Hashirama’s Deep Forest Emergence, Explained

Known as the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju is arguably one of the strongest characters to exist in the entirety of the Naruto series. As the incarnation of Asura, Hashirama Senju was naturally a man of many feats, though behind his reverence was his rare kekkei genkai, Wood Release. With this power, he was able to single-handedly forge peace during the Warring States period and lay the foundation for the Hidden Leaf Village.

While Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release grants him a plethora of all-powerful techniques and jutsu, arguably the strongest of these is his Deep Forest Emergence, a technique of an immensely grand scale that is able to wreak havoc and incapacitate enemies in a single blow. With a few variations and several potential applications, Hashirama Senju’s Deep Forest Emergence is his strongest asset, and his few uses in the Naruto series cement its reverence.

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The Rare Wood Release Kekkei Genkai

Wood Release Lends Hashirama Most Of His Godly Strength

Hashirama Senju was known as god among shinobi, and the power behind his status and prestige was his Wood Style kekkei genkai, a rare bloodline technique that has only been awakened naturally by Hashirama Senju in the entire Naruto series. Despite being a mix of Earth Style and Water Style, two common elemental releases that a plethora of shinobi possess, none have been able to awaken the unique Wood Release.

This further makes Hashirama’s Wood Release quite revered, as he is the only human in history to be able to manifest this power. Moreover, Wood Release becomes even more special considering it is a Yang Release kekkei genkai that can create living objects in the form of wood and trees. These manifestations further have specific powers, such as being able to siphon Tailed Beast chakra with ease, or form structures to incapacitate enemies or gain strategic advantage in battles.

The Power Of Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence

Sprouting Entire Forests in Mere Seconds

While Wood Release gives Hashirama access to all sorts of powerful techniques that are unique to him, the strongest of these is his Deep Forest Emergence, an ability of such a grand scale that it was even used to lay the foundation of the Hidden Leaf Village. With his chakra, Hashirama is able to manifest a thick growth of trees that sprout from the ground with immense force, even splitting the ground apart.

This growth can either be used to give him an advantage in a fight by creating a strategic terrain, or he can use these fast-growing trees to incapacitate his enemies before they get a chance to react. Since Hashirama manifests a thick, dense forest in a matter of mere seconds, the technique requires an immense amount of chakra, meaning the technique is something only Hashirama can pull off.

Deep Forest Emergence’s Usage in the Series

The Technique Has Been Witnessed a Handful of Times

Deep Forest Emergence is used in the Naruto series only a handful of times, though every single instance reveals its immense power. The technique was first witnessed during the Chunin Exam arc, where Hashirama was reanimated using Edo Tensei by Orochimaru. Through Deep Forest Emergence, he was able to block out Hiruzen’s path and create a strategic advantage for himself and Orochimaru.

Deep Forest Emergence has another usage in the series, albeit it was off-screen and only mentioned in Naruto. Deep Forest Emergence was used by Hashirama to lay the foundation of the Hidden Leaf Village before its inception. While the location of the village is already set at the foothills of a towering cliff with plenty of forest cover around, Hashirama further used Deep Forest Emergence to fill the surrounding area with deep forests and even helped lay the foundation of the village and its structures.

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Oddly, Hashirama himself has only used the technique a couple of times. Yamato attempted to use the technique once, though he failed to manifest the true extent of Deep Forest Emergence. Madara never exactly used the technique either, though he used a derivative technique of Deep Forest Emergence during his battle against the Five Kage.

Deep Forest Emergence’s Derivative Techniques

Deep Forest Bloom Is a Similar Technique

Since most of Hashirama’s techniques are rather similar, Deep Forest emergence has quite a few related techniques and derivative jutsu. Deep Forest Bloom is a prime example, a technique that works on a similar foundation, albeit with a much different function. Instead of regular trees, Deep Forest Bloom manifests trees that sprout flowers on top. These flowers are filled with poison, and once they bloom, the poison pollen spreads all over the place, incapacitating anyone caught in its wake.

In some respects, the technique is actually stronger than Deep Forest Emergence, as the pollen can spread over a wide area and even be controlled through the user’s chakra. Moreover, it has been noted that the pollen can also penetrate through the Susanoo’s armor, a feat that even the strongest of characters in Naruto have failed to achieve.

Naruto is available to stream on Prime Video.