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After the rush of excitement, Ryūsei wasted no time fusing the Bloodline Limit: Wood Release.
As the red beam emerged from his spatial inventory and melded into his body, the Bloodline Limit section of his virtual panel immediately updated to include "Wood Release."
Following the Sharingan, Red Eye, Byakugan, and Ice Release, this marked Ryūsei's fifth Bloodline Limit.
After integrating Wood Release, Ryūsei raised his hand, channeling chakra into a fusion of Water Release and Earth Release nature transformations to create Wood Release chakra. A green sprout instantly sprouted from his palm, rapidly growing into a small sapling.
With a stomp of his foot, Ryūsei infused the ground with Wood Release chakra imbued with Yang Release's vitality. A green wooden vine burst forth from the earth.
This vibrant green vine stood in stark contrast to Tenzō's withered, yellowish ones.
Seeing this, Ryūsei's lips curved into a faint smile. He then severed the vine into several segments and stored them in his spatial inventory.
After completing these actions, Ryūsei hoisted Tenzō onto his shoulder, dispelled the wooden tendrils sealing the hole connecting to the Hokage Building, and flickered back into the corridor.
With both his Red Eye and Kagura Mind's Eye active, Ryūsei had a clear grasp of the Hokage Building's current layout, allowing him to move with brazen confidence. He strode directly to the Forbidden Jutsu Library and pushed open the door.
Rows of shelves packed with scrolls immediately came into view.
In the original story, Orochimaru had acquired the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique and the Impure World Reincarnation Technique from this very place.
Such a critical location was, of course, guarded.
And that guard was none other than Tenzō, the top operative of the ANBU.
Ryūsei's reason for coming to the Forbidden Jutsu Library was precisely to draw Tenzō's attention.
His goal wasn't just to extract the Wood Release Bloodline Limit from Tenzō but also to plunder the Forbidden Jutsu Library to enrich his arsenal.
However, Ryūsei didn't immediately stuff every ninjutsu scroll he saw into his spatial inventory. These scrolls were the foundation of Konoha's strength.
Ryūsei's plan was to craft an identity as a descendant of the Senju clan. By acquiring Wood Release from Tenzō, he could solidify his claim as a Senju heir while openly using Wood Release techniques.
Once Ryūsei displayed Wood Release, even if he denied being a Senju descendant, no one would believe him.
This way, Ryūsei could shed his status as a common orphan and become a legitimate heir of Konoha.
As a legitimate heir of Konoha, once Sarutobi Hiruzen passed and Tsunade's era began, Ryūsei would become the true prince of Konoha.
Whether it was Tenzō or the major ninja clans, they would all become his supporters.
This was also why Ryūsei avoided revealing his critical trump cards and spared Tenzō's life.
Likewise, he wouldn't take the ninjutsu scrolls meant specifically for Konoha's ninjas.
"…Found it."
While using his Red Eye's x-ray vision and flipping through the scrolls on the shelves, Ryūsei quickly located a purple scroll.
The scroll's seal bore a large, prominent character: Wood.
Indeed, this was the scroll documenting Wood Release techniques. In the original story, Danzō had given this scroll to Tenzō, then known by the codename "Kinoe."
Setting Tenzō on the ground, Ryūsei unrolled the scroll to examine the Wood Release techniques within.
Wood Release: Wood Clone, Wood Release: Wood Transformation, Wood Release: Wood Substitution…
Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique, Wood Release: Wood Human Technique…
From the basic Wood Clone to the advanced trio of Wood Dragon, Wood Human, and Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, the scroll contained them all. These were the three core techniques that made the God of Shinobi invincible, capable of overwhelming even Uchiha Madara, no matter how much his eyes evolved.
Only one Wood Release technique was missing.
Even someone as mighty as Senju Hashirama could only use it in a living state, and only with Sage Mode active: the ultimate Wood Release technique—Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands.
This technique was one of only two officially recognized SSS-rank ninjutsu.
The other SSS-rank technique was the Truth-Seeking Orb, a fusion of Yin-Yang and the five elemental natures. Like a Bloodline Encompassing, it wasn't classified as a Bloodline Limit or Bloodline Elimination but as a ninjutsu.
Ryūsei furrowed his brow, murmuring, "Was it not recorded in time, or deliberately left out?"
A few seconds later, realization dawned.
No wonder Danzō in the original story only mentioned the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees. The Wood Human, Wood Dragon, and Flowering Trees trio were the extent of their knowledge.
Only Madara, Black Zetsu, and Kurama knew of the Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands.
With this realization, Ryūsei felt a sense of relief.
He promptly took out a film camera and, activating his Sharingan, photographed all the Wood Release techniques recorded on the scroll.
Afterward, he rolled the scroll back up and returned it to its original place.
Next, Ryūsei didn't rush to find the Scroll of Seals. Instead, he continued browsing the shelves, searching for the techniques he desired.
Soon enough, he found what he was looking for.
Water Release: Water Shockwave!
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
Water Release: Heavenly Weeping, Water Release: Wave Strike, Water Release: Water Trumpet Technique, and… Water Release: Water Dragon Bite Explosion and Water Release: Water Severing Wave!
Indeed, these were all Water Release techniques developed by Senju Tobirama.
Just like Wood Release, in Ryūsei's eyes, the five-element ninjutsu best suited for the Sage Body was undoubtedly Water Release!
Kisame, with his tailless tailed-beast-level chakra, became a top-tier kage-level ninja using only Water Release techniques.
