an unstable double-layered sphere that trembled slightly.

But this time, Takuma didn't rush to add the Earth Release shell; he adjusted the density of the water film bit by bit.

Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, dripping onto the floor from the tip of his nose.

Tenten held her breath at the door, not daring to make a sound.

The water film finally stabilized.

The double-layered sphere rotated slowly in his palm like a miniature glass bead, glowing with a faint green fluorescence.

Takuma took a deep breath, performed a single-handed seal with his right hand, and Earth Release chakra surged from his meridians.

He divided the Earth chakra into extremely fine strands, winding them around the surface of the water film like vines.

The earth threads finished winding.

The three energies formed a brand-new structure: the core was Natural Energy, the middle layer was Water Release chakra, and the outer layer was a mesh shell woven from Earth Release chakra.

The three-layer structure existed stably in his palm, rotating slowly and emitting a soft green light.

Takuma could hardly believe it.

"...It worked?"

As soon as he spoke, the green light suddenly brightened.

A piece of deep green vine poked out from the gaps in the mesh earth shell.

It was only as thick as a finger and less than twenty centimeters long, its surface covered in fine textures, the tip curled like a miniature grapevine tendril.

Takuma tried to guide it with his chakra, and the tip of the vine trembled slightly, slowly bending to the left.

Takuma tried to cut it with a kunai, but only a shallow mark was left on the surface of the vine.

Tenten at the door let out a long breath, only then realizing her palms were covered in sweat.

"What are you going to call it?"

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

"Mimicry Wood Release: Vine."

He tightened his fingers, and the vine dissipated into green chakra particles, merging back into his body.

All that remained was a faint green pattern on his palm, like a miniature vine mark.

At that moment, a cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind—

[Event detected: The Sprouting of an Artificial Bloodline]

[Evaluation: With the wisdom of a mortal, you have stolen the authority of a god. Although you are still a long way from true Wood Release, the path has appeared.]

[Witness complete, obtained a lottery chance]

A lottery wheel spun in his consciousness, finally stopping on a silver ball of light.

The light split open, and a palm-sized piece of bread landed in the lottery space.

[Elven Lembas Bread]

[Origin: The Lord of the Rings Elven marching rations]

[Effect: One bite can satisfy hunger for a full day. This piece contains twelve portions, enough to sustain basic energy consumption for twelve days. Includes a slight restorative effect that accelerates physical recovery, though it cannot replace medical ninjutsu for treating severe injuries.]

[Note: One piece is a full meal, but don't expect it to cure illnesses. Also—this stuff is cloyingly sweet, it is recommended to eat it with water.]

Takuma looked down at the faint green vine mark on his other palm.

He turned to Tenten at the door and grinned.

"Tenten."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Tenten paused, then turned her head away, the tips of her ears turning slightly red.

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

"Someone still had to suggest it." Takuma walked to the door and stood beside her. "My dad's method was to forcibly mash Water and Earth together, and my method was to use Natural Energy as glue. Both were dead ends. Your approach was the complete opposite, and it's the one that actually worked."