A week after Kenji had first demonstrated the Wood Release puppet, he found himself back at the same training ground. This time, three people were present: himself, Hiruzen, and someone he knew well.
Yamanaka Inoichi. Current head of the Yamanaka clan and one-third of the new Ino-Shika-Chō formation.
"Yo, Inoichi. Long time no see." Kenji greeted him first, taking in the other man's appearance. Inoichi looked good, confident in a way that came from accepting real responsibility. "How's your father doing? And you being here... does this mean you're the one who'll be operating the Wood Release puppet?"
He remembered the circumstances around Inoichi's promotion. After Sakumo's suicide, the old guard of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio had stepped down almost simultaneously, passing leadership to the next generation.
"Father's doing well, thanks for asking." Inoichi stepped forward quickly. "The Hokage already briefed me on the puppet. This is incredible work. Creating a puppet that can use Wood Release techniques, and you even defeated the Eight-Tails jinchūriki on the front lines with it! That's..."
He trailed off, shaking his head slightly.
As a Yamanaka, he understood better than most what an extraordinary achievement this represented. Their clan specialized in mental techniques, not overwhelming combat power. For one of their own to develop something capable of fighting a tailed beast? It defied expectations.
Kenji accepted the praise with a slight nod. He pulled a scroll from his pouch and handed it to Hiruzen.
"Hokage-sama, the commissioned Wood Release puppet is complete."
Hiruzen took the scroll, unrolled it, and formed the unsealing sequence. White smoke burst outward and dissipated, revealing a puppet dressed in standard ninja uniform. The face was completely unremarkable.
"If you have specific requirements for the puppet's appearance, I can customize it," Kenji said, gesturing at the bland face. "Just provide the materials and I'll modify it however you want."
He'd made the same offer to Danzō. Might as well be consistent.
"Not necessary," Hiruzen waved his hand dismissively. "As long as it can use Wood Release properly, that's sufficient. How do we control it?"
Kenji mentally noted that Hiruzen and Danzō really were former teammates. Neither of them gave a damn about aesthetics. Function over form, always.
"Simple. Just use the Mind Body Switch Technique."
Inoichi had clearly been briefed on this already. Without hesitation, he pressed his hands together and aimed at the puppet.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
The moment his consciousness left his body, his physical form went limp. Kenji stepped forward smoothly and caught him before he could hit the ground, lowering him to a sitting position.
Meanwhile, the puppet's eyes opened slowly. Its head turned slightly as Inoichi adjusted to his new "body." The transition always took a moment, your mind adapting to different sensory inputs and a frame that didn't match your muscle memory.
"Can you control it normally?" Kenji asked.
"Yes," the puppet replied. "Very smooth actually. The chakra flow inside is stable."
"Try a Wood Release technique," Hiruzen said immediately, unable to contain his impatience.
"Understood."
The puppet's hands moved through seals, and chakra erupted from its frame.
"Nativity of a World of Trees!"
The ground began to tremble. Small vibrations at first, then increasingly violent shaking as roots burst through the earth. Saplings exploded upward and expanded, growing from tiny shoots to full-sized trees, creating a dense forest that covered the entire training ground.
Kenji sidestepped as roots snaked past his position. This was significantly more impressive than when Fū had attempted it. That kid's version had been a "miniature" demonstration, limited by his age and weak spiritual power.
But Inoichi was a veteran jonin with decades of experience and highly developed mental strength. His execution of the technique was the real deal, full power, creating forest coverage in the blink of an eye.
We just finished clearing this training ground, Kenji thought wryly, dodging another spreading root. The maintenance crew is going to be pissed.
Hiruzen's expression grew more excited by the second as he watched the puppet manipulate Wood Release. He looked almost exactly like Danzō had during his first demonstration.
"Try another one," he ordered.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique."
The puppet's hands blurred through a different seal sequence. A massive wooden dragon burst from the ground, its body coiling around one of the newly-grown trees.
"Excellent."
He had Inoichi test several more techniques.
Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique for battlefield fortifications.
Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall for defense.
Wood Release: Cutting Technique for offense.
Finally, after maybe thirty minutes of testing, the puppet's movements began to slow. Inoichi's mental energy was reaching its limit. Maintaining the Mind Body Switch while simultaneously controlling high-level Wood Release techniques was exhausting.
The technique released automatically, his consciousness snapping back to his real body. He gasped slightly, eyes opening as he re-adjusted to his original form.
"You alright?" Kenji asked.
"Yeah, just drained." Inoichi took a few deep breaths. "That's incredibly taxing. I can maybe maintain it for an hour at most in combat. Less if I'm using the more powerful techniques repeatedly."
"That's expected," Kenji said. "The puppet draws on your spiritual energy to function. The stronger the technique, the more it costs. You'll build up stamina with practice."
"Hokage-sama, the Wood Release puppet commission is complete," he said, turning to Hiruzen. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
Hiruzen nodded. "You've done excellent work. The village is grateful."
Kenji bowed slightly and made his exit, leaving Hiruzen and Inoichi to discuss operational details.
As he walked back through the village, his thoughts drifted to the Sage Mode scroll that had been delivered along with the puppet materials.
He'd been attempting to train with it yesterday.
