Horse → Tiger → Serpent → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
Katon Gokakyu no Jutsu !! 火遁・豪火球の術 (Fire release : Great Fireball Technique!)
Fukashi exhaled, and a roaring fireball surged from his mouth, taller and broader than himself, rushing toward the pond with blistering heat.
Shinichi stared, stunned.
'What… just happened? How did he…. Was it those hand seals? That energy?!'
He moved instinctively, repeating the hand seals his father had demonstrated; clumsily, but in perfect sequence.
Horse → Tiger → Serpent → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
A deep inhale.
A hopeful exhale
Only breath…. No flame.
Confusion flickered in Shinichi's eyes, the same eyes which until now had been dulled by indifference.
---
Fukashi was more stunned than his son.
'He memorized the full sequence… without ever being taught… and executed them without a Sharingan. Baba was right. There's something extraordinary inside him.'
Until now, Fukashi had performed martial arts, hoping to entertain his son. To spark joy. To give Shinichi something to fall in love with. But now, seeing his child copying ninjutsu purely by observation, he knew it was time.
Shinichi's path as Shinobi just started.
---
Shinichi tried again. This time, he tapped into something deeper, an energy long buried in his knowledge, foreign yet familiar. The Ki of his past life began to convert, painfully and awkwardly, into chakra.
Horse → Tiger → Serpent → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
A small Fireball successfully erupted from his mouth, flickering across the pond. However, its size was incomparably small compared to Fukashi's.
His expression changed.
From passive emptiness to sharp-eyed clarity.
A question echoed in his heart.
'This world… it's not ordinary. The ninjas that kids idolize, what if they're real? And this… this energy. It's not just elemental. It's more versatile than Ki. With this… maybe I could bring my comrades here. Maybe I could rewrite fate.'
He turned toward the man beside him.
'the key to my goal… might be him, my father.'
Shinichi had accepted the existence of family in this life, but not its meaning. Parental love was a feeling he had never known. That warmth, that ache in the heart, it was strange. Even… unsettling. So he avoided it. Ignored it. But now, he couldn't.
Fukashi stepped closer and ruffled his son's hair, smiling proudly.
"Ha! Shinichi… you haven't unlocked your chakra pathways yet, or learned how to mold charka. Yet you can still successfully perform Gokakyu no jutsu. Hahahaha!"
"Chakra…?"
"It's the fusion of your physical and spiritual energy. It lets us control nature, enhance our bodies… perform things like this."
Fukashi gathered chakra to his foot – and with a flicker, disappeared from view. Shinichi wasn't surprised by the movement – he'd seen faster things before. But the method intrigued him.
'High speed muscle movement supplemented by this... chakra. Physical and spiritual energy was it?'
His thoughts raced.
"If you master chakra," Shinichi asked slowly, "can you teleport? Travel far away?"
Fukashi paused, then chuckled warmly.
"Want to see the world already? Be patient. Master each step, and one day, you might surpass even legends."
He ruffled Shinichi's hair again.
"As for teleportation jutsus… I don't have them. But Senju Tobirama... He does." Fukashi slowly delivered with solemnity, especially when he mentioned the name, Senju Tobirama. However, his tone soon regained its jovial spirit.
"But, it's too early for that, son. Don't run before you can walk. Let's unlock your chakra flow first. We'll start when we get home."
"… Okay, Father."
Fukashi smiled. His chest swelled with pride, though a little sting crept in.
'He always says "father"… everyone else gest "dad" or "papa"… why am I the formal one?
Well… maybe someday.'
***
When they arrived home, a fair-skinned woman with long, straight black hair, her bangs framing her cheeks like delicate brushstrokes, greeted them with a radiant smile. This was Uchiha Minami, mother of Uchiha Shinichi.
"You came just in time! Dinner's ready!"
Fukashi and Shinichi exchanged grins and darted toward the dining room. Over the past two years, Minami had retired from her life as a kunoichi. Her son's aloofness toward the world nudged her down an unexpected path: she became a devoted student of the culinary arts. With admirable zeal, she visited nearly every household in Konoha, gathering recipes, techniques, and wisdom from seasoned cooks.
Thankfully, recipes in Konoha weren't guarded secrets yet. Few clans had developed industries outside of shinobi training, and the art of cooking remained one of the few universal trades. The Nara clan, for instance, had begun cultivating medicinal herbs and raising deer to harvest their antlers as medicinal supplies. Meanwhile, the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga clans still maintained ancient mines and fertile lands beyond the village boundaries in the Land of Fire.
Minami's cooking became legendary, at least within Konoha. Lately, she'd poured her passion into creating new dishes just to elicit more than a neutral response from her son. Watching a revered three-tomoe Sharingan kunoichi experiment in the kitchen with childlike excitement was an endearing contradiction. Her devotion to lifting Shinichi's spirits laid bare before the public eyes.
Meal times had become Shinichi's sanctuary, the only moment when he showed genuine excitement. Now, just the anticipation of Minami's dishes caused his stomach to rumble and eyes to gleam.
