Dawn found Ren already awake, sitting in a meditative position on the shore of the lake. In his hands, a leaf trembled slightly as he tried to cut it with his wind chakra. The process was frustrating—after an hour of trying, the leaf showed only slight signs of cutting.
'This is harder than it looks,' he thought, looking at yet another damaged leaf. 'In the manga, it looked so simple... but manipulating wind chakra requires a precision I wasn't expecting. It's completely different from water.'
While water flowed naturally, adapting to any shape, wind was rebellious, elusive. It required not only control, but also a kind of... sharpening of the chakra itself.
'It's like trying to turn your chakra into a microscopic blade,' he mused, picking up yet another leaf. This time, he tried to visualize his chakra as two opposing forces colliding, creating a sharp edge.
The tanto his father had given him lay beside him, wrapped in its silk cloth. Ren glanced at the weapon every now and then, imagining what it would be like to infuse it with wind chakra, like Asuma did with his blades.
'I need to master the base element first,' he told himself firmly. 'I can't risk damaging Tou-san's gift with reckless experiments. Besides, if I remember correctly, it took Naruto weeks to cut his first leaf, and he had the advantage of shadow clones.'
On the way to the academy, a familiar voice called out to him, "Ren! Wait!"
Shinji caught up with him, his usual friendly smile. As they walked, Ren noticed that his friend seemed unusually thoughtful, as if he was weighing something in his mind.
"How's the training with the coral going?" Ren asked, trying to break the silence.
"Oh, good," Shinji replied, absentmindedly forming small crystals on his fingers. "The clan is pleased with my progress. Even though..." he trailed off, biting his lip.
"Even though?" Ren encouraged.
"You know," Shinji finally said, "you remind me a lot of Yagura-san."
"Yagura...san???" The question escaped Ren's lips with obvious surprise.
"Yes, you know him?" Shinji smiled with a mixture of pride and nostalgia. "He's one of the strongest ninja in our clan, even though he didn't inherit the Kekkei Genkai. At first, many looked down on him, but he... he never gave up. He has this calm but determined way of doing things, just like you."
Seeing Ren's interest, Shinji continued, "In our clan, the Coral Kekkei Genkai is everything. Those who don't have it are often... cast aside. But Yagura-san has proven that even without it, one can excel, becoming a master of Suiton... they say he can manipulate water in ways no one else in Kirigakure has ever seen."
'Yagura Karatachi!' Ren thought, as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
'I didn't know his clan had a Kekkei Genkai! Much less that he hadn't inherited it... This information could clarify an important piece of the puzzle... could this be the lever of hatred that Madara will use to induce the purge of the Kekkei Genkai?'
"Are you okay, Ren?" Shinji asked, noticing his friend lost in thought.
"Yes," Ren replied with a slightly embarrassed smile. "It's just... interesting. What was it like growing up with him in the clan?" "I didn't know him very well personally," Shinji admitted. "He was already a jonin when I was little. But I remember him always training alone, at dawn, in the eastern training camp. There was something... hypnotic in the way he manipulated water. As if it were a natural extension of his body."
Shinji absentmindedly formed a few coral crystals on his fingers as he continued, "The clan elders didn't talk about him much, you know? It was as if... as if his existence made them uncomfortable. A ninja without the Kekkei Genkai surpassing those who did... that's not something you see often."
"And now?" Ren asked, trying to keep his tone casual.
"Things are different now," Shinji smiled slightly. "He's become too strong to ignore. But..." he trailed off, as if deciding whether to share anything else.
"But????"
"Some say it made him... tougher. As if he had something to prove. But hey," Shinji added quickly, noticing Ren's expression, "those are just rumors. Most of us admire him. He's living proof that with enough determination, you can overcome any limit."
'Or maybe,' Ren thought darkly, 'he's proof of how resentment can silently grow into something much darker.'
At the academy, they found the classroom already full. Fujimoto-sensei began the lesson on genjutsu with his usual methodical precision.
"The Magen: Kirigakure no Jutsu," he explained, creating a thin illusory mist around himself, "is one of the basic illusory techniques of Kirigakure. Unlike the real mist created with chakra, this is an illusion that confuses the opponent's senses. Observe how the chakra must be modulated to specifically affect the target's nervous system."
The class watched in fascination as the illusory mist danced around the sensei, creating strange plays of light and shadow.
"Your specialty," Aoi whispered to Jun'ko with a smirk.
"At least I don't spend my days reading anatomy books," she retorted, but her smile betrayed her pride at the compliment.
