"The jutsu I will be teaching you is a famous one. In fact, I think it will be perfect for you, based on the premise that you're bound to become a combat-nin, and the fact that you had already accomplished sticking five leaves on your finger tips using chakra. It can either be used to attack or as a distraction depending on the situation. The name of the jutsu is - Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu[Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu]. It originates from our Sarutobi Clan and is one of our signature jutsus."
Kajirama nodded attentively with his pure innocent eyes. Biwako smiled seeing that her grandson was giving all of his attention to her words, which was, once again, commendable.
She beckoned for him to follow as she guided him to the center of the training ground, they stood in front of a wooden dummy that was three meters far from where they are.
"Alright now, watch closely Kaji-chan. I'll now show you how to do it, pay close attention." She got a firm yet excitedly nod from her grandson as a reply. After she saw that he was observing what she would do, she took a deep breath before she started on it, making sure that the speed she was making hand seals was slow enough for Kajirama to keep up.
Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu![Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu]" She exclaimed while her hands initiated hand seals that were fast but slow enough for Kajirama to follow. Even though they weren't that fast, to him it was awesome. She took a deep breath and then spat a volley of small fireballs into the air; at a glance, it can appear as though there was only one fireball that then burst into many. The many small flames move wildly through the area, mesmerizing Kajirama as his hair swayed a little from the warm gust.
Then, as if the small flames had a mind of their own, they narrowed and rained down altogether on the wooden dummy-like projectiles with a fixated target.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Kajirama covered his eyes while slowly hiding behind his grandmother, shielding himself from the splinters that were flying everywhere from the wooden dummy.
After the small bout of the explosion ceased, he opened his eyes in pure amazement and childlike awe as he saw that almost half of the target was destroyed.
"Sugoi! Can you please do it once more, Obā-chan?" He pleaded with his hands clasped in the manner he was doing some sort of a prayer.
Biwako chuckled softly, even though she just performed a jutsu, it did not exhaust her in the slightest, with her large chakra reserves and the years of honing her chakra control it was a piece of cake for her to do C-rank jutsus. However, if it was way above that, like B-rank or A-rank, then that'll be a different matter. Nonetheless, she denied her grandson's pleading.
"I will, but later Kaji-chan. Let's focus on the training at hand first and foremost." Biwako said. Which got Kajirama out of it, his immature mind wanted to quickly learn it and perform the flashy looking jutsu himself. He couldn't contain the excitement he was feeling having that thought.
"You already saw the hand signs I've done, correct?" She earned a nod. "Alright, so let's first start with the hand signs, do it with me-"
"Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, and Tiger." His voice that was filled with juvenile purity abruptly cut her off from the words she was about to utter, as Kajirama swiftly carried out the hand seals for the technique he committed in his memory from what he saw Biwako executed. Under his grandmother's steadily astonished gaze, he hovered both his young hands which were doing the tiger seal just above his chin then took a deep breath. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu![Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu]"
He blew out the hot breath churned up in his body. The air coming from his mouth ignited due to the immediate change in temperatures as soon as it left his lips, and then the small ball of flames seperated itself into two volley of balls thanks to the hand seals which molded his chakra into the ninjutsu's characteristics. His eyes narrowed in focus on the remains of the subjected wooden dummy, he scrunched his brows in surprise however when he felt something new, he didn't have time to ponder unfortunately as the small flames of volley - smaller than his grandmother's - missed the target he was intending to hit. The abnormal impression disappeared the moment the miniature ball of flames dissipated on the ground.
"That's..." Biwako's eyes widened in amazement, she was left speechless. Although it was a C-rank jutsu and are often one of the first techniques a student in the academy will learn, nonetheless, it wasn't meant to be an easy task to execute even if it was an element an individual was aligned with, which was the reason for the bafflement on her face.
She turned her gaze from the dissipating fire over her grandson, who was frowning in thought. She raised her brows and perked up when Kajirama turned his head to face her.
"Obā-chan." Kajirama called out.
Biwako blinked. "Yes, Kaji-chan?"
