Chương 196: Chapter 197: My Wood Release Is Far Too Extraordinary

Watching Tenten sit there with her eyes closed and a blissful expression on her face, Dongye zhen blinked in surprise.

"Feels good? What feels good?" Tenten opened her eyes and examined the changes in her body.

"It's just... really comfortable." She tilted her head, searching for the right words.

"The strength I used up during training feels like it's coming back really fast." Dongye zhen instinctively leaned backward. Wait a second. I'd spent a year and a half painstakingly developing Wood Release. Don't tell me I accidentally created Massage Release instead? Impossible. Absolutely impossible. He immediately focused his senses on the little tree in his palm and quickly discovered the reason. The discovery filled him with delight.

Everyone knew that any chakra-bearing lifeform hung from the Ōtsutsuki Divine Tree would effectively become a living battery. It was no different from the human energy farms in The Matrix. Anyone ensnared by Senju Hashirama's Wood Release would soon find their chakra drained away. Of course, Hashirama himself was far too kindhearted to use it for slaughter unless absolutely necessary. Wood Release originated from the Divine Tree. Perhaps that was why the bloodline possessed chakra-absorbing properties.

Dongye zhen's Wood Release naturally inherited that characteristic. But his own uniqueness seemed to have altered the result. Within his perception, the living sapling in his hand was slowly absorbing every form of foreign natural energy in the surrounding environment, refining them into pure white natural energy. Because the transformation originated from his own ninjutsu, the annihilating force contained within that white energy was far less violent and domineering than its original form.

Tenten had unknowingly absorbed the tiniest trace of it moments earlier. That was why she felt refreshed and why her post-training fatigue had faded so quickly. Still, good things could be dangerous in excess. Dongye zhen knew with absolute certainty that anyone who absorbed too much would suffer the same fate as before. Soul extinguished. Body rendered lifeless. No exceptions. Natural energy had never been gentle. Even after being filtered through his Wood Release, that fundamental truth remained unchanged.

With that realization, he immediately checked Tenten's condition. Fortunately, he found that after passively absorbing that initial trace, the white natural energy had reverted to its usual state of extreme inertness. It entered her body with each breath and exited just as easily, producing no further effect. Only then did he relax. He dismissed the Wood Release. Without a supply of chakra and unable to root itself in the earth, the small tree gradually withered.

Its leaves curled and fell before the entire thing crumbled to the ground. Dongye zhen's mind was already racing. He had likely stumbled upon a method that could allow others to cultivate Sage Arts. If the annihilating properties of the white natural energy generated by his special Wood Release truly weren't as overwhelming, then people could potentially absorb it little by little and train with it. Just like the creatures dwelling within the Three Great Sage Regions.

At the same time, because this secondary white natural energy was produced through his own ninjutsu, it naturally bore his imprint. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Anyone cultivating with it would, in essence, become his disciple. And he, Dongye zhen, would become the source of that entire Sage Art system. Just as Mount Myōboku had the Great Toad Sage. Ryūchi Cave had the White Snake Sage. Shikkotsu Forest had the Slug Sage. So what would he be called?

Human Sage? That sounded awful. No. The proper title should be: True Sage. Naturally, this "True Sage" referred to Dongye zhen's own Sage Art lineage, not the immortal cultivators from myths in his previous life. If he were one of those immortals, he'd have stopped eating beef long ago. Allowing his family and friends to cultivate Sage Arts had always been one of his goals. He never expected Wood Release's successful awakening to reveal a path forward. Now only two problems remained.

The first was how to create a cultivation system based on this secondary white natural energy. That wasn't difficult. The Three Great Sage Regions had already provided plenty of examples. No cultivation system appeared out of thin air. At worst, he could embrace the spirit of exploration and cross the river by feeling for stones. The second question was far more important. Did every form of his Wood Release possess this conversion property? Not all Wood Release was equal.

Comparing Yamato's Wood Release to Hashirama's was like comparing a candle to the sun. Dongye zhen possessed exceptional control over both his body and his chakra. He could clearly tell that the first tree he created had been unique. It was born from a state of complete concentration, where physical energy, spiritual energy, and that hidden cellular mechanism had fused together perfectly. That tree contained his will. In many ways, it was practically another body.

