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Yuuki Yuichi and Yuhi Kurenai didn't join the others for lunch because Kurenai was soaked. They headed home so she could shower and change her clothes.
"Kurenai, those clothes are so ugly," Yuichi remarked, rubbing his chin as he saw Kurenai in her new outfit.
"Huh?" Kurenai turned to the mirror, checking her reflection. "My dad bought them. They shouldn't be that bad, right?"
To Kurenai, her clothes seemed fine, but Yuuki Yuichi thought otherwise.
"Uncle Kurenai really has terrible taste," he muttered.
Kurenai looked confused by his comment. Before she could ask further, Yuichi grabbed her hand and said, "Let's go shopping for some new clothes this afternoon!"
He used to think her clothes were alright, but now, seeing them again, he was certain they were horrible—unspeakably bad. He was puzzled how someone with such poor fashion sense like Yuhi Shinku could have a daughter as adorable as Kurenai when she was young, and who would grow into a mature beauty later on.
With money in his pocket, Yuichi Yuuki didn't feel any pressure buying Kurenai new clothes. After all, it was technically Yuhi Shinku's money being spent on his daughter.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the bell at the ninja academy rang promptly.
Yuichi Yuuki and Yuhi Kurenai were sitting in their seats, chatting casually when the bell rang. However, Ikkaku Umino wasn't in the classroom yet.
Uchiha Obito arrived late, being scolded outside by Umino. Occasionally, they could hear voices from the corridor.
Obito had been with Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy, so the three of them were all late together.
"Yuichi, why is Obito always late?" Kurenai asked curiously, poking Yuichi with her finger.
"Obito seems to be late every day."
Yuichi Yuuki wasn't sure how to answer, so he replied uncertainly, "Maybe it's fate's guidance?"
"To be honest, I have no idea why he's often late," Yuichi admitted truthfully.
In his memory, Uchiha Obito was late because he was always helping someone, but being late every single day seemed like some sort of divine intervention.
After a while, Ikkaku Umino stopped scolding and allowed the three to enter the classroom. Hatake Kakashi, with his trademark tired expression, sat down.
Yuichi poked Kakashi's back and asked, "Did you run into an old lady who needed help?"
"No," Kakashi turned his head with his usual deadpan expression and said slowly, "We were blocked by a black cat, and we couldn't move forward."
Yuichi Yuuki: "…"
Yuhi Kurenai: "…"
Seeing that Kakashi wasn't joking, Yuichi could only sigh about how weird the world had become.
As the trio sat in silence, Ikkaku Umino coughed lightly from the podium. "Alright, let's start class now!"
"Everyone, turn to page 10 of The Will of Fire."
"Today, we will learn about the strongest Hokage, the Third Hokage!"
"In the early days of Konoha, the Third Hokage was known as the strongest of them all."
As Umino lectured, Yuichi Yuuki appeared to be listening intently but was actually lost in thought. Occasionally, he would nod, pretending to agree with the lesson.
In reality, Yuichi didn't believe in the ideals from The Will of Fire that Umino preached. To him, it seemed more like brainwashing than education.
In his view, The Will of Fire was a pyramid scheme, full of deeds and hollow slogans. Having seen countless things on the internet in his previous life, this level of brainwashing was nothing to him. He just needed to be cautious that Kurenai didn't get swept up in it.
Luckily, with both Yuichi and her father Yuhi Shinku, who focused more on teaching survival skills than ideals, he didn't think she'd be brainwashed too easily.
As his thoughts drifted, Yuichi recalled his tree-climbing training from the morning. During the exercise, he realized he could control the gravity and repulsion of his chakra through sheer will. Although it wasn't strong yet, he thought it might be useful for tree-climbing and water-walking.
Yuichi even suspected that this method of chakra manipulation was how ninjas managed to climb trees and walk on water. However, with Shinku absent, there was no one to ask. He would have to wait until Shinku returned from his mission.
That idea stayed in his mind as a faint, light-red chakra thread emerged from Yuichi's fingertips, floating above the desk.
Yuichi Yuuki had both lightning and fire chakra natures. Since he hadn't yet practiced other chakra natures, he could only use lightning and fire for now. His chakra, therefore, was naturally imbued with the qualities of these elements.
As the chakra string hovered in the air, Kurenai watched with curiosity, attempting to release chakra from her own fingers. Her chakra was light red, but darker than Yuichi's.
"Try to suppress the fire element in your mind," Yuichi advised her.
Following his instructions, Kurenai concentrated. Gradually, her chakra became lighter and less red, finally turning into a colorless chakra thread—pure, attribute-less chakra.
The Rasengan, a non-attribute ninjutsu, came to Yuichi's mind. Initially, the Rasengan was a non-elemental technique, but as it was developed further, it became Wind Style: Rasengan, followed by Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, Big Ball Rasengan, and other variants.
The Rasengan was like a blank slate. By adding any elemental attribute to it, one could create a corresponding elemental Rasengan. Different Rasengan techniques could be created depending on the element added.
While Yuichi Yuuki was interested in the Rasengan, he wasn't overly eager to learn it. It didn't suit his fighting style. Although he relied on taijutsu and his strong physique to overpower people like Kakashi, he saw himself as a ninjutsu-type fighter.
His formidable physique and fast recovery didn't stop him from focusing on ninjutsu.
As he contemplated the Rasengan, Yuichi thought about combining form manipulation with Fire Style. Perhaps he could develop a flying technique using Fire Style's characteristics.
He was eager to improve himself, not just relying on the achievement system.
"I, Yuuki Yuichi, have never been inferior to anyone in my life!" he thought, brimming with confidence.
If Minato Namikaze could create the first Rasengan, why couldn't Yuuki Yuichi develop his own unique series of ninjutsu?
His thoughts were so deep that he unconsciously retracted the chakra thread in his hand, his head still nodding occasionally in rhythm with Ikkaku Umino's lecture.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage's office, the door was kicked open by none other than Uzumaki Kushina, who stormed in with Minato Namikaze following her.
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