Winter, February.
Amai had finally turned eight on January 29th, and she had been quite busy during this month.
To start with, she had finally learned Chakra Flow. The process had been anything but smooth—four or five kunai had broken down from the stress once the coating wore off, but they got much more sharper and durable when it came to striking, especially deadly when she applied wind chakra instead of normal chakra.
The coating also allowed her to have somewhat of an extended range of around 13 to 14 centimeters whenever she slashed at something. It still wasn't enough to send out ranged strikes, but it was pretty good. Maybe it would work if she got an actual sword meant for Chakra Flow.
She loved seeing the clean cuts whenever her blade sliced through branches—smooth and effortless. Hell, even logs, despite their toughness, fell apart after a few well-placed strikes.
In addition, her theory about being able to coat her fist came true. It effectively protected her hands from the strain that came with the internal imbuement of her muscles, like some kind of armor. The energy wasn't visible, but it did its job.
Amai would still feel the pain, but her skin, bones and tissue would remain undamaged. This just meant she needed to increase her pain tolerance before applying it in actual combat!
She stared at the boulder she had coincidentally found at the training grounds where she usually practiced and began directing chakra to her right arm, concentrating even more on her forearm and fist.
Taking a steady breath, she pulled her arm back and threw a punch while grunting.
"Hnngh!"
Her fist collided with the center of the boulder full strength, cracking it due to the sheer force. Then, a ripple of chakra passed through almost a tenth of a second later, causing it to crack even further.
The first impact had been her pure strength enhanced with her energy, and the second, a delayed pulse of chakra, had amplified the damage further beyond.
Amai watched as the fractures spread, the stone quickly breaking into jagged pieces.
"Fuck, that really, really hurts," She complained, holding her right fist in protest. It was a sharp pain, but no injuries were visible on it, which was good. "I have become really strong since I've arrived, haven't I?"
She beamed as her eyes glistened at the sight in front of her. Despite the pain, it was clear that her training was paying off. Every bruise and every strain was a reminder of how far she'd come, and how much further she could go. There was still a long journey ahead, though.
So many powerful existences, and so much bullshit that came in many different forms. Dojutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Fuinjutsu... the list seemed endless. Each one more complicated, more refined than the last. There were countless techniques, actually.
Amai had also been pouring more than half of her focus into her Ice Release. Right now, she could freeze a small pond in less than 10 seconds, and even faster if she was fully focused. The constant draining of her chakra allowed her to increase her reservoir by a large 20%, bringing her barely into high-genin territory.
Growing was nice, but she knew one day she'd hit a limit when it came to her chakra pool. A shinobi's chakra usually stopped growing around their 20s. Keyword being usually.
Amai's eyes narrowed slightly as she thought about it.
There were always exceptions to the rule, right? Some shinobi defied the odds, breaking through their limits in very unexpected ways. But who came to mind whenever this was brought up? Someone like Maito Gai, or Maito Duy, his father. It wasn't shown in the series, but she was sure that upon unleashing the Eight Gates, ones chakra would jump up massively.
However, this chakra seemed extremely unstable and constantly fluctuating. The fact that neither of them used any Ninjutsu at all proved that well enough. The Eight Gates were a pure display of physical prowess, with chakra focused entirely on enhancing strength and speed.
Could the rampant chakra be contained? Sort of like taming it, and gaining an even bigger boost due to the extra overwhelming chakra that's supposed to be escaping.
Amai didn't have to worry about that for now, because she was still far too weak. They had already ordered mid-tier gravity seals for both her and Sora, and currently, she could handle 210 kg out of the 500 provided. With chakra, she could take it up to 300, but what would be the point of exercising if there was no pain?
The grind never stops!
Either way, she had finally managed to create ice weapons, after so damn long. She could materialize dense ice spears and swords, which meant that even if one of her weapons broke, she could replace it with an ice construct.
It was a major milestone. No longer would she have to rely on traditional tools or carry a stockpile of weapons around. Now, she could summon her own weapons with a thought, made from her very chakra. Shards were also possible to form, but the farther away they were from her, the harder they were to manufacture. The furthest she could manage was two meters—any more than that, and it just wouldn't form.
Not only that, she had no way to give them an impulse to use as ranged attacks. Wind Push and Redirection were an option, but they were weak—she'd need something stronger and more precise, or find a way to charge them fast enough to give them the boost she needs.
Speaking of other techniques, her active chakra field had grown to 224 meters, and her passive chakra field to 20 meters. Constant meditating and expanding your field would certainly do that to you.
The Body Flicker now allowed her to travel 250 meters at once, and she got an idea that was nothing more than a theory for now. Amai noticed that whenever the Body Flicker was used, the chakra coils in her legs would expand to the limit, along with oversaturating the muscles temporarily.
Perhaps this technique allowed users to utilize Chakra Imbuement without their knowledge—to an extreme degree, even. And all it required was a single seal—or none in her case.
Amai just couldn't comprehend how one was supposed to achieve this extreme boost in other limbs because the way this jutsu worked specifically overloaded the muscles in the legs in a single extremely short burst—and only the legs.
How was chakra supposed to flow to achieve the same effect in her arms? The effect didn't even last for more than a second, damn it. One day she'd reverse engineer this jutsu and achieve at least a quarter of the effects throughout every limb, at will.
'Fuck, why does everything have to be so stupidly hard? Damn this cursed world!' She cursed while gazing down at her open palms, her brows furrowed in frustration.
She hadn't even touched the surface of what Ninjutsu could truly do yet, let alone tapped into the potential of Genjutsu or Fuinjutsu. Everyone in Naruto was just a monster like that—capable of leveling an entire village, the biggest village, with a single technique from the Rinnegan. Sage Mode, which allowed someone to lift over 2,000 kilos with one hand without even struggling.
The list kept going on and on, and it was ridiculous. Absurd, even.
But still… this was the shinobi world. It was built on absurdity. If she wanted to thrive in it, she'd have to be just as absurd—if not more.
'Which is why…' She clenched her fist in front of her, her icy blue eyes blazing with determination.
'I'm going to become strong. Stronger than anyone else ever could.'
It was barely even a whisper, but her resolve was clear. Strength was everything in this world when it came to survival. Power dictated who lived and who perished, who was remembered and who was forgotten.
Even if she was limited by her talent, bloodline, and fate, she would find a way to push through with hard work and dedication somehow.
Amai had no real reason to become the strongest, other than just wanting to. Before, she had been just an average person living her life, after all.
Perhaps it was just the desire to use magic, or simply the greed that came with a human's nature. The allure of power, of surpassing limits, of reaching a place others couldn't—it was intoxicating, really.
Or maybe... she just wanted to be noticed.
Yeah, that must be it. There's no way she could've been noticed in such a way back then. Back then, she had no special abilities to show off, no grand potential to prove. She didn't even know if she could've become a renowned cook by following her dreams.
She didn't want to admit it, but she was slightly driven by revenge—more than she was willing to admit, even to herself.
"Obito... Just you wait for me."
One day.
One day she'd get to him.