Hiruzen had been right. This version of Sage Mode was different from the techniques taught at the Three Great Sage Regions. And significantly harder to learn.
When Naruto had trained at Mount Myōboku, he'd had toad oil to help him sense natural energy. The substance acted as a catalyst, making the invisible energy visible and allowing beginners to gradually develop their perception. Similarly, Ryūchi Cave had its own methods for guiding students toward natural energy awareness.
But the Senju clan's Sage Mode had no such aids.
It relied entirely on innate talent and raw perception. You either could sense natural energy or you couldn't. If you could, you had the foundation to learn. If you couldn't, no amount of training or guidance would help. It was a hard barrier, like trying to teach color to someone born blind.
That explained why none of Hashirama's descendants had managed to learn it. The technique required something special, some quality of spiritual perception that didn't necessarily pass down through bloodlines.
On the positive side, this approach had significant advantages over the traditional methods.
Because you weren't relying on external mediums to sense natural energy, you wouldn't develop a bias toward any specific type. More importantly, you wouldn't turn into stone or transform into a snake-like creature if you failed. The horror stories from Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave about students who'd failed the training simply didn't apply here. You either sensed the energy or you didn't. No consequences.
And if you did succeed in sensing natural energy through this method, entering Sage Mode became almost instantaneous. The natural energy you perceived would essentially become part of your baseline awareness, like Hashirama who could activate it mid-combat without any preparation time. Your body would exist in a permanent state of "pseudo-Sage Mode," ready to fully engage the transformation in less than a second.
In simple terms: impossibly high barrier to entry, but once you crossed that threshold, mastery came easily. No risk of losing control of senjutsu chakra.
The perfect technique, if you could actually learn it.
Kenji had been trying for days without success. He could feel... something, maybe. But he couldn't pull it into himself the way the scroll described. It was like trying to grab smoke.
He needed more time.
Unfortunately, the war wasn't going to give him that luxury.
Three days later, the summons came.
Kenji received an urgent deployment order along with another jonin who'd been resting in the village. They were both being sent to reinforce the camp near the Land of Water border.
His temporary training period was over.
He met Enma at the village gates.
They traveled quickly, maintaining jonin-level speed through the forest. The journey to the Land of Water's border took most of a day.
When they arrived at the camp, it was immediately obvious why they'd been called in.
The place looked understaffed to the point of desperation. The fortifications were adequate but clearly maintained by whoever could spare the time rather than dedicated engineering teams.
"Jonin Yamanaka Kenji and Uchiha Enma, reporting as ordered!" they announced to the camp administrator.
"Thank god," the chunin at the command post said with relief. "Commander Shikaku is expecting you. Follow me."
He led them to the central command tent where Shikaku stood studying a large map spread across a table. The Nara clan head looked up when they entered.
Kenji wasn't surprised to see Shikaku in command. As Konoha's acknowledged strategic genius, he was the obvious choice for managing a tense border situation. The guy could probably coordinate multiple defensive operations in his sleep.
"You're here. Good. That relieves some pressure, at least."
He gestured to the map, which showed the border region marked with various colored pins and zone designations.
"Current situation: the village is simultaneously guarding against threats from all four major nations. Our main forces have been deployed to face Iwa and Suna where active combat is ongoing. This defensive line is critically understaffed as a result."
Kenji and Enma exchanged a glance. They'd known the war was stretching Konoha thin, but seeing it laid out visually drove home just how bad things were.
"Right now we have fewer than ten jonin along this entire border. The rest of our forces are chunin and genin. Konoha and Kiri haven't officially declared war, but we've had multiple small-scale clashes. It's only a matter of time before it escalates."
He pointed to specific areas on the map.
"Because jonin are in such short supply, routine patrol and reconnaissance will be handled by chunin-led squads with genin support. Each of you will be responsible for a specific sector. If a patrol encounters combat situations they can't handle, you provide reinforcement. Understood?"
"Understood," both jonin responded.
"Kenji, you're assigned to Area A3." Shikaku marked the zone on the map. "Enma, you take B5. Both sectors have had increased Kiri activity over the past week. Nothing major yet, just probing our defenses, testing response times. One more thing. Be extremely careful when engaging Kiri ninjas. Their Bloody Mist graduation policy has been in effect for years now. Every ninja they field has killed at least one Academy classmate to graduate. They're hardened killers from day one, and their combat effectiveness reflects that."
His finger traced along the border markings.
"More importantly, Kiri has far more bloodline limit users than any other village. Ice Release, Boil Release, Lava Release, and others we probably don't even know about. Their bloodline limit concentration is unusually high. Never underestimate them in direct combat, and always assume your opponent might have abilities beyond standard jutsu."
"Understood," Kenji said. "I'll be careful."
More bloodline limits meant more potential research materials. Kiri ninjas could provide samples he wouldn't easily find elsewhere. The prospect was actually somewhat exciting from a puppet development perspective.
"Don't worry," Enma said with characteristic Uchiha confidence, tapping the side of his head. "Whatever tricks Kiri ninjas try, they won't escape my Sharingan."
Shikaku just sighed quietly, like he'd dealt with this kind of Uchiha attitude before and knew better than to argue against it.
"Dismissed. Report to your assigned sectors and coordinate with the patrol leaders there."
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