The book my uncle had given me was fantastic !
It mainly concerned basic techniques usable by those who possessed the kekkei genkai of our clan.
From what I understood, jutsu were divided into ranks.
There were E rank jutsu, which were the basics, such as the Henge, a technique allowing the user to change their appearance and imitate another person.
It was practical for infiltration, but complex against other ninja who could sense differences in chakra.
There were also other jutsu such as Substitution, a technique used by Kakashi to switch his position with a log at the last moment.
I should really think about talking to my uncle about this jutsu to learn it. I was sure there was something interesting to do with it.
On top of that, the jutsu appeared at first glance like a sort of mini teleportation.
Then again, I did not know the specifics, so I could be wrong.
I didn't know any of these E rank jutsu yet. I had only practiced taijutsu, chakra control with the leaf exercise on my forehead, and the practice of my kekkei genkai.
After that came D, C, and up to S rank jutsu.
S rank techniques were almost impossible to learn, and even to obtain. I wondered if our clan even had any.
In the book my uncle had given me, there were jutsu using my kekkei genkai up to C rank.
Apparently, C rank was the most commonly used by ninja.
Why, you might ask?
Well ... that's because techniques above that rank consumed a lot of chakra, and it was more optimal to use a C rank jutsu and overcharge it rather than using a B rank one.
Of course, it also depended on the situation.
In short, this book was a true gold mine, with many effective jutsu developed by the clan, but also theories on the use of our kekkei genkai and how it functioned.
From what I understood, Crystal Release was actually quite complex from a scientific point of view.
Crystals were formed by an ordered arrangement of atoms or molecules.
Crystal Release therefore relied on the ninja's ability to control atomic bonds in order to organize surrounding matter, such as carbon, silicon, water, and minerals, into crystalline structures.
I especially wondered about the hardness these crystals could reach.
Could I ... create diamonds?
In essence, the ninja's cells, through a unique metabolism, could produce enzymes or proteins capable of modifying the nature of chakra and giving it unique properties, allowing them to :
Extract the necessary elements from the environment, such as oxygen, carbon, and minerals from the soil.
Rearrange these elements into crystalline structures through a process close to directed crystallization.
By combining chakra principles, which were vital energy transformable into natural elements, with an advanced application of chemistry, Crystal Release could directly convert chakra into crystalline matter, using a process similar to the formation of solids from plasma or superheated liquids.
These structures could then be stabilized instantly, giving them mechanical properties such as hardness and transparency.
This implied that the ninja had perfect control over local temperature and pressure to favor rapid crystal nucleation.
Crystal Release therefore had unique properties such as hardness and resistance and similar to materials like diamond or quartz due to the density of covalent bonds.
Great masters could make their crystals hard enough to withstand multiple jutsu without damage, and sharp enough to cut through metal.
Transparency and reflection were also possible. By precisely orienting atomic structures, the ninja could manipulate light, creating illusions, prisms, or camouflage effects.
Crystal Release could therefore subtly transmit genjutsu through reflection, among other things.
I had actually seen jutsu going in that direction in the book.
Rapid growth was another property.
Precise control over intermolecular attraction forces could allow exponential growth of crystalline structures, as observed in certain biomimetic systems.
In theory, growth was possible through a domino effect, meaning only a small amount of chakra would be required for certain jutsu that could reach enormous sizes.
This was only theoretical, since no documented expert in the clan had reached a sufficient level of control.
As for weaknesses, sound and lightning could disrupt the molecular structure of crystals.
I would need to be very careful around Lightning Release users.
There was an extremely high potential for this power. An advanced user should reach the level of an A rank ninja, equivalent to elite Jonin in the great villages.
As for S rank, there was a significant barrier. The control required and the chakra reserves needed were extremely high.
Moreover, other releases and all other ninja arts should not be neglected in order to adapt properly to any given situation ...
I still had a lot of work to do, but it was incredibly exciting.
I had devoured the entire theoretical part of the book in a single week. After all, it was crucial to fundamentally understand how our power worked, as well as its weaknesses.
Now it was time to move on to the jutsu section. And there were a lot of them.
I selected four jutsu, two E rank and two D rank, to learn first.
Minor Crystallization, an E rank technique, would allow me to create sharp crystals in the air and launch them at my enemies.
The crystal manipulation provided by Minor Crystallization would allow me to control these small crystals in the air by maintaining hand seals, enabling continuous attacks.
The second E rank jutsu would be Crystal Petals.
This technique formed crystal petals with a diameter of thirty centimeters, allowing me to protect myself as small defensive shields.
These two jutsu would let me manage both offense and defense, and I could even envision controlling both at the same time with enough mastery.
The two D rank jutsu I chose were just as useful.
The first, Crystal Blade, would allow me to create a crystal sword or kunai.
I would therefore always have a weapon at my disposal.
The second, Crystalline Veil, was more special.
It consisted of releasing chakra into the air to form extremely fine crystals dispersed throughout an area, creating a dome around me.
These crystals would facilitate the creation of jutsu within this space, essentially creating a domain in which I would be much stronger.
Now that I had selected these jutsu, all that remained was to learn them.
But when I looked at these techniques, I realized they were already quite powerful. I could barely imagine what the masters of our clan had been capable of in the past.
I also did not understand how it was possible that we had been reduced to our current state.
Maybe I should ask my uncle about it.
This chapter is mainly and infodump explaining cristal release or Shoton in more details since it was barely mentionned in the filler episode.
Also our hero won't be a child for long, this part tof the book which is around 30 chapters or so cover his childhood and is merely a "flashback" to the actual strory.