Chapter 13

…

My day with the bandits turned test subjects ended with little success.

I couldn't figure out a way to enhance the nerves.

Though I did find a way to dull or deaden the sensations the sensory nerves received.

That done I looked back to my first test subject.

Hmm...

…

I blew a breath out of my nose…

Going with the theme I named my new Muscle Strengthening technique Kinryoku kyōka meaning muscular enhancement.

...

I woke the bandit I used the Kinryoku kyōka on and had him punch a tree

I had wanted to see how well the muscle enhancement worked before I offed him…

But his arm crumpled, and he started screaming.

Oops…

I guess the bones need to be able to handle the new strength of the muscles…

It wasn't something I had thought about earlier, but something my test subject made apparent.

I knocked the bandit out and placed him on the ground.

Although my bones are plenty sturdy if I want to do this on someone else ill have to learn to strengthen the bones.

A Stamina enhancement needed to be considered as well though it could be put off for a while.

It seems my day is not over yet…

…

I began my new final experiment of the day.

Endochondral ossification is the process in which most of the body's bones are made.

It was basically bone cells forming the shape of the bones and then being calcified by other bone cells that deposit calcium to the area.

So, I needed to speed this process up, and use it to thicken the bones.

How could I do it?

…

Oh I got it!

Hello there Mr. stem cell I need your help again…

…

My final experiment of the day done, I killed the bandits with a Gentle Fist strike to the heart and started on my way to the camp.

I heard Minato and Kakashi following from the trees.

Sigh…

I wish I had planned better, I could have gotten more done then I did…

I probably won't get to do this often…

I after all don't want any Orochimaru comparisons…

Well, I guess it's good to learn from your mistakes.

…

We had arrived at the camp and had gathered at the fire, we were sitting in silence until Minato spoke.

"Shiro."

"Hmm?"

"Did you accomplish what you wanted to?"

"No."

Minato raised an eyebrow.

"It looked successful."

Time to lie.

"Strengthening the muscles like that shortens your life significantly."

I paused and took a breath.

"And you have to strengthen the bones as well, which further shortens your lifespan."

I didn't want to be doing this all day to other ninjas after all.

"So not very successful?"

Kinda…

"It's considered successful if the person strengthened also doesn't plan on living for long."

Minato Hmm'ed and dropped the topic.

…

Morning came, we packed up our supplies and set off on our trip.

…

The trip going back was the same as the trip there.

That being painful and long.

…

We passed a merchant.

He smiled and waved at us.

I gave him the finger and continued on.

Keep that cheerfulness and goodwill to yourself.

...

Finally, we arrived back at Konoha.

We checked in with the gate guards and got through the gate fine.

Minato said we had a week-long break and that he'd expected the mission report to be handed in tomorrow with my experiment included within.

That was annoying but fine.

I was done with being dirty, so I rushed home as fast as possible completely ignoring the rest of the team.

I had a date with my shower.

…

I said hello to my mother and rushed past her not waiting for a response.

"Here I come shower-sama!"

I heard my mother sigh behind me.

…

Shower done, I laid down on my bed and thought about Kinryoku kyōka.

I wanted to improve my muscles and free up training time for some other activities.

The problem which wasn't really a problem was food consumption.

My appetite would be massively increased.

My bones wouldn't be a problem, they seemed to get stronger the more chakra I had.

I'd also have to tone down my shows of strength so Minato doesn't catch on to the fact I suddenly got stronger.

Or maybe I'd just need to have my Gravity Seal active all the time.

That might be the way to go.

I decided that I'd think about it tomorrow.

I rolled around in my blankets and turned my self into a human burrito, and fell asleep soon after.

…

Morning came and I forced myself out of bed.

I did my morning routine, got dressed, and promptly jumped back into bed.

Time to put Kinryoku kyōka to use.

…

I finished up Kinryoku kyōka and headed to the kitchen for a snack.

I was feeling hungry.

