Wood Sage Mode

A/N: Double Release (2/2). If you want another Double Release, lets get to 500 powerstones by next Sunday. This story's continuation depends on your support—so don't forget to give the story powerstones! Goal: 500 Powerstones.

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Goro sat in his office, still trying to figure out the changes that had occurred within his body. Leaning back in his chair, Goro waited for the System to tell him more as he had requested. 

'My regeneration speed is faster than the Ninetails? That seems like overkill. Who can kill me now? ...I shouldn't get too arrogant, a move like Rasen-Shuriken could probably still kill me.. I need to reach a level where abilities like that cannot harm me.'

[Your Chakra reserves match Naruto's, and you've gained Wood Sage Mode.]

Goro's eyes narrowed in surprise, his fingers tapping the desk in thought. "Although I am surprised by how much my Chakra reserves have increased, I still expected some level of improvement," he said slowly, processing the information. "What I wasn't expecting is Wood Sage Mode... I don't understand. I'm not consciously trying to gather or mix nature energy with my chakra, and I haven't undergone any training for it. So how? I'm not complaining, but it doesn't make sense…"

He glanced down at his hand, flexing his fingers as he continued to contemplate.

[To answer why your Chakra Reserves and Regeneration speed have increased, this is due to you having three hearts. You forcefully overrode the system by merging Hashirama's cells with your body outside of the copy skill. By merging these cells, you brought them to life, unleashing their vitality, but in doing so, you almost lost your life. To avoid death, I synced your cells with Hashirama's by spreading the concentration of cells from one heart to all three of them. As a result, a hybrid copy error occurred.]

Goro's eyes widened as the realization of his recklessness hit him. He rested a hand on his chin, his voice low. "That's a lot of information to process, but I think I get the gist of it. You're saying the cells assimilated with all three of my hearts." He paused briefly, allowing the information to sink in. "Continue your explanation."

[Correct. Usually, your skills are only bound to one heart. However, due to the hybrid copy, they are now bound to all three. During the syncing process, the Hashirama cells' effects were copied to all three hearts, resulting in you gaining three times the regeneration speed you should've. The same applies to your Chakra reserves.]

Letting out a small sigh, Goro leaned further back in his chair, his arms crossing over his chest and looking at the ceiling. "So, it was pure luck... What I did was reckless and would've killed me if you hadn't stepped in. I've been rushing to gain power and failed to think logically. The thought of failure never even crossed my mind."

His fingers tightened slightly around the armrests of his chair, his frustration evident, though he remained composed.

[Affirmative. Moving on to Wood Sage Mode. When those cells entered your body, they came to life, forcing me to copy the skill onto one of your hearts for the sync to be successful. Your body had to accept all parts of the cells, and before you could gain additional skills, you first gained Wood Affinity. Hashirama was an adept user, so it has a x5 multiplier. This multiplier applied to your three hearts, turning it into a x15 multiplier. The high level of mastery over the element forcibly unlocked Wood Sage Mode.]

"... Luck doesn't even begin to describe this. It's a miracle," Goro muttered, leaning forward, his elbows resting on his desk as he tried to fully comprehend the situation.

[Don't be mistaken. Your Wood Sage Mode is far from complete. You're currently dying the longer you use it. You must undergo training to master the technique.]

Goro's head shot up at that revelation. His eyes darted to his hands. "Dying? But I feel fine…"

[Look at your fingers.]

Goro glanced down at his hands, noticing that his fingernails had turned a dull grey. Touching them lightly, he realized with shock that they were starting to turn to stone.

"How do I turn it off? I didn't even activate it consciously," he asked, his voice tense.

[How you always use and turn off jutsu.]

Calming himself down, Goro willed for the Wood Sage Mode to deactivate. As he did, he felt the calm, tranquil energy of nature slip away, and his body reverted to its previous state. A sharp pain shot through his legs, the muscles tearing momentarily before regenerating just as quickly.

'Is that from the jump earlier? Argh..'

He exhaled slowly, a mixture of frustration and relief in his voice. "You didn't tell me anything or bother to alert me," he said, his eyes narrowing.

[You didn't ask.]

Running his hand through his hair, Goro began speaking to himself once more. "Those Monkeys seem more important now than ever before... If I can master Monkey Sage Mode, I'll have a better understanding of Wood Sage Mode, but there must also be another way.."

[Correct. An understanding of Monkey Sage Mode could help you master Wood Sage Mode.]

After a brief moment of silence, Goro's mind flashed back to something the system had mentioned earlier. "That being said, System... I find something strange about what you said earlier, mentioning my mastery over Wood Sage being so high that it forcibly awakened. Does that mean if I reach a x15 multiplier on my other elements, I can unlock Sage Mode for them?"

[Keen observation. However, the threshold for Sage Mode isn't x15—it's x10. The reason more of your body hasn't turned to stone is due to the extra x5 multiplier from Wood Affinity.]

Goro's expression shifted, his mouth opening slightly, from realization. 'This is an insane breakthrough… So all elements have their own Sage Mode? I never considered that before… But there's one problem.'

"System, I haven't been able to break through the x5 multiplier. So how do you expect me to reach x10?"

[I don't have the answer to that question.]

"Huh? But… don't you usually know the answer to these things? You're the one who told me about the x10 multiplier being needed for Elemental Sage Mode."

[Only Hashirama Senju and a few others who passed away long ago know the answer.]

Goro began to contemplate further. 'And how am I supposed to get information from Hashirama…' Then, the realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.

His eyes widened with clarity, and he sat up straight. "Oh… I see what I have to do. In fact, if everything you've said is true, it should be easy."

[What you're thinking is correct.]

A sly grin spread across Goro's face as the pieces fell into place. "I'll have to reanimate Hashirama."

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Reminder: If you want another Double Release, lets get to 500 powerstones by next Sunday. This story's continuation depends on your support—so don't forget to give the story powerstones! Goal: 500 Powerstones.