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 Yamato survived. This gave Yamato 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 Yamato, it appears to drain Danzō more significantly with each usage, causing Danzō to avoid using it whenever possible. As stated by Madara Uchiha, Hashirama's powers are not so easy to control, and that when Danzō was on the verge of death, the cells in his arm went berserk, trying to swallow him whole by converting him into a tree.

The Wood Release can be used for combat in different ways. Trees can grow from any surface, even from the user's body, for several purposes. They can be used, of course, to attack the enemies, but also as a shield, blocking or deflecting attacks. The user can use them even to bind opponents.

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 purpose is unclear. Although we do know that without it, Yamato was rendered useless as he stated when the necklace was shattered on the battle between Naruto and Pain.