Food alone probably wouldn't make up for using Kinryoku kyōka, I might have to look into vitamin and mineral supplements, hopefully, they exist in this world.

…

I was in the third training ground experimenting with my strength.

It had improved, though not by a huge amount.

It was still almost a week's worth of normal training.

Though I probably couldn't use Kinryoku kyōka more then three times a week it was good enough.

Now I had more time to pursue other disciplines.

I could finally get going on my Nature Transformation.

Ninja wizardry here I come!

…

I was headed to Gai's.

I wanted to ask about supplements and figured that Gai and Duy would be the people that would know about them.

That and I wanted to see how they were doing…

…

Turns out there were supplements…

Though they were created by Duy.

They were little brown balls that were made from rice, various flours, dried vegetables and fruits, seeds, and various other ingredients.

Duy gave me a few as well as the recipe.

I popped one into my mouth.

Yuck!

They tasted like mud.

Maybe this is the secret to Gai and Duy's Youthful energy.

…

I thanked Duy for his generosity and headed on my way.

I had to visit Kushina before she came to visit me.

I wasn't interested in having my home invaded when I didn't expect it.

…

I arrived at the door to Minato's apartment and knocked.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

I waited and received no answer.

I looked up at the sun and realized it was about dinner time…

Time to go check the ramen stand.

…

I arrived at ichiraku ramen and saw Kushina almost immediately.

She was sitting next to a tower of ramen bowls.

I approached and gave a cheerful greeting.

"Hello Kushina!"

Nothing happened for a moment.

I figured I was ignored and was about to say hello again when Kushina's hand shot out and grabbed me.

I was promptly smothered by Kushina's one hand while she continued to eat her ramen with the other.

…

Eventually Kushina was sated and returned my hello.

"Hello Shiro, I missed you!"

I just nodded, I had already accepted my fate and was hoping I could get some free food out of this.

My body was promptly turned to face a black-haired young woman.

"Shiro, this is my friend Mikoto, say hi!"

Alright then…

"Hi."

I gave a small wave to complete the greeting.

"Kushina was right you are cute!"

Spread the word of my cuteness!

"Feel his hair, it so soft!"

Uh oh.

Mikoto ran a hand through my hair.

"Yes, it is! Can I braid it?"

What, why?

"Yes, you can, Shiro doesn't mind."

She smiled at me

"Right Shiro?"

Left!

"Go ahead Mikoto-sama."

Was what left my mouth instead.

I should have sent a clone…

…

Eventually Mikoto and Kushina headed home, leavening me at the ramen stand.

I never got my free food…

I sighed and left in a hurry.

I wanted to get home and wash away the feeling of human interaction anyway…

…

The next day I and three of my clones were Henged and wandering around Konoha.

I was wandering around the outside of the Nara compound Byakugan active looking for unprotected buildings.

There were almost no buildings protected, only the clan heads house and the library being protected from Hyuga snooping…

Sigh…

There were still probably books and scroll's outside the library inside some clan members houses' but I didn't want to comb through all the houses for books that likely weren't useful.

…

I was on my way to the Yamanaka compound when one of my clones dispelled…

He was enjoying his time snooping around the Uchiha and decided that he needed a closer look at the inside of the compound.

It didn't end well, a guard called him out on being a clone and dispelled him with a punch.

That was fine, the clone had similar results to me.

Both the clan head's house and the library were blocked from sight…

So, no easy books for me…

…

More clones dispelled as I made my way around Konoha.

Most of the important buildings were protected from the Byakugan.

So, no easy loot for me.

The Akimichi are oddly the most protected in the village.

I had a chuckle at the thought that the Akimichi were probably just protecting their recipes.

I wondered why they might need that many anti-Hyuga barriers but decided to leave it.

I had other things I wanted to do before my break was over anyway, no need to waste time.

…

With five days left in my week-long break I was once again in the third training ground.

I was seated with my back to a tree and running lighting chakra down both my arms at the same time.

It was pretty painful.

I stopped the flow of lightning chakra along my arms and took a break.

