By the time Kiseki finished reading that section of the book, he finally felt like he was beginning to understand the most important foundations of Crystal Release. Until now, he had known that his clan possessed Shōton and that he himself could instinctively create small crystals, but he had never fully understood why there could be such large differences between one user and another. According to the book, Crystal Release did not manifest exactly the same way in every member of the clan. Depending on the elemental natures involved in its formation, different variations of Shōton could appear, and those differences affected both the properties of the crystals and which techniques were easier or harder for each user to perform.
In Kiseki's case, he finally understood that his Crystal Release came from the combination of Earth and Water. That explained quite a lot. Ever since he had started experimenting with small crystals, there had always been something strange about the way his chakra moved. Even though he had not received any serious Shōton training yet, whenever he tried to create crystal, part of his chakra flowed in a smooth way, almost like water, before hardening and forming those tiny crystalline fragments. The fact that one of his elemental affinities was Water only reinforced that conclusion.
"So my Shōton is Earth and Water..."
Kiseki looked again at the examples described in the book, and that information also helped him understand something that had always made him curious.
Guren.
From what he was reading, Guren's Crystal Release most likely belonged to a different variation from his, one related mainly to Earth and Lightning. The example the book used to explain that version was a technique called Shōton Crystal Style Arrow of Light. Kiseki carefully read the description. The technique allowed the user to combine Crystal Release with Lightning and fire an extremely concentrated beam, almost like a laser. According to the text, although a user with another variation of Shōton could theoretically try to reproduce it, those whose crystal naturally came from Earth and Lightning had a huge advantage when performing it.
"That makes sense..."
Kiseki immediately remembered Guren's technique. If the book was correct, then she did not simply use Shōton differently because she had more experience, the very nature of her Crystal Release favored that type of technique. The book even gave another example to compare the two variations.
Shōton: Divine Pathway Jutsu.
That technique was different. In theory, any Crystal Release user could learn it regardless of the exact elemental combination behind their Shōton, but the efficiency could change drastically depending on the variation. Kiseki kept reading with growing interest. For someone whose Crystal Release came from Earth and Lightning, using Crystal Style Arrow of Light would be relatively natural, while someone with an Earth and Water variation would have a much harder time reproducing it. The book even mentioned that the chakra cost could become roughly twice as high because the user would be forcing a property that did not naturally match their type of crystal.
And the opposite was also true.
An Earth and Water user would have a major advantage when using techniques like Divine Pathway Jutsu. Kiseki immediately remembered the time Guren had used that technique against the Three-Tails. She had crystallized the water to create a path across the surface, but according to what he was reading now, that technique could reach a completely different scale in the hands of someone whose Shōton was naturally connected to Water.
"Seriously...?"
According to the book, an Earth and Water Crystal Release user could directly take advantage of the water already present in the environment to expand their crystal much more easily. With enough chakra, they would not be limited to creating only a narrow path over the water. An entire pond could be turned into a massive crystalline structure, and even the surface of a lake could be transformed.
Kiseki immediately started imagining it. Instead of a simple crystal path stretching over the water, he could create a huge surface, several branching paths, or even something resembling a crystal labyrinth covering a large part of a lake. Everything would depend on his chakra reserves and how much mastery he eventually achieved over his Shōton.
"So this actually favors me a lot."
That did not mean his variation was objectively better than Guren's. They were simply different. Guren would have a huge advantage with techniques that combined crystal properties with Lightning, while Kiseki would be much better suited for techniques that expanded and transformed his Shōton through Water. That also explained why the book insisted so much that two Crystal Release users could end up developing completely different fighting styles even if they belonged to the same clan.
Kiseki quickly turned to the next page, now he wanted something much more important, the hand seals.
If the book was already describing techniques like Crystal Style Arrow of Light and Divine Pathway Jutsu, maybe it also included the way to perform them.
He searched carefully.
One page, then another, then another, nothing.
Kiseki frowned.
"Come on... at least give me the hand seals."
He kept searching.
Still nothing.
Eventually, Kiseki realized those techniques were not included to teach them. They were only examples. The purpose of the book was to explain the differences between the various manifestations of Crystal Release, not to directly hand over advanced clan techniques.
Kiseki let out a small disappointed sigh.
"Of course it wasn't going to be that easy."
Even so, the information was still extremely valuable. Now he understood much better what kind of Shōton he possessed and, more importantly, why certain techniques could be much easier for some users while others would require an absurd amount of extra chakra.
That also opened up another question, if there was a variation based on Earth and Water, and another based on Earth and Lightning.
"Then what about the others?"
Kiseki began checking the pages again with even more curiosity.
"Is there a Crystal Release connected to Fire?"
He turned another page.
"And what about Wind?"
Nothing.
He kept searching, but unfortunately the book did not contain detailed examples of those other possible variations. It mentioned that different manifestations of Shōton could exist depending on the elemental natures involved, but the only versions explained in real depth were the Water-related and Lightning-related ones.
Kiseki rested the book on his legs, slightly disappointed.
"That's a shame..."
He would have loved to know what a crystal influenced by Fire or Wind would be like, what properties it would have, what kinds of techniques it would favor, and how much it could change the way Shōton was used.
But that information simply was not there, for now, Kiseki would have to be satisfied with what he had learned. Even though he had not found any new jutsu or hand seals, he had still gained something just as important.
For the first time, Kiseki truly understood what kind of Crystal Release he possessed.