Its been three weeks since the academy's midterm, I of-course moved up a few classes Gai, however, did not.
Gai was extremely upset, he had a river of Youthful tears streaming down his face, and promised to train ten times as hard to catch up to his most Youthful friend.
I asked Gai if he wanted me to wait for him so he could catch up to me, as I didn't mind doing so.
Gai answered with a Youthful no.
We had a rather touching moment
"Don't let anything stir you from your path you have drawn for yourself! Forge ahead until the end! Stick to it Shiro! Make me proud! Be everything you can be"
Gai finished it with his nice guy pose, a thumbs-up, and sparkle on his teeth.
"Thanks, Gai, that was extremely Youthful!"
I returned my nice guy pose, a double thumbs up.
Youth is infectious.
I recently wrote all I could remember from the Naruto timeline, only to immediately trash it afterward.
I figured that my presence has probably changed things and I shouldn't count on what I had seen to be accurate, seeing as it was 10ish years away anyway I didn't need to worry for a while.
I instead decided to make a timeline and burn it into my brain, though Kisimoto himself didn't know the timeline I thought id give it a shot
I put my birth about 15.5 years before the Ninetailes attack (BNT)
BNT meaning Before Ninetails
Gai, Rin, and Obito were at 17 BNT
Kakashi is about 2-3 years younger then than them so 15 BNT
Kakashi graduates at 5, I put that at 9/10 BNT. I wasn't sure.
Obito and Rin Graduate at 9YO 5ish BNT
Kakashi becomes Chunin, Obito does not… 5 BNT
Sumako "causes war" 5-4 BNT
Third shinobi war? 5-4 BNT
Sumako dies 4 BNT
Itachi birth? 5 BNT
3rd Shinobi war for 2 years? 4-2 BNT
Obito "dies" meets old man Madara 1-2 BNT
Minato Hokage 1.5 ish Bnt
Naruto conceived 0.9 Bnt
And nine tales attack 0 NTA
I figured it was at least something close to that.
Although the timeline was made with half-forgotten memories and patched together with shabby detective work I was somewhat confident that it was close. My only major problem seemed to be placing Itachi, I figured he was 5-7 years old when the nine tales attacked, but I wasn't sure.
Going by my current timeline if Kakashi graduates this year that means I had 4 or so years until the war.
That isn't a lot of time, when I had this realization I panicked for a while.
After rolling around in my bed, stewing in panic for a while, I decided that it was time to get back to work.
I was standing alone in the center of what was called "The third training ground", white hair lightly blowing in the breeze, half blank, but soon to be filled war monument to my back.
This was the training ground the current third Hokage trained the Sanin, and where Kakashi will train his future team.
I figured that since this training ground birthed and will birth legends, that maybe some of that good stuff would rub off on me.
Anyway, I was here to practice the Body Flicker or Shunshin, while a clone practiced medical jutsu on the fish in the nearby river.
The Shunshin was pretty much enhancing your legs with chakra while pushing chakra onto the surface of your body to eliminate drag and resistance caused by the air around us, reducing the "limiters" the atmosphere puts on your speed which increasing your acceleration considerably.
Not hard which is why it is considered a D-Ranked Jutsu.
I was both normally using Shunshin and using it with my perception enhancement, now aptly named Chikaku kyōka.
Chikaku kyōka is just Perception Enhancement in Naruto-verse Japanese, as one could tell I was very creative.
Using Chikaku kyōka, allowed great control during Shunshin, being unable to control the Shunshin was the reason ninja didn't use it in combat.
The exceptions being Shisui with his Sharingan and possibly A the RaiKage with however he slowed his perception.
I believed the RaiKage's Lightning armor was a Shunshin Lightning Release combo.
I hoped to achieve the speed both Shisui and A will be known for.
But I was having little luck, it seemed I wouldn't get instant speed.
My first problem was that the Shunshin was tiring, not chakra wise, physically tiring.
Easy Peasy.
Just build up my stamina, something I could do, though it was something that took time.
My second problem was that using the Shunshin only took my speed up to High Chunin level, which was a great increase as it was Mid Genin level before.
I had expected that I would instantly jump to Jonin level speed, but I guess my expectations were too high.
Again, the solution was simple I just had to build up my base speed.
No problem.
So, the solution to my problems seemed to be training…
Which was great as I loved simple solutions.
What was not great however was that any bodily training I was doing wasn't as effective as before.
I simply wasn't improving, it seems my growth had plateaued, there's a limit to a five-year-old's body and it seems I've about reached it.
This is what caused me to think of the Shunshin in the first place.
Enhancing the body with chakra and working beyond your natural limits.
And although I already had another solution, it wasn't one I was happy with.
Trying to stimulate or activate the pituitary gland.
The pituitary gland releases the human growth hormone which controls the physical growth of the body.
I certainly didn't have good enough medical knowledge to do so safely, and I didn't want to grow to 7ft tall and look like Sloth from the goonies.
I thought the body did good enough on its own.
I decided perhaps I should visit an expert on physical training, the good thing is I knew the most Youthful expert in Konoha.
