When warm sunlight bathed the Kage Rock, a dark figure seated in meditation there abruptly rose to his feet.
"Natural energy? Seems pretty straightforward to use!"
A patch of white shadow appeared around Shen's eyes, extending outward with small black curved lines. This was the facial marking of Sage Mode!
No unique features of Mount Myoboku, nor horns symbolizing Ryuchi Cave—just a face pattern had formed on his face!
This confirmed Shen's suspicion. A sage's body is essentially one capable of absorbing natural energy, and Sage Arts aren't exclusive to only the Three Sacred Lands!
"I feel like I can do things most ninja can't," he said. His senses greatly heightened, he realized natural energy could manifest as any of the chakra natures.
For instance, before this, he needed massive amounts of chakra just to materialize all five chakra natures.
But now, simply thinking about it caused each finger on his left hand to physically embody one of the five chakra natures.
In other words, at this moment, Shen could, like Hashirama, clap once, call out something—and it would appear.
Excited by this power, he immediately struck both hands together atop the First Hokage's statue and shouted loudly, [Wood Release: Bringing Forth a World of Trees!] (Shujinkaidan)
Ten seconds passed—nothing happened.
After one minute—still nothing.
Ten minutes later, Shen awkwardly lowered both hands from their position.
"Is it because Wood Release comes from the God Tree? Do I need its specific characteristics to use this technique?"
Trying to reassure himself, Shen gave up on using Wood Release.
Without Asura's chakra, he probably couldn't go beyond constructing basic structures—just like Yamato had done.
"If not Wood Release, then Five Natures Release still works!"
Once again, Shen clapped his palms. A sudden surge of flame erupted from beneath his feet and spread outward.
Its scale instantly engulfed the First Hokage's statue and threatened to spread toward the nearby Second Hokage statue.
"!!!" Just finishing a phone call with the Leader of Yugakure, the Third Hokage stared blankly at the sight of the Kage Rock completely consumed in flames.
Yet before he could even freak out, a huge wave of water drenched all three statues on the Kage Rock.
Perched atop the First Hokage statue, Shen appeared calm on the outside but inside, his heart nearly skipped a beat.
Just now, when he'd shouted "fire," flames had spread uncontrollably. If he hadn't reacted quickly and yelled "water" soon after, chances were high that even the Third Hokage's statue wouldn't have survived.
"Uh... I hope nobody finds out it was me?" Remaining in Sage Mode, he sensed the Third Hokage drawing near, accompanied by dozens of Anbu, and felt an urge to run away.
"You brat! Old man Sarutobi knows it was you behind this mess!" From afar, the Third Hokage came running while clutching his crystal ball and yelling furiously.
Feeling an inexplicable chill, Shen knew there was no escaping this time.
"Old man Third, what if I told you I lost control during training and accidentally set the Kage Rock ablaze? Would you believe me?"
"Don't give me that nonsense, kid! It won't work!"
Lord Third stormed toward Kage Rock, barely sparing a glance at Shen's mask, before resuming his furious yelling.
Shen, cut off from escape, naturally refused to surrender. "You old geezer! Don't you dare mistake my mercy for weakness! What kind of 'hero' brings such a mob with him?"
"You brat have committed far too many crimes! Restrain him now!"
"Wood Release: Tree Enclosure Falling!"
Lord Third stared blankly as Shen clapped his hands together and roared out that all-too-familiar phrase—jolting his memories wide awake.
Then, just as he expected, Shen spun around and vanished in an instant.
"What?!" The Anbu and Lord Third exchanged stunned glances, finally realizing they'd been tricked.
"After him—now!"
Early in the morning, the entire Konoha realized something once absent for years—the the classic father-and-son chase—had returned, but with different players. It had upgraded into a showdown between grandfather and grandson.
The villagers' concerns about war seemed completely blown away by this familiar sight.
It wasn't until Shen reached an open field near the station, having chased beyond Konoha's borders, that he finally paused to check his energy levels.
"One shout and already a third of my Sage Chakra is drained. That means I've got maybe two more ultimate moves left."
Just like Tree Enclosure Falling, this other Sage Art could only be used three times without consuming additional resources, which made him slightly disappointed.
Without Hashirama cells, his body's capacity to store natural energy was about as good as a battery could get.
For further improvement, he had three options: fuse with Hashirama Cells, awaken the Mangekyō, or simply wait until he grew older and his cells naturally increased their chakra capacity.
Yeah, it's not much to write home about, but hey—at least it's something.
"Let's try wind!" Sensing Lord Third and the Anbu drawing closer, Shen quickly clapped his hands.
[Sage Art: Great Dragon Whirlwind!]
Instantly, a small whirlwind appeared directly in front of him, its size increasing steadily along with its spinning speed.
Two kilometers away, Lord Third suddenly spotted a hundred-meter-high whirlwind creeping steadily toward him.
"Face Mask didn't even use a hand seal... And yet changed the environment? This—this is Hashirama's power!"
Already nearly two hundred meters tall, the whirlwind left even the masked Anbu pale beneath their coverings.
Without orders from the Hokage, none dared act alone. Yet if left unchecked, it would eventually make its way back to Konoha.
Ahem, Lord Third, your orders please.
Snapping out of his shock, Lord Third noticed the whirlwind had grown to three hundred meters high.
He quickly commanded the Anbu: "Everyone, destroy this whirlwind with everything you've got!"
"Yes!"
In the next second, dazzling arrays of colorful barriers and sealing techniques were hurled at the massive whirlwind.
Half a minute later, the devastating whirlwind, which had ravaged the surrounding area, was forcibly destroyed.
From then on, Lord Third remained unreadable, his expression shifting unpredictably between gloom and joy.
How many years had passed since the death of Hashirama Senju, the only one capable of controlling the ninja world? This was the first time in ages that another shinobi capable of altering nature had appeared.
Now, a child had actually gained this ability—and he was the very one chosen to become the next Hokage.
Although his application of the power was still somewhat immature, he believed that Konoha's future would be nothing short of brilliant.
"Hahahaha!" The Third Hokage couldn't help but burst into loud laughter.
Beneath their Anbu masks, everyone wore expressions that were hard to read.
None of them could understand why the Konoha Troublemaker had managed to amuse him so greatly.
Sitting atop the station's roof, Shen basked in the morning sunlight, utterly drained.
Just after using Sage Chakra, he had nearly fainted on the spot.
Luckily, he had strong willpower; otherwise, he might have been swept into the sky by the typhoon he created himself.
"Sure enough, being able to automatically recover natural energy means I now possess a pseudo-Sage Body. Once I get my hands on those Hashirama cells, these side effects should vanish."
Every time Shen used [Sage Art]—the ancient technique that draws on natural energy—to change the environment, it caused tremendous physical strain.
Once or twice wasn't a big deal, but when he pushed himself to his limits, the side effects hit hard.
Shen, who had successfully entered Sage Mode, decided that before acquiring Hashirama cells, he'd better use those Sage Art techniques—where a simple clap of his hands summoned whatever he called for—sparingly.
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