After my arms healed my next order of business was to see If using lightning chakra outside of the body was more effective.

…

I was healed up enough and ready to try again.

I gathered chakra on my palms and started to convert it into lightning chakra.

I looked at my hands.

Blue lightning was jumping from finger to finger.

It was much easier to create lightning chakra inside the body.

But I can handle more of it outside the body.

I stopped supplying chakra to my hand.

Hmm…

Using your element on a weapon was considered one of the most basic uses of nature transformation…

So, having it outside the body was easier?

I think it's time to look into some actual lightning jutsu…

Off to the library, I go.

…

I was sat in the library under a Henge and was reading some scrolls on lightning ninjutsu.

It seems I have been making some blunders…

Most of the techniques say that the lightning chakra is made outside the body.

Oops.

I moved a few of the useless techniques to the side.

I was against anything that required touch to activate.

I wanted more ranged attacks.

…

I was reading a scroll about a technique called Lightning Strike.

'The user creates an electric current that can hit multiple individuals at the same time, the lightning

can extend incredible distances and can avoid obstacles.'

It only used three hand seals as well…

What a lovely technique.

Shame it wasn't named Chain Lightning, that would have been more fitting.

I activated Kokoro no Kyoka and burned it into memory.

A grin split my face.

I was close to using ninja magic, just a little more…

…

Turns out it was still going to take a long time to learn ninja magic.

I couldn't control the lightning when it left my body…

If it was on my hand it was fine but as soon as I went through the hand seals and tried to 'throw' the lightning it went towards the nearest metallic object.

The first being my kunai pouch…

And the second being my headband…

I'm lucky I started small…

Sigh…

Ninjutsu was a huge time sink…

Maybe I lack talent in it or something…

I'll keep trying hopefully it gets easier the more experience I get with it…

…

Soon my week of freedom was over and it was time to do more missions…

I was starting to despise missions, I enjoyed them at first, but lately, I've been hating them.

Sigh…

I met Kakashi at training ground seven, 30 minutes early as per usual.

"Want to spar?"

Kakashi responded with a bland "No"

Alrighty.

Obligatory offer made, I went over to the other side of the training ground, sat at the base of a tree, and began to practice my nature transformation.

…

Soon Minato arrived and brought good news.

"Ok boys no missions this week, we are going to spar, and then you can go and do your own thing."

Minato made the seal of confrontation, Kakashi and I made the same signaling the start of the spar.

…

I activated Chikaku no kyōka and the world around me slowed.

I started this spar with Shunshin and a One For All enhanced kick to Minato's back.

My kick met a log.

Said log exploded.

Minato had used Kawarimi to swap with the log.

Was that Sealless or did he do that before the match started?

Sigh…

These spars were never fun…

I hated being outsmarted at every turn.

I looked to where Kakashi was and saw him engaging with Minato.

They met in repeated clashes of blades, Kunai Vs Short Sword.

Let's try this again

I used Shunshin again and sent another One For All enhanced kick to Minato's back.

I got kicked in the chin and sent flying.

Ouch.

I rolled to my feet and looked back at where Minato and Kakashi were.

Minato and Kakashi seemed to be enjoying their fight.

I'm feeling a little left out…

I threw a kunai at Minato.

And he backhanded it out of the air without even turning around.

I sighed again before activating my Byakugan and jumping into the fight.

…

The spar ended with Kakashi and I laying on the ground soundly defeated, and Minato standing a distance away looking unruffled.

"Well done, you both improved a lot."

Here comes the criticism.

"Shiro, you need more ranged attacks. You also need to take less damage, even with your healing you shouldn't allow yourself to be hit."

Fair enough.

"Kakashi, you also need some ranged attacks, and you need to work on your teamwork, and ability to coordinate your attacks with Shiro."

Kakashi generally got similar advice about teamwork every time we spared.

It never seemed to stick, and probably wouldn't change until everyone he knew and loved died.

I can't wait until I can get off this team.

…