Two weeks had passed since Shin's spar with Kazuma—two weeks of grueling physical training, bruised muscles, and relentless drills. Every morning began before dawn, his limbs aching, his breath visible in the cold morning air. Today was no different. He had just finished his conditioning routine: sprints, core work, and endless footwork practice. Now, his focus had shifted to the next phase—shuriken throwing.
The wooden targets stood at varying distances across the snow-dusted courtyard, each one scarred with previous hits and misses. Shin stood ten meters away, steadying his breath, three shuriken in hand. His grip was firm but relaxed—just as Kazuma had instructed. With a swift flick of his wrist, the first shuriken sliced through the air and thudded into the outer ring of the target. Not perfect, but better than yesterday. He threw the next two in quick succession—one grazed the edge, the other struck the center cleanly. A small grin touched his lips. Progress. His eyes gleamed with quiet intensity as he retrieved another set from the pouch at his hip. He was far from mastering it, but every throw now carried purpose, discipline, and a rising hunger to improve.
As Shin paused to catch his breath, eyes scanning the training field scattered with embedded shuriken, a satisfied smirk tugged at his lips. His throws had become sharper, cleaner—each one landing with near-perfect precision. The Shuriken Jutsu is really starting to feel natural, he thought. The way his vision slowed down fast movements and traced trajectories made the practice almost too easy. He was grateful—truly—that he had been diligent with the Uchiha clan's meditation technique. It not only accelerated his chakra control but also deepened his connection with his eyes. Retrieving a kunai from a nearby stump, Shin's thoughts shifted to something more exciting. According to his uncle, his chakra reserves were now comparable to that of a standard genin—an incredible feat considering his age. His heart pounded with anticipation. Time to see what the Body Flicker can really do.
Shin shook off the pain, grumbling under his breath, but he wasn't one to back down easily. He stood up straight, dusted himself off, and performed the hand seals again—this time with extra focus. As soon as the last seal was complete, chakra surged through his body and he felt a strange sensation—like his feet were skipping steps, as if reality had fast-forwarded.
Zwoop!
Suddenly—WHAM! His body slammed shoulder-first into another tree. He slid down dramatically, eyes spinning like a broken Sharingan.
"Okay… okay…" he muttered from the ground, staring up at the leaves swaying above. "Mental note: visualize the destination... and maybe don't flicker like I'm dodging taxes."
---
Later that evening, Shin sat cross-legged on his bed, wincing slightly as he applied a fresh bandage over the bridge of his nose—a painful reminder of his graceful crash into a tree earlier that day. After resting and regaining his strength, he stepped out into the cool air of his backyard. The moon hung high, casting silver light over the trees. Shin approached the largest tree in the yard, his eyes narrowing with determination. Focusing his chakra to the soles of his feet, he placed one foot against the trunk, then the other, and began walking upward with practiced ease. Not a single slip. Two weeks ago, he had barely managed two steps before falling flat on his back. But now, he could walk up and down the tree as if gravity were an afterthought. A quiet sense of pride filled him, knowing that the rigorous chakra control training was finally paying off.
Fueled by his small victory, Shin reached into his pouch and pulled out a balloon, already filled with water. It was time to begin his next challenge: the Rasengan. He had read that the first stage of training involved rotating chakra inside the balloon in multiple directions—simultaneously and with great intensity—until the balloon burst. Holding it in his palm, he closed his eyes and focused, trying to channel his chakra in a spiraling motion. The water inside the balloon sloshed unpredictably, and he could feel resistance as the chakra flow began to build. But the rotation was unbalanced, the control inconsistent. The balloon wobbled violently in his hand but refused to pop. Minutes turned into an hour as he gritted his teeth, adjusting his focus, attempting different patterns, pushing more chakra. Yet, every attempt ended the same: no burst, only exhaustion. Finally, with sweat dripping down his brow and his arms aching, Shin plopped down on the grass.
"This jutsu is seriously insane," he muttered, flopping back to stare at the stars. "Maybe I'll pop one balloon by the end of the month… if I'm lucky."
---
With the house completely to himself for the first time in weeks—his uncle away on a mission—Shin found the silence more oppressive than peaceful. Every creak of the wooden floorboards and rustle of wind against the windows only amplified the emptiness. Rather than sit alone with his thoughts, he decided to do something productive. The village library had always intrigued him, especially with its two floors of knowledge. The first floor was open to all villagers, while the second was exclusive to academy students and shinobi. Since Shin wasn't officially enrolled in the academy yet, he headed to the first floor, hoping to find something worthwhile.
The library was quiet, save for the soft rustle of pages and the occasional sneeze from an elderly man behind the main desk. The librarian, a wrinkled old man with half-moon glasses and a pipe that constantly puffed without ever being lit, looked up as Shin approached.
"Ah... you're a new face," the old man said, adjusting his glasses. "Not many your age come in here on their own. Looking for a picture book, maybe?"
Shin offered a polite smile. "Actually, I was hoping to read about chakra manipulation. Maybe even something on movement techniques like the Body Flicker Jutsu."
The librarian raised an eyebrow, visibly intrigued. "Well now. Not your average bedtime story, is it?" He chuckled softly. "You're either very ambitious or very bored."
"Can I be both?" Shin grinned.
The old man's chuckle turned into a laugh. "Fair enough, kid. Most of the real juicy stuff's upstairs, but I can give you some foundational theory down here. Wait a moment…" He disappeared into the aisles and returned with two thick books: The Fundamentals of Chakra Control and Tactical Movement and Flow in Basic Ninjutsu.
---
Shin dove into the books with eager eyes, and the more he read, the more he began to understand the complex beauty behind ninjutsu. The Fundamentals of Chakra Control broke things down into layers. It explained chakra usage through three primary pillars: output regulation, directional precision, and sustained flow. He realized that walking on trees, walking on water, or spinning a balloon all demanded control in different proportions. The book emphasized that a ninja's true strength wasn't raw power—but how well they could mold and apply chakra with intention.
Then came the revelation in the second book.
It explained that hand seals weren't just gestures—they were catalysts for specific chakra moldings. Each hand seal manipulated chakra in a precise way, aligning it toward a nature transformation, a direction, or a purpose. But what fascinated Shin the most was a theory buried deep in the book: With exceptional chakra control and deep familiarity, a user can reduce the number of seals required to perform a jutsu.
His mind flashed to Shisui—one of the most talented Uchiha to ever live—who used only a single hand sign to Body Flicker. The book supported this idea with examples of jonin-level shinobi modifying jutsu mid-combat, blending hand seals together, or even creating new sequences. The trick wasn't just talent. It was chakra memory—training the body to recognize and instantly mold the chakra without needing the full sequence of seals.
Shin leaned back in awe. If I can master this… I can shorten hand signs for all my jutsu someday. He stayed until midnight, scribbling notes furiously, theorizing how he might experiment with the Body Flicker to cut down its sequence, and even thinking of other jutsu that could benefit. From across the room, the old librarian peeked up and smiled behind his pipe.
"Heh… that boy's got the look of a true shinobi."
---
As the moon hung high above the quiet village, Shin finally closed the last book, his fingers slightly smudged with ink from all the note-taking. He had learned more tonight than he had anticipated—about chakra control, the importance of molding it with precision during hand seals, and the potential to reduce them entirely through mastery. The idea of refining jutsu efficiency thrilled him. With a yawn and a satisfied smile, he thanked the old librarian and stepped out into the cool night. The streets were silent as he made his way home, the weight of knowledge settling in his mind like a warm blanket. As he slipped into bed, eyes heavy and heart light, one thought echoed in his mind:
I'm getting closer.
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