Konoha: Who is the good person?

Within the borders of the Land of Fire, in a vast forest uninhabited for dozens of kilometers around.

“Wood Release, it really is strong!”

After experimenting with Wood Release for a good few hours, Yamanaka Kei let out a long sigh.

Wood Release is indeed very strong.

Especially when Hashirama Senju himself possesses a Sage Body, has mastered Sage Mode, and also has Asura chakra.

The strength of Wood Release completely surpasses the limits of a Bloodline Limit.

But the strength Yamanaka Kei is referring to isn't the kind of power displayed due to the user's own strength.

Rather, it's Hashirama Senju's almost flawless, ultimate development of Wood Release!

Whether facing ninja armies, giant summoned beasts, tailed beast jinchuriki, or Complete Body Susanoo.

With enough chakra, Wood Release has ways to deal with them all.

Unparalleled destructive power combined with flawless comprehensiveness.

Even if the user isn't Hashirama Senju.

Wood Release still possesses power surpassing the vast majority of Bloodline Limits!

Hmm......

Except for Yamato.

“How could I forget about Yamato!”

Yamanaka Kei slapped his forehead.

More than two months ago, he had Nara Shikaku secretly investigate the sealed files in the Hokage Building concerning Hashirama Senju's cell transplant experiments.

But because of Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi's sudden shenanigans.

He directly went to the Hidden Cloud Village and stayed there for more than a month.

After returning, Kushina did hand him the files transcribed by Nara Shikaku.

But joining Root, controlling Danzo, taking control of Root, and a series of other matters, forced him to temporarily suppress this matter in his heart.

This delay has lasted until now.

“I should still go there first, lest I delay it further and the Chlorophyll Captain is delayed out of existence.”

Yamanaka Kei muttered to himself.

He recalled the name of the research base from the file transcribed by Nara Shikaku.

Then compared it to the specific location of the abandoned research base in Danzo's memories.

He continued to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, arriving in a dense forest less than a hundred kilometers from Konoha.

Identifying the direction, he summoned the hawk, Pidgeot.

Yamanaka Kei circled several times in the sky above the dense forest more than ten kilometers west before finding the entrance to the abandoned research base hidden beneath a rock formation.

Using Root's special release technique, he moved away the boulder blocking the research institute's door.

Pushing open the somewhat rusty door, a foul, rotten smell mixed with a large amount of dust rushed towards him.

Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance.

Yamanaka Kei formed hand seals, and the strong wind created by the basic Wind Release ninjutsu poured into the tunnel behind the research institute's door.

“The quality is pretty good, it hasn't been completely blocked after so long.”

Yamanaka Kei glanced at the direction of the several exhaust vents.

Standing at the entrance, he used Wind Release several times in a row before stepping into the dark tunnel.

Tap ~ Tap ~ Tap ~

Within the silent tunnel.

The sound of ninja shoes falling on the ground could be heard clearly.

Yamanaka Kei released his sensory abilities, found the light switch, and pressed it.

After a burst of labored struggle from the old starter, the dark research institute finally lit up with rays of light.

— — — — — — — —

The research room at the deepest part of the research base.

Sixty glass culture tanks, each more than two meters high, were arranged neatly.

Five years had passed.

Of the original sixty culture tanks that were in operation, only two in the center remained in normal operation.

The figures of a boy and a girl, both petite, rested quietly in the culture tanks with their eyes closed.

Green culture fluid enveloped their entire bodies, and black pipes falling from the culture tanks wrapped around their bodies, continuously providing them with the energy they needed to survive.

Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps entered the boy's ears.

In the culture fluid, he suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the research room's door.

The sound, it came from there!

And across from him, a little girl with a weak expression and a state that was obviously much worse than his, also woke up from her slumber.

With both hands propped on the glass shield, she looked at him with a dazed expression.

As if asking, what is this sound, is he calling her?

Facing the girl's bewildered gaze.

Having personally watched the culture tanks break one by one, and having personally witnessed the deaths of the children who were once like him, the boy suddenly instinctively felt an impulse to cry.

He knew that the 'light' that was last accompanying him was about to disappear.

The lights that had disappeared in the past had also dimmed quickly after showing this kind of weak and powerless expression.

He didn't want that!

No!

No!

Thump ~ Thump ~ Thump! Thump! Thump......

The boy desperately hammered the glass shield on the culture tank in front of him.

He didn't know why he was doing this, nor did he know what he was craving and anticipating.

Only his body's instincts told him that only by doing this would the 'light' not disappear.

Swoosh ~ Creak!

After a sudden, sharp sound of air being torn.

The research room door, covered with sealing barriers, was pulled open by Yamanaka Kei.

The white light that suddenly appeared in the darkness stunned the boy in place, half-crouched in the culture tank, revealing a bright smile to the girl with a face full of surprise and doubt.

He didn't know why he had such an expression.

But instinct told him, perhaps, perhaps......

The light would not disappear!

Swish ~!

“Two?!”

Yamanaka Kei appeared in the middle of the two opposing culture tanks using the Body Flicker Technique.

......

Name: None

Occupation: None

Traits: Wood Release Experiment (Purple), Compatibility (Blue), Survival Instinct (Green), Vigilance (Green), Ignorance (White)

......

Name: None

Occupation: None

Traits: Wood Release Experiment (Purple), Vigorous (Blue), Ignorance (White), Frail (Gray)

......

Wood Release Experiment (Purple): An experiment subject who has been transplanted and fused with Hashirama Senju's cells, has withstood cellular erosion, rejection, and assimilation, and possesses the aptitude for the Wood Release Bloodline Limit; can learn and cast Wood Release ninjutsu; the release speed, power, and effect of Wood Release, Water Release, and Earth Release are greatly increased; affinity for Water Release and Earth Release is increased; physical constitution is slightly increased.

“A degraded [Wood Release Inheritor], huh?”

Yamanaka Kei glanced at the two people's trait interfaces and understood.

Although they both possess Wood Release and have both become Purple traits, the Wood Release obtained through cell transplantation still requires continuous learning and improvement.

Not only is there no amplification for researching, improving, and creating Wood, Earth, and Water Release techniques, but the 'increase' in physical constitution has become a 'slight increase'.

They also lost the amplification of affinity for life force and natural energy.

The difference between the two.

Probably......

A father looking at his son?

Alright, maybe it's a grandfather looking at his grandson.

Among these two children, the little boy is definitely Yamato without a doubt, and the little girl......

Yamanaka Kei recalled the original plot.

It seems that this little girl died because the nutrient tank broke and she didn't wait for Danzo to arrive.

She didn't even leave a name.

Looking again at Yamato's blue trait [Compatibility] and the little girl's blue trait [Vigorous].

He roughly understood the reason for the little girl's premature death.

Yamato's [Compatibility] allows him to absorb and fuse Hashirama's cells relatively smoothly, while the little girl completely relied on the vitality provided by [Vigorous] to withstand it.

After passing the initial fusion.

As the body continues to grow.

The energy needed for the little girl to maintain her daily life is undoubtedly much higher than Yamato's, and the energy provided by the culture tank is simply not enough to support her consumption, so there will be an extra negative trait of [Frail].

And when the energy required for cultivation exceeds the threshold set by the culture tank.

The default program will determine that the little girl has been swallowed by the Wood Release cells, and her fate is self-evident.

“Fortunately, there's still hope......”