The bright, spacious sitting room was furnished in a traditional Japanese style. Kizaru sat in the wooden chair at the center of the room, looking perfectly at ease.
Nawaki returned carrying a freshly brewed pot of oolong tea. He placed it on the table in front of Kizaru before taking the chair to his left.
For a moment, Nawaki merely stared at him while awkwardly scratching the back of his head. He could not think of anything to say, leaving an uncomfortable silence hanging between them.
It was not because Nawaki objected to Kizaru being with his sister.
He simply had not adjusted to Kizaru's new position in his life yet.
When they first met, Nawaki had been older, so he had regarded Kizaru as an exceptionally talented younger boy. Later, after witnessing Kizaru's overwhelming strength, mature personality, and dependable way of handling problems, Nawaki gradually began treating him as a close friend—almost like a younger brother.
Yet after only two or three years, that same friend had suddenly become his future brother-in-law.
The entire situation still felt strangely unreal to Nawaki.
"Kizaru, have some tea," Nawaki finally said, desperately searching for something that might break the silence.
"Mm."
Kizaru casually picked up the cup and took a slow sip, observing Nawaki over its rim.
His first impression of his future brother-in-law had naturally come from the manga he had read in his previous life.
Nawaki had been the first unfortunate character in the story to lose his life after stumbling into a trap filled with explosive tags.
However, after meeting Nawaki in person and spending time with him, Kizaru had formed a much deeper understanding of the boy.
Nawaki was enthusiastic, kindhearted, and sincerely dreamed of becoming Hokage.
His talent for learning ninjutsu was not particularly impressive, nor did he possess exceptional battle instincts. However, as a direct descendant of the Senju clan, he had inherited outstanding physical vitality and enormous chakra reserves.
In Kizaru's opinion, Nawaki was nowhere near as incompetent as some manga readers in his previous life had claimed.
He had simply made the same mistake anyone could make on a battlefield.
He died.
Had he been allowed to grow normally, Nawaki would have possessed enough potential to at least reach the lower threshold of Kage-level strength.
"I heard from Tsunade that you were implanted with Hashirama's cells," Kizaru said, lowering his teacup. "But instead of awakening Wood Release, you ended up with something called Grass Release."
"Yeah."
The moment the subject was mentioned, Nawaki's mood visibly sank.
It was obvious that he still had not accepted what had happened.
Kizaru watched as Nawaki lowered his head, his expression turning gloomy. He silently wondered how he should encourage his future brother-in-law and give him a goal capable of reigniting his determination.
After thinking for a while, a bold possibility occurred to him.
Perhaps Grass Release did not need to be developed solely for battle.
Could it be used in other ways?
For example, could it stimulate the growth of useful plants?
"Nawaki," Kizaru said, "can your Grass Release change its form? Could you use it to produce rice or wheat?"
"Huh?"
Nawaki raised his head, visibly confused by the unexpected question.
"Hashirama could use Wood Release to create vast forests," Kizaru explained. "So could you use Grass Release to create crops such as rice and wheat?"
Nawaki shook his head uncertainly.
"I've never tried."
"Then try it."
Kizaru leaned back in his chair and gave him an encouraging look.
"Use Grass Release while picturing what rice or wheat looks like. See whether you can make the grass change into one of them."
Although Nawaki did not understand why Kizaru wanted him to do such a thing, he obediently nodded.
He extended his right hand and focused his chakra. Water and Earth nature transformations began occurring simultaneously, activating the newly awakened kekkei genkai known as Grass Release.
A green glow spread across his palm.
Several blades of fresh grass sprouted from his hand and slowly grew upward.
Nawaki stared at the grass before looking back at Kizaru.
"Kizaru, can you tell me exactly what rice and wheat look like?"
As the grandson of the First Hokage and the young heir of the Senju clan, Nawaki had never performed farmwork. He had never paid enough attention to crops to remember their exact appearance.
Kizaru opened his mouth, only to fall silent.
In his previous life, he had seen pictures of rice and wheat while reading books and browsing the internet, but he could no longer recall their precise shapes.
After being reborn in the shinobi world as Danzō's nephew and a direct descendant of the Shimura clan, Kizaru had never needed to work in the fields either.
"Hmm…"
Kizaru took another sip of tea.
"Never mind. It'll be faster to go and look at the real thing."
It was currently January, the growing season for winter wheat, and several fields inside Konoha had already been planted.
Nawaki glanced deeper into the house.
"My sister is still inside. Should we really leave?"
"Don't worry," Kizaru replied in his usual unhurried tone. "Tsunade will be fine."
With that, he rose from the wooden chair.
Seeing that Kizaru had already made up his mind, Nawaki could only stand and follow him out of the house.
