Upon returning home, Takayuki was already waiting at the door for Kagaya. Seeing his son, Takayuki turned and walked in another direction.
"Follow me."
Kagaya obediently trailed behind.
A short while later, Takayuki led Kagaya to a small lake.
Kagaya looked around thoughtfully. He vaguely remembered this place. After some thought, he realized—this was the spot in the original story where Itachi's father taught him the Fireball Jutsu.
"You can already produce chakra, right?" Takayuki asked, his gaze fixed on the lake.
Kagaya nodded. "Yes, Father."
Chakra, in simple terms, was the product of combining physical energy and mental energy. Once a person's body and mind reached a certain threshold, they could produce chakra. As their physical and mental capabilities improved over time, their chakra reserves would grow.
Among Kagaya's peers at the academy, no one else could produce chakra yet, as their physical and mental energies hadn't reached the necessary level. Kagaya, however, had achieved this through diligent training for physical energy, and his mental energy, bolstered by his transmigration, had easily met the mark.
Currently, Kagaya's chakra reserves were small, but having chakra at his age was already an extraordinary feat.
Takayuki was clearly pleased with Kagaya's response. Though he had learned this yesterday, hearing it again brought him comfort. Every father hopes for their child to succeed.
"Good. If you want to learn ninjutsu, there's one thing you need to understand first—hand signs!"
Kagaya deliberately feigned ignorance. "Hand signs? What are those, Father?"
Takayuki explained, "Chakra is the foundation for performing ninjutsu, but the foundation alone isn't enough. To execute ninjutsu, you need a process, and that process is forming hand signs. It's like practicing with shuriken. The shuriken is your foundation, but to achieve the result of your practice, you need the act of throwing. Only then do you get the outcome. Understand?"
Kagaya nodded.
Seeing this, Takayuki continued, "Hand signs involve forming specific shapes with your hands. There are twelve in total: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Boar."
He paused, raising his hands. "You want to learn ninjutsu, but first, you must memorize these twelve signs thoroughly. I'll demonstrate each one for you now."
With that, Takayuki began moving his hands. He raised his left index and middle fingers, while his right hand grasped them.
"This is Rat."
Then, he positioned his right hand horizontally and his left hand vertically, interlocking them, with the left middle and ring fingers bent over the back of the right hand.
"This is Ox."
Kagaya watched his father's demonstration intently. Though he had seen these signs in the anime, they were formed so quickly there that he couldn't memorize them. He needed to learn them properly now.
It took half an hour for Kagaya to memorize the signs and form them himself. It wasn't that he was slow—some of the signs were genuinely awkward to perform. Moreover, Takayuki demanded that Kagaya's signs be perfectly standard. While Kagaya memorized them quickly, executing them was harder. Most of the half-hour was spent practicing the signs, with half of that time devoted to Takayuki correcting Kagaya's imperfect forms.
Kagaya felt that mastering them in half an hour was already impressive.
Takayuki shared the same sentiment. For Kagaya to achieve a basic level of proficiency with all twelve signs in half an hour was commendable. Of course, the movements were still rough. Learning the signs was just the first step. What truly determined Kagaya's potential was his future hand-sign speed.
"You've learned the basic hand signs. From now on, practice all twelve signs at least ten times every day after coming home. You must not let them become rusty! You're still at the Ninja Academy, so you won't need these signs yet, but I don't want you to grow unfamiliar with them. You could relearn them later, but that would waste time. Kagaya, understand this: hand signs are the foundation, but what truly measures your strength in this area is your hand-sign speed! Start practicing now, and while maintaining standard form, work to increase your speed as much as possible. Got it?"
Kagaya nodded repeatedly. Improving hand-sign speed was critical, and he would definitely put in the effort. At this point in the "Naruto" world, before the late-stage escalation of godlike battles, hand-sign speed was a vital skill in ninja combat. Imagine taking two seconds to form a single sign while your opponent forms two in that time—how could you fight? It's like facing two opponents at once, with your two fists against their four hands.
Right now, Kagaya, fresh from learning the signs, was still clumsy, taking nearly two seconds per sign. If he faced Itachi, his opponent could unleash a dozen ninjutsu before Kagaya even completed one—or had no chance to use any at all.
Takayuki continued, "After learning hand signs, to master ninjutsu, you need to understand two more things: nature transformation and shape transformation. Without mastering nature transformation, your chakra is neutral and can only be used for techniques like the Transformation Jutsu or Shadow Clone Jutsu. Shape transformation, as the name suggests, involves altering the form of chakra. Without it, you can't learn many advanced ninjutsu. But first…"
He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Kagaya. "This is chakra paper, made from trees that grow by absorbing chakra. It's highly sensitive to chakra. Inject your chakra into it, and it will reveal your chakra nature. As an Uchiha, you definitely have the fire nature, but that's not what I'm looking for. Kagaya, did you know? There's a saying in the village that jonin typically have two nature transformations. But I believe it's the other way around: only those with two nature transformations can become jonin! There are rare exceptions, but unfortunately, I'm not one of them. With only one nature transformation, I've been stuck as a chunin. Do you understand how important this test is?"
Takayuki handed the chakra paper to Kagaya with great care.
"I don't think you're an exception. I don't believe you can become a jonin with just one nature. I don't want to put too much pressure on you, but as your father, I just hope my bloodline doesn't hold you back. The difference between one nature and two is the difference between a chunin and a jonin."
Kagaya froze, looking at Takayuki before solemnly taking the paper.
At first, Kagaya hadn't thought much of testing his chakra nature. But he had forgotten something. He had been focused on the future Uchiha massacre, the Third Hokage, Itachi, and the protagonists of the Fourth Great Ninja War, but he had overlooked his current reality.
He was just an ordinary Uchiha clansman, at best with an insignificant "genius" title. His father was merely an ordinary chunin. Those few simple words carried so much helplessness.
To Kagaya, having one or two natures didn't matter much. In the future, he would rely on his eyes—his Sharingan. But for Takayuki, it was different. As an ordinary chunin, he couldn't see that far. All he knew was that his single nature had pinned him to the rank of chunin, forever out of reach of jonin.
Right now, he was just an ordinary father, full of hope that his "genius son" wouldn't be held back by the same cursed bloodline, stuck as a chunin with no hope of advancing.
Kagaya pursed his lips and began injecting chakra into the paper. In his heart, he silently said, "You've already given me a good enough bloodline, Father. No need to worry."
Yes, even if he only had one nature, it didn't matter! Though being an Uchiha put him in great danger now, if he could survive the massacre, the Uchiha identity would be his greatest asset in competing with the original story's protagonists. It was a trump card! A winning hand!
Though his father couldn't see that far, Kagaya would never resent this man who cared so deeply for him.
As Kagaya injected chakra into the paper, the result would depend on his nature: wind would cut the paper, fire would burn it, water would dampen it, lightning would wrinkle it, and earth would crumble it. If someone had all five natures, the paper would split into parts—some cut, some burned, some damp, some wrinkled, some crumbled.
"Whoosh."
As Kagaya's chakra flowed into the paper, a flame sparked, and it began to burn. Neither Kagaya nor Takayuki was surprised—an Uchiha having the fire nature was almost guaranteed.
What truly delighted Takayuki was that the flame only consumed a third of the paper!
On the other side, a third of the paper wrinkled, and another third crumbled.
Fire, Lightning, Earth!