Popping my clone and absorbing its memories I set off in search of said expert.
My trip to said expert was delayed, as he was out of Konoha on a mission.
I instead sought out Tokama, the next best, but least Youthful expert I knew.
"…"
My trip to Tokuma was also delayed, a branch member told me that I had to attend a meeting with Elder Kakuzō tomorrow.
It seems that I won't find an answer to my problems today.
Or tomorrow for that matter.
I didn't know what the elder wanted, or who he was, I hoped fate would be merciful and I would not be ganged up on and sealed.
I had faith I could kill a couple of people before they sealed me, maybe make them think twice about future sealings.
First, before any drastic action was taken, I had to go ask my mother who this Kakuzō was, and see if she knew what he wanted, as she was the child of an elder, I figured she might know who he was and what he wanted.
I arrived home and the moment of truth came.
"Mother, Elder Kakuzō requested my presence tomorrow"
"Hmm"
'Thanks, very helpful…'
"Could you tell me who he is, I'm unfamiliar with the name"
She slowly blinked at me and I blinked back in reply.
"The former clan head"
…
"Do you know what he wants with me?"
She blew a breath out of her nose, looked away and said.
"Clan members are taught more about the Byakugan when they are deemed responsible enough"
I held back a relived breath from escaping my mouth and enjoyed the feeling of tension leavening my body.
I mumbled a quick "thank you Oka-sama" and scurried away, wanting to escape to my room.
I heard a Muffled "Dress nicely tomorrow" as I closed my door
'I always dress nicely'
And by nicely I meant Youthfully.
When I tried to leave the next morning, I was stopped by my mother and promptly told to leave my youthful Green jumpsuit at home.
I went without argument, back to my room, putting on a black and gray yukata and finally leavening the house under my mothers approving gaze.
But the joke was on her, halfway to the elder's house I shed my yukata revealing my Youthful jumpsuit for the world to see.
You can never stop the power of Youth!
I arrived at the elder's house knocked on the door and waited.
A branch member opened the door stepped to the side and made a motion for me to enter.
After taking off my shoes, I was led down the hall to a room and told to wait, I had a quick look around, admiring the calligraphy hung on the wall then seated myself at the chabudai.
After very little time an old man with brown hair walked in, and then paused to admire my youthful attire, but then continued and sat cross-legged at the chabudai.
"Let's get started I have better things to do than teach you." He sneered at me.
'Asshole'
I being a Youthful gentleman, pleasantly smiled back.
"Yes Elder, let's not waste your time, after all, you don't have much left"
"Hmfp, Unlike the Sharingan, which do not manifest unless the users meet certain conditions, the Byakugan is present from the time of birth…"
The elder blabbered on, totally ignoring my verbal jab.
"…. Unlike a Sharingan that has been transplanted, the Byakugan when trained can be activated and deactivated at will, making it highly coveted, more so then the Sharingan…
'Ah! Something I didn't know, maybe this will be worthwhile.'
"Wielders of the Byakugan have a near-360º field of vision around themselves, save for a small blind spot at the back of the neck…"
'I've changed my mind.'
"The Byakugan's vision can penetrate almost any object, allowing users to see through walls, peer underground, or even examine the contents of a person's body, only certain barriers can block a Byakugan's sight."
The elder paused and took a sip of tea, that was provided by a branch member while he was talking.
"We use one of these barriers in every house in the compound for privacy"
The elder set his cup down took a deep breath and continued.
"Users of the Byakugan can focus their vision on anything and everything within the Byakugan's range, allowing them to monitor individuals from out of range or to quickly survey a vast area and pinpoint specific locations…"
'I'm not the only one that learned the telescopic vision, it seems common actually'
"…The exact range of the Byakugan varies between users but can be improved with training. The Byakugan can see chakra to a greater degree than the Sharingan…"
I felt a tinge of disgust at the smug look on his face when he said it.
"…This enables users to distinguish clones from their original and even identify specific individuals' chakra signatures…"
"…The Byakugans ability to see chakra is acute enough to see the chakra pathway system within a target's body and the 361 tenketsu that run along with it…"
"…Our clan devised the Gentle Fist style of combat specifically to take advantage of this ability, wherein they strike an opponent's tenketsu to either seal or forcibly open them, thus giving the user complete control over their opponent's chakra"
I waited for him to continue but it seems that was it.
"Any questions?"
Perhaps not.
"Yes Elder, what's the average range of the Byakugan?"
"The range of the Byakugan varies greatly sometimes being 22 meters sometimes being 20 kilometers."
'That's not really what I asked, but ok.'
Time to get out of here.
Still seated I lightly bowed at the waist.
"Thank Elder for expanding my horizons, may I be excused?"
"Yes, leave my house"
I stood up, gave another small bow, and started to leave.
I figured id already dug myself a hole with my first jab, it didn't matter how deep it was anymore, I continued on my way throwing one last jab over my shoulder as I left.
"Thank you Elder, I admire how you don't care about how you come across."
Rudeness causes me to behave most unyouthfully.