Chapter 18 : A Paranoid Sword

Another few days passed. Shirou continued his classes in the academy and his part-time smithing job. His training period has ended. It ended too early. Tetsuya finally had to admit that some people are just built differently. In just a few days Shirou had learned all of Tetsuya's skills and techniques. He allowed Shirou to work on client orders. Most of the clients are ninjas who want new kunais and shurikens or they just want their non-disposable weapons repaired. Sometimes even nobles will place orders for an extravagant-looking weapon.

Tetsuya had nothing to teach Shirou. Shirou had learned everything unnaturally fast. Even the word genius can't be used to describe Shirou's talent in weaponsmithing. Shirou's finished works were already at a level where they could be sold. Now he can only accumulate experience and improve on his own.

'Sigh... It's really a pity, the inheritance of weaponsmithing is too small compared to ninjutsu and chakra. Even though chakra can be used to forge mystical weapons, no one is willing to research them. The techniques used to create these weapons are mostly extinct. Many of these weapons have been destroyed and only a few like the thunder god sword and the seven ninja swords of Kirigakure remain.' - Shirou.

'I am sure I can create a weapon with a chakra amplification ability based on white fang's sword but the metal used in common ninja weapons will not be able to withstand the effect of the amplification seal.' - Shirou.

'When I used structural analysis on my body, I found that I had almost reached my current age physical limits. Once I reach the limit, physical training can only help maintain that strength. I will have to grow up if I want to see a further increase in physical strength. My chakra capacity is in a similar situation. Chakra control on the other hand is still improving with training. Unlike physical training where the increase in strength starts declining at a certain point due to bio-physical limits, chakra control is still increasing at a steady and fast pace. Because of this, I have mastered the reinforcement spell to near perfection. I can even reinforce living things like plants even though they have varying degrees of resistance towards foreign life energy. Now I can start practicing reinforcement on my body.' - Shirou.

Shirou was currently at the academy library. Looking at the vast number of books focused on ninjas, Shirou knew he was in the right place. Shirou soon found the librarian. After filling out the required information Shirou started looking at the books.

'Let's see... Ninjutsu guide for beginners, I will take that... Genjutsu guide for beginners, this too... Taijutsu basics, take that... Kenjutsu basics.. really need this... Introduction to Fuinjutsu and Advanced Fuinjutsu theories, definitely take these... Hmm... These remaining books, I have already learned them from the public library so there no use.' - Shirou.

'This place seems to be only filled with the basics... wait... these are...' - Shirou.

Shirou looked at 3 really thick books.

"Medical Ninjutsu Volume I by Senju Tsunade."

"Medical Ninjutsu Volume II by Senju Tsunade."

"Medical Ninjutsu Volume III by Senju Tsunade."

'Are these fake?' - Shirou.

Shirou quickly skimmed over them. They were not fake. The contents were real and there is even advanced knowledge and even some hints and mentions of certain info or techniques which should definitely be kept secret.

'Who put these books here?... Some unknown medical ninja or could it be Tsunade herself?' - Shirou.

'Is this a way to attract more ninjas to the medical field? Maybe it is.' - Shirou.

'But wait, is Tsunade still in the village or did she already leave due to losing her loved ones? I will need to check it. This knowledge can be a game changer. It might have some clues to solving some of my problems like my weak body, chakra capacity, and other issues.' - Shirou.

'With my high-level chakra control, I definitely have a chance at becoming a medical ninja. It would be somewhat safer. There is even a possibility of avoiding the war. I don't know if chakra capacity will be an issue. But I think I have a way to solve it to a certain degree. With my current strength and progress I can only be cannon fodder in the coming war.' - Shirou.

After checking out all the books, Shirou stored them all inside his storage seal.

'Fuinjutsu sure is convenient. What I wouldn't give to have these things in my previous world... Maybe not, evil capitalists will somehow find a way to make them expensive and unaffordable for people like me.' - Shirou.

He then went to the training ground. He stood in front of a training dummy.

'Ok. I can sense that no one is present near me. Time to start learning body reinforcement.' - Shirou.

The training dummy was made of wood. Shirou started with a single punch to the chest.