Most of Konoha's agricultural land was situated near the village's outer perimeter, far from the Senju clan compound. Fortunately, several smaller fields were scattered throughout the inner village as well.
Near the outskirts of the Senju compound, beside a stretch of woodland, several irregularly shaped fields occupied a broad patch of level ground. Wheat had been planted there.
Strictly speaking, the land belonged to the Senju clan, which meant it now belonged to Tsunade and Nawaki.
However, the two siblings already owned more property than almost anyone else in Konoha. They had no use for those vacant plots, so they allowed ordinary villagers to cultivate crops and vegetables there to supplement their household income.
Standing at the edge of one field beneath the surrounding village lights, Kizaru pointed toward the young wheat growing from the earth.
"That's wheat," he said. "Give it a try."
Nawaki nodded and crouched beside the field.
After carefully examining one of the wheat plants, he extended his right hand and activated Grass Release again.
Now that he had a real plant directly in front of him, he could use it as a model. The grass emerging from his palm gradually changed, soon taking on a shape entirely different from the ordinary blades he had created earlier.
Within moments, a plant resembling wheat had formed in his hand.
Kizaru's gaze immediately sharpened.
Grass Release could actually create wheat.
That alone made it an extraordinary ability.
Although he was excited by the discovery, Kizaru did not celebrate yet. They still needed to test the limits of Nawaki's kekkei genkai from several different angles.
"Nawaki, try using your chakra to grow wheat directly from the ground."
"Okay!"
Nawaki dismissed the nature transformation surrounding his hand. Remaining in a crouch, he placed both palms against the earth and began channeling chakra into the soil.
As chakra carrying both Water and Earth nature transformations flowed underground, several sprouts broke through the surface in front of him.
The wheat grew at a visibly unnatural speed.
The young green shoots stretched upward, developed full stalks, and rapidly matured. In only a short time, several wheat plants had changed from green to golden yellow before Kizaru and Nawaki.
"That's enough."
At Kizaru's instruction, Nawaki stopped supplying chakra.
Kizaru stepped toward the newly grown wheat, bent down, and plucked several ears from the stalks.
He rubbed them between his palms to separate the grains, then blew away the loose husks and other useless fragments. Taking two or three grains between his fingers, he placed them in his mouth and began chewing.
Nawaki stood and watched him curiously.
He still had no idea what Kizaru was planning.
Surely Kizaru did not intend to make him abandon his dream and become a farmer.
Kizaru chewed carefully. Ignoring the rough texture caused by the unprocessed wheat bran, a faint smile gradually appeared on his face.
The wheat created through Nawaki's Grass Release was edible.
Once he confirmed that fact, Kizaru began looking at Nawaki as though he had discovered an incredibly rare treasure.
"Nawaki," he said, "would you like to accomplish something even greater than the First Hokage?"
Nawaki nodded without the slightest hesitation.
He was still only a teenager, and the thought of surpassing his legendary grandfather naturally filled him with excitement.
"Then become a farmer."
Nawaki froze.
Kizaru continued in the same calm tone, as though what he had suggested was completely reasonable.
"You could become a saint of this era. Your achievements might be enough to make people regard you as a god. Even after your death, countless people could continue honoring your name."
"W-What?!"
Nawaki recoiled, completely startled by Kizaru's declaration.
He wanted Nawaki to farm?
And simply by farming, Nawaki would somehow become a god in the eyes of the people?
No matter how hard he thought about it, Nawaki could not understand the connection.
"Yes," Kizaru said with absolute certainty. "Your kekkei genkai might be one of the most valuable abilities in the entire world."
In Kizaru's eyes, the greatest value of Nawaki's Grass Release was not its ability to directly create wheat using chakra.
Nawaki was only one person.
Even if he spent every waking moment creating wheat without eating or sleeping, the amount he could produce would likely feed only several hundred—or perhaps several thousand—people.
That certainly had value, but its influence would remain limited.
The true worth of Grass Release lay in its potential to alter and improve the crops themselves.
Nawaki might be able to use chakra to modify wheat seeds, creating superior varieties with greater yields, shorter growing periods, or increased resistance to drought, disease, and harsh climates.
Imagine if Nawaki used Grass Release to create a strain of wheat capable of growing in the desert.
Such a crop would be nothing less than a sacred treasure to the Land of Wind and Sunagakure. They would likely be willing to pay almost any price to obtain those seeds.
Nawaki Senju possessed the potential to become a god of agriculture in this cruel world filled with war and tragedy.
He might one day possess the power to ensure that no one in the world ever starved again.
For that reason alone, Nawaki was a truly priceless treasure in Kizaru's eyes.
So why bother becoming a ninja?
Go farm, Nawaki.
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