Chapter 6: Written as [Camouflage Concealment], Read as [Invisible Air]!
Nara Keisuke longed for a peaceful and quiet life.
Not clinging to victory or defeat, not getting entangled in troubles, not making enemies that would keep him up at night. A life like a "plant," that kind of "peaceful life," was precisely his goal.
Damn it, however... how to put this? It might be a bit crude to say... Nara Keisuke didn't want to hide the fact that he was a fan of big-breasted blondes.
For older-sister types like Princess Tsunade, Nara Keisuke really... couldn't refuse!
He took out a mini emergency medical kit from his equipment pouch, found an alcohol wipe inside, and gently and meticulously cleaned the few bloodstains from the back of Tsunade's hand. He then sprayed some alcohol spray around to completely eliminate the smell.
Tsunade stared blankly at the boy carefully cleaning the bloodstains for her. She could clearly feel the warmth from Nara's hand, and the panic in her heart receded like a tide, replaced by an indescribable, complex emotion.
Only after Nara Keisuke had finished did Tsunade's expression reluctantly return to normal.
"Lady Tsunade."
Nara Keisuke disposed of the medical waste, making a mental note to replace the medical kit tomorrow.
"Are you still going to the Kikyo Orphanage now?"
"Yes!"
The timid, big sucker was still stubborn.
"Why wouldn't I? I'm hungry now too!"
"Then let's go together."
Nara Keisuke nodded and took the lead, continuing towards Kikyo Castle.
"The Kikyo Orphanage isn't very far anyway. It's just that you'll need to spend more time on your way back to the village later."
"Why? Oh, right, I still have to report to the old man—ahem! I mean, Master Sarutobi, Lord Third!"
The flustered Tsunade forcibly skipped past the slip of the tongue that made her uncomfortable and awkwardly changed the subject.
"Nara, I remember you said before that your parents are alive, right? How come you seem so familiar with the situation at the Kikyo Orphanage?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Tsunade realized something was wrong. Her words sounded as if she was being passive-aggressive...
"My parents are indeed both alive. I introduced my father's identity before. My mother is a Chūnin who retired due to injury."
Nara Keisuke's shoulders slumped. One shouldn't air dirty laundry in public, but he had always wanted to complain about this matter.
"They are... very much in love."
"Hmm?"
Seeing that Nara Keisuke didn't look displeased, Tsunade secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But after hearing his description, she was very puzzled.
"So? Is there a problem?"
"The problem is... they are too in love."
Nara Keisuke looked at the gate of the Kikyo Orphanage ahead and sighed wistfully.
"There's no room for a third person in their relationship... and I am the third person in that family."
That Time I Reincarnated to Healthy Parents and a House with No Sister, But Still Lived Like an Orphan.
Tsunade had undergone very strict, one might even say harsh, professional ninja training since childhood. Under normal circumstances, no matter how funny something was, she wouldn't laugh.
Damn it!
The golden-haired sucker couldn't hold it in after all. With a pfft, she let out a hearty laugh like the clanging of a barbell.
"Ahahaha!"
...
Nara Keisuke was indeed familiar with the Kikyo Orphanage. This was not only reflected in his close and intimate relationship with its director, Yakushi Nono'o, but also in the fact that he had a very precious small, single room within the orphanage.
Although this didn't seem to be something to be proud of...
The two arrived at the Kikyo Orphanage and entered "Nara Keisuke's Exclusive Little Room" together.
Tsunade looked around the small but very clean and tidy room, a trace of surprise flashing in her eyes.
"Nara, your little room is so neat, it's not at all what you'd expect from a boy your age."
Nara Keisuke had no desire to discuss the normal habits of boys his age with Tsunade. He pointed to the private bathroom in the small room.
"The washroom is over there."
"Thanks!"
While Tsunade went to wash up, Nara Keisuke skillfully walked to his small single bed, lay down in the most comfortable position, and stretched languidly while letting out an irrepressible sigh of pleasure.
Ah~ Lying in bed really is the most comfortable!
Creak—
Just then, the washroom door was pushed open from the inside, and Tsunade's head popped out.
"No peeking—"
Tsunade had intended to tease Nara Keisuke, but when she saw the boy lying on the bed, looking as comfortable and leisurely as a deer sunbathing in a winter forest, she swallowed the second half of her sentence.
'I could eat three bowls of rice just by listening to the sound of the water!'
Nara Keisuke lay motionless on the bed, rolled his eyes, and nearly spouted a classic line from a certain master of trash talk at the big sucker. But reason came online in time. He just rolled his eyes again, then struggled to turn over on the bed like a salted fish, facing the wall to show his sincerity.
