Uncle Gen returned to the Kazama residence cautiously and went straight to the backyard, carrying several scrolls in his arms.
It was obvious just how careful he had been.
Even now, faint traces of his disguise remained.
Of course, he had removed most of it before entering Konoha.
Otherwise, walking into the village in disguise would only make him even more suspicious.
“Thanks for your hard work, Uncle Gen!” Kazama stopped refining chakra and walked over.
His gratitude was completely sincere.
The old man had spent the entire day outside, taking every precaution to avoid being discovered before finally returning this late.
It truly hadn’t been easy.
“It’s what I should do.
Keep working hard, Young Master Kazama !” Uncle Gen encouraged him before handing over the scrolls.
“All right, I will.
Uncle Gen, go get something to eat first.” Kazama nodded and accepted them.
“I won’t disturb your training any longer.” A kindly smile remained on Uncle Gen’s face as he slowly left the backyard, leaving the entire area to Kazama.
After Kazama’s parents passed away, he had been the only member of the Kazama family left.
Uncle Gen had personally raised him.
Aside from the two of them, the enormous Kazama estate had only two servants responsible for cleaning and cooking.
The residence was exceptionally quiet.
That suited Kazama perfectly.
It also made training much more convenient.
He opened the scrolls.
As expected, they contained only simple ninjutsu.
There were techniques from all five basic chakra natures—Water Release, Fire Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release, and Wind Release.
All of them were basic, low-level techniques.
“Looks like Uncle Gen didn’t know what my chakra nature was, so he bought a little of everything.” There were seven scrolls in total.
Each of the five basic chakra natures had at least one technique, while Fire Release and Lightning Release each had two.
That should be enough to keep Kazama occupied for quite some time.
Strictly speaking, a shinobi didn’t need to possess a matching natural affinity to learn a particular elemental ninjutsu.
Chakra nature affinity only became especially important once a shinobi reached a certain level and wanted to advance further.
Learning nature transformation that matched one’s innate affinity was much easier, and techniques of that nature could generally be performed with greater power.
Some ninjutsu even required a shinobi to fully master the corresponding chakra nature transformation before they could be learned at all.
Trying to master a chakra nature for which one had no natural affinity, however, could be several times—or even more than ten times—more difficult.
“I wonder what my chakra affinities are?” Kazama felt a small surge of excitement.
“My body is supposed to be perfect.
Don’t tell me I have all five basic natures?
Maybe even all seven if Yin and Yang are included?” He decided he would find a sheet of chakra paper sometime soon and test himself.
For now, though, learning ninjutsu was more important.
“I’ll start with Wind, Lightning, and Fire.” Those were the three chakra natures Kazama liked the most.
They all possessed excellent offensive power and lethality.
More importantly, many Wind Release and Lightning Release techniques had already been developed extensively in the original story.
All Kazama needed to do was experiment with those ideas and copy— No.
That sounded wrong.
Since he would develop them first in this timeline, that made them original!
Yes.
Original creations.
Kazama opened the first scroll.
“Fire Release: Fireball Technique… This is a low-level Fire Release technique, right?” He checked another.
“Wind Release: Wind Blade Slash…” Then the Lightning Release scroll.
“Lightning Release: Lightning Flash?” Kazama stared at the description.
“This is just an electric arc!
And they actually called it ‘Lightning Flash’?
What the hell?” All the techniques recorded on the scrolls were extremely simple.
They were practically the lowest level of ninjutsu available.
Perhaps Uncle Gen had deliberately bought such beginner techniques because Kazama had only recently started training.
“Whatever…” Kazama sighed.
“I’ll just practice them slowly.
I can treat it as hand-seal practice and chakra-control training.” Uncle Gen’s constant concern for him was certainly heartwarming.
Sometimes, however, it also gave Kazama a headache.
Putting aside his minor frustration, Kazama began practicing ninjutsu.
As an otaku from Earth, he had dreamed of using ninjutsu for years.
Especially techniques like those performed by Itachi Uchiha, whose hand seals could be completed at nearly instantaneous speed, including his incredibly fast one-handed seals.
In Kazama’s eyes, those were practically essential skills for looking cool, showing off, and humiliating opponents.
Naturally, they were also among his goals.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Kazama’s hands blurred.
Low-level ninjutsu generally required only three to five hand seals.
This particular Fireball Technique required just four.
Kazama could complete the sequence in less than two seconds.
“Fire Release: Fireball Technique!” Whoosh!
A fireball about the size of a washbasin burst from Kazama’s mouth and shot toward the small pond he usually used for water-walking practice.
Hiss!
The fireball slammed into the pond.
Ripples spread across the surface as flames collided with water, producing a burst of steam.
Kazama stared at the washbasin-sized fireball.
“This Fire Release is probably only good enough to bully little kids…” With his current chakra control, he had already pushed the technique close to its limit.
After all, it was merely a low-level Fire Release ninjutsu.
Unless he could modify and upgrade the technique—perhaps by adding more hand seals and channeling more chakra into it—there probably wasn’t much room for improvement.
But asking a tiny kid to modify ninjutsu?
No matter how he looked at it, that didn’t seem realistic.
Even if the soul inside that tiny body belonged to an adult, Kazama simply lacked the necessary foundation and accumulated knowledge.
He couldn’t do it yet.
…
The days that followed passed quickly amid Kazama’s tightly packed training schedule.
Before he realized it, Kazama had already turned four years old.
A new year had begun.
Every morning, he trained his body, practiced hand seals, and refined chakra.
In the afternoon, he practiced ninjutsu, chakra control, more hand seals, and then refined chakra again.
His entire day was packed with training.
Even so, Kazama was careful never to push his young body beyond its limits or recklessly squeeze out its future potential.
“Should I awaken Wood Release and try it out now?” Ever since Kazama had gained chakra, that question had constantly bothered him.
As far as Kazama understood it, possessing Wood Release would provide enormous benefits whether he was training or fighting.
His stamina and injuries could recover at astonishing speed.
Even if he never actually used Wood Release in public, that regenerative ability alone would benefit him for the rest of his life.
“Damn it…” Kazama struggled with the temptation for a moment before shaking his head.
“No.
I should wait.” “It’d be ridiculous if Wood Release ended up being both my greatest advantage and the thing that got me killed.” Wood Release’s recovery ability was undoubtedly powerful.
But what if that abnormal recovery attracted Orochimaru’s attention?
And what if an investigation eventually revealed that Kazama had awakened Wood Release?
At that point, he might not even have anywhere left to cry.
In the end, Kazama suppressed his restless impulse once again.
After all, mentally, he was an adult.
He understood the principle that failing to endure a small inconvenience could ruin a much greater plan.
Sometimes, a little patience was the wiser choice.
“If only I’d been born into one of the great clans.” Kazama couldn’t help feeling somewhat envious of Konoha’s prestigious families, such as the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyūga clans.
If he had been born as a genius in one of those clans, he would have access to all kinds of resources whenever he needed them.
Ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu— Whatever he wanted to learn, the clan would have something available.
He also wouldn’t need to worry nearly as much about his personal safety, because clan shinobi would naturally protect an important young genius.
Of course… If he really were born into a powerful clan and displayed exceptional talent, rival clans might also try to assassinate him.
A genius only had value if he survived long enough to grow.
So no matter where someone was born— survival came first.
“Hm?” Kazama suddenly narrowed his eyes as he noticed two figures in the distance.
“That’s…” His expression changed slightly.
“Might Duy and Might Guy?”