POPS!
A water balloon burst in Hikaru's hand. He wiped his palm on his shorts and grinned at the broken pieces floating in the bathwater.
"Not bad, only took five tries this time."
The rotation step—the first part in copying the Fourth Hokage's famous technique—was finally working. After figuring out the chakra pattern, he'd spent over an hour spinning water inside balloons until they exploded. Shape transformation was harder than the scrolls made it sound.
"I don't have a rubber ball yet, so I'll just practice more," Hikaru said, examining the balloon fragments. "Need to make sure I can do this every time."
He reached for another balloon from the pile beside the bathtub.
"Hikaru-kun!" Ayako's voice came through the door. "Don't stay in there too long—I need to shower too!"
"I'll be out soon!"
The balloon slipped from his fingers and plopped into the water. He'd been in here way longer than normal. Quickly scooping up the remaining balloons, he stuffed them into his towel and opened the door.
Ayako stood waiting, arms crossed. Her foot tapped against the floor.
"What were you doing in there for so long, sleeping?"
Hikaru's eyes found the ceiling. "Yeah, I was tired, so I dozed off halfway through."
"Then what was all that popping noise I kept hearing?"
"Oh, that was water balloons." He pulled one from his towel. "I was popping them with chakra to test something."
Ayako stepped past him and peeked into the bathroom. No water damage, at least. "Why don't you practice your ninjutsu outside like a normal person?"
"It's nothing dangerous, Onee-chan. Won't damage anything."
Her eye twitched. She pointed directly at his face.
"Baka! No more practicing ninjutsu inside the bathroom! Now get out!"
Hikaru's feet moved before his brain caught up. The door slammed behind him as he fled down the hallway. Even through his clean clothes, sweat was already forming on his forehead.
That escalated fast, he thought, pressing his back against his bedroom door. In my previous life, I never had to deal with protective older sisters and their bathroom policies.
After getting dressed properly, Hikaru sat at his desk and studied the remaining balloon in his hand. She said not to practice inside the bathroom. His room should still be okay, right?
His fingers drummed against the desk as the temptation grew stronger. Despite his fear of another outburst, his worry about their safety won out. He quietly retrieved more balloons from the kitchen while Ayako was distracted with dinner preparations.
Back in his room, he filled them with water from his drinking pitcher.
"After I finish popping every single one," he whispered, "I'll move on to the next step."
For the next two days, Hikaru threw himself into practice. Regular training at the Third Training Ground, secret balloon exercises at home, and constant awareness of being watched. The surveillance still made his shoulders tense, but at least he was making progress.
By the second morning, he felt ready to test his inherited jutsu in a practical setting.
"Fūton: Toppa!" (Wind Release: Breakthrough)
A small gust blew from his mouth. Nearby leaves rustled in the artificial breeze.
The results were modest at best. Despite his natural wind connection, it had taken six attempts to perform correctly. His chakra reserves drained faster than expected too.
His lips pressed together as he considered his performance. Even with advanced chakra control, his talent for this type of jutsu seemed lacking.
Each technique requires vary amount of energy and also makeup elements he need to combine. Although Hikaru can summon accurate chakra require for the jutsu, but he still need to balance the energy require for the technique.
The good news was that each attempt became easier after the first success. The bad news was that the technique still took too long to execute. In real combat, enemies wouldn't wait patiently for him to complete hand seals.
He stared at the clouds, his sandal tracing patterns in the dirt as he thought about his limitations.
Speed is everything. Power means nothing if you can't land the hit. In my previous life, video game logic made this seem so much simpler.
He remained motionless for several moments before attempting another use of the same jutsu.
The wind release he had just used could serve not only for offense but also as a support technique for various situations.
After another four attempts, Hikaru successfully executed the jutsu with a different purpose, creating a small controlled whirlwind on the ground to catch and slow a falling object or push something toward sky at a specific location.
Hikaru wiped sweat from his forehead, his expression twisting with bitter amusement. I don't even need to fake poor performance for whoever's watching me in secret. My real abilities are embarrassing enough.
His jaw clenched as he thought about the three full days since someone began closely watching his activities, making him increasingly frustrated with each passing hour.
After taking a ten-minute rest break, Hikaru began experimenting with another jutsu for which he had no natural connection. Remembering the instructions from his inherited scroll, he built up the required amount of chakra and began molding it using the proper hand seals.
"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique)
"..."
Hikaru's shoulders sagged as he felt his chakra draining rapidly, but absolutely nothing happened. He clenched his fists and tried the technique one more time, stopping before using up his reserves completely, but the results remained exactly the same.
As expected, lacking affinity for a technique's nature leads to terrible results, Hikaru sighed heavily, his head dropping as he realized that ninjutsu might not be his strongest area, unlike genjutsu which he could perform effectively on the first attempt.
Although this situation might actually help my cover story, how should I solve this problem for real combat? Hikaru thought while massaging his temples. Should I give up Doton for now and focus on Raiton instead?
Should I forget about defense entirely and use overwhelming attack as my main strategy?
Many tactical questions bombarded Hikaru's mind as he considered solutions for developing an effective fighting style.
His close-range combat currently relied on Taijutsu basics.
His mid-range options included Genjutsu techniques and basic Wind Release jutsu.
His long-range attacks depended entirely on shuriken and kunai throwing accuracy.
Most concerning, he completely lacked reliable defensive jutsu, relying solely on his Body Flicker Technique for dodging or tactical retreat.
Hikaru stared at the clouds, his sandal continuing to trace patterns in the dirt. "Maybe I'll have to rely more heavily on speed and mobility for defense."
Considering various combat scenarios, Hikaru envisioned using Body Flicker to dodge incoming attacks, which would require significantly less chakra than attempting defensive jutsu he had no affinity for. However, this approach would leave him without effective methods for surprise attacks or necessary infiltration skills.
