Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Shen Er was the first to wake up, and looking at the sleeping Zhi Li beside her, she did not make a sound to disturb him.

I spent the whole night messing around.

Even though he was as strong as a monster, Zhili could not defeat him despite his best efforts.

Despite possessing the Mangekyou Sharingan and being a true Kage-level ninja, her strength lies in Yin Release, which is essentially spiritual energy. In terms of physical abilities alone, she is completely outmatched by Jin.

For Shen'er, there are only fields that have been over-plowned, not oxen that have died from exhaustion.

Although he doesn't have five kidneys, he has five hearts, making his life energy incredibly abundant. Furthermore, the combined physical attributes of both Hashirama and the Raikage give him even greater ease in battles that test his physical prowess.

Even after a night of intense exertion, he felt no fatigue whatsoever.

The physical abilities of female ninjas...

Perhaps only Tsunade, when she grows up, can compare to her.

The first thing Shen Er did after regaining consciousness was to release two shadow clones and begin to resume the rhythm of life he had when he first arrived in Konoha.

Shadow Clone Number One is responsible for learning the [Four Symbols Seal].

Shadow Clone No. 2, responsible for developing the Wood Release ninjutsu.

Shen Er noticed the commonality between the two techniques: the Four Symbols Sealing Technique and the Wood Release Ninjutsu both have the function of suppressing tailed beasts.

In Shen'er's view, the value of ninjutsu cannot be simply defined by its rank.

For example, the A-rank Rasengan, while granting the user extremely strong single-target destructive power, is unsuitable for large-scale battles and becomes ineffective against a large number of enemies. This excludes ninjas like Naruto who possess a vast chakra pool.

Therefore, Shen Er believes that, in addition to ranks, ninjutsu should also be classified according to "against humans", "against armies", and "against tailed beasts".

The three Hokage before Minato all had strong adaptability to different ninjutsu.

Hashirama's ninjutsu is powerful and versatile, capable of clearing out mobs, suppressing tailed beasts, and dealing with powerful individual ninjas.

Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi are similar; the former primarily uses Water Release techniques with forbidden techniques as a secondary method, while the latter is proficient in all five elements and various secret techniques. Both are capable of adapting to different levels of combat.

But things changed starting with the water gates.

He possesses exceptional combat skills, remaining invincible even when outnumbered. However, when faced with numerous enemies, he can only rely on the high mobility of the Flying Thunder God Technique, lacking ninjutsu for clearing out minor enemies and methods to suppress tailed beasts.

Later, Tsunade and Kakashi, like Minato, also had such limitations.

This is also the problem that Shen Er is currently facing.

He has no problem fighting against people or against the military. When fighting against the military, with Madara Uchiha's Fire Release Heart, as long as there is enough chakra, theoretically, Great Fire Annihilation can be upgraded to Great Fire Sea of ​​Death.

Before this, he lacked ninjutsu for fighting tailed beasts, until he acquired Wood Release and the Four Symbols Seal, which filled this gap. After mastering these techniques, his tactical repertoire will complete the final piece of the puzzle for fighting tailed beasts.

"But... it's not easy to learn."

Although Shen Er possesses the talent to learn sealing techniques, it is merely talent, far from being a genius in the medical field.

He used the guise of practicing medicine to obtain the Five Elements Seal from Mito, and it took him three whole months to learn how to use it.

The Five Elements seem to have one more element than the Four Symbols, but the difficulty of learning them is completely opposite.

Shen Er predicted that it would take him at least six months to make progress on the Four Symbols Seal.

In comparison, developing Wood Release ninjutsu is much easier.

Even a loser like Obito Uchiha, after obtaining Hashirama's cells, soon developed Wood Release: Wood Spikes Technique and Wood Release: Hellfire Technique. Could he be dumber than Obito?

Developing ninjutsu can be simply divided into two steps.

Step 1: Construct the effect of the ninjutsu in your mind. Step 2: Concretize it into reality using chakra.

The first thing Shen Er targeted was the Wood Release: Wood Splintering Technique.

The reason is simple: it's about applying the same principles to other situations.

He's a tentacle monster, and also a medical ninja.

Whether it's the Heavenly Compassion Line or the Earthly Grudge Line piercing from his palm, he has repeated it countless times, knowing it better than anyone else. The Insertion Technique is simply replacing the lines released from his palm with Wood Release spikes, or implanting Wood Release seeds into the target's body.

The Rooting Technique involves physical contact that causes long, wood-style spikes to sprout from the target's body, piercing through from the inside. Because it's a wood-style technique, these spikes have the property of absorbing chakra; after piercing the target, they absorb the opponent's chakra and continue to grow, causing repeated damage.

There are commonalities between the two techniques.

While it was still early, and Zhili was still asleep.

Shen Er arrived at the underground laboratory, casually picked out the material that wasn't quite dead from the last cat charm experiment, and pressed his palm against the other party.

After a few simple attempts, he quickly confirmed that developing Wood Release ninjutsu was indeed as simple as he had expected. After a moment of gathering chakra and preparing the technique, he uttered in a low voice, "Wood Release: Wood Splintering Technique!"

The fine, resilient Earth Resentment Line pierced the target's body first.

Immediately afterwards, Wood Release chakra was injected into the target's body through the wound, using Earth Grudge Lines as a medium.

The target then twitched.

