Chapter 406: Where Did This Wood Release Come From
"Alright!"
Hashirama's expression suddenly hardened. He clenched his fists.
For the sake of the village's future, he had to make a decision.
This was like pruning a plant that had grown crooked, necessary sacrifice.
Back then, for the future of the village, he had personally killed his closest friend, Uchiha Madara. Now, was he supposed to hesitate just because he was facing a few children he had never even met?
Of course, he could choose to step back for now and leave this matter to his granddaughter Tsunade afterward, let her investigate everything thoroughly, deal with the bullying in the village, punish the offenders, maybe even exile them.
But Senju Hashirama gave up on that idea.
That could be done later.
Passing the problem to Tsunade right now would be nothing but irresponsibility.
It would mean avoiding trouble the moment it appeared.
Was that what a Hokage, especially the First Hokage, should do?
No!
A Hokage must bear the darkness in order to carve out light for the future!
Back when Sasuke spoke with the reanimated Hokage, the resurrected Hashirama had even shown approval for Uchiha Itachi wiping out his own clan, saying things like, "Your brother was a better shinobi than me."
Though that was partly humility, mixed with helpless acceptance of what had already happened, and also a way to guide Sasuke back, it still reflected a certain inclination in his thinking.
Thud!
The group of boys and Moegi were so frightened that they collapsed onto the ground.
Killing intent, where did that killing intent come from?
Even Orochimaru's killing intent was enough to make someone like Sasuke tremble and freeze in place.
The Second Hokage's aura could suppress Orochimaru, and the First Hokage's presence could suppress the Second.
Now, just a slight leak of killing intent from the First Hokage was far beyond what these children could withstand.
Hashirama snapped back to his senses and restrained his aura.
But the boys, whose legs had already gone weak, or who had even been scared into wetting themselves, still couldn't stand up.
Only Moegi was slightly better off.
Once the pressure disappeared, she barely managed to think and twitch a little.
The killing intent from earlier filled her with shock.
This person had actually intended to kill them?
Could it be that these two were deliberately setting a trap?
They knew that ninja academy kids who bullied others would drag their victims to remote corners, so one of them pretended to be a weak target, while the other showed up to eliminate everyone?
That kind of killing intent just now was not something a seemingly honest and simple-looking boy should possess.
Could it be that these two weren't children at all, but were using a Transformation Jutsu?
She had to alert the village's shinobi immediately!
Moegi opened her mouth, but her throat felt weak.
She knew that if she tried to shout, the other side could easily kill her before she managed to call for help.
In that case, it was better to conserve her strength and save the kids behind her.
With great difficulty, Moegi pulled out a handful of senbon from her pouch and flung them at the boys who were still frozen in fear, stabbing them all over.
"Ow! That hurts!"
"Big sis Moegi, what are you doing?!"
The pain snapped the boys back to their senses.
"I'll hold them off. You guys run! Go find a jonin, find the ANBU, find Hokage-sama for help!"
Moegi struggled to stand up as her hands began forming hand seals.
The boys realized she was telling them to run, so that was fine.
The pain from the senbon restored their ability to move. One by one, they scrambled to their feet and fled in panic, stumbling and rolling as they ran into the distance.
As they ran, they wailed at the top of their lungs, crying, "Someone! Help! Save me!"
"Wood Release: Green Technique!"
Moegi completed her hand seals and shouted with all her strength.
A wall of earth rose up from the ground.
"Huh?"
Naturally, that wall couldn't stop Hashirama. What confused him was the name of the technique she shouted.
Wood Release?
Wasn't Wood Release only inherited by that experimental subject named Yamato?
At most, it could also be used by people who had his cells transplanted.
But the little girl in front of him clearly didn't carry his chakra signature, so how could she use Wood Release?
Well…
First of all, Moegi being able to use Wood Release was already confirmed in the Boruto era.
As for where it came from, no one really knew.
Some speculated that she might be a descendant of the Senju clan.
But the issue was that what the Senju inherited was physical vitality, not Wood Release. Wood Release was a unique kekkei genkai belonging solely to Senju Hashirama.
Anyone who used it later did so directly or indirectly through Hashirama's cells.
So why could Moegi use it? That remained an unsolved mystery.
But the fact was, she could.
As for why this ability, which was only established during the Boruto era, was now appearing earlier…
The reason was simple.
The storyline had changed.
In this timeline, Yamato no longer needed to replace Kakashi as the temporary leader of Team 7.
Nor was his Wood Release needed to suppress Naruto's Nine-Tails.
So what was Yamato doing now?
He became a jonin instructor and led his own team.
Yamato had once benefited from the Third Hokage, so now it was his turn to repay that kindness by taking charge of Konohamaru's three-man squad.
And precisely because Moegi was on a team led by a Wood Release jonin like Yamato, her latent potential for Wood Release was awakened early, allowing her to learn the technique that would originally only appear in the Boruto era, Wood Release: Greening Technique… uh, no, 'Green Technique'.
Uchiha Madara was also somewhat surprised.
Where did this kid come from? Since when could random children on the roadside use Wood Release?
He himself only gained Wood Release after transplanting Hashirama's cells.
What level were these people on, to be using the same Wood Release as him and Hashirama?
"Are you sure that's Wood Release?"
Madara stared at the earthen wall and couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah…"
Hashirama scratched his head.
No matter how he looked at it, it was just an earthen wall. Wasn't that more like an Earth Style: Earth Wall?
And yet, it really was.
Even in the Boruto era, Moegi mostly used Water Release and Earth Release. Her Wood Release barely existed beyond background lore, or through the Divine Tree clone modeled after her.
Crack!
Moegi continued forming hand seals, straining for a long time. Finally, a single branch broke through the earthen wall and shot forward, stabbing straight toward Hashirama, who had leaned in curiously to take a closer look, right at a rather sensitive spot.
It wouldn't have been a big deal normally, but Hashirama had regained his physical sensations.
Fortunately, his reaction was quick enough. He snapped the branch in time.
The pain wasn't too severe.
"Boring."
Madara saw that her Wood Release amounted to nothing more than a single branch and immediately lost interest.
Wood Release did have its own mechanics, but fundamentally it relied on sheer power.
Only Hashirama's Wood Release was truly worthy of the name. Others couldn't achieve overwhelming force with it; they might as well just use standard Water or Fire Release.
If one had to name a Bloodline Limit where technique mattered more than raw power, it would probably be Ōnoki's Dust Release.
But even then, while Dust Release relied more on its mechanics, it still required a massive amount of chakra to use, which was, in itself, a matter of raw power.
"So, Hakimi… you still chose to let them go?"
Madara glanced at the fleeing children and suddenly spoke.
"…"
"If you can't bring yourself to do it, lend me a bit of your strength. I can use genjutsu to give them a little punishment."
Madara began to coax him.
(End of this chapter)