Fire Release

"Kono-sama, what are the danger zones?" During Hinako's lessons, the danger zones were just that—Danger! She never explained them in any more detail.

"Hm, this is top secret information, but since it's Natsume-chan, I'll tell you. Have you heard about the tailed beasts?" Hearing that it was a secret, Natsume understood now. She shook her head at the question

"In nature, there exist beings so powerful that no one shinobi alive can threaten their existence. Even if they are defeated, since they are pure chakra, they just need time to regenerate. In a sense, they are immortal killing machines!"

"Are you saying that the danger zones…" Natsume trailed off, implying the rest of her sentence.

"Yes and no. The danger zones are known areas where the tailed beasts have been seen. However, they are, in the end, living creatures, so they will occasionally move around. Fortunately, they don't seem to take the initiative to attack. However, when someone trespasses in their domain, they are usually never seen from again." Natsume seemed to catch onto something.

"Usually… you mean there are cases where people have left safely?"

"Our Natsume-chan is so smart! That's right. There are two conditions for the beasts to leave you alone. First, you are strong enough to put up a fight. Although they are essentially immortal, they seem to not like fighting. And second, if you are an Uchiha that has awakened and matured a three tomoe sharingan!"

"Genjutsu!? How can something called an immortal killing machine be weak to genjutsu?"

"Hmph! Where is your pride as an Uchiha? Don't you know the sharingan is the strongest dojutsu with the strongest genjutsu? Baka!" Kono tapped Natsume on the forehead with her forefinger. However, she made a point. One thing that Natsume had neglected was training her dojutsu. She utilized it often for learning and training, but never tried to train the innate abilities of her eyes.

"Thank you, Kono-sama. You gave me a lot to think about!"

The two spent their day together like normal. They would go outside for short periods of time and watch the birds. One thing Natsume discovered was that Kono loved birds. She was even able to tell exactly what species a bird was even from far away. Natsume had never seen her activate her sharingan, which is not surprising. Some clan members never had enough stimulation, or simply don't have the spiritual strength to supply the awakening of the sharingan.

However, this did not mean Kono was weak. She had talent as a sensor shinobi, even as a civilian, she could detect people from afar. However, she would rather utilize this talent to bird watch. The two sat together watching the sunset. The mood got quiet for a moment and Kono started talking.

"It's almost winter again. Because of the war, there will be a food shortage. Based on the days, he should be born sometime in December. Winter will also likely conclude the fighting this time around, since the countries will be focused on conserving resources. Who knows when the next war will come?" A hawk's cry resounded, and several birds of different species could be seen taking advantage of the change in temperature to flee to warmer areas.

"Although they are all from different families, their instincts guide them to fly together in self-preservation. What a concept." Kono stared at the birds for a moment before stepping back inside.

Natsume had her own opinions about what Kono had said but decided not to speak up.

They sat together by the fire and warmed themselves up. Although it hadn't turned to winter yet, the cold crept in at night. Natsume stared at the flames dancing around and she entered a trance-like state. Her sharingan activated on its own as if she were peering into the secrets of fire release from nature. Kono was also watching the flames dance, but when she turned to talk to Natsume, she decided not to say anything.

The sharingan's two tomoe rotated around and around like a loading icon. Meanwhile, Natsume sank deeply into her subconscious. The flames roared and there were loud piercing sounds. It was a mixture of wailing and screaming. The fire was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The ground seemed to collapse underneath, causing the flames to spread even further.

"Na… Natsu… Natsume-chan!?" Kono had tried waking her up after an hour since she was worried. Natsume suddenly snapped back to reality. She was unsure of where she was, and it took her a few moments to collect herself. Her body was cold despite the warmth of the fire. Also, she was sweating profusely. This reminded her of her nightmares that she never remembered.

All she could recall was the vision of the earth splitting, and flames shooting out, intending to swallow every living thing. She felt that her fire and earth release just took a huge leap forward in comprehension. She had the sudden urge to test her Jutsu.

"Kono-sama, I'm fine. It's already nighttime, I'll see you tomorrow." Natsume, who hadn't realized how long she was standing in a daze, left toward the training ground. Kono watched the girl leave and sent a silent blessing for success.

At this hour, the only people moving around the clan were the reserve Uchiha guards. They were mostly low- to mid-level warriors. Only one or two high- and top-level warriors remained in case of enemy ambush, they could stall for the main fighting force to return. However, the number of shinobi in the upper categories could be counted with two hands from either Senju or Uchiha. As for minor clans, they had one at most.

All of the guards on duty were familiar with Natsume and even had high hopes for her. When she moved rapidly through the clan complex toward the training ground, no one stopped her. As she arrived, she immediately started moulding her chakra. She activated the sharingan and started with the hand signs that she had memorized.

Snake – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger

She focused her chakra and transformed it into flames. When her finger came up to her mouth, a long stream of flames began to congeal into a fireball. The flames continued to grow larger and heavier.

"Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

The dense ball of flames flew to the side of the training grounds and created a crater after a brief explosion upon impact. The flames dripped from the initial blast and burned the nearby foliage. Natsume quickly followed it up with an earth Jutsu. Several small rocks and pebbles flew out from the crater and stamped the fire out. After realizing what she had just accomplished, Natsume beamed. She felt invigorated and dared to explore that strange vision.

An understanding of the hand seals was an important step in kneading chakra and transforming it. However, it wasn't necessary for many masters. Some were able to shorten a Jutsu down to a single hand seal, or even no hand seals at all. In the end, hand seals were just a guideline. Understanding the shape of transformation was the key.

Therefore, as soon as Natsume recovered enough chakra, she repeated the hand seals while visualizing the flames she had witnessed in the dream. At the end of the pattern, she added another seal to further transform the chakra. Unknowingly, a large amount of yin chakra began mixing in with her fire chakra. This was the result of her spiritual strength and visualization.

The flames poured out of her mouth like thick goop. Instead of flowing and dancing like the previous Great Fireball, they coagulated into a dense ball of heat. Through the transparent flames one could detect a hint of white light, followed by a thick layer of bright yellow flames, and wrapped with incomplete orange flame.

Natsume's chakra instantly bottomed out, her sharingan deactivated, and she lost control of her Jutsu. The ball, having lost its support, jettisoned forward due to difference in temperature and slammed into the nearby ground. The following explosion shook the whole Uchiha complex. Alarms were instantly raised and every active and inactive shinobi surrounded the training grounds.

Meanwhile, Natsume's unconscious body was launched into the trees. A puff of smoke appeared and a tightly woven net intercepted her collision course, causing her to harmlessly bounce up and back down into the net.