章 11: Chapter 11: Birthday (1/3)
October 24.
Today's 5 a.m. air held that crispness of cold and purity, with faint whispering noise of chirping sounds, though the sky remained clear. This offered silence free of demands and distraction.
Raijin stretched his body for today's training. He started his usual physical regime, which involved laps, kicks, punches, squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, and shurikenjutsu. He freshened himself after creating a Rasengan.
Continually practicing to create the Rasengans was to shorten its buildup time. A Complete Rasengan still took him ages to make. This was not yet an ideal jutsu that could be used as desired during combat, where the nick of time determines his life and death. Hence, Raijin replaced his usual leaf concentration practice with Instant-Rasengan after being able to create one as a chakra control exercise.
The sharp sound of the doorbell indicated that Haruko had arrived. Raijin halted his practice and quickly opened the door. As he had guessed already, Haruko was indeed in front of it. He let her in, and both of them moved through the main hall to the training ground.
As Haruko entered the hall, she announced, "You'll have no training today, which means no jutsu, no physical training, and no shurikens as well. We'll do something that involves no training today." This was unexpected. Haruko had come, but not to train Raijin. This was unusual—a Day without physical training, sparring, or practicing jutsu was uncommon for both Raijin and Haruko.
Raijin was surprised to hear about having no training, which had been going on for a year now. Normally, Raijin spent each day honing his skills, so the absence of their usual training left Raijin feeling unusually restless and uncertain. "So, what do you have in mind Clan Elder?" Raijin was curious about Haruko's motive, but was relieved, 'Well, my physical training has already been completed for today.'
Haruko smiled and ruffled his hair, "Happy Birthday, Raijin." Haruko revealed why she refrained from training today: it was his birthday.
Raijin didn't remember his birthdate from the boy's (OG Raijin) memories. He had turned 5 years old as of now. He had developed in all aspects all this past year, physically, mentally, or on his chakra and its control. Raijin was no longer an underdeveloped child who was frail and weak but rather a strong kid with some jutsus – no… E-ranked jutsus in his arsenal.
A warm feeling ran through Raijin's heart as he replied, "Thank You Elder."
"Since today is your birthday, I will grant you one of your wishes" Haruko had anticipated it to be about rank-D jutsus. Raijin was talented when performing jutsus (E-rank), incorporating it during spars and fully utilizing the jutsus in his arsenal. During training Raijin had also shown great interest in jutsus and chakra usage, this all made her deduce that he might want to learn rank-D jutsus now that he had completed learning basics – rank-E jutsus, a while back.
"And what do you want for your wish?" Haruko asked with visible excitement.
"If you say so…" Raijin pondered for a moment. This was his one million chance of a lifetime to get something from Haruko. After a full three minutes of silence, his eyes flashed with light, and he replied, "I want to learn Kenjutsu (Swordsmanship)."
Raijin desired to wield swords like a samurai during his previous life. Kenjutsu is a technique related to sword use. He yearned for the elegance of Swordsmanship shown in movies and Japanese culture now that swords are used very often. Learning about those precious swords and their usage was exciting in this life.
Haruko went from flabbergasted to shocked to a surprise. Raijin had asked to learn Swordsmanship, which was beyond her expectations. It was simply something that hadn't crossed her mind. Haruko as her nature, feigned ignorance on her earlier 'grant-you-one-wish' and instead said, "Your birthday gift is that you can now access rank-D jutsus from the library…"
Raijin was saddened but didn't hope to learn Kenjutsu this casually; it was simply impossible. But rank-D jutsus, hmm…well, it was still a gift from Haruko, so he had no qualms about it.
Haruko still continued, "… And today, I would check your chakra affinity."
This was the gift Rajin hadn't expected; it was even more beneficial than the mere rank-D jutsus. He was grateful, or even more – he was now elated with Haruko's gift. He had longed to check his chakra's natural affinity after having some proficiency over chakra control.
A small smile tugged at Haruko's lips witnessing Raijin's chakra fluctuation as she reached into her vest. "I've been carrying these – chakra paper since you first learned E-rank jutsu." She produced a small stack of delicate, cream-colored papers. "I had a feeling you would need it soon."
A ninja's chakra affinity influences their ability to master certain elemental natures, such as fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water. While it is common for experienced ninjas to master two natures, mastering all five is extremely rare due to individual limitations. Additionally, apart from the five elemental transformations, there are also two non-elemental nature transformations which are yin and yang.