Tobirama, bearing the Senju bloodline, was known as the man who made a pact with the sea—the strongest Water Release Hokage.
As before, Ryūsei used his Sharingan and film camera to photograph the training methods for these Water Release techniques.
After returning the Water Release scrolls to their places, Ryūsei continued searching and soon found other techniques he wanted.
These weren't five-element ninjutsu or forbidden techniques but sealing techniques—techniques with both an incredibly high ceiling and floor, capable of defeating enemies far above one's level.
As allies of the Uzumaki clan, both the First and Fourth Hokages had Uzumaki wives, so Konoha possessed the complete Uzumaki clan inheritance beyond its three unique abilities.
Ryūsei continued photographing these sealing techniques. Not only could he learn them himself, but even if Tsunade didn't take Karin as a student, he could secretly teach them to her. Karin could then, as an Uzumaki descendant, pass some on to Ino, and he could teach Hinata those that didn't require Yin chakra.
After all, among the four girls, only Hinata lacked Yin chakra.
It was almost laughable: Sakura, Ino, and Karin all possessed Yin, Yang, Water, and Earth chakra natures, while Hinata only had Fire and Lightning.
Switching to a new roll of film, Ryūsei photographed the sealing techniques' training methods and continued searching.
Soon, he frowned.
He noticed a problem.
There were no independent scrolls for forbidden techniques in the Forbidden Jutsu Library.
Given that Orochimaru had acquired the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique and Impure World Reincarnation Technique, these forbidden techniques clearly had their own scrolls.
When Minato Namikaze learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, he couldn't have been studying the Scroll of Seals directly—Jiraiya must have given him an independent scroll for it.
So why wasn't there a single independent forbidden technique scroll in the vast Forbidden Jutsu Library?
Had Hiruzen, realizing Orochimaru took those scrolls, decided not to store forbidden technique scrolls here—or even destroyed them?
Ryūsei kept searching but still found no independent forbidden technique scrolls.
Finally, he arrived at the storage place for the Scroll of Seals and located the oversized scroll hidden in a secret compartment.
The scroll was red and white, with a large Seal character on its label.
With his Red Eye's x-ray vision, Ryūsei immediately recognized it as the genuine Scroll of Seals. He also confirmed that the one Naruto stole in the original story was a fake, part of Hiruzen's ruse.
The reason? Under Ryūsei's Red Eye vision, the scroll's seal shimmered with faintly flowing chakra, barely noticeable unless closely inspected.
The Seal character itself was a sealing technique!
Without undoing this seal, the forbidden techniques within couldn't be accessed.
While logical, Ryūsei's lips twitched slightly.
After all… the photos he'd taken of the sealing techniques hadn't been developed yet, and his current mastery of sealing techniques was zero!
Moreover, he didn't know which specific sealing technique this was.
In other words, he couldn't access the forbidden techniques inside for now.
Thinking this, Ryūsei's first instinct was to store the Scroll of Seals in his spatial inventory and attempt to crack its seal after learning the photographed sealing techniques.
But the next second, he dismissed the idea.
By sparing Tenzō, his identity as the mysterious intruder and his purpose in the Forbidden Jutsu Library would eventually be exposed.
A simple inspection would reveal the Scroll of Seals was stolen.
Even if Ryūsei later returned it, using any forbidden techniques from it would be as good as admitting guilt.
If he could obtain the Scroll of Seals through Tsunade, there'd be no need to take it. He only needed to build trust with her as a "clan member" and request to view it.
Swish—
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through Ryūsei's mind, giving him goosebumps.
He realized a method that would not only let him access the forbidden techniques in the Scroll of Seals but also obtain the unrecorded Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands from the Wood Release scroll.
Without sparing the Scroll of Seals another glance, Ryūsei closed the secret compartment.
Approaching Tenzō, he propped him against the wall, removed his cat-faced mask, and activated his Sharingan. Placing a hand on Tenzō's head, Ryūsei, like Uchiha Itachi hypnotizing Kabuto Yakushi, infused Yin chakra into Tenzō's brain, manipulating the chakra in his neural pathways.
Soon, Tenzō's eyes opened, vacant and unfocused, his expression dazed.
After hypnotizing Tenzō, Ryūsei asked, "Did you see what controlled your body just now?"
"It… it was the Temporary Paralysis Technique!" Tenzō replied dully.
"Anything else besides that?"
"No… nothing… the fog… it was too thick."
"Do you know what knocked you out?"
"No… I don't know…"
Satisfied with these answers, Ryūsei nodded.
Tenzō hadn't seen the Shadow Imitation Technique or recognized the acupoint strike with dual nature transformations, ensuring the Nara and Hyuga clans wouldn't be implicated.
Ryūsei put Tenzō back to sleep, hoisted his body, and returned to the underground base.
After tossing Tenzō's body to the ground, Ryūsei flickered out of the base, using his Red Eye Illusion to conceal himself and swiftly leaving Konoha's central district.
Arriving at the Naka River near the Uchiha clan grounds, Ryūsei stored his cloak and mask in his spatial inventory and plunged into the river to wash away any traces.
This way, even if the Inuzuka clan's ninja dogs tracked his scent, the trail would end here.
At this critical moment, by the time Tenzō reported and Konoha's leadership reacted, sending the Inuzuka to investigate, any residual scent would long have dissipated.
After all, Uzumaki Himawari's acupoint strike had knocked out Naruto—one of the ninja world's strongest—for a significant time.
Tenzō, having taken Ryūsei's strike, would be unconscious for at least a day.
Ryūsei's dip in the river was just an extra precaution.