"Why didn't the flames hit the dummy?" Kajirama seemed to have an idea, but he opted to ask his grandmother so she could clarify and explain it in detail.
"Well..." Biwako was still baffled that Kajirama was able to execute it on his first try, not to mention he was quick to remember the hand seals she had shown. Nevertheless, she explained dutifully. "Kaji-chan, when you perform the technique, you're in control of each and every single one of the individual flame that was generated with your chakra, allowing you to guide each at the target."
"I see..." Kajirama sagely nodded his head, which Biwako found adorable. "I thought that I could direct their aim when I focused it on the target of my desire, it seemed like there was more to it than that..."
She revealed a wry smile at his words as she informed. "It was already admirable that you are able to memorize the hand seals on your first time, Kaji-chan, not to mention the following exertion after that - which is, molding the chakra correspondingly to the hand seals, executing the jutsu through it's characteristics and etc. - So how did you do it without further guidance?"
It was Kajirama's turn to blink owlishly. "Isn't it obvious Obā-chan? I did learn the twelve basic hand seals from a book in the compound's library, familiarizing myself with the molding of my chakra after unlocking it. Through the process of execution, I took a deep breath, lining the air with my lungs and wind pipe with a protective chakra layer that would prevent myself from burning inside since I read in a book that it was the most volatile elemental natures of chakra, so it is only natural to do it when performing a fire style jutsu, or else, I would be in a coughing fit right now with my lungs burning from the chakra that's transforming onto fire nature inside because of the molding on characteristics the hand seals performed."
Biwako's eyes were slowly but surely widening as her gaze on her grandson became flabbergasted. She muttered to herself. "Precise in execution, smart in deduction and reasonable with explanation... A budding Shinobi."
"That's... Sharp-witted of you, Kajirama-chan. Truly magnificent." She eventually revealed a fond look filled with praise, as she gently ruffled her grandson's hair. "I'm proud of you, Kajirama-chan." She noted to herself to inform Hiruzen of this later.
Kajirama bashfully rubbed his hair as he sheepishly grinned.
"That's correct. All of your words are right." She paused before saying. "Although the technique wasn't yet mastered, you could already perform it along with the characteristics of the jutsu, if you're going to continue on training chakra control, you will eventually be able to control each of the technique's individual flames no matter how many."
"Really Obā-chan!?" Kajirama's eyes twinkled with anticipation.
"Certainly. If you finished training in your Leaf Concentration Method and switched to Tree Climbing, which is only a manner of when, that is, if you continued on it Kaji-chan."
"I will keep my diligence on Shinobi training, Obā-chan!" Kajirama swore as if to prove himself to Biwako.
"Alright, then let's continue training..."
A grandmother and a grandson trained in the training grounds of the Sarutobi compound until afternoon. The other let out questions while the other provided him with the answers to his curiosity. Like that, Kajirama was able to get a hand of the technique a little bit, he was still just being able to perform two volleys of fire balls, however, Kajirama was noticably getting better and better on his aiming of the two projectiles he procure, no matter how few and ridiculously small they were.
...
-The same day after lunch-
Kajirama jumped over a log as he ran around in a large forest about a little ways away from the Sarutobi manor as he did his best to jump and dodge out of any obstacles he ran into. He huffed a little as he stopped and tried to catch his breath. He had been running full out for about ten minutes which for a four-nearing-five year old most would find impressive.
Though he wondered if that was due to his days of training taijutsu katas and stances but he would think on that another time. Strapped to the side of his pants was a small pouch that carried some kunai and shuriken which Biwako had given him a few days ago.
Since he and his little uncle Asuma started training the shinobi way under his grandparents just around three weeks ago, Hiruzen and Biwako had been surprised at how quick he was learning what they were showing him.
After three weeks of learning taijutsu from Hiruzen or Biwako, the boy's katas and stances were stable and acceptable for academic-level. So his grandfather, Hiruzen, began teaching and advising him solely with some kenjutsu katas, the old man had some knowledge on it that was adequate enough for him to teach Kajirama, after all, he wasn't dubbed as 'The Professor' for nothing.