There was no way he could use that method as a standard combat technique. Doing so would be equivalent to burning away his own life force. He cultivated natural energy in pursuit of immortality. Risking his life every time he cast a jutsu completely defeated the purpose. Fortunately, once Wood Release had been successfully awakened, his cells had memorized the fusion process and would automatically generate Wood Release chakra, just as they did with Ice Release. That was the wonder of a bloodline limit.

Once awakened, it became engraved into the body's genetic blueprint. Future use required no further fusion and could even be passed down to future generations. Now, drawing upon his Wood Release chakra as the foundation and using the omnipresent white natural energy as nourishment, Dongye zhen quickly created another sapling in his palm. Beside him, Tenten's bright eyes widened in amazement.

"Sensei! Sensei! Is that a ninjutsu?" Dongye zhen smiled.

"It is." Then he asked,"Tenten, can you sense any difference between this tree and the previous one? Close your eyes and feel carefully." The little girl obediently complied. After straining for quite some time, she finally gave up.

"Sensei... I can't tell."

"They seem exactly the same." Dongye zhen wasn't surprised in the slightest. That was the expected answer. She was just a child. There was no way she could detect the difference. Even the trace of natural energy she absorbed earlier had only occurred because her body passively accepted it during the instant the first tree converted its energy. Aside from having somewhat decent affinity for space-time techniques, Tenten possessed no remarkable talent. She was simply an ordinary girl from a civilian family.

Her father himself lacked shinobi aptitude and had eventually switched careers to become a blacksmith. Just as Dongye zhen had told Minato, he hadn't accepted Tenten as a disciple because of exceptional talent. Partly, it was because he was close friends with her parents. And partly... Because of certain nostalgic biases carried over from his previous life. Unlike Tenten, however, Dongye zhen could clearly perceive the difference. To him, the two trees were fundamentally distinct entities.

The current tree was ordinary Wood Release. Nothing more. Because it lacked the ability to absorb foreign natural energy and transform it into white natural energy. The first tree had possessed characteristics eerily similar to the Divine Tree itself. Though its function had been the exact opposite of the Ōtsutsuki Divine Tree. Dongye zhen lifted his left hand. A bird perched in a nearby tree was swept down by a gust of wind and deposited onto the sapling.

At his command, branches twisted outward and wrapped tightly around the unfortunate bird. Immediately, they began draining its already meager chakra reserves. Now that was classic Wood Release. The same characteristic possessed by Hashirama's techniques. After confirming his theory, Dongye zhen loosened the branches. The bird shot skyward the moment it regained freedom. Hovering overhead, it chirped furiously at him before fleeing into the distance. The insults sounded particularly colorful.

Dongye zhen ignored the avian profanity. Instead, he felt a hint of regret. If ordinary Wood Release could also convert natural energy, he would have started planting trees across the entire ninja world. Well... He still could. The only downside was that it would drain away his life force and work him to death. Following Wood Release's awakening, the ongoing transformation of his body soon began affecting his chakra as well. Something was changing. His chakra no longer felt the same.

The Yin and Yang aspects seemed to be undergoing rapid, spontaneous evolution, eagerly awaiting further exploration. At that moment, he turned toward Tenten.

"That's enough for today. You can head home."

"Okay, Sensei." She hesitated before adding,"Um... I want to learn that ninjutsu too."

"No problem." Dongye zhen nodded.

"Which is exactly why you need to study harder. As long as you meet my standards, I'll teach you anything you want to learn." Tenten's eyes lit up.

"Promise?"

"We should make it official." She extended her little finger.

"Let's pinky swear, Sensei. You can't lie to me."

"Alright." Suppressing a laugh, Dongye zhen hooked fingers with his disciple and completed the solemn agreement. Satisfied, Tenten skipped happily toward home. Dongye zhen watched her small figure disappear into the distance and smiled. Poor kid. Learning Wood Release wasn't easy. Without a miraculous opportunity, she probably wouldn't be able to master it in her entire lifetime. If he remembered correctly, Tenten never displayed much talent for ninjutsu in the original timeline.

From beginning to end, she solved most of her problems by hauling around an arsenal's worth of weapons. As her teacher, Dongye zhen fully intended to change that fate. And if all else failed... He could always pay Kumogakure a visit and "borrow" the Sage of Six Paths' treasured ninja tools for his disciple. What? The dark-skinned bandits from Kumogakure are allowed to rob everyone else, but Dongye zhen isn't allowed to rob them? They can take whatever they want, but nobody can take anything from them?

There was no such rule in this world.