Dense and sharp Wood Release spikes pierced through the skin and bones, intertwining and binding the test subject, turning him into a "vegetative state." At the same time, Wood Release also extracted the weak chakra from his body and fed it back to Shen.

"Is this what it feels like when Hashirama is fighting?"

I couldn't help but feel emotional.

Using Wood Release requires a large amount of chakra, even more so than Madara's Fire Release.

The cost was high, but the reward was equally substantial.

As long as Wood Release hits the target, it can absorb chakra from the target and replenish it. If it is against a body with a naturally large amount of chakra, such as the Uzumaki or Senju, the chakra absorbed may even exceed the consumption of casting a ninjutsu.

It can be said to be a target that can overcome large volumes.

What does it mean that the more chakra you use, the more you gain?

Has Madara Uchiha been using Susanoo to fight enemies like this all along? Madara, you bastard...

But this also raises a problem.

People like Yamato and Obito, whose chakra reserves are not abundant, have very limited number of uses and power of Wood Release. Often, they run out of chakra before they even have a chance to absorb chakra from their opponents.

But Hashirama didn't have to worry about that at all.

The ability to absorb chakra is just a bonus for him; he absorbs what he can, and if he can't absorb any, he uses his own—there's plenty for him anyway.

He then withdrew his hand.

My first attempt at developing Wood Release was a success on the first try. The only issues are insufficient proficiency in its operation, excessively long casting animation, and the need to rely on Earth Grudge Fear for assistance during casting. Overall, the direction of development is entirely correct.

If things continue to develop in this direction, in time he will be able to achieve what Obito did, being able to unleash Wood Release at the slightest touch.

Compared to other Wood Release users, he also has a unique advantage: he is a top-tier taijutsu ninja.

What kind of sparks will fly when the art of cutting is combined with the art of instantaneous movement?

I couldn't help but think of the famous villain Masato from Elbow Technique Kaisen.

The True Man's techniques, though seemingly effortless, allow him to touch and alter the soul, thus transforming the physical body. Simply put, anyone touched by his palm will die.

With the speed advantage gained from physical skills, one can even close the distance to an opponent in an instant. As soon as the palm touches the target, the piercing technique will be activated, penetrating the body; even if it doesn't kill instantly, it can still cause serious injury.

In other words, the left fist deals more physical damage, while the right fist deals more magical damage.

Dawn is breaking.

Shen Er cleaned up all traces of the laboratory and quietly returned to the ground.

Just then, Chiri woke up, completely unaware that her closest bedmate had taken another life while she slept. Like a lazy cat, she stretched out her arms, softly begging for a hug.

They don't resemble a Kage-level Uchiha at all anymore.

He then picked her up and changed her clothes.

The two lingered at home for a while longer, then carefully put away the rubbing of the Impure World Reincarnation and headed to the Hokage Building.

Next, it's time to guide Tobirama in researching how to give Edo Tensei ninjas chakra.

...

Chapter 109 Danzo Returns, the Legacy of the Darkness of the Shinobi World

The Hokage's office.

Tobirama Senju looked at the Edo Tensei research data he had lost and then regained, and at the experimental notes he had personally written ten years ago.

Overwhelmed with emotion, I even had the illusion that I had planted a time capsule as a child and reopened it years later. The traces left in the doorway of middle age were now being revisited by my middle-aged and elderly self.

Ten years have passed. Do you know how he got through it?

The long-awaited Impure World Reincarnation project can finally be restarted.

In high spirits, Tobirama lost his usual seriousness: "As expected of you, Shinji, you easily did what I couldn't do."

Clearly, he didn't know that Shen had Tsunade steal the Scroll of Seals first, and then confessed to Mito Uzumaki. Simply changing the order of events led to a completely different outcome.

Unlike Tobirama's joy, Shinji appeared very somber: "I just hope this technique won't make things worse."

He sighed softly, then his expression turned serious as he earnestly asked, "Tobirama, if we really succeed in developing the Impure World Reincarnation technique, how do you plan to use it to reduce casualties and sacrifices in the village?"

Tobirama, swayed by Jin's emotions, suppressed his smile: "My idea is to combine the Impure World Reincarnation with the Mutual Multiplication Explosion Tags."

"The resurrected ninjas possess immortal bodies, and when combined with the Mutual Explosion Tags, they become the most solid defense line on the Konoha battlefield."

It's really true.

At the cost of desecrating the dead and bearing the burden of sin, all they did was create a batch of human walking bombs.

Tobirama Senju, you're too naive.

When Tobirama actually said this purpose, I was even somewhat disappointed.

If the goal is simply to create humanoid self-propelled bombs...

Aren't there many death row inmates in Konoha Prison? If we lower the bar even further, aren't there many civilians in various countries as well?

Even if each person can only detonate it once, it would be enough to deal a huge blow to the Allied Shinobi Forces.

There's absolutely no need to go through all that trouble to develop the Impure World Reincarnation technique just to coordinate with the Multiplication of Explosive Tags. It's like putting the cart before the horse, like making a whole plate of dumplings just for a little vinegar.

Shen Er shook his head inwardly, intending to refine Tobirama.

He feigned agreement, calmly guiding the conversation: "Using it in conjunction with explosive tags? That's a good idea, but there's one thing I don't understand: why must the resurrected be a ninja?"

"Only the souls of ninjas can be resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation," Tobirama explained without much thought.