Haruko began her explanation about Chakra Paper and Raijin also listened with interest and was more than ready to check his chakra affinity, "Chakra Paper is used in a test to reveal a person's natural affinity with the five basic chakra elements: fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. Understanding one's natural chakra affinity allows one to focus one's training on the elements most inclined to learn and can provide a solid foundation."
Raijin accepted the stack of papers with careful hands, studying its seemingly ordinary appearance. The chakra paper was whisper-thin, nearly translucent in the morning light, yet he knew it was the paper from trees nourished with chakra over decades.
"Remember," Haruko instructed, her voice taking on the measured tone of a teacher, "Channel your chakra steadily. Too much force will tear the paper regardless of your affinity. We're looking for its natural reaction to your chakra nature."
Raijin nodded, holding the delicate paper between his thumb and forefinger. He closed his eyes, focusing on the familiar sensation of chakra flowing through his pathways.
The reaction was instantaneous and dramatic.
The paper crinkled violently, creasing into sharp, jagged patterns. Both Raijin and Haruko stared at the paper.
Raijin noticed something his mentor had missed—where his fingers had touched the paper, there were small damp spots, and specks of dirt clung to the edges. Within a fraction of a second of noticing this damp and dirt; he stopped channeling chakra. Despite this quick stoppage of channeling chakra, at the points where his fingers had touched, the telltale dampness and dirt appeared which wasn't easily noticeable.
"Well," Haruko breathed, her eyes wide with interest. "That's a lightning affinity!"
Haruko muttered staring at the paper in Raijin's hand, "No fire affinity." She seemed particularly struck by the absence of fire nature, given Raijin's lineage.
Raijin also stared at the crinkled half-paper studying every detail. The moisture and dirt around the contact points caught his attention, though he kept his observation to himself for now. Haruko didn't notice the small change as she was mainly focused on the lightning affinity.
"Try another," Haruko suggested, her voice mixing curiosity and instruction.
Raijin carefully tucked the first test pieces into his pocket, then selected a fresh sheet from the stack. Once again, he channeled his chakra brief into the paper. The results were identical—sharp wrinkles formed. He immediately stopped chakra channeling as soon as the paper had creases on it.
Haruko focused entirely on the dramatic display of lightning nature, missing the subtle dirt. Her attention was fixed on the pronounced wrinkles that indicated lightning affinity.
She let out a laugh, though it carried a note of disbelief. "A Sarutobi whose primary affinity is not fire," she said, shaking her head. "Now that's something you don't see every day."
The Sarutobi clan was also known for its fire affinity. It wasn't as well known as the Uchiha Clan for fire affinity, but throughout the generations of the Sarutobi Clan, Fire affinity has been the primal trait of clansmen.
"Even Asuma whose primary chakra for usage was wind had affinity to fire. Lord Third although could use all five natures, had an affinity towards the fire. But you, Raijin, don't seem to have an affinity to fire but lightning…" She paused and her voice drifted in the air, "However, Lord Third's father Sasuke Sarutobi was said to have affinities towards wind, water… as well as fire – a kekkai tōta."
"Maybe I could use all five natures?" Raijin looked at the crinkled paper with a long stare.
"Yeah, you could but that'll require a lot of hard work and dedication," Haruko said with a smile.
Raijin remained silent, his mind racing with the implications of what he'd discovered—not just one affinity Haruko had noticed, but the subtle hints of other natures as well. He carefully stored both test papers away, knowing they would require further study in private.
Haruko stood straight with her 'teacher-like' stance. "Lightning jutsu can be used to pierce and paralyze the enemies. At its core, lightning jutsu manifests through high-frequency chakra vibrations. While those with fire nature heat their chakra and wind users guide its flow, your chakra naturally resonates at higher frequencies."
Raijin didn't know this information about lightning chakra. He absorbed it connecting it to his own knowledge like a vigorous animal. As Raijin's mind raced through his previous life physics classes, he straightened his back and muttered. "Lightning is just a big instantaneous discharge of electrical energy caused by rapid electron flow. During the flow of electrons, while they do have potential energy, the movement of electrons causes them to have kinetic energy."
…
Kekkai Genkai: affinity for two of the natures they can combine.
Kekkai Tōta: affinity for three of the natures they can combine.
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