As Kiseki went up to his room with the old book in his hands, he could barely contain his excitement. He closed the door, sat on his bed, and immediately began reading, at first he expected to find simple notes about how to create crystals, control their shape, or reduce chakra consumption, but the first pages were focused almost entirely on the Tree of Crystal Petals.
Kiseki already knew how important the tree was.
His father had already explained that the tree was directly connected to the Haruno bloodline, and that if it ever completely died, their Kekkei Genkai could eventually disappear as well, there was even a possibility that someone with an especially deep connection to the tree could suffer much more serious consequences.
None of that was new.
What the book was beginning to show him was just how deep that connection actually went.
"So that's how it works..."
Kiseki slowly turned the page.
According to the old notes, the exact origin of the Tree of Crystal Petals was unknown, not even the oldest records of the Haruno Clan could say with certainty when it had appeared or how the first generation of Haruno had formed a connection with it, the only thing they knew for sure was that, for countless generations, the tree and their bloodline had remained linked.
That also helped Kiseki better understand the sanctuary hidden beneath his house.
The enormous Tree of Crystal Petals he had seen there probably was not simply the original tree physically moved beneath their home, from what Kiseki understood from the notes, it was more likely some kind of crystal projection, an extension connected to the real tree through its power.
"That makes a lot more sense."
After all, physically moving something so important beneath a normal house would be far too dangerous, the true tree had to be hidden somewhere much safer.
As Kiseki continued reading, he also began to understand how the Haruno Clan had managed to preserve its bloodline even after being almost completely destroyed and scattered across different parts of the world.
The Tree of Crystal Petals possessed something similar to a survival mechanism.
Over the generations, small branches had been separated from the original tree and hidden in different places throughout the world, those branches remained completely dormant, showing almost no activity at all while preserving only a small part of the main tree's essence.
Kiseki raised an eyebrow.
"So they basically have backups."
If the main tree was ever completely destroyed, one of those dormant branches could awaken and slowly begin taking its place.
Of course, that did not mean everything would simply return to normal.
The book warned that such a process could cause a massive weakening of the bloodline, some Haruno might completely lose Crystal Release, others could retain a much weaker version of it, and several generations might even pass before the new tree recovered enough power for the Kekkei Genkai to begin appearing normally again.
Kiseki stared at those lines for several seconds.
He already knew that losing the tree meant losing the bloodline, but now he understood that the system was not quite as absolute as he had originally thought.
Even if the main tree was destroyed, the Haruno Clan still had a chance to survive.
"We might lose our Kekkei Genkai... but at least we wouldn't disappear."
To Kiseki, that would still be a tragedy, but it was infinitely better than the alternative.
The Haruno would simply become a normal shinobi family.
They could still train chakra, learn ninjutsu, develop their own techniques, and become genin, chūnin, or jōnin just like anyone else, they would only lose the hereditary ability that made their family special.
"We'd be something like the Shimura or the Sarutobi... still a shinobi clan, just without a Kekkei Genkai separating us from everyone else."
Kiseki continued reading slowly, and the more he understood, the clearer it became why his ancestors had taken so many precautions.
They had never relied on protecting only one tree.
They had created alternatives.
They had hidden pieces of it across the world because they understood that, sooner or later, someone might discover and destroy the main source.
That thought also made Kiseki think about the current state of his family.
"But after all... the Haruno Clan is already completely fragmented and almost destroyed."
A faint sadness appeared on his face.
Many of those family branches probably did not even know what they truly were anymore, some descendants might be living as ordinary civilians, others may have completely lost the knowledge related to Crystal Release, and it was entirely possible that several branches had disappeared during past wars without anyone ever realizing it.
Kiseki lowered his gaze toward the old book.
With every page, he understood the real situation of his clan a little better.
He was not discovering that his bloodline was in danger.
He already knew that.
What he was beginning to understand was what his ancestors had done to prevent its complete disappearance, and just how deeply the Tree of Crystal Petals was connected to every generation of the Haruno family.
After roughly an hour of reading, Kizashi's voice came from downstairs.
"Kiseki! It's time to train!"
Kiseki looked at the book reluctantly.
He still wanted to keep reading.
"I'm coming, Dad!"
He carefully marked the page and quickly went downstairs.
That day, however, Kizashi added something new to his routine, his training would no longer consist only of improving his chakra control, he also needed to start strengthening his body.
Kiseki might possess an extraordinary amount of chakra for a five-year-old and a Kekkei Genkai with enormous potential, but his body was still that of a child, if he wanted to fully use those advantages in the future, he needed a physical foundation strong enough to support them.
So his new training began with relatively simple exercises, short runs, squats, balance drills, and repeated movements meant to strengthen his arms, legs, and back without putting too much strain on a body that was still growing, once that was finished, he moved on to chakra control.
When all of it was finally over, Kiseki returned to his room exhausted, took a bath, ate, and immediately opened the old book again.
And that was how almost the entire week passed.
Academy, physical training, chakra control, practice with his parents, and reading.
With each passing day, Kiseki understood his bloodline, the Tree of Crystal Petals, and the connection between them a little better, he already knew many of the general concepts from what his father had explained, but the book was slowly filling in the gaps he still did not understand.
He was also beginning to understand why his parents insisted so much on patience.
Crystal Release was not simply about creating crystals with chakra.
There was history behind it.
A source, limitations, risks.
And an entire system that generations of Haruno had created to prevent everything from disappearing along with a single tree.
The more Kiseki read, the clearer one thing became.
Before he could truly master his Kekkei Genkai, he first needed to understand exactly what he had inherited.