Chapter 10: He’s Coming!
The morning passed quickly. After a short break following lunch, Shūichi balanced himself on a tree branch, hanging upside down, hands clasped together, refining his chakra.
This was another method to train chakra control.
After maintaining this position for half an hour, he dropped to the ground, took a sip of salted water, and headed towards the river.
Shizune and Guy were still practicing water walking, but Shūichi had already mastered it by the end of the morning.
Now standing by the river, he took a moment to prepare, then suddenly formed hand seals.
Fire Release: Flame Bullet!
Shūichi opened his mouth, releasing a stream of fire that extended over three meters across the river's surface. The flames gathered, swelling and forming a fireball.
With a boom, the half-meter-wide flame bullet erupted, sending up waves and steam.
"Amazing!" Shizune exclaimed from the water's surface.
Guy grinned, baring his teeth. "Impressive as always, Shūichi! You learned a Fire Release jutsu so quickly."
"Eh?"
"Wait…"
Suddenly, Guy flailed wildly before toppling into the river.
---
By the riverbank, Shūichi quietly reflected: "The chakra output wasn't fast or stable enough."
"And it wasn't concentrated enough either. The more condensed the chakra, the stronger the explosive force, and the faster the flame extends, which means quicker attack speed."
After reviewing his performance, Shūichi turned his attention to the Tag Tree in his mind.
There was a new tag.
"As expected…"
Shūichi wasn't surprised when he saw the tag's name.
Tag: Fire Release Expert
Condition to Obtain: Proficiently master at least 5 Fire Release jutsu of at least C-rank.
Effect: Fire Release aptitude increases by 100%, and Fire Release jutsu can be performed without hand seals.
Not bad, not bad at all!
However, for Shūichi, obtaining this tag wouldn't be easy.
Mastering jutsu is already challenging, and finding five C-rank Fire Release jutsu takes considerable effort.
With his experience learning Fire Release: Flame Bullet, Shūichi was confident he could self-learn the Great Fireball Technique he'd observed from Obito Uchiha.
Add to that the Dragon Fire Technique his father left behind, also C-rank, and that made three.
But where would he find the other two?
Konoha doesn't have a store that sells jutsu.
"Could I get them from Tenka's shop?"
After pondering it for a moment, Shūichi decided to set the thought aside for now.
---
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
On his day off, Shūichi Hoshita visited the orphanage. Unfortunately, Nonō Yakushi had been away on a mission and hadn't returned for over a month.
After spending the entire day at the orphanage, Shūichi returned home in the evening and immediately completed the conditions required to unlock the "Transformation Expert" tag.
Activate!
With just a thought, the "Transformation Expert" tag on his tag tree lit up green.
The next moment, he felt a significant difference.
The Transformation Jutsu now felt like an innate ability, hardwired into him. He no longer needed to form hand seals—he could perform it effortlessly.
"No wonder it's a green tag!" Shūichi silently praised, and with another thought, he transformed into Kakashi.
No hand seals, no smoke, and the transformation took less than 0.1 seconds—smooth as silk!
"Excellent, excellent, excellent!"
Shūichi was increasingly satisfied and grew more eager to unlock the "Fire Release Expert" tag.
Not needing to form hand seals meant he could be more stealthy and unpredictable.
The speed of execution alone would give him an unparalleled advantage in combat.
If an enemy hadn't gathered prior intelligence on him, they'd be caught completely off guard.
Even the most experienced opponents wouldn't be able to predict which jutsu he was about to use.
After releasing the Transformation Jutsu, Shūichi pondered, "It seems I should focus my training based on the tag tree."
Trigger the tags, complete the conditions (training), and activate the tags.
"I've already mastered water walking, tree climbing, and cliff climbing. Those training goals are complete."
"I've also proficiently mastered the Flame Bullet technique, meeting the tag tree's requirements."
"So now, aside from maintaining basic taijutsu and physical training, I should focus my energy on specialized training."
Shūichi's progress over the summer was faster than he had anticipated, prompting him to revise his plans once again.
"But why haven't I unlocked any tags for taijutsu or ninja tool throwing?"
Shūichi was puzzled.
"Are taijutsu and ninja tool throwing not considered important enough?"
Or was there some other reason?
After thinking carefully, Shūichi speculated, "Could it be because I don't have a style?"
His current taijutsu training didn't follow any particular style; there were no fixed techniques or names.
Techniques like the Konoha Whirlwind or Konoha Strong Whirlwind were part of a style that Might Guy had created.
Rubbing his chin, Shūichi felt like he had an epiphany.
So, without any shame, he decided to name his taijutsu Konoha Style Taijutsu and his ninja tool throwing Konoha Style Ninja Tool Throwing.
Sure enough, the tag tree immediately responded, and two gray-white tag leaves appeared.
Tag: Taijutsu Expert
Condition to Obtain: Defeat Kakashi in taijutsu battles a total of 50 times.
Effect: Taijutsu aptitude increases by 100%, physical strength increases by 100%, and nerve reaction speed increases by 100%.
Tag: Ninja Tool Expert
Condition to Obtain: Proficiently use at least 10 types of ninja tools.
Effect: Ninja tool usage aptitude increases by 100%, physical strength increases by 100%, and nerve reaction speed increases by 100%.
"Hiss…"
Looking at the two newly appeared tags, Shūichi couldn't help but feel envious.
These tags offered enhancements to his physical capabilities!
As a ninja, having a body with high potential and a high ceiling was incredibly important.
Physical attributes largely determined one's chakra capacity.
And for a ninja, chakra capacity could be seen as the ceiling of their overall potential.
"Can't rush it—one step at a time. I'll get them all eventually."
Shūichi was now more motivated than ever.
---
Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, September arrived, leaving only four days until the start of the new academy term.
Shūichi Hoshita and his friends officially concluded their summer operation, reserving the remaining four days as a vacation.
Shūichi decided to spend all four days at the Tenka's Shop, fully dedicating himself to making Explosive Tags.
Yes, he had completely mastered the art of making Explosive Tags.
However, with his current chakra reserves, he could only create a maximum of three tags in a row before needing to rest and recover his strength.
Root Base.
Once again, Danzo received a report on Shūichi Hoshita.
Compared to the last one, it contained a lot more information.
He had proficiently mastered the Three Basic Justus, Fire Release: Flame Bullet, and Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu (likely learned by observing the hand signs from Uchiha Obito).
His Transformation Jutsu seemed to require no hand signs.
He had also begun to grasp Medical Ninjutsu—specifically, Basic Healing Jutsu.
He could now independently produce Explosive Tags.
…
After Danzo finished reading the report, the Root ninja in charge of monitoring Shūichi said, "Lord Danzo, the Academy is about to start. With Shūichi Hoshita's current skills, he's bound to make a big impression in the new term, catching the attention of the Third Hokage."
In fact, Shūichi had already caught the eye of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. After all, Sarutobi was the principal of the Academy, and Shūichi's consistent perfect scores in theory exams hadn't gone unnoticed.
However, Danzo understood the underlying message from his subordinate.
Sarutobi's knowledge of Shūichi couldn't match their own. Once Shūichi began to shine, it would be much harder for the Root to recruit him without Hiruzen intervening.
Danzo's gaze darkened, and after a moment, he said, "Then let's pay him a visit tonight."
(End of Chapter)