I dismissed Yamato at this point much to his confusion but I did at least explain why I no longer needed his assistance. Simply put his usefulness in this regard was at it’s end after I learnt the ratio since he also had no clue how to utilize that energy intentionally. Given how that energy existed in every living thing I found but not the dead or inanimate things I theorized it was either pure lifeforce or vitality. Contrary to what many think those aren’t the same thing at all and have very different implications.-
Lifeforce is the energy of life itself and so long as something is alive it will possess this. Death occurs the instant you run out of lifeforce with no chance of recovery. Vitality on the otherhand refers to your ability to heal and your over all vigor and lifespan. The Senju and Uzumaki clans are renowned for their incredible vitalities that allow them to live upwards of a hundred and fifty years while possessing sturdy bodies that heal much faster than normal. If you run out of vitality for whatever reason that didn’t mean you were dead as you could recover your vitality with treatment and medicine.-
More often than not though you will die as that is a very desperate situation to be in. Vitality interestingly enough is something that shinobi have a wide variety of ways to influence so I was fairly certain that the energy Yamato used passively to utilize Wood release was lifeforce as none of those methods I had worked on it. It also would explain why Wood release was so special and a simple elemental fusion couldn’t create it. Unlike all the other Kekkai genkai that created an inanimate material Wood release creates actual living wood or trees.-
With that in mind it became easy to understand why it would take a spark of lifeforce to create the chakra for it. It also explains how no one could figure out how to recreate the Kekkai genkai without using the first’s cells. This included the second Hokage who had no doubt ran numerous tests on his brother to understand the Kekkai genkais every detail. As far as I was aware lifeforce couldn’t be sensed unlike vitality so obviously the sparks of it being used during the creation of the chakra would be missed.-
Ironically I could roughly understand how the first Hokage might have accidentally discovered Wood release without realizing this energy was to blame, he had too much! While lifeforce and vitality weren’t the same thing they were connected. It was not a stretch to image that the firsts vitality that was so powerful he could regenerate from grievous injuries in moments also made his lifeforce ridiculously robust. At that point he would just need dumb luck to create the perfect ratio of chakras to incite his lifeforce into creating Wood release chakra. This also explains why when the cells were grafted onto others they went wild and created trees using the lifeforce and chakra of the hosts.-
The Kekkai genkai had been all but carved into the very lifeforce of each cell the first possessed so naturally when stimulated by the grafting Wood release is what it defaults to creating. With this theory in mind I focused on creating the perfect ratio of chakras before circulating it through my body in hopes of even accidentally inciting the lifeforce in my body into sparking the fusion into Wood release chakra. It should be understood that my own vitality and lifeforce was at the very least equal to the firsts so if he could make Wood release according to my theory I should be able to as well.-
It took me over a week of near constant practice but I finally succeeded when the tiniest spark of my lifeforce flared up and hit the chakra I was circulating. Immediately the two chakras fused the instant the lifeforce was added and the rest of the chakra soon followed suit as if pressured into the transformation by that smallest amount of chakra. I grinned widely as I felt the robust and sturdy feeling chakra flowing through my body.-
I pressed my palm against the crystalline trunk of the tree in my chamber and released the chakra into it. Immediately the tree started to thicken and grow taller but interestingly stopped just before reaching the ceiling or walls of the chamber. I didn’t mind however as this was more than good enough a test for me of the Kekkai genkai. Even better the density of natural energy skyrocketed after this boost in growth for the tree to the point the very air now hung a thin rainbow colored mist visible to even a normal eye.-
‘So this is what natural energy looks like when it’s density reaches a critical point.’ I thought as I lazily swirled my hand through the mist.
I no longer needed to worry about being able to use Wood release as I could visibly see that my lifeforce had become more active after the first successful use of the Kekkai genkai. With my new understanding of the kekkai genkai in hand I wrote it down on a separate scroll than the tome for my limit collection so that my sensei could try and cultivate the Wood release before I publish my next copy of the limit collection.-
“You actually did it!?” she exclaimed in shock when I presented the scroll to her.
“I will admit if it wasn’t for Yamato and my eyes I would have failed to discover the secret to it as well.” I said frankly.
“Was it that hard to find?” she asked with a frown.
“Read the contents of the scroll and you will understand the rather unique trouble discovering the secret would normally have been.” I said seriously.
She wasted no time at all unfurling the scroll and reading it carefully and she quickly had her eyes widen in understanding.
“Lifeforce. It makes perfect sense now.” she muttered with a sigh before looking up at me again. “I would like to ask that you don’t include this Kekkai genkai in the collection you publish for the village. Your own personal copy is fine but this shouldn’t be something that ever gets out that we cracked it’s secrets or the other villages will move to stop us from spreading this to our forces.” she said seriously.
I shook my head “There’s no need to hide it, if they come I will cut them down personally.” I said calmly.