-9- Chakra nature

"In a minute, I'll pass around some chakra paper, and we will be able to figure out what your affinity is. Most of you will have one affinity, but it isn't uncommon to have 2 or 3. However, it is rare to have 4 and extremely rare to have all 5," Takeshi stated.

'I wonder if this is where my cheat will come in. It'd be cool if I have all 5,' Renji thought hopefully.

"All you have to do is send some chakra into the paper, and based on its reaction, that's what your affinity is," Takeshi explained as his chakra paper became wet.

"As you can see, my affinity is water, which is what my Shimizu clan is known for."

"So if the paper gets wet or damp, your affinity is water."

"If it burns, it is fire."

"If it splits into two, it's wind."

"If the paper wrinkles, it's lightning."

"And if the paper turns to dirt, it's earth."

Takeshi's eyes swept over the class, ensuring everyone understood. "Now, it's important to remember that no element is better than the other; it's all about the person using it. Also, just because you only have one affinity doesn't mean you are weaker than someone with two, and it also doesn't mean you can't use another element it's just that using the element you have an affinity with is twice the result with half of the effort," he said as he conjured a small gust of wind.

"Also, some of you may have heard about elemental spirit stones. This is what a lot of wars are fought over. With these spirit stones, you can increase your natural affinity and increase your other affinities to the point that they become a second or third natural affinity. They are just really hard to get your hands on due to them being very expensive."

"Now, I'm going to pass the chakra paper around, and I want you to send your chakra into it when I tell you to. Then, if you want, you can write down your affinity on a piece of paper and turn it in at the end of class, but you don't have to. It doesn't really matter; we will figure it out one way or the other, and it does no harm either way."

Takeshi went down the rows and passed out 196 pieces of chakra paper, and after he was done, he went back to the front of the class.

"Okay, you can begin."

Renji looked down at the chakra paper he was holding with his right hand, and with his left, he crossed his fingers. Then he watched out of the corner of his eye as Nobu's chakra paper turned to ash and heard him mutter.

"Well, I guess it was too much to hope the one wind spirit stone Dad let me use would change the result."

After watching Nobu, Renji sent his chakra into the paper and watched as it split into two.

'So, wind.'

Then the left side got wet, and the right side started to wrinkle.

'And water and lightning.'

'Damn, I was hoping for all five, but three will do. Learning all five would be hard anyway,' he thought, trying to cheer himself up for not seeming to have a hack in this new life.

Renji knew that if he hadn't got a cheat, hack, or system yet, he was unlikely to, but a kid could dream.

'I think I probably got wind from both my Namikaze and Uzumaki sides while I got water from Mom and lightning from Dad. Since Minato was known for wind and lightning, that makes sense. I think he was also known for fire, yin, and yang, but I don't know why I didn't get fire, and I don't know if this tests for yin and yang. Also, I'm pretty sure Kushina was good with wind, water, and yin, so I should definitely figure out if I also have yin or yang release.'

"Damn, Renji, you got three affinities. You're lucky as a Kaji; I only got fire," Nobu whispered, eyes wide with envy.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Renji replied.

They continued the rest of the day learning about chakra, chakra control, and hand signs.

They ended the day with Takeshi saying, "Tomorrow we will be learning about the different clans on this continent, and after lunch, we are going to go over taijutsu and genjutsu. But the day after that, I promise we will go outside and practice what you've learned."

'Nice,' Renji thought, happy to hear they would be able to practice in school as well as out of it.

"But before you leave, I'm going to show you your new training routine that you need to do every day," Takeshi then went on to explain and show all the different things they were supposed to do for training, starting with running, pushups, and squats, then going into some of the more advanced things. He then passed out a piece of paper with all the exercises on it before dismissing them.

'Damn, I won't be able to start this until at least tomorrow, but I can probably sneak the pushups and squats in my room,' Renji thought.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Nobu," Renji said as he left the classroom and then walked home.

***

Renji walked into the restaurant, and just like yesterday, his parents were cooking in the kitchen.

"How was your first day?" his dad asked, ringing the bell to signal an order was ready.

"It was good. I learned a lot, and I even made a friend," Renji said with a smile, trying to ease his way into popping the question.

"Really, honey? That's great! What's their name?" his mom asked, her enthusiasm evident.

"His name is Nobu Kaji, and he asked if we could hang out tomorrow after school," Renji said, seizing the moment since his mom seemed in a good mood.

"Of course. You can always bring some friends over if you want, sweetie," his mom answered, a warm smile playing on her lips.

"No, I meant we are going to go to his house. Is that fine?" Renji asked again.

His mom paused, then looked at his dad.

His dad thought for a minute, then said, "Who are his parents?"

Renji hesitated, then shrugged. "I don't know, but he said it would be fine," That didn't seem to be doing the job, so he lied and said, "I think they're rich, so his house is probably pretty big, and they might have some land to play around too."

His parents thought about it for a moment, then he said, "Come on, please. I'm starting to grow up, and this is the kind of thing older kids do," hoping to get his parents on board.

His dad sighed, relenting. "Well, alright. Just don't stay out too late tomorrow. I want to hear how it goes before I make a permanent decision."

"Thanks, Dad," Renji said as he gave his parents a hug. He needed this to happen, or he wouldn't be able to train outside of school, and it wouldn't be long before he started to fall behind the other kids.

"Alright, I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to go upstairs," he said as he grabbed a bowl of ramen from his mom and took off, heading toward his room. The first thing he did was quickly finish his pushups and squats before his parents got off work.

***

The next day of school came and went by quickly, with him learning a lot about the various clans on this continent. He kept hearing people say, 'this continent,' but nobody brought up the other continent for some reason. He heard Nobu call it the Beast Continent the other day, but that was all he knew about it.

But surprisingly, all the clans from Naruto that he knew of, at least, were very similar to the show, with the Uchiha having the Sharingan and primarily using fire release, and the Senju having large chakra reserves and being known for multiple chakra nature affinities. They even had multiple people who used wood release—at least enough for people to take notice.

The Uzumaki clan, too, matched the show. Known for their large chakra reserves as well as strong life force. They were also the most advanced in fuinjutsu, and every other generation or two, somebody would unlock the adamantine chains, with their recently retired leader, a wind Kage, being known to be able to use them.

The Namikaze were naturally brought up as one of the major clans in this world, and Renji finally got some information on them that was never given in the show. To start with, it was confirmed that they occasionally would have someone with a good affinity for space-time ninjutsu. It was still very rare in this world, but they were known to have the most users out of any clan. They were also known to have three primary chakra natures: wind, lightning, and fire, and of course while rare they were known to have the dojutsu Jikugan.

Renji just wasn't sure why he didn't get fire, but he hoped that it was close enough to being a natural affinity that a couple of fire spirit stones would boost it up to usable.

He learned about all the other major clans as well, and even some of the minor ones. Each clan seemed to have its own strengths and weaknesses, with some naturally being stronger than others.

And it wasn't a surprise to find out that the Uchiha were the most tyrannical.

The teacher specifically mentioned that so-called 'Sharingan snatchers' were heavily frowned upon by the Uchiha clan, which Renji completely understood, but he still planned on trying to get one if he could. He also found out he wasn't the only one who thought that way, with there being people who spent a lot of money to buy them and lots of Uchihas killed every year for their eyes. This was one of the reasons they were so tyrannical to everyone who wasn't from their empire.

They were even said to be merciless against Uchihas who were no longer a part of their empire, thinking of them as traitors to the clan.