The air in the Hokage's office had frozen solid over that tiny piece of Chakra Paper.
Under everyone's gaze, Lin Chen's little hand gently pinched the special sheet of paper. It was thin and slightly cool to the touch, with the fresh fragrance unique to plants.
"Child, just slowly feed your chakra into it." Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice softened considerably, carrying a barely perceptible note of guidance and reassurance.
Tsunade's heart rose into her throat. Her clenched fists had turned white at the knuckles, and tension filled her amber eyes. More than anyone, she wanted Lin Chen to be a member of the Senju Clan, but she also knew that bloodline was not something hope could determine. If... if the test results did not match, she did not know how she would face Danzo's smug expression, or how she would protect this little brother she already treasured.
Danzo narrowed his lone eye slightly, cold certainty lurking in its depths. He did not believe in coincidences. With the Senju Clan reduced to this state, how could a pure-blooded descendant appear out of nowhere? Most likely, Tsunade's excessive longing for her family had led her emotions astray. Once the test results came out, this child would become his best bargaining chip for pressuring Sarutobi and weakening Tsunade's influence.
Lin Chen lowered his head, his long eyelashes hiding every emotion in his eyes.
Inside, however, his heart was a clear lake without a ripple.
A test?
This was no test at all. This was a coronation he had carefully prepared for himself, staged before the entire Konoha High Command.
He controlled a wisp of exceptionally pure Wood Release chakra, making it finer than a strand of hair, and carefully fed it into the paper in his hand, as slowly as a stream thawing in early spring.
Not too fast. Not too forceful.
It had to be just right. He had to look like an extraordinarily gifted child who knew nothing of his own power, unconsciously stirring his bloodline's strength under the pressure of nervousness and fear.
Senju Chen knew he had no chakra in his body at all. If he simply took the test unaided, it would reveal nothing. At a time like this, he could only rely on the system.
The acting had to go bone-deep.
One second.
Two seconds.
Five seconds passed...
The leaf showed no change.
Tsunade's breathing nearly stopped, and all color drained from her face.
The corners of Danzo's mouth had already begun to curl upward despite himself.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance, the suspicion in their eyes growing stronger.
But then, in the very next breath.
A sudden transformation erupted!
The unremarkable piece of Chakra Paper pinched between Lin Chen's fingers did not grow wet, wrinkle, burn, or split as expected.
Instead... a tender speck of green emerged from its center at a speed visible to the naked eye.
That speck of green was so vibrant, so pure, as though it held the concentrated essence of an entire forest's life.
Then the green broke through the paper, becoming a slender, verdant shoot that unfurled two tiny, downy leaves toward the office lights.
An immense, boundless aura of life, gentle yet majestic, swept through the entire room with that tiny shoot at its center!
The aura made the potted plants in the corner grow at a frenzied pace. Even the dust in the air seemed washed clean, and everyone present felt every cell in their body leap with joy!
This was no longer a bloodline test!
This was a miracle reborn! The singular legend belonging only to that "God of Shinobi"!
Clack.
The pipe between Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips fell onto the desk, scattering hot ash, but he did not notice at all.
Dazed, he murmured to himself, his voice trembling as though he were talking in his sleep. "This... this aura... there's no mistaking it... it's Lord Hashirama..."
It was the man who had founded this village, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, who had smiled and said, "Wherever leaves dance, fire will burn"!
"Impossible!"
An irrepressible cry squeezed out of Shimura Danzō's throat. For the first time, cracks appeared in his eternally icy expression! His exposed eye widened like a brass bell. Scrutiny and calculation no longer filled it; instead, it was utterly consumed by unbelievable shock and a fire called "greed" that threatened to burst forth!
Hashirama cells! He had spent half his life studying and transplanting them at the cost of countless lives, yet had never perfectly mastered their power! Today, that power had reappeared in a four-year-old child in such a perfect, pure form!
The two advisers, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, also abruptly stepped forward, identical shock and emotion on their faces. The way they looked at Lin Chen changed completely. If they had previously been inspecting an object, now they were gazing up at a treasure capable of changing the balance of the entire Shinobi World!
