"..."
Isao and Yumiko were stunned. They didn't know how to react to the bombshell that Suguru had just dropped. In comparison, Hitomi began connecting the dots.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Suguru smiled. "Don't mind it, everyone. It's behind me now. This is why I prefer a peaceful life in the village over going around and killing people."
He continued, "The world is a cruel place."
"Y-yeah," Yumiko stuttered, "It is a cruel place."
***
Team Hitomi returned after completing their mission. They handed over the bodies of the bandits and split the rewards. 30,000 Ryo was split into four, with each genin getting seven thousand and Hitomi getting the remaining nine thousand.
After saying their goodbyes, the four split up.
From then on, taking C-rank missions would become normal for their team. They planned on taking a mission every week for two months. Their missions would vary from fighting wild beasts to exterminating the usual bandits.
This meant that Suguru would have more free time.
'I need to expand my repertoire of jutsus. It's about time as well. I might meet enemy ninjas in the future.' Suguru thought, 'Yumiko has been steadily increasing her Genjutsu count, and Isao's chakra has been expanding like crazy.'
In comparison, Suguru only got faster. He grew fast enough that he had trouble keeping track of his surroundings without a Sharingan.
In a sense, it was similar to when Kakashi first used his Chidori. The lack of a Sharingan created a tunnel vision effect whenever he moved at such a high speed.
As for chakra control...
'I've long raised my chakra control to the point where I can walk on water.'
***
To clear his mind and check up on his old classmates, Suguru visited the Academy. Upon arriving, he spotted Masumi and the others using the school's training grounds.
He walked over after seeing how energetic they all were.
"Masumi-sensei~" Suguru called out, flickered beside his old teacher.
"O-oh! Suguru! How have you been?" Shocked, Masumi forgot to referee the ongoing spar.
Suguru watched as Nara Shikiro got hit square in the face by Akimichi Rie's fist.
—Thud!
Shikiro was knocked out cold.
"Oh no!" Masumi was further startled. "Suguru, you—!"
Seeing the situation unfold in this direction, Suguru hurriedly flickered away.
"...That kid has finally learned how to be cheeky." Masumi sighed, somewhat happy that Suguru had shown more signs of being a kid.
"Did Hitomi-senpai cause this change?"
Shaking his head, Masumi looked over to Yamanaka Keiichi. "Bring Shikiro to the infirmary and wait for him to wake up."
***
Sitting down at Training Ground 24, Suguru thought about what he could do with his affinity for Fire Release. Initially, he wanted to learn some movement and defensive Ninjutsus of the fire variety.
However, upon glossing over the Fire Release jutsus in the library, Suguru remembered one thing:
There were no Fire Release jutsus akin to what he desired. They were all offensive jutsus, offensive utility jutsus, and offensive defense jutsus.
There was no such thing as pure utility or defense when it came to Fire Release. No matter what, there will always be a means for using those techniques to attack.
'So, should I create the best defense using the strongest offense?' Suguru smacked his lips and thought.
After a minute of indecision, he decided to follow through. After all, he already had Dark Release to absorb any Ninjutsu sent at him. There was no need for defense or utility — he could just absorb his enemy's jutsus and use those against them.
All he needed now was firepower — and a lot of it.
'It's time to fulfill the heritage of my surname.'
Suguru then began theorizing. He spent the next several hours experimenting with the Great Fireball Jutsu, analyzing the movement of chakra using both Sharingan and Byakugan. He looked into the smallest of details and what gave the jutsus its shape.
Upon listing down the nature of Fire Release, Suguru then began coming up with his own repertoire of jutsus. In the end, he came up with three jutsus that he could use for most of his life as a ninja.
The first jutsu he thought about was a Nintaijutsu that used Fire Release through other parts of the body. He called it the [Blaze Battle Body], which used theories from the Hyuga clan's releasing of chakra from their tenketsu.
The second jutsu was an ultra-long-range jutsu that he could use with his Kaisugan. It would be called [Hellfire Artillery] and had the effect of shooting huge missiles of fire in parabolic trajectories.
Finally, the third jutsu would be a Genjutsu-based technique. By using the flames on the battlefield, Suguru would be able to influence an enemy's chakra, whether through the appearance, sound, smell, or temperature of said flames. He would call this [Genjutsu: Infernal Mirage].
From these three jutsus, Suguru would be able to create many variants by simply altering how he released his chakra. He would be able to adapt based on the situation despite not having a full range of mastered jutsus.
To Suguru, this was good enough for now.
After finalizing his plans, he got to work.
'Shadow Clone Jutsu,'
Suguru created two clones after scouting the area and making sure no one was around to spy on him — not even Danzo's Root shinobi. Then, he began the process of creation.
It was a slow and arduous process, but a necessary one.
'Luckily, there's still a long while before anything significant happens. Nonetheless, I'll give myself a year to set the foundations of all three jutsus. If I fail to make any significant progress, I'll abandon this plan.'
So, time passed.
Suguru alternated between three things — missions, research, and training. Through his use of Shadow Clones and the constant exhaustion of his chakra, Suguru's chakra reserves began to grow. After a few months, he was capable of making another two clones, hastening his training.
Despite five people working on inventing three new jutsus, Suguru's progress was still slow. The theories all checked out, and his recent progress confirmed that. However, it was just very hard to find the right chakra flow, patterns, and proportions.
Furthermore, [Blaze Battle Body] was less of a Ninjutsu and more of a Taijutsu style. It allowed him to use Fire Release as if it was an extension of his movements instead of always having to breathe it out.
As he trained, researched, and went on missions, Suguru turned nine.
[]=[]=[]=[]
I made a P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
Upon my friend's suggestion, I've added a special rank on P@treon. On top of having all available advanced chapters (currently at twenty-five), you get to see MORE THAN ONE (>1) update per day! This number can reach up to five chapters on days when I have a lot of time, so it's quite the fun rank~
Chapter Sponsorship Code (Hurry, there's less than 1 week left!):
[ B0F52 ]
Big thanks to Godphaze, CosmicOwl, HE, Drowz, Calm Dxwn, and Melon for supporting me on P@treon! <3
[]=[]=[]=[]