Deep night had fallen, the moonlight pristine. In a ravine north of Konoha, a small stream trickled far below, while above lay a flat clifftop.
The clifftop was shrouded in the shadow cast by the broad canopy of a tall tree, beneath which grew dense bushes reaching at least half a person's height. Besides being a haven for mosquitoes, it served as an excellent hiding spot.
It was also an excellent observation point. From this vantage, one could clearly overlook most of Konoha. More importantly, diagonally below lay the Uchiha clan's residential district. Since Konoha's founding, the fiercely independent Uchiha clan had always been a major focus of the village's attention—the better to provide them with deeper 'care' at the 'appropriate' time, or perhaps, a more thorough destruction.
Thus far, the Uchiha clan hadn't received much care, nor had they been destroyed. These circumstances fostered their discontent and magnified their ambition. They constantly tested Konoha's limits, yet Konoha's reactions were consistently slow, even yielding, which allowed them to indulge in a degree of complacent wishful thinking.
The Uchiha clan existed in a state of Schrödinger's impending explosion—they might rebel, or they might not; it remained uncertain. But was the current Konoha truly fragile, like a balloon ready to pop at the slightest touch? Anyone with a functional brain knew the real answer.
At this moment, a squad of ANBU ninja crouched silently on the clifftop. Two watched the streets below, while one remained alert to the surroundings.
Around dawn, another squad arrived for the shift change.
"How's the situation? Any problems?" asked the incoming ANBU captain, starting his graveyard shift.
"All quiet, Lord Hyosube," the previous squad leader reported.
"Understood. Thank you for your hard work. We'll take it from here."
"Yes, sir."
After the two squads completed their swift and silent handover, Hyosube stared intently down at the Uchiha district below. In the deep darkness, it resembled a wild beast poised to devour someone at any moment. One conspiracy always seemed to follow another. Fortunately, the time for this particular one to erupt was not today.
This feeling wasn't mere paranoia, nor baseless subjective speculation. Because Hyosube didn't know that just as he arrived to begin his surveillance mission, a figure had silently appeared within the dense treetop canopy above. Neither the deep night nor the even deeper shadows could conceal the crimson glow emanating from their eyes.
The entire night passed following the experiment, and Tenzo was still alive and well. Perhaps congratulations were in order.
Habara's stated goal hadn't actually been deceptive; when he said he was researching a vaccine, he really was researching a vaccine. He periodically checked in on his test subject.
"Tenzo, how are you feeling now?"
"Energized. Very revitalized," Tenzo would reply each time, his answer varying little. "My body feels full of strength, like it's pouring out endlessly. The only issue might be that my senses are a bit too sharp. That aspect might need further adaptation." This consistent response indicated things were still progressing in a positive direction.
"Understood. You do need to adapt further," Habara acknowledged. "But we can now declare our experiment fundamentally successful."
"Try using a jutsu," Habara suggested next.
The three of them moved outside the cabin. Tenzo walked a few steps forward into the clearing, stopped, formed a hand seal casually, and slapped his palm onto the ground.
Instantly, a large mass of violently twisting trees erupted from the earth, forming a dense, wall-like barrier within the forest. It was a powerful display of Wood Release.
Habara looked it over, then asked, "How does the power compare to before?"
Tenzo frowned, concentrating for a moment before answering, "The chakra consumption was about one-third less, but the power and scale increased by at least thirty percent… There's some kind of special power mixed into my chakra now."
"Very good," Habara commented with a nod. "That basically qualifies as the 'standard version' of Wood Release."
Hearing this, Tenzo felt quite pleased. Habara was someone often inclined towards sarcasm and hesitant with praise; hearing such positive words from him was rare. However, Tenzo didn't realize that Habara often used 'standard' to imply a baseline or entry-level model—functional, certainly, but far from the premium version. It wasn't exactly an insult, but considering the ultimate benchmark was the First Hokage's legendary power, perhaps aiming too high from the start wasn't productive. Compared to that, calling Tenzo's current output 'standard' was almost a necessary, albeit backhanded, compliment.
Feeling a novel sense of growth and rediscovering his capabilities, Tenzo continued testing his techniques.
Habara watched Tenzo engage in his impromptu, rather aggressive, landscaping. Daigo approached him, flipping through her experiment notebook. Seeing the primary objectives checked off, she asked Habara, "Is the experiment truly complete now?"
Habara shifted his gaze back from the rapidly growing greenery. "The main phase is largely finished. What comes next is finer quantification and calibration."
"Quantification?" Daigo inquired.
"Finding the right balance," Habara elaborated. "Determining the correct dosage of the 'vaccine' for a ninja based on their specific chakra level and physical condition. Too little, and it won't provide the desired boost; too much, and adaptation becomes difficult or dangerous. Tenzo's case was still somewhat crude, a proof of concept. He might need further adjustments himself."
"How do you account for changing chakra levels over time?" Daigo pressed logically. "A ninja's chakra reserves aren't constant; they differ significantly between age ten and, say, thirty."
"Simple," Habara replied readily. "Small, repeated doses. Inject once initially, then provide annual booster shots until the ninja reaches full maturity… Cultivating a ninja's strength should start from childhood, after all."
Habara's ultimate goal was simply a Curse Mark alternative that was more widely applicable, safer, and ultimately stronger. That didn't necessarily mean its development was easier; sometimes, the more universal and 'mass market' something is intended to be, the more complex the refinement becomes. But now, at least, he had his first successful prototype, and by most practical measures, that success was near-perfect.
If Tenzo were a philosopher, this might be the moment for profound declarations, like "On this day, the shinobi world finally remembered the fear of being dominated by green!" or perhaps "Beyond the forest lies the enemy!"
Unfortunately for posterity, he wasn't a philosopher. He just felt... intensely, tinglingly alert. Almost too sharp, too awake.
Habara understood the sensation perfectly. To put it crudely, it was probably akin to having icy-hot rubbed all over his senses internally. The feeling was certainly... invigorating.
Perhaps a bit too invigorating.
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