"Chen..."
Tsunade looked at the tender shoot, then at Lin Chen's little face, now deathly pale from "exhausting his strength," and her tears finally broke free. They were not tears of sorrow, but of wild joy and pride. The grievances and longing she had suppressed for years had finally found an outlet.
She pulled Lin Chen tightly into her arms, as though she wanted to press this lost and recovered treasure into her very flesh and bones.
"My little brother... my little brother!" She choked on her sobs, yet could not stop herself from laughing aloud, her laughter filled with unrestrained satisfaction and vindication.
She raised her lovely face, streaked with tears and smiles, and swept an unprecedentedly sharp, knife-like gaze across the room before finally fixing it on Danzo's contorted face.
"Danzo! What do you have to say now?!" Tsunade's voice rang throughout the office, filled with unquestionable authority and dominance. "Open those damned eyes of yours and look carefully! My little brother carries the blood of our Senju Clan!"
"I..." Danzo's Adam's apple bobbed, and for a moment he was actually speechless.
With the truth before them, any argument would have been feeble.
Hiruzen Sarutobi finally recovered from his immense shock. He drew a deep breath and straightened in his seat again, looking at Lin Chen with unprecedented gentleness and affection.
He picked up the Hokage's seal and stamped it heavily onto a fresh file.
"From this day forward, this child shall officially be entered into Konoha's records. He shall bear the name 'Senju,' with his full name being-Senju Chen!"
"He is a descendant of the First Hokage, the descendant of a hero of Konoha, and shall receive the highest level of protection and treatment."
The Council of Elders also stated its position at that moment. "Indeed, this child must receive the highest level of protection. From now on, any malicious speculation or harm directed at him will be regarded as an open provocation against Konoha."
It was done.
Lin Chen rested in Tsunade's warm, fragrant embrace, listening to everything around him, his heart as calm as ever.
This most important step had concluded perfectly.
Not only had he obtained the official identity of "Senju Chen," but more importantly, he had laid his greatest secret, "Wood Release," before everyone in the most reasonable and stunning way possible.
From now on, he would be a walking "miracle," Konoha's legitimate "crown prince."
Tsunade's protection and the Hokage's shelter would become his strongest armor.
Meanwhile, in Root's underground base.
Danzo returned to his cold stone seat and slammed his fist onto the armrest. The hard stone cracked with the blow!
"Senju Chen... Wood Release..."
He turned the name over and over in his mouth, storm-like jealousy and fervor surging in his lone eye.
To obtain this power, he had subjected himself to inhumane experiments, enduring immense pain and rejection reactions, yet the power he had gained was merely an inferior version of the First's.
Yet that brat... that four-year-old brat!
He had actually been born with it! So pure, so perfect!
"The gods have treated me unfairly!"
A Root ninja silently knelt before him.
"Lord Danzo, our supply of Hashirama cells is running low. Most of the latest test subjects also failed because of rejection reactions... only one survived."
"Failure... failure again!" Danzo's voice was hoarse and terrifying. "Useless! A bunch of useless fools!"
He panted heavily, his chest heaving, and the madness in his eye gradually gave way to a deeper calm.
Since he could not obtain it through experiments... why not take it directly from the source?
A living vessel with a perfect Wood Release kekkei genkai.
If he could bring him under his control and give him the "proper" guidance and education, he would become the sharpest blade in his hand, the ultimate trump card for uniting the Shinobi World and achieving his "peace."
"Pass down my orders." Danzo's voice regained its former coldness, but beneath that chill lay a yearning powerful enough to freeze the soul.
"Raise the surveillance level on Senju Chen to 'Oracle.' I want to know every change in the rhythm of his breathing, every fluctuation in the rate of his heartbeat."
"Sarutobi... Tsunade... do you think you can protect him like this?"
"Heh heh... you don't understand. A true treasure can only attain eternity when placed in the strongest box. And I am the craftsman who can build that strongest box."
"For Konoha..."
His voice echoed eerily through the dark base.