Testing Wood Release Ninjutsu

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window.

Uchiha En opened his eyes and stretched. He had not slept so soundly in a long time.

He had been busy every day since the Clan Massacre Night: the Clan Leaders' Meeting, the battle for public opinion, the alliance with the Hyuga, the clan's relocation... One thing after another, with barely a pause.

But now, he suddenly realized he had nothing to do.

He had handed the Konoha Military Police Force reform plan over to the clan's Jonin.

He had put Uchiha Yashiro in charge of the relocation.

He sat on the edge of his bed, stared blankly for a few seconds, then laughed.

"This feels... nice."

He got up and went to the window, watching his busy clansmen outside.

Everyone was run off their feet. Everyone except him. He was at a loose end.

Uchiha En stretched, then remembered something. The last time he had chosen a system reward, he had obtained Basic Wood Release.

But he had been so busy that he had never tried it out.

"Wood Release... Hashirama Senju's signature ninjutsu."

He rubbed his chin.

"I need to find somewhere to test it."

Uchiha En changed into a lightweight black combat outfit and left his room.

Rather than head straight out of the village, he went to find Uchiha Yashiro.

Elder Yashiro stood outside the Meeting Hall with a list in hand, directing several clansmen as they moved supplies.

When he saw Uchiha En approaching, he hurried over.

"Clan Head, you're up?"

Uchiha En nodded. "Elder Yashiro, are the repairs to the clan compound going smoothly?"

"Smoothly, yes." Yashiro smiled. "We've hired craftsmen to repair the houses in the old compound as quickly as possible. We also brought in some Earth Release specialists to speed things up. Most of the houses should be ready by tomorrow."

"Good."

Uchiha En paused, then said, "I'm going out of the village."

Yashiro's smile froze.

"Out of the village?!"

His voice shot up.

"Clan Head, so many people in Konoha are watching us right now. If you go out alone..."

Uchiha En waved a hand.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Yashiro grew anxious and stepped forward.

"Clan Head, Danzo may have been suspended, but he won't let this go."

"If anything happens to you, the Uchiha Clan will truly be..."

Uchiha En patted him on the shoulder.

"Elder Yashiro."

He pointed to his eyes.

"As long as I have this Mangekyō Sharingan, no one in Konoha can take me down without me knowing."

A flash of crimson passed through his dark eyes.

Yashiro went still.

Looking into Uchiha En's calm, confident eyes, he realized that this young man was no ordinary ninja anymore.

He possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.

A power of legend.

Yashiro was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Then... please be careful."

Uchiha En smiled and headed toward the village gate.

The Forest of Death lay north of Konoha's outskirts, an immense stretch of primeval woodland.

Its towering trees formed a dense canopy that blocked out the sky. Ferocious beasts and venomous insects lived beneath it.

Ninja rarely came here.

There was no mission-related reason to visit; it was only occasionally used for experiments or training best kept out of sight.

Uchiha En stood at the forest's edge and took a deep breath. The air smelled of earth and leaves.

He walked into the forest, pushed through thick underbrush, and reached a relatively open clearing.

Towering trees surrounded him. Sunlight slipped through the dense branches overhead in scattered patches across the ground.

"This should be secluded enough."

Uchiha En stopped, closed his eyes, and felt the energy within him.

The vast Chakra granted by his Uzumaki Constitution surged through his pathways like raging rivers.

He raised his right hand and formed Hand Seals with one hand.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Whoosh...

A fireball over five meters across burst from his mouth and slammed into the ground ahead.

Boom!

The blast gouged a huge crater in the earth. Dirt and shattered stone flew in every direction, while the heat scorched the surrounding trees black.

Uchiha En lowered his hand and checked how much Chakra he had spent.

Then he froze.

"This..."

He looked down at his palm.

"That Great Fireball should have used at least a fifth of a Chunin's Chakra..."

"But for me... I can barely feel it?"

He fell silent for two seconds, then could not help marveling.

"So that's the Uzumaki Constitution... What a Chakra reserve."

Uchiha En rolled his wrist, excitement flashing in his eyes.

If Chakra consumption was practically negligible, he could test his abilities without holding back.

He formed another set of Hand Seals.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A massive fire dragon spiraled down from above, turning the next several dozen meters into a sea of flames.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Wind roared through the clearing, driving the flames higher until they became a pillar of fire reaching toward the sky.

"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"

Silvery-white currents raced across the ground, scorching the surrounding trees black.

Uchiha En unleashed more than a dozen ninjutsu of different elements in one go.

Each was far more powerful than it had been before.

He stopped and felt the Chakra flowing through his body.

"Chakra of every element... It really does make a difference."

Previously, he had possessed only fire and lightning. Forming Hand Seals for other elements had been difficult, and those techniques had been much weaker.

Now, he could freely draw on Chakra of any element.

Every one of them flowed as smoothly as if he had practiced it for years.

"The system's rewards really are reliable."

Uchiha En took a deep breath.

Next, it was time to try Wood Release.

He raised his right hand and formed a complex seal with both hands.

"Wood Release: Wood Sprout Technique!"

Chakra surged from his palm into the ground.

The next instant—

Pop, pop, pop!

Countless tiny shoots burst from the earth beneath his feet.

They grew before his eyes, vines and roots spreading across the entire clearing and racing outward.

Uchiha En looked down at the shoots covering his hands and the ground.

His mouth twitched.

"This technique... might be useful in a garden."

He shook the dirt off his hands and formed a different seal.

"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"

Boom!

The ground lurched.

Rows of enormous Wooden Pillars erupted from beneath the earth, forming a semicircular wooden fortress around him.

Each pillar was thick enough that three people would have to join hands to encircle it. Their surfaces were smooth and hard, with the fresh scent of wood.

Uchiha En reached out and touched one of the pillars. It felt as hard as iron.

He rapped it with his fingers, producing a series of hollow thuds.

"That defense... isn't bad."

He looked up. The fortress had closed completely overhead, shutting out the light.

"And this is only Basic Wood Release... Yet it's already this powerful."

Uchiha En murmured to himself.

"How terrifying would Wood Release at Hashirama Senju's level be?"

He withdrew his hand, his expression turning grave for a moment.

Then excitement took its place.

"But that's fine. One step at a time."

He released the seal, and the Wood Locking Wall slowly sank back underground.

Then he drew a deep breath and began his next test.

"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"

His right hand suddenly transformed into dozens of thick, intertwined trees that stretched forward like a giant wooden serpent.

The trees twisted around his arm, tangling and growing. In the blink of an eye, they had extended over ten meters.

With a thought, Uchiha En whipped his right hand forward.

Boom!

The trees lashed out like a giant whip, striking a boulder over three meters tall.

Crack!

The boulder broke apart, fragments scattering across the ground.

Uchiha En drew back his right hand. The trees around his arm slowly shrank, leaving him with an ordinary hand again.

He looked at the shattered boulder, satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

"Good power."

He did not stop. He raised his right hand, and a glimmer of crimson appeared at his fingertips.

He activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

His pupils instantly formed Taiji Patterns.