Ryoto extended his hand toward the ninja hawk in the cage. The frightened bird stretched out its neck and pecked the back of his hand with its sharp beak. Thanks to his control over his muscles, Ryoto's skin tensed, and he felt no pain. Having inherited a talent for muscle control from his genius sister, Smarty, and bestial endurance from Masao, Ryoto was far sturdier than ordinary, "fragile" ninja.
Pinning the hawk's head, Ryoto began to pour his chakra into it.
"By the power of the Gray Skull, I grant you strength!" he intoned in his mind.
This was a form of autosuggestion; a mere infusion of chakra would not have yielded such an effect. A moment later, Ryoto withdrew his hand and looked at his mother.
"It is done."
Rin's ears twitched. Observing from up close, she had not noticed anything unusual, only hearing the barely perceptible sound of chakra flowing across the surface of the bird's body. A little-known fact: in its normal state, chakra is invisible. Only at a high concentration does it acquire a visible, watery-blue hue.
Rin opened the cage and extended her arm. The ninja hawk immediately hopped onto her forearm and, as she lifted it, began to preen its feathers. With her other hand, Rin started to weave seals.
"Mother, is that…"
"Borrowing hands for seals. The absolute basics," Rin explained.
"Huh?" Ryoto's mouth fell slightly agape.
If memory serves, that's a rather advanced and complex technique.
"What 'huh'?" Rin looked sternly at her son. "You don't even know this? Then how did you teach Suzu the Beast Mimicry Technique?"
"I just explained it to Smarty, and she practiced on her own."
"Woof!" Smarty, her head held high, affirmed Ryoto's words.
"Ah, you two…" Rin sighed. "Don't interfere with my chakra control. Be silent for a moment."
With that, Rin closed her eyes. Her ears twitched, attuning to the currents of chakra within the hawk's body. Ordinarily, when she used this technique to guide the chakra of her ninja hounds, it was not so challenging. But this hawk, until a moment ago, had possessed no chakra at all. Therefore, it required subtle and precise guidance.
Will it work?
Chakra…
Beads of sweat formed on Rin's brow. After a long moment, she opened her eyes and looked at the ninja hawk on her arm.
It had worked.
The Four Legs Technique.
Faint blue sparks of chakra flickered on one of the hawk's talons. It was continuously drawn from the cells of its body, seeping through its flesh only to instantly dissolve into the air. Now, this ninja hawk had become a true ninja beast—a creature possessing chakra, just like a shinobi. In its very life essence, it had far surpassed its brethren.
"I knew it!!!"
Rin looked at Ryoto and took a deep breath.
"Do you understand now where our clan's ninja beasts come from?"
"Where from?" Ryoto had a rough idea, but he was not supposed to be privy to information of this level.
Placing the hawk back in its cage, Rin began to speak.
"Legend has it that the Sage of Six Paths founded the teachings of Ninshū and is revered as the progenitor of all ninja. He shared the power of chakra among people, and before that, no one knew how to use it. This gifted power is called the Chakra Seed. According to our clan's records, it is a power that 'binds' people to one another. However, after the death of the Sage of Six Paths, people quickly realized that chakra had far more practical applications than unity."
Rin's gaze grew distant.
"Mutual annihilation."
"There was one man who, upon witnessing this carnage, was filled with revulsion. Being a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths, he resolved to inherit his will. So he established a bond with the wild beasts and shared the chakra seeds with them. And so, the world's myriad ninja beasts came into being."
What a twist… A descendant of the Sage of Six Paths, you say.
Unlikely. If there are questions, they must be asked. Ryoto said:
"Mother, if we are descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, then our clan is, to put it mildly, quite weak."
He had barely finished his sentence when his mother's fist descended upon his head.
"Ouch!!!"
Ryoto, clutching his head, writhed on the floor. There are hardly any muscles on the head, so Smarty's muscle control was of no help here.
"Weak? What do you mean, weak? You've studied the clan's secret techniques for so long and still don't understand the essence? Get up. Today, I will show you the true power of the Inuzuka Clan."
Ryoto rose to his feet.
"And what is there to see? The same old Fang Over Fang for a lifetime, nothing new."
"Superficial!" Rin exclaimed. "Fool! Listen with your own ears! Listen to the depths of your body! Listen to the voice of chakra!"
Rin opened her palm, and chakra gushed from it. With a howl of wind, a tiny vortex swirled in the center of her palm, spinning furiously. Ryoto saw nothing impressive in it. It was the Gatsuga, only in a miniature form. Merely a change in the shape and nature of chakra.
Suddenly, Ryoto's pupils constricted. He realized something. His mother was but a single step away from independently developing the Rasengan! Speed, rotation, maintenance, and finally… turbulence. A nonlinear, unbalanced, asymmetrical flow, chaotic and complex. In simpler terms, a disorderly rotation.
In the development of ninjutsu, the most crucial step is the idea and direction! Minato spent over three years creating the Rasengan, while learning it takes only a month!
