"Finally finished. Let's try this again."
Kenji examined the puppet standing on his workbench. This version had been completely rebuilt using wood that the previous puppet's out-of-control Wood Release chakra had generated. The appearance was similar to the failed prototype, but the internal structure had been refined based on what he'd learned.
He grabbed the puppet and extended his senses outward, searching for the Flying Thunder God mark he'd placed earlier. About two kilometers outside the village, in a clearing he'd scouted specifically for this kind of testing.
After ten seconds, space twisted. The workshop vanished, replaced instantly by open forest. He materialized next to a kunai embedded in the ground.
"This'll work. Plenty of space."
The clearing was maybe thirty meters across, surrounded by dense trees. Far enough from the village that nobody would notice unusual chakra signatures, isolated enough that he wouldn't be interrupted.
He placed the puppet in the center of the clearing and backed up about ten meters. This test was specifically about material resistance to Wood Release chakra, which meant he needed to push the puppet hard. Use as much chakra as possible, and see how the wood-based frame held up compared to the metal one that had been torn apart.
"Mind Clone Switch Technique."
His consciousness transferred into the puppet. The Wood Release core activated immediately, flooding the sealed space with chakra. But the sensation was different this time. The chakra felt less volatile.
Good sign.
He formed hand seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Chakra poured out of the core and into the surrounding environment. The ground trembled. Thick wooden pillars erupted upward, curving and interlocking to form an arched barrier in front of the puppet.
He immediately focused his awareness inward, examining the puppet's condition.
The Wood Release chakra was still corroding the body. He could sense it happening. Small branches were sprouting from the puppet's surface.
But the rate was slower than before.
"The Wood Release-generated material has better compatibility with the chakra."
The solution path was clear now. He just needed to iterate the process. Use the wood from this puppet to build the next one, use that wood to build another, keep refining the material until it could fully withstand Wood Release chakra without degrading.
To speed up the adaptation process, he decided to push harder.
"Nativity of a World of Trees!"
Massive amounts of chakra exploded outward. The ground cracked open as countless saplings erupted from the soil. They grew at impossible speed, thickening into mature trees within seconds. The clearing transformed into dense forest, vegetation spreading across half the available space before the technique finally exhausted itself.
It was a weakened version of the jutsu, nowhere near what Hashirama had been capable of. But it was more than enough to test the puppet's durability.
When the growth stopped, he released the Mind Clone Switch and returned to his real body. He walked forward to inspect the results.
The puppet was gone.
In its place stood a thick tree, easily four meters tall. The puppet had been completely consumed by the Wood Release chakra, transformed entirely into plant matter. Only the core remained, embedded deep in the tree's heart where wood had grown around and encased it.
He pulled a knife from his pouch, and set to work dismantling the tree, cutting through the wood carefully to avoid damaging the puppet core. The chakra-conductive metal from the puppet's joints was still intact, compressed into twisted shapes. He separated the metal components from the organic material, sorting everything into different piles.
The newly grown wood went into storage scrolls. That would become the material for the next iteration. The metal got cleaned and set aside for reuse. The core was removed and inspected for damage.
Once he'd packed everything away, he pulled out his transport puppet. He loaded the salvaged components into its storage compartment and activated the teleportation.
The puppet vanished with a faint spatial distortion, carrying everything back to base.
Then he summoned another puppet. This one was constructed using a mixture of Hashirama cells and ordinary Senju clan cells in a diluted ratio. The weakened Wood Release model he'd prepared specifically as a "product" for Danzō.
"Time to test the bargain version."
He formed seals and transferred his consciousness into this puppet.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Another barrier of interlocking wooden pillars rose from the ground, standing parallel to the previous one. The appearance was nearly identical, but he could immediately sense the difference. The weakened puppet's chakra felt tamer. Small wooden branches sprouted from the puppet's surface, but they were minimal. The diluted Wood Release chakra had significantly less corrosive effect.
Now came the real test. How did the defensive capabilities compare?
He pulled two explosive tags from his pouch. He attached one to each Wood Locking Wall, the full-power version and the weakened version, then infused them with chakra and retreated quickly.
BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions were nearly simultaneous, sending up clouds of smoke and debris. He waited for the dust to settle before examining the results.
The difference was obvious at a glance.
