Action Debrief and Ability Aspirations

After the operation, the four gathered in the backyard of Lin Hai's medicinal herb shop over the weekend. Seated around a wooden table laden with Chinese tea snacks, they began reviewing their raid on the Mexican gang.

Chen Bing was seeing patients in the clinic's front hall and had no intention of joining four high schoolers for their weekend hangout.

Even so, the four did not dare speak too loudly. If Chen Bing overheard them, it would do nothing but make him worry more.

"First of all, the operation was a success." Harry lifted his teacup, his tone steady. "But we also exposed some problems."

Pointing at the energy distribution chart on the laptop screen, Gwen said, "Lin, your current 'Azure-Edge Leaf' and 'Heartbind Vine' are better suited for restraining enemies, but you lack explosive offensive methods capable of delivering decisive blows. And when facing multiple enemies, Vine Whip isn't efficient enough.

"So I think your next plans need to consider two things. First, a decisive offensive method. Second, the amount of energy in your body. Otherwise, if you use one big move, drain all your energy, and immediately collapse into sleep, that won't work either."

After Gwen finished speaking, she took a sip of tea and then gestured for the other two to contribute enthusiastically.

Peter excitedly raised his hand. "Also, your self-healing ability is impressive, but it still hasn't reached the level of 'instant recovery'! If it's just superficial wounds, you can recover quickly. But if you get shot or suffer something more serious, you might not have time to heal yourself!"

After thinking for a moment, Harry added, "Mm, my thoughts are basically the same as Gwen's. Aside from your rather limited attack options, I think what you lack most is a large-scale suppression method.

"This operation was simple, and the enemies we faced were only scattered low-level gang members. To put it bluntly, they were street punks. They could hardly cause you any serious trouble.

"But we have to consider what happens if you encounter more than five enemies working together. Your current methods would start to feel inadequate. And if there were more than ten enemies acting together, you could only rely on harassment tactics to wear them down.

"That's why area-of-effect methods capable of targeting multiple people at once are so important."

Lin Hai nodded, his gaze falling on the faint green glow in his palm. His friends were right. After this operation, he had gained a much deeper understanding of his own abilities and methods.

Practice was the sole criterion for testing truth. Only through practice could one gain true knowledge. Those words were absolutely correct.

Lin Hai thoughtfully rubbed the rim of his teacup and said, "You're right. My abilities are still in their early stages. Although I can control plants, I'm still far from being able to wield them freely."

Gwen offered another suggestion. "Peter just said that if you suffer severe injuries, your healing ability might not be able to fully heal you. I was thinking, what if plants could form a wearable defensive layer, like the bulletproof vest my dad wears every time he goes on a mission? Even if it only improves your defense a little, it could reduce the pressure caused by your insufficient healing ability when you get hurt, while greatly improving your survivability."

As Lin Hai listened to his friends' suggestions, his thoughts churned—until a name suddenly flashed through his mind: Hashirama Senju.

That was right. He was a character from Naruto, an anime that had been hugely popular in his previous life—a man known as the "God of Shinobi," who could suppress the seventy-meter-tall chakra beast Nine-Tails by himself, and who could stand toe-to-toe with Madara Uchiha, the man called the "Asura of the Shinobi World," who could summon a Susanoo even larger than the Nine-Tails.

Hashirama Senju had dominated the shinobi world with his powerful Wood Release, controlling massive trees as easily as his own limbs. He could even summon a Wood Dragon hundreds of meters long and a Wood Buddha a thousand meters tall to suppress his enemies.

Although Lin Hai could not use ninjutsu, the essence of energy was interconnected. Only the methods of using it differed. Hashirama Senju could use the power known as Wood Release to communicate with plants, alter their forms, and unleash their potential. Why couldn't Lin Hai do the same with the energy known as Life Force?

"Maybe I can try Wood Release," he murmured.

"Wood what?" Peter asked, looking utterly confused.

Lin Hai smiled and explained, "A combat style centered around plants. Thanks for your ideas and suggestions. I think I have a direction now."

That night, after seeing his friends off, Lin Hai sat alone in the backyard with his eyes closed in thought. Chen Bing did not disturb him.

Lin Hai compared and analyzed everything point by point.

What was the core of Hashirama Senju's abilities?

