After the test ended, Yūhi Shinku had the three children stand in a row.
"Next, we'll test your chakra natures." Yūhi Shinku pulled several slips of paper from his robes.
Shin-chan reached out to touch one. "What's this?"
"Chakra paper."
"Test paper?"
"After you pour chakra into it, we observe the paper's reaction," Yūhi Shinku explained. "The paper will tell you what chakra nature you possess."
Shin-chan took one and injected chakra into it.
The moment he did, the paper changed.
A slit opened through the middle—wind.
The edges began to wrinkle—lightning.
The whole sheet started growing damp from the center—water.
Then the paper started crumbling—earth.
Four changes appeared on the same sheet at the same time.
Under the shade of the trees, the genin fell silent for a second. Then someone sucked in a cold breath.
"Four natures?"
"No, wait. Look."
The paper in Shin-chan's hand was still changing.
Finally, it caught fire.
Wind, fire, water, earth, lightning.
All five.
The training ground went completely silent.
Only Shin-chan scratched his head. "Teacher, I think it broke."
Yūhi Shinku looked at him and was quiet for a while.
"It didn't break."
"Then what is this?"
"All-nature chakra." There was some surprise in Yūhi Shinku's eyes.
Shin-chan tilted his head. "What does all-nature mean?"
"It means you have all five chakra natures."
"Is that impressive?"
"Very."
Shin-chan thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Then does that mean I can use chakra of every nature?"
"In theory, yes."
"Then is there a way to—" Shin-chan gestured with both hands. "Squish all the chakra natures together and turn them into one ball?"
Yūhi Shinku looked at him and was silent for a long time.
That idea had never occurred to him, and he had never heard of it before either.
It wasn't as if chakra nature fusion had no precedent. Kekkei genkai were the result of fusing two natures. Scorch Release, for example, was the fusion of wind and fire.
But that was two natures.
Fusing all of them together—
Yūhi Shinku thought for a long while, then shook his head. "I don't know."
Shin-chan's expression fell a little. "Even you don't know, teacher?"
"Chakra nature fusion is a very advanced subject to begin with. Fusing two natures creates a kekkei genkai. Fusing three natures is something only a handful of people in the entire ninja world can accomplish."
Yūhi Shinku paused. "As for fusing every nature together, I've never even thought about it."
"Then never mind. I'll start by squishing two together first." Shin-chan scratched his head.
Yūhi Shinku hesitated, wanting to say something, but in the end he chose not to dampen Shin-chan's confidence and shifted his gaze to the others.
The paper in Kakashi's hand changed the same way as Shin-chan's.
All five reactions appeared at once. The sheet struggled between burning, wrinkling, splitting, soaking, and crumbling for a brief moment before turning completely to ash.
"All-nature." After seeing two all-nature geniuses in one day, Yūhi Shinku's tone was already much calmer. "Same as Nohara Shinnosuke."
Last was Uchiha Toru. He looked down at his chakra paper. One side wrinkled, and the other side began to burn.
Two changes.
"Fire and lightning." Yūhi Shinku nodded, as if slightly relieved. "A good combination."
Uchiha Toru said nothing. His expression didn't show whether he was satisfied or not.
The genin under the trees were completely silent.
One dual-nature, and two all-nature.
These three brats were more ridiculous than the last.
"Alright." Yūhi Shinku clapped his hands. "That's it for the nature test. Now we begin formal training."
He turned to the genin sitting under the trees.
"What are you still sitting there for?"
The genin jolted and all stood up at once.
"Teacher, we'd like to observe," one of them said, raising a hand. "To reinforce our fundamentals."
Yūhi Shinku glanced at him. "Do whatever you want."
The genin exchanged looks and all breathed a sigh of relief. In truth, they just wanted to see exactly how genius these so-called "geniuses" really were.
"Chakra control," Yūhi Shinku said. "This is the foundation of all ninjutsu, and it is also what you need most right now."
Shin-chan raised his hand.
"Speak."
"What's chakra control?"
"It means making your chakra obey you," Yūhi Shinku said. "If you want it to come out, it comes out. If you want it to stop, it stops. If you want it to take a certain form, it takes that form."
Shin-chan thought about it. "Then does my chakra not listen?"
"What do you think?"
"It seems pretty obedient." Shin-chan tilted his head. "When I want it to move, it moves. When I want it to stop, it stops."
Yūhi Shinku didn't believe that for a second.
"Fine." He pointed to a tree nearby. "Climb up."
Shin-chan walked to the tree and looked up. "All the way to the top?"
"To the top." Yūhi Shinku nodded.
Shin-chan wrapped both arms around the trunk and kicked up twice like he normally would when climbing a tree.
"Use chakra." Black lines appeared on Yūhi Shinku's forehead. "Focus chakra into the soles of your feet and stick to the trunk like suction cups."
Shin-chan nodded, placed his foot against the trunk, and stood there with his body almost parallel to the ground. After taking two seconds to adjust, he took a step.
"This seems pretty easy."
The genin under the trees all stared with open mouths.
When he reached the middle of the tree, Shin-chan stopped and looked down.
"Teacher, this is really high."
"Don't look down."
"But I already looked."
"Then keep walking."
Shin-chan sighed and continued upward.
After a few more steps, he stopped again.
"Teacher."
"What now?"
"Can I rest for a bit?"
A cross popped on Yūhi Shinku's forehead. "No."
"But I'm tired."
"You've only taken a few steps."
"A bunch of steps."
Yūhi Shinku took a deep breath. "Keep walking."
Shin-chan could only keep going. Every step landed steadily, and in the end he made it all the way to the highest branch.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!