The next day.
The moment Amamiya Rei saw Kakashi in the training forest, his heart was instantly filled only with heartache and despair.
Because Kakashi... had lost weight!
Kakashi had actually gotten thinner!
Kakashi was the future food supply that Amamiya Rei had so carefully chosen. How could he possibly become thinner?
Kakashi was supposed to be fair-skinned and chubby—that was how it should be!
Amamiya Rei felt utterly heartbroken.
Not only did Kakashi look thinner, but he also seemed dispirited and lifeless.
It was as if he had been busy the whole night without any sleep, leaving him with a kidney deficiency.
Could it truly be that Kakashi was still shaken from the fright he had given him yesterday morning?
Rei absolutely refused to allow Kakashi to waste away.
Even more, he would never permit Kakashi to treat his own body like a mere plaything.
He knew Kakashi was still very young, unable to resist certain temptations, but everything had a limit. Crossing that limit would only lead to trouble.
Resolute, Rei decided that from now on, he would bring Kakashi even more nourishing, fattening food each day
He resolved to restore Kakashi's flesh before the New Year arrived.
After Amamiya Rei finished his basic training with Kakashi, Uchiha Fugaku who had been standing nearby and watching—walked forward.
With the air of a grim-faced Yama, Fugaku handed a chakra paper to Amamiya Rei.
"Infuse your chakra into it," he ordered.
Fugaku, much like Kakashi, was a man of few words, speaking with curt simplicity.
Following Fugaku's words, Rei infused his chakra into the piece of white paper in front of him.
Under Fugaku's watchful gaze, the paper twisted and withered under an unseen strain, until at last it crumbled entirely into ash.
Fugaku raised his eyebrows in surprise. This girl named Amamiya Rei possessed a chakra nature identical to that of the Third Hokage himself—she had all elemental affinities.
When Fugaku told Rei the result, she showed not the slightest trace of surprise, keeping the same blank expression on her face.
She was an orphan who knew absolutely nothing about the shinobi world. How could she possibly understand what it meant to possess all chakra natures?
However, deep inside, Amamiya Rei did have some guesses as to the source of his multi-attribute chakra.
Could it be... because he never refrained from any kind of meat?
When Rei ate meat, he devoured flesh from shinobi of all chakra natures. As a result, he absorbed the various attributes of chakra contained in those pieces of meat, which led to his nutrition becoming exceptionally balanced.
And so, it was only natural that Rei ended up possessing all five basic chakra natures.
Amamiya Rei believed this reasoning of his to be absolutely correct.
But then...
His thoughts suddenly turned to Black Zetsu.
If he remembered correctly, did Black Zetsu not wield Yin–Yang Release?
Ever since arriving here, the one he had eaten most frequently was none other than Black Zetsu.
In that case, wouldn't his chakra natures also include Yin and Yang?
Rei shook off the thought for now, setting it aside, for Uchiha Fugaku was preparing to begin formal ninjutsu instruction.
The Uchiha clan was particularly renowned for their mastery of Fire Release techniques.
Fugaku had already learned the details of Amamiya Rei's identity and experiences from Namikaze Minato.
Knowing that Rei had absolutely no foundation in ninjutsu, he began his teaching directly from the simplest of techniques.
The first technique he intended to teach her was none other than Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
Fugaku brought Amamiya Rei to a riverside not far from the forest.
Standing at the water's edge, Rei attentively watched Fugaku as he explained while simultaneously demonstrating the sequence of hand seals.
"Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball erupted from Fugaku's mouth.
The searing heat caused steam to rise in waves from the surface of the river.
The water at the top layer, subjected to such extreme temperature, had even begun to heat up.
Yet the steam soon dissipated, but the display was enough to leave a vivid impression.
Though Fugaku always wore a stern expression, unexpectedly, he was exceedingly meticulous and earnest when it came to teaching ninjutsu.
His explanations were far clearer and easier to grasp than Rei's own clumsy self-study.
Since the Great Fireball Technique was only a simple C-rank ninjutsu, and Rei already possessed a foundation in skills, combined with Fugaku's straightforward and clear guidance, he found no difficulty at all in mastering it.
The key point, however, lay in the fact that Rei's Great Fireball was already upgraded to the third version.
He still remembered the system's description of the third version of the Great Fireball Technique from the day before.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique III is the third upgraded version of the ordinary Great Fireball Technique. Its range and temperature are further enhanced, making its effect ten times stronger than the Great Fireball Technique performed by an ordinary shinobi, while consuming the same amount of chakra.]
[Continue collecting Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique ×20 to advance to the final mutated version.]
Rei glanced at Fugaku standing beside him, secretly hoping he would not frighten him later.
Following Fugaku's demonstration, he began forming the hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Chakra gathered in his throat.
A massive fireball spewed forth from Amamiya Rei's mouth.
But to call it a mere fireball would not be accurate...
It was more fitting to describe it as a sea of flames.
In Fugaku's dark, obsidian eyes, the fire sea before him reflected an endless crimson glow.
Watching the Great Fireball, which was nearly ten times larger than his own, Fugaku was struck completely speechless.
He could practically feel on his own face the scorching heat—hot enough to reduce a man to ashes in an instant—as wave after wave of heat surged toward them.
Only after an unknown stretch of time did the flames finally subside.
The river bubbled furiously as if it were boiling.
Perhaps it was only Fugaku's imagination, but the water level seemed to have lowered significantly.
Amamiya Rei glanced at the silent Fugaku. Since he said nothing, he naturally remained silent as well.
A strange, heavy quiet settled upon the riverbank.
At that very moment, Fugaku himself was unsure of who among them was the true Uchiha.
Before meeting Amamiya Rei, Fugaku had always believed his son, Itachi, to be a prodigy. But now, it was clear, there is always someone greater, always a higher sky above!
After a long silence, Fugaku at last composed himself, masking the turmoil in his heart. As teacher, he chose to praise her with measured calm.
"Not bad. It seems you possess quite the talent for ninjutsu."
Now that it was confirmed Amamiya Rei had exceptional aptitude for ninjutsu, Fugaku could afford to accelerate his teaching pace slightly.
"Try this next technique."
As his words fell, Fugaku's hands swiftly formed seals:
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Just like the explosive scattering of impatiens seeds, the flames he spat from his mouth dispersed in all directions, striking the river's surface.
After finishing his demonstration, Fugaku slowed down, once again showing Rei the precise order of the hand seals and explaining the key points of the jutsu.
The Phoenix Sage Fire Technique was also a C-rank ninjutsu.
There were commonalities shared among the simpler C-rank techniques.
Often, once a shinobi mastered one C-rank ninjutsu, the understanding and performance of subsequent ones became much easier.
Rei recalled that he had never drawn this particular ninjutsu from the meat he ate.
That meant, this time, he had no foundation provided by the system.
Even so, Rei still believed in his ability to comprehend.
He began to weave the seals exactly as Fugaku had taught him.
***