Plant control—communicating with natural energy, making plants grow, transform, and attack.

Self-healing—an overwhelmingly powerful life force capable of instantly recovering from even grievous wounds.

Giant constructs—materializing chakra, or energy, into enormous Wood Dragons and Wood Buddhas that combined offense and defense.

A comparison with Lin Hai's current abilities:

Plant control: He had mastered the basics, but lacked large-scale destructive methods.

Self-healing: He could only treat minor injuries and could not handle fatal wounds.

Giant constructs: Completely undeveloped.

"The gap is huge, but the direction is right." He opened his eyes, his gaze resolute.

"Hashirama Senju could communicate with plants, alter them, and awaken their potential. He could even create forests and giant Buddhas in an instant. He possessed an incredibly powerful healing ability, and his taijutsu and combat instincts were also top-tier."

"And my current weaknesses are precisely my limited attack methods, excessive energy consumption, and lack of large-scale suppression abilities. But if I can develop plant control to its limits like Hashirama Senju did, my combat power will undergo a qualitative transformation!"

"As for my energy being depleted too quickly, I can start with the Red Moon I encountered before. Although its energy has already been transferred into my body, several other high-energy plants discovered alongside it remain intact. Once I find out where those plants were discovered, I can go there and see whether I can uncover anything."

"Next are the areas I can currently strengthen. First, I need to increase the range and precision of my plant control. Hashirama Senju's Wood Release could create an entire forest in an instant, while I can currently sense only within twenty meters and control plants within a range of just over ten meters."

"Second, I need to develop a 'large-scale suppression' skill." He pointed at the words Deep Forest Emergence written on the paper. "For example, could I make countless giant trees burst from the ground in an instant and trap enemies like he did?"

Lin Hai clenched his fist and felt the energy flowing through his body. Clearly, he could not yet reach that level with his current reserves, but he could begin the foundational training.

Lin Hai decided to conduct Plant Resonance training every day, attempting to establish connections with plants farther away and gradually expand his control radius.

At the same time, he would imitate Deep Forest Emergence and try to make seeds explosively grow in an instant, forming giant trees or cages of vines. He could not accomplish that yet, but the Heartbind Vine he currently possessed was already an excellent beginning. Next, he just needed to strengthen it further.

"And my abilities should be able to go even further. Maybe one day, I won't just control plants. I'll directly use Life Force to create plants, perhaps even grant them temporary consciousness—or create plant life."

That was theoretically possible, because the Marvel Universe had a peculiar form of plant life: the Flora Colossus. Groot, the tree-being from the Guardians of the Galaxy, was a descendant of that race.

The Flora Colossus possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities. As long as a portion of a branch remained, it could grow into a massive tree with water and fertilizer. They also possessed superhuman strength and defense, could grow into giants through their own growth, and stretch their tree-made bodies as freely as rubber to attack enemies. They could also control other plants by scattering spores and heal others.

In the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Groot sacrificed himself to protect his teammates. Yet Rocket Raccoon revived him using just a small piece of his remaining body, showing just how tenacious his life force was.

Without accumulating small steps, one could not travel a thousand miles. Without gathering small streams, one could not form rivers and seas. Any lofty goal had to begin with the smallest, most basic things.

Besides Plant Resonance training, Lin Hai also wanted to see whether he could learn Wood Release: Cutting Technique. When Hashirama Senju used this ninjutsu, sharp branches could extend from his arms and pierce through targets. The wooden spikes left after the strike could absorb the opponent's chakra and continue growing, causing repeated damage.

Lin Hai was still nowhere near that level, but simply catalyzing seeds into wooden rods or vines, hardening them for close combat, or throwing them like javelins should not be a problem.

"The theory exists. It's time to practice." Lin Hai stood up, fighting spirit blazing in his eyes. "I'll start with Cutting Technique!"

After a week of practice, he could already temporarily harden wooden structures, but the duration was too short and the energy consumption was enormous.

But as long as there was progress, it meant this path worked. And as long as it worked, nothing could stop Lin Hai from continuing down it.

The level of "Susanoo clad in a Wood Buddha, two men destroying a nation" was still far beyond reach, but the dawn of hope shone before Lin Hai, illuminating his smiling face and the road beneath his feet.