During lunch break, Ren excused himself from the group. "I need to check something out in the library," he said vaguely, ignoring Yukiko's questioning look.
The library was in its usual deathly silence. Greenish lanterns cast dancing shadows across the dusty shelves, while the smell of old parchment and ink permeated the air. The librarian barely looked up from her register when Ren entered.
"Elemental Techniques Section?" she asked in a hoarse voice, already accustomed to his frequent visits.
"Yes, Shizuka-san," Ren replied politely. He had learned that a little courtesy could open many doors in the library.
"Remember," she said, her eyes shining in the dim light, "no techniques above D-rank for first-year students."
Ren headed to the indicated section, looking specifically for the wind element scrolls. It was a surprisingly small section—in Kirigakure, the water element naturally dominated most of the shelves.
Two scrolls caught his eye: Soujikaze no Jutsu—Cleansing Wind Technique and Fuusajin no Jutsu—Dust Wind Technique. He carefully pulled them out, noting that the second seemed to have been rarely consulted.
'Perfect,' he thought, studying the seal diagrams.
'The Soujikaze is a great basic technique for understanding how to shape the wind chakra—creating a breeze that purifies the air. It could be useful for dispersing poison or mist techniques, though it has a very small range.'
His eyes shifted to the second scroll. 'And the Fuusajin... raising and manipulating dust in the air. A seemingly simple technique that could become lethal when combined with other techniques.'
He immersed himself in reading, absorbing every detail. The Fuusajin, in particular, showed interesting diagrams of how wind chakra could be used to manipulate particles in the air.
'This could be perfect for creating distractions or reducing the visibility of the opponent… and it seems to have some similarities with the Kirigakure No Jutsu.'
But his mind kept returning to the revelation about Yagura. The implications were huge - a future Mizukage, rejected by his own clan for the lack of a Kekkei Genkai. How had this shaped his character? And what did it mean for the future of Kirigakure?
'If Madara exploits this resentment,' he mused, 'it could explain why the purge of the Kekkei Genkai was so brutal. It wasn't just mind control, but a deep-seated hatred that was manipulated...'
"Do you need help finding something specific?" Shizuka's voice made him jump.
The librarian approached silently, a skill she had never lost since her days as a ninja.
"No, thank you," Ren replied, quickly composing himself. "I found what I was looking for."
The afternoon was spent practicing the techniques they had studied in the morning. Fujimoto had divided the class into groups, each to attempt to create a simple illusion.
"Remember," his voice echoed in the courtyard, "genjutsu requires more subtle chakra control than ninjutsu. You are not manipulating the physical world, but the perception of it."
Jun'ko shone in these exercises. Her fog illusion was so convincing that even Fujimoto-sensei nodded in approval. "Excellent control, Tsuki-san. Notice how evenly the chakra is distributed..."
Ren, meanwhile, deliberately maintained an average level of performance. His mind was still busy processing the information about Yagura and planning his training with the wind element.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jun'ko's voice brought him back to reality. "You've been quiet all day."
"More than usual, you mean," Aoi added, adjusting his glasses. "Technically, your social participation level has dropped 43% from the weekly average."
Ren blinked, surprised to find all his friends looking at him with concern. "I'm fine," he smiled softly. "Just... thoughtful."
Yukiko studied him with a piercing gaze. "Does this have anything to do with what you were looking for in the library?"
"Part of it," Ren admitted vaguely.
"I'm trying to figure out some things about the wind element."
'Damn,' he thought, 'she's done it again. It's amazing how Yukiko always manages to catch me off guard with her questions. Years of previous life experience, and just one direct look from this little girl makes me speak without filters.'
"The wind element?" Aoi brightened. "Technically, it's one of the rarest elements in Kirigakure. Most ninja here naturally develop an affinity for water or..."
"Don't start one of your lectures," Jun'ko interrupted him, laughing. "Not everyone is as interested in elemental theory as you are!"
On the way home, Ren's thoughts swirled between wind techniques, worry for his father, and this new, crucial piece of information about Yagura. The sun was setting, turning the fog reddish.
'Things are getting more complicated,' he thought, clutching the tanto at his side. 'And I have a feeling this is just the beginning. I need to speed up my training, but keep a low profile. The wind, the tanto, the medical ninjutsu... every piece has to fit together perfectly.'
He paused for a moment, pulling a leaf from his pocket. He focused his chakra, trying to replicate what he had studied in the scrolls. This time, a small cut appeared in the center of the leaf.
A thin smile curled his lips. '