'Tch... Many of the students were able to make visible marks on it. I even saw Kakashi and Guy making big dents. But there is barely a scratch when I do it. Urgh...' - Shirou.

'Ok, no point sulking. Let's start...' - Shirou.

Shirou had previously thought that reinforcement was filling the empty physical gaps of an object like the space between atoms, but later he found he was wrong. Shirou's discovery of the spiritual body helped him realize that reinforcement is actually injecting mana/chakra into the spiritual body of an object. This spiritual body has gaps inside that seem to somehow resemble a circulation system. Injecting mana with precision through these gaps without exceeding the limit causes an enhancement of the object's existence. That is, it makes the effects of the object in the physical world become enhanced. A knife becomes sharper, food becomes more nutritious, a structure becomes more durable, etc. But if the chakra is not controlled properly, the object can shatter due to the overload of energy inside just like popping a balloon by blowing too much air inside.

Shirou started channeling chakra through his spiritual body. Since it was his own body there was no energy resistance. Shirou carefully fills it with chakra. With his terrifying chakra control, he maintained the energy within the safe limits. He felt his body functions being enhanced many times over. He even felt his body heating up.

'(Heavy breathing)... This will take some getting used to. Anyways here goes.' - Shirou.

Slowly moving his arms. He found he was very light. His speed, reaction, vision, thinking everything about him was boosted. Shirou sends out a punch to the training dummy. He had to multitask his chakra control and his body movements.

If someone were to see Shirou now, they would have some difficulty seeing the strike. It was a bit too fast. His arm seemed to blur, striking the training dummy at high speed.

With a tearing sound, a fist-sized hole was made in the middle of the wooden dummy as Shirou's fist easily pierced through.

Shirou quickly retreated and looked at the aftermath.

'OMG. I didn't know it would be this effective.' - Shirou.

Splinters of shattered wood lay on the ground.

'My hand seems ok... The chakra did fluctuate but it was still within the safe limits.' - Shirou.

For a second Shirou was afraid his arm would explode.

'I need to be more careful.' - Shirou.

'Wait a second, will this cause any problems if others find out?... Oh no, I forgot about Hiruzen's telescope technique. That crazy old man could be watching me right now. I can't act suspiciously. Damn it. Maybe I am just being paranoid but even if it's only a 6 percent chance I can't take the risk. Especially with people like Danzo, Orochimaru and Hiruzen.' - Shirou.

Shirou was acting like nothing big had happened while on the inside he was panicking. His acting skills from his past life sure came in handy.

'Ok.. Calm down. Right now I shouldn't try to clean this up. If that old man is really watching, it will only make me look suspicious and that I am hiding something. So, what should I do? Hmm... For now, I guess I should go back acting like what I did was not a big deal. If no one saw me, then it would be good. People will think that too many people practiced on the training dummy causing it to break. No one would think it was destroyed in a single attack using a new type of technique. If someone does find me, then I can spin a story that is half-truth and half-false. Like I was playing around with my chakra when attacking then I don't know exactly how but this happened... I should head back and think about the exact words I should say.' - Shirou.

Later the students and teachers did find the destroyed dummy. There were some talks here and there but it became quickly accepted that it was due to too many people practicing on it. Shirou was on edge for a few days acting normal while thinking about different confrontation scenarios and countermeasures. A few days in, seeing no one had come to Shirou regarding the incident, he became positive that the Hokage hadn't seen him. Shirou was relieved.

'Whew... I should be more careful from now on... I am not paranoid, alright. I am just being extra careful.' - Shirou.

'... Now that I think about it, whenever I had thoughts in my head, I always thought from a perspective that there was always an imaginary someone listening to me. Like an observer or something. This was true even in my past life. Hmm... I guess I really wanted to be special. I was always obsessed with the idea that my existence was different and more extraordinary in some way when compared to others. Maybe... it's because I hated my past life too much. Even now, I don't miss that world one bit. If one day, in this world, I end up in a situation similar to my past life... then... will I hate this world too? Maybe... I think there is a chance. In the end, the only answer I can think of is strength... absolute strength. Only in this way can I be free.' - Shirou.