Although he possessed strong natural affinity for lightning chakra, he hadn't yet acquired any techniques related to that nature change. Additionally, he would need to develop training methods for lightning transformation from scratch.
The manga and anime had never clearly shown the specific method Hatake Kakashi used to teach Uchiha Sasuke lightning transformation techniques.
Hikaru could remember the hand seals required for Chidori, but he also remembered that successfully using the jutsu required mastery of both nature transformation and shape transformation at the same time.
This same requirement applied to Purple Electricity, Kakashi's advanced variation of Chidori that was not only more powerful but also better suited for Hikaru's, since he has no eye cheat ability like the Uchiha.
"The water won't get any warmer if I wait longer to jump in," Hikaru said after much thinking, bouncing slightly on his feet, "but both training routes have similar difficulty levels. I'll have to choose one eventually."
This would be the only time he made such an important decision based purely on chance, given all the stress and frustration he had been experiencing recently.
He pulled out a ryō coin from his pocket, flipped it high into the air, and declared, "If it's heads, I'll focus on Doton (Earth release) training first. If it's tails, I'll focus on Raiton (Lightning release) development."
The result appeared quickly after the coin landed, following a moment of nervous waiting.
Looking at the outcome, Hikaru chuckled and said, "Alright, tails it is. I'll train Raiton then."
Despite the obvious challenges of not having scrolls containing low-ranking lightning jutsu, or the high chakra requirements for the only technique he was familiar with, Hikaru chose to trust fate and focus on lightning transformation training after completing his wind transformation exercises.
Attempting to master jutsu he had no connection for would prove equally difficult and chakra-heavy, since he couldn't learn them using the same natural methods that worked for his wind techniques.
"It's going to be a long journey," Hikaru said, his shoulders slumping with resignation. He couldn't wait for tomorrow to arrive—finally, he would report to his new sensei.
If his assigned jōnin instructor could provide protection from organizations like Root, he would cling to their support no matter what the cost.
His legs felt heavy as he decided to walk around the village for a change of pace. He strolled slowly toward the market district, observing civilians going about their daily routines and chatting casually with neighbors.
Hikaru's expression grew wistful as he watched their carefree lives, which contrasted sharply with his current situation. While walking toward his destination, he spotted the Konoha library along the way—a place he visited frequently to read, rest, and borrow various educational materials.
I'll just study there again today, Hikaru thought, his pace quickening slightly as he walked toward the familiar building.
The Konoha public library was open to every village resident. The three-story building was roughly the size of a basketball court, containing countless books ranging from basic mathematics to advanced ninja theory.
Previously, Hikaru had only read specific texts recommended by his parents, never bothering to explore other subjects. These past few days had been different—he had discovered numerous books that captured his interest and kept him busy for hours at a time.
Before meeting his new sensei tomorrow, this was the best method Hikaru could use to keep troubling thoughts away from his mind.
Later, when Hikaru noticed the time, he closed his current book and stretched his arms above his head before leaving the library. It was time to meet Ayako at the market and walk home together.
When Hikaru arrived at their usual meeting spot, he stopped walking abruptly. A middle-aged man wearing a Jōnin uniform was having a conversation with his sister. With his back turned toward Hikaru, the man seemed vaguely familiar.
Walking closer to Ayako's stall, Hikaru heard the man saying, "I'm officially back from retirement now. I should be able to visit more often since I'm staying in the village."
"It's wonderful to have you back, Hideaki-san! I hope we'll see you much more frequently," Ayako replied, her face lighting up.
As soon as she spotted Hikaru approaching, she immediately called out to him, "Hikaru-kun! Come here quickly—Otou-san's old friend has returned and will be staying for a long time."
"You should have met him before, but you never got the chance to know him properly."
When Hikaru finally saw the face of his father's friend, his eyes twitched with recognition.
This was the same stranger man from Ramen Ichiraku who had taught him about family respect weeks ago.
Hideaki, a man with a distinctive scar running across his left cheek, immediately greeted him warmly. "I haven't seen you in quite a while! Have you been behaving yourself? You haven't been causing trouble for Ayako-chan, have you?"
Hikaru's eyebrows furrowed as he crossed his arms defensively. "I have always been good toward my Nee-chan."
Ayako immediately stepped forward, her expression shifting to concern. "Hikaru-kun! You should be more polite."
Hideaki laughed heartily at the boy's short answer, "That's good kid, your parents would have been happy knowing that their children are living well."
"How close are you with my tou-san (Dad)?" Hikaru asked, tilting his head with curious interest.
"We were once teammates." Hideaki responded while studying the boy carefully, then added with a mysterious smile, "You're definitely going to be surprised tomorrow, kid." He turned back to Ayako and said, "I'll see you again soon—I still need to handle some personal arrangements before my new assignment begins."
Ayako nodded and waved goodbye as the man flickered away using the Body Flicker Technique, disappearing before Hikaru could respond.
Hikaru shifted his weight nervously as he felt his sister's intense disapproving stare. He supposed his answer had been a bit short, but he still felt awkward around the man from their encounter at Ramen Ichiraku.
"What surprise did he talk about?" Hikaru asked with genuine curiosity.
"I don't know," Ayako replied, her brow creasing with slight worry, then added firmly, "Remember to show proper respect next time—he's from the Sarutobi Clan."
Hikaru's eyes widened as his mouth fell open slightly upon hearing this revelation. He stumbled backward and mumbled quietly, "Sarutobi Hideaki?"
He finally understood why his sister had been so respectful toward the man. The Sarutobi name carried enormous weight and status within Konoha's political structure, especially given their connection to the Third Hokage himself.
Sarutobi Clan, Hikaru thought, his mind racing with implications as they walked home together.