The full-power puppet's wall was scorched black where the explosive tag had been placed, but the structure remained intact. Only some surface damage, and charring, but the barrier itself was solid. The weakened puppet's wall had fared worse. The explosion had blown a hole clean through where the tag had been attached. Deep cracks spread outward from the impact point, and chunks of wood had been blown away entirely. The barrier still stood, technically, but it was compromised. Another hit in the same spot would probably collapse it.
"Still not bad. Way better than an Earth-Style Wall would've managed. That would've been shattered completely."
He had the weakened puppet execute Nativity of a World of Trees next, just to see what would happen under sustained chakra use.
Trees erupted from the ground, growing rapidly across the clearing. But the puppet itself started suffering immediately. Wooden branches exploded from its surface, growing wildly in all directions.
When the technique finally exhausted itself, the puppet was a deformed mass of wood and spikes. But it hadn't completely transformed into a tree.
"Rebuilding this one with the adapted wood should solve the erosion problem entirely. Then Danzō gets his functional Wood Release puppet, and I keep the resources flowing."
He spent the rest of the day continuing the iteration process. Build puppet, test puppet, dismantle puppet, harvest materials, and build better puppet. Over and over. Each iteration showed improvement. The erosion slowed, the structural integrity increased, and the chakra flow became more efficient.
It was tedious work.
Several days passed in this routine.
Night fell over the forest. The woods were silent except for the occasional rustle of wind through leaves.
Kenji's consciousness inhabited the weakened Wood Release puppet, practicing techniques in a secluded clearing. He'd been at it for hours, running through everything in the scrolls Danzō had provided.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique."
Chakra surged. Wood erupted from the ground, twisting and combining until it formed a humanoid shape about three meters tall.
He was about to try another technique when his sensory jutsu suddenly picked up something.
Four unfamiliar chakra signatures were moving fast through the forest, heading deeper into the woods.
He immediately dispelled the Mind Clone Switch. His consciousness snapped back to his real body, which had been resting against a tree several hundred meters away. He summoned the puppet to his place, sealed it into a storage scroll and took off through the trees, moving toward the chakra signatures.
His sensory range extended outward as he ran, tracking the unknowns. They were maintaining a steady pace, moving in a straight line.
He closed the distance carefully, staying downwind and masking his chakra as much as possible. When he got close enough to see them directly, his eyes narrowed.
Three Kumo ninjas. He recognized the style of their uniforms. And between them, hands bound with rough rope, was a girl with red hair.
Oh shit, that's Kushina.
The Nine-Tails jinchūriki, kidnapped by Kumo ninjas, being smuggled out of the village. He knew this scene. Not from personal experience, but from the story. This was the night Minato had earned his reputation as Kushina's hero.
How did they even manage this? Kenji thought, dropping back and following from a safe distance. She's a jinchūriki. She should have ANBU watching her around the clock. Someone seriously fucked up the security protocols.
But questions about Konoha's incompetence could wait. Right now, he had a front-row seat to one of the most iconic scenes in the series. No way was he missing this. He masked his presence completely and settled into observer mode.
---
On the forest path, Kushina was terrified.
They'd grabbed her earlier that evening, right after she'd gotten home from training. Three of them had been waiting inside her apartment. They'd moved fast, binding her before she could form a single hand seal, gagging her before she could scream.
Now they were dragging her through the dark woods, and she had no idea where they were taking her.
Her feet caught on a tree root and she went down, hitting the ground. Rough hands immediately grabbed the rope binding her wrists and yanked her upright with no consideration for her injuries.
"Quit stalling! Move faster!"
The voice was harsh. Kushina bit her lip and forced herself to keep walking. As she moved, she pulled strands of her long red hair loose, letting them fall to the ground.
Someone would follow. Someone had to follow.
Please let someone follow.
---
Here we go, Kenji thought from his hiding spot.
His sensory jutsu had just picked up a new chakra signature approaching at incredible speed. This one was familiar.
Minato was on his way.
The next second, he appeared behind the group, struck the rear Kumo ninja with a kunai to the throat, and vanished before the body even started falling.
The corpse hit the ground.
The other two Kumo ninjas spun around, weapons drawn, only to see their comrade's body bleeding out on the forest floor. Before they could process what had happened, Minato reappeared behind the second ninja.
Another throat cut. Another body dropping.
The last Kumo ninja's eyes went wide. He released Kushina's rope and bolted into the darkness, abandoning his mission entirely in favor of survival.
Smart move, not that it would help.