Wood Release

techniques combine earth and water-based chakra to create wood. Wood Release techniques can be produced from anywhere, including the user's body, as the user's chakra is literally converted into a source of life. Wood Release is commonly affiliated with the Snake seal. Hashirama Senju was the originator of this ability, evidenced by the fact that none of his relatives have been shown capable of using Wood Release. The First's ability to use these techniques was the reason for him being given the title of Hokage, and with Wood Release Secret Technique: Birth of Dense Woodland he was able to grow the trees that served as the foundation of Konohagakure.

Orochimaru, in his quest to harvest the First's abilities, injected his DNA into 60 test subjects, and out of the 60 only Tenzō survived. This gave Tenzō the Wood Release abilities. However, he is not as masterful as Hashirama. Orochimaru also performed a similar procedure on Danzō by implanting Hashirama's cells in his right arm. While Danzō is capable of using this power at a similar level to Tenzō, it appears to drain Danzō more significantly with each usage, causing Danzō to avoid using it whenever possible.

A possibly related technique is the Hokage-style Sixty-year-old Technique - Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-bringing Hands. This technique produces a seal on the user's hand that can suppress a tailed beast's influence over its host. This is done by producing wooden dragons from the ground that attach to the host and force the tailed beast's chakra to recede. The First Hokage's Necklace aids in this technique's execution, but its exact role is unclear. Unfortunately the role of the necklace will probably never be explained as it was destroyed during Naruto's battle with Pain.