"Do you understand now?" asked Rin, clenching her fist and extinguishing the vortex in her palm.
"A seal-less technique."
Rin nodded.
"You're not so stupid after all."
"How did you do that?"
"How did I do it?" Rin repeated. "Through thousands upon thousands of repetitions!"
"Mother! If hard work alone could guarantee success, there would be no geniuses in the world!"
"I am speaking of facts! Hard work may not always help you surpass a genius, but it will certainly bear its own fruit!"
Why did she suddenly get so fired up? Seeing his mother's clenched fists, Ryoto timidly ventured:
"Mother, could it be that… you are the genius?"
Rin took a deep breath. Her son's words about their entire clan being weak had unsettled her.
"I am a genius. A genius in the eyes of ordinary people."
"Mother, you can use seal-less techniques, so why do you still form them with one hand?"
"For show, you fool," Rin replied. "Besides, my mastery of those other techniques isn't high enough to use them without seals."
Rin extended her arm, turning her palm toward Ryoto.
"I have dedicated my entire life to a single jutsu."
Azure chakra burst forth from the center of her palm. It crept slowly, as if showing off, inch by inch covering her palm, then her forearm, climbing higher up her arm to her shoulder, chest, abdomen, head, and legs, until it had enveloped her entire body.
"Guess the name of this technique."
How to describe this… A Tailed Beast Chakra Shroud? Looking at his mother, shrouded in a flame of chakra, Ryoto said:
"The Four Legs Technique."
"Correct!" Rin confirmed. "And its name is—Beast Calamity!"
At these words, Ryoto's eyelid twitched. He instantly recalled the girl he had met yesterday. In the next instant, an azure werewolf stood before him. The chakra, like bestial fur, billowed wildly. A nearly three-meter-tall wolf, within which the silhouette of Rin could be seen, stood in a half-crouch, looking down at Ryoto. It bared a maw full of sharp fangs and swung an enormous clawed paw, which, with the piercing whistle of the wind, froze directly in front of Ryoto's face.
The pressure of the air caused Ryoto's dogi to flutter, and his silver hair was swept upward, revealing a smooth forehead. Five deep, ragged gouges were left on the dojo floor behind him. With a deafening crack and a grating screech, splinters flew into the air.
"Mother…" a drop of sweat rolled down Ryoto's forehead. "I'm scared."
The chakra suddenly dispersed into a myriad of shimmering sparks, revealing Rin's figure. Her high ponytail swayed behind her, and upon her stern, mature, and beautiful face, whimsical battle markings stood out, lending her a wild, exotic appearance.
Those triangular markings on Mother's cheeks… Aren't they similar to the horns of the Ōtsutsuki clan? Especially if you invert the clan's crest, which depicts two fangs pointing down. Then they become horns pointing up…
"Chakra release, shape transformation, and nature transformation—this is the true essence of the Four Legs Technique!"
The application of war paint is typically a tradition of ancient tribes, holding special significance. The Inuzuka Clan, having preserved this custom to this day, is undoubtedly an ancient and great clan.
"And the Four Legs Technique is just the initial, basic level," Rin said, a light sheen of sweat on her brow. "That hand-shaped Gatsuga you developed—it's a natural progression, an enhanced version of Gatsuga that you created after mastering the foundation. When a solid foundation is laid and the general structure is defined, all that remains is to add the bricks and fill in the gaps!"
Rin raised three fingers before Ryoto's face.
"On the path of mastery, three roads lie before the Inuzuka Clan! The first is the deep development of Beast Calamity, based on the Four Legs Technique! The second is the deep development of Gatsuga, based on the Piercing Fang technique! And the third is fusion and deep transformation based on the Beast Mimicry Technique, with the goal of uniting with the beast, combining one's own chakra with the ninja hound's to achieve power far exceeding one's own! These three paths may seem different, but in truth, they lead to the same destination. At the very end of the journey, they will merge into one!"
So, the Rasengan is just one of the topological forms of Gatsuga? Essentially, they are the same thing… Ah…
Ryoto looked at his hand. Rin gazed at her own with unconcealed regret.
"My talent is limited; this is my limit. In my entire life, I will never be able to reach the level described in the clan records."
Mother and son lowered their heads.
"A talented genius, with only these three basic techniques, will naturally see the path stretching out before them. For a talentless fool, these three techniques are also sufficient. They wouldn't be able to learn anything more complex anyway. How far they can go depends solely on their own efforts. However…"
Clenching her fist sharply, Rin looked at Ryoto.
"Ryoto, use that power of yours on me!"
"Huh?" Ryoto's mouth fell open.
It seems I can make Mother even fiercer. And then she'll hit me even harder.
Under his mother's loving and expectant gaze, Ryoto tremblingly extended his hand. He could not touch her head, nor would he dare, so… a handshake!
A small hand rested upon a large one.
"Good boy." Rin immediately intercepted his hand, placed it on her own head, and began to ruffle her hair with it.
The corner of Ryoto's mouth twitched. His mother's habit of petting him like a dog was incorrigible.