"Mother.. what's for di–"
"MOM! or MAMA!" Minami barked, her eyes flaring with the crimson glow of her Sharingan. She wielded her spatula like a weapon of maternal justice.
Shinichi and Fukashi froze, cold sweat trailing down their temples.
"mo…M…Mom," Shinichi corrected himself in defeat.
Instantly, Minami's glare vanished, replaced by a smile so arm it could thaw glaciers.
Fukashi activated his own Sharingan, preparing to speak, but –
"Father," Shinichi said with a deadpan expression.
Fukashi deflated. He collapsed into a corner, hugging his knees and drawing circles on the tatami floor while muttering, "What did I do to deserve this..?"
Triumphant, Minami embraced Shinichi and squealed, "Ahh~! My lovely Shin-chan! MOM made your favorite sweet marinated beef ribs and Agedashi Tofu~!"
Shinichi's expression softened. A bit of drool escaped his lips as his eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Waku-Waku. Slurp.
Minami chuckled, covertly capturing the moment with her sharingan – a treasured snapshot for her memory archive.
Jiiiiiii~~~~~~(STARE~~~~~)
"Mothe – MOM!" Shinichi sighed, shaking his head in mock surrender as he evaded into the kitchen. What could he say? His mother's food painted brilliant color into this otherwise muted world… second only to his encounter with chakra earlier that day. Or perhaps not even second, but first.
That night, the house resonated with laughter, warmth, and the clinking of chopsticks.
***
Evening.
Fukashi and Shinichi sat facing each other under the soft glow of the lanterns.
"Shinichi," Fukashi began, his tone gentle yet firm, "I am going to unlock your chakra path now. You were able to produce a fireball earlier, so clearly you can tap into your chakra. But this process, it's more about awakening your perception of chakra. The term 'unlock' doesn't mean they're literally sealed. It's just how we describe awakening in one's sensitivity to chakra flow."
This method was tradition among the great clans like Uchiha, Senju, and Hyuga. They had no shortage of elite shinobi skilled enough to guide the young by safely channeling chakra through their bodies. But such guidance was a luxury most clans couldn't afford. Injecting chakra into another's system could trigger violent rejection or immune reactions, and only those with extreme control, usually medical ninja, could avoid harm. The Uchiha, however, were a different breed. Their Sharingan gave them exceptional finesse, and for a seasoned jonin or even a skilled chunin within the clan, the chakra unlocking was routine. The Same applied to Hyuga and their Byakugan.
Shinichi nodded his head in earnest. His eyes sharp with attention.
"Before we begin," Fukashi continued, "let me explain what chakra truly is. It's the union of two forces: physical energy from your body and spiritual energy from your mind and spirit. For us Uchiha, our spiritual energy is exceptionally strong; it's where our greatest potential lies. Chakra is the essence of ninja strength, and it can be cultivated. Physical energy grows through training and stamina. Spiritual energy... that's developed through maturity and meditation."
Fukashi's voice deepened. "Tomorrow we begin training your body to build that foundation. But tonight, let's unlock your awareness of chakra."
He moved behind Shinichi and place his palm gently on his son's back. A warm current began to seep into Shinichi's spine.
"Focus on how the energy feels. I'm starting now."
---
Shinichi shut his eyes and concentrated. The warmth from Fukashi's palm entered his body like a current flowing through ancient channels. It reminded him of his past life when he mastered muscle control and developed Ki techniques that danced along his Shinkeikei (nervous system).
This sensation wasn't foreign. Its was like discovering another layer of himself: phantom limbs, new eyes, extended senses.
Fukashi's chakra paused for a moment before resuming, tracing along invisible routes within Shinichi's body. He recognized these paths. They mirrored the Keiketsu 経穴(nerve acupuncture points) pathways he studied in his previous life. They ran adjacent to the nervous system, yet didn't overlap it, except for 8 different points across the body.
Shinichi's breath deepened as he began guiding his own chakra along the path his father hap mapped. He sensed tiny exit points, release valves nestled along these channels.
'So these are chakra release points… just like the keiketsu.'
Oddly, his father never guided chakra toward his eyes or vital organs.
'Are they too sensitive? Or dangerous to touch?'
Curiosity overcame caution. Shinichi focused his chakra toward his eyes. The reaction was instant – like floodgates bursting. A cool, soothing energy surged from his brain, flowed through his body, and condensed behind his eyes.
He followed it, tracked its origin, and then opened his eyes.
---
Fukashi froze.
He had just finished his guidance, and yet Shinichi had already begun to gather and circulate chakra on his own. Though crude and unrefined, it was unmistakable. The boy was instinctively controlling chakra without formal training.
Fukashi remained silent, afraid to interrupt his son's focus. He had avoided the eyes and organs deliberately, knowing they could trigger immune responses or disrupt internal balance. He hadn't yet mastered the precision needed to safely guide chakra through vital systems.
So he watched. Quietly. Ready to act if needed.
Then he saw it.
Shinichi's eyes opened with crimson glow.
It was Sharingan.