Anything that was shinobi related went right into his head and stayed there. Hiruzen had been a little flabbergasted at how quickly Kajirama had come into kenjutsu. He believed that he was quicker in understanding Tai and Kenjutsu at his age, what the Hokage wasn't made aware of, however, was that Kajirama also had a knack for Ninjutsu, which Biwako had already noted herself to notify the Kage later.
Meanwhile his studies with the usual reading on the books found in the compound's library had carried on to the point where even his Obā-chan[Biwako] would turn up on occasions to see how well he was doing and would give him little tips with certain areas of his studies. Once he got the leaf exercise down they planned together for him to move onto balancing rocks on the end of his fingers since rocks were heavier and needed more chakra to balance them on the end of his fingers.
Even Orochimaru and the occasional council elders who came to visit - Homura Mitokado and Koharu Otatane - would watch him practice were amazed at how well he was doing for one so young and knew that he had definantly inherited the brains of his mother and the determination of his father.
'Ojī-san told me to perform stretches as well to make sure my body stays nimble and doesn't cease up.' Kajirama thought as he began to slow down and stopped in his tracks. He did a few arm stretches and leg lunges since he had taken his Ojī-san's words to heart about taking care of his body and that he would not get far without keeping a healthy diet and keeping one's body in top shape.
Looking at a high tree he decided he wanted to begin practising his kunai and shurikan throwing since that was almost a necessary skill one needed to be a shinobi.
However, before he could go to begin target practise he began to hear some noises made by somebody close by to where he was.
He was curious who it was and decided to go and investigate who the person was.
He trekked through the forest for about two minutes until he found who he was looking for.
In a small clearing in the forest there stood a boy who looked about the same age as he was, wearing a long sleeved blue uniform and a blue jacket with an orange collar and trimmings. The jacket was fastened to the rest of the outfit by two buttons on the collar, had black eyes and short, spiky, black hair. He wore a long sleeved blue uniform and a blue jacket with an orange collar and trimmings. He also wore a white belt, shinobi sandals, and a pair of goggles with orange lenses connected to ear protectors. On the back of his blue jacket was a red and white symbol of a fan.
'An Uchiha.' Kajirama thought, as he watched - on the bushes he hid on - what the boy was about to do. He watched as the Uchiha child went through hand seals, which made Kajirama's eyes shot wide open as he noticed what he was about to do. 'Is he going to execute a ninjutsu?'
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu! [Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu]"
Kajirama watched in anticipation as the Uchiha child's face reddened as it scrunched up, releasing the breath he was gathering on his lungs which blew out puny blazes of flames, which didn't even reach that far, at best it would only be a meter.
'Eh?' Kajirama's sweat dropped as he looked over blankly, the tips of his lips twitching at the letdown of a fire style technique. Not to mention that...
"Huff... Huff... Huff..." The Uchiha child seemed to be exhausted with performing just that embarrassment of a fire style technique, with his hands on his knee and gasping breath for his dear life. Kajirama then heard the child's muttering. "With this I'll surely be able to win tomorrow's youth ninjutsu competition!"
'What kind of crappy competition would that be, I wonder?' Kajirama thought mirthfully. His foot accidentally stepped on a twig making a small cracking noise.
The Uchiha child seemed to have heard it as he perked up and turned to where Kajirama was watching.
"Oy! Who's there? I heard ya!" He called out at the top of his voice but with a slightly vigilant tone to it.
Kajirama stepped out of his hiding spot and walked into view of the Uchiha boy.
"My apologies Uchiha-san." He said bowing a little. "I did not mean to spy. I was in the area when I heard some noises and came to investigate. My name is Kajirama Sarutobi Ogata, it is nice to meet you." He said introducing himself.
"Oh... Well, it's alright if you just came to see, I don't mind." He said while one hand rubbed the hair above his temple while the other was placed on his hip. Then he pointed at himself and reciprocated the introduction, flashing a smile at Kajirama. "The name's Uchiha Obito by the way, it is nice to meet you too Ogata