Chapter 6: Third Hokage Pays a Visit

Wood Release!

It was the signature Ninjutsu of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama—a memory branded onto the Nine-Tailed' very soul, steeped in humiliation and terror.

Before its eyes, that crimson-armored, god-demon figure seemed to surface again.

Once invincible, it had been effortlessly crushed by that man's peerless Wood Release—by the heaven-reaching "True Several Thousand Hands" Buddha. With a single hand, as casually as plucking a flower, he had pinned it down!

Even now it could recall the helplessness of being gripped by the wooden colossus, and Hashirama's parting taunt delivered inches from its snout: "Nine-Tailed, your power is simply too great."

Across the long centuries, few things truly inspired fear in it, yet the First's Wood Release, the Uzumaki's Sealing Techniques, and the Uchiha's Sharingan stood unchallenged at the top of that short list.

And now this brat before it dared to question the very nature of Wood Release?

Proposing an absurd, earth-shattering conjecture!

Seeing the Nine-Tailed hiss and bristle, Naruto knew he had the ancient being's attention. He stopped toying with it, sat cross-legged, and laid out his theory in clear, orderly points.

"I suspect the First Hokage's Wood Release isn't a simple Earth-plus-Water Kekkei Genkai at all, but a Kekkei Tōta—Earth, Water, and the Yang half of Yin-Yang Release combined."

Naruto raised three fingers. "First, a key difference: heredity."

Bloodline Limits—whether ocular like the Uchiha's Sharingan or the Hyuga's Byakugan, or element-based like Ice or Lava—normally breed true, giving rise to mighty clans.

"But look at Kekkei Tōta: no great clans have ever sprung from it."

He offered the clearest example: "The most typical case is Iwagakure's Dust Release."

"Created by the Second Tsuchikage Mū, it fuses Wind, Earth, and Fire."

"The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, isn't Mū's blood kin, yet as his disciple he mastered Dust Release."

Conversely, Ōnoki's own son Kitsuchi, his direct descendant, can't use it."

"That proves Dust Release can be learned but not inherited."

Having explained his reasoning to Kurama, Naruto swung the topic back to Hashirama's Wood Release: "After Hashirama, neither his direct descendants nor the entire Senju Clan ever again produced living Wood Release."

"That violates the hereditary rules of a Kekkei Genkai."

"Instead, it fits the behavior of a Kekkei Tōta."

"Hashirama's boundless vitality, instant regeneration, and life-giving Wood Release—all far exceed a simple Earth-Water fusion. They're exactly what you'd expect if Yang Release were woven in!"

Yin Release shapes form from spiritual energy; Yang Release breathes life into form with physical energy. Together they create and animate all things.

To Naruto, Wood Release stood as the most singularly powerful art in Ninjutsu—an outright "bug" in the system.

It could blanket battlefields, lock down foes, and serve as the perfect fusion of offense and defense—virtually without flaw.

Most of all, Hashirama's "True Several Thousand Hands" dwarfed all reason.

A single palm of that wooden titan outsized even the Full-Body Nine-Tailed, already mountain-sized. The sheer visual oppression could drive any foe to despair.

The Senju and Uzumaki share the same root—both descended from the Six Paths Sage' younger son, Ashura.

Hashirama and Naruto themselves are successive transmigrations of Ashura's Chakra.

In Naruto's view, such "transmigration" is more like strands of will-bearing Chakra attaching to new eras, not the old myth of one soul cycling through rebirth.

"If it were literal reincarnation, Ashura, Hashirama, and I would share the same soul. How could Hashirama's soul be summoned via Edo Tensei while I'm still alive?"

That logic cemented his conviction.

Knock, knock, knock.

A crisp, measured rap—like a pebble dropped into still water—echoed from the real world into the quiet Sealing Space, cutting their heated debate short.

Naruto broke off mid-sentence, a wry "told you so" rising in his mind.

He shrugged toward the restless titan behind the bars:

"Company. Probably Third Hokage. I'll go handle him."

With that, his awareness ebbed like a tide, swiftly withdrawing from the dim subterranean chamber.

The great cage, crimson eyes, and Kurama's lingering doubts about Wood Release were all locked away in the depths of his mind.

In the waking world, Naruto's lids fluttered; he sat up briskly.

Feigning drowsiness, he yawned and padded to the door.

"Coming, coming!"

He tugged the door open.

Night air rolled in with the visitor's silhouette.

As expected, there stood Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, draped in the ceremonial robe and conical hat.

He carried a bulky parcel, his ever-kind smile warmed by snow-bright moonlight.

"Grandpa Third, what brings you here?"

Naruto widened the door, surprise and delight perfectly arranged, and stepped aside.

"Please come in!"

He ushered the Hokage into the tiny sitting room, whisked a coat off the offered chair, and motioned him to sit—all in one fluid motion.

Hiruzen's gaze swept the tidy room, then settled on the boy with grandfatherly fondness: "Nothing special, little Naruto. I missed you, so I came."

He set the parcel on the table and slid it forward. "I picked up a new winter coat on the way. It's getting colder—see if you like it."

"Really? Thanks, Grandpa Third!"

Naruto's eyes shone; he tore into the wrapping with boyish eagerness.

Inside lay a thick kraft envelope and a neatly folded black winter coat.

"Whoa!"

Round blue eyes sparkled with unfeigned wonder.

The Third's wrinkles deepened in a smile as he stroked his goatee. "Try it on. If it doesn't fit, I'll buy another."

"Mm!"

Naruto nodded and got to work.

He peeled off his old coat—already inches too short at sleeves and cuffs.

Beneath it, a threadbare autumn shirt stretched skin-tight by growth stood revealed to the old man's eyes.

Without hesitation Naruto donned the new coat, zipped it snug, and smoothed the hem—perfect size, warm and comfortable.

Yet the Third's smile faded as that tight, frayed undershirt came into view.

[end of chapter]