Tsunade: "..."
Bang!
The washroom door was slammed shut with force.
'<
Happy to be idle, Nara Keisuke continued to study his golden finger, or more precisely, the A-rank secret art he had just obtained.
'[Camouflage Concealment]!'
On the virtual panel, the jutsu scroll for the super-advanced invisibility technique from Iwagakure instantly unfurled. The scroll not only recorded the method of use and effects of [Camouflage Concealment] but also mentioned many of its flaws.
At the same time, a new notification popped up.
[Detected A-Rank Secret Technique [Camouflage Concealment]. Learn?]
'I can learn A-rank ninjutsu directly? The <
Nara Keisuke was stunned for a moment, and another thought instantly came to mind.
'Is this limited only to jutsu from [Shinobi Secret Scrolls], or does it include all jutsu recorded in other conventional scrolls?'
If it was the latter...
Looks like I'll have to find some time to test this "one-click learning" function!
While thinking, Nara Keisuke directly clicked the "one-click learning" button on the panel.
Don't be fooled by the fact that he had already researched and mastered an A-rank jutsu, [Lacquer Eye]. That was the result of several years of accumulated effort. A-rank ninjutsu had basically touched the realm of "forbidden jutsu." Every A-rank ninjutsu represented an extremely high level of difficulty, and the time and effort required to master one were absolutely immeasurable!
Nara Keisuke wasn't against taking some shortcuts in "learning high-difficulty knowledge."
As for the effect...
[Learned one A-Rank jutsu [Camouflage Concealment]. Your [Wisdom] attribute has been slightly enhanced!]
Nara Keisuke opened his eyes. The various key points of [Camouflage Concealment] flowed through his mind, but when he saw the notification on the panel, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
'That's it?'
If he remembered correctly, when he had just mastered [Lacquer Eye], not only his [Wisdom] but also his [Ninjutsu] attribute had been enhanced, and by a whole major rank at that!
But this [Camouflage Concealment]...
Nara Keisuke closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then he raised his right hand, gathered chakra, and silently activated the [Camouflage Concealment] ninjutsu he had just learned.
Chakra finely controlled the invisible water molecules in the air, wrapping them around Nara Keisuke's fingers. His index and middle fingers, held together, vanished under the effect of the jutsu.
But only his two fingers had turned transparent.
"My chakra reserves are fundamentally insufficient to support the use of an A-rank ninjutsu like [Camouflage Concealment]!"
Looking at his two transparent fingers, Nara Keisuke's face was full of black lines. The <
The problem was that Nara Keisuke's [Stamina] was too low. The chakra he refined was insufficient to control the water molecules covering his entire body, so naturally, he couldn't use [Camouflage Concealment] properly.
In common terms: his brain gets it, but his body can't keep up.
'No wonder my [Ninjutsu] attribute didn't increase. I have indeed basically mastered [Camouflage Concealment], but I can't use it normally at all!'
Nara Keisuke ended the jutsu, and his two fingers reappeared.
'Ordinary ninja have chakra, cheat-level ninja have cha-kra-tons... do I have cha-milli-grams?'
Taking a deep breath, Nara Keisuke silently moved up his plan to increase his [Stamina] attribute while also convincing himself.
'Forget it, forget it. It's an A-rank ninjutsu, after all. Especially since [Camouflage Concealment] only requires one—no, half a hand seal to cast, which is exceptionally effective for a ninja with slow hands like me.'
Although the effect of [Camouflage Concealment] involved the terrifying level of molecular control, it was still essentially a technique of fine chakra control. Therefore, using it wasn't difficult; it only required one hand seal to draw out the chakra. (Half a "Tiger" seal, or perhaps half a "Ram" seal, the gesture is basically the same as a "sword finger.")
In a sense, the fewer hand seals a ninjutsu required and the shorter the sealing time, the more helpful it was in battle. The most famous example was the no-seal ninjutsu "Rasengan," which the future Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, meticulously developed based on his own fighting style and by referencing the Tailed Beast Bomb!
As a Nara clan ninja, Nara Keisuke hadn't spent too much effort on hand-waving—ahem, on ninjutsu hand seals. On one hand, it was because the Nara clan's [Shadow Secret Arts] basically didn't require hand seals; on the other hand, it was because Nara Keisuke himself didn't advocate for the concept of "ninjutsu hand seals."
What kind of self-respecting ninja uses hand seals?
[Camouflage Concealment] only required one seal, which was just right for Nara Keisuke.
'If it only requires refining and controlling chakra, perhaps in the future, after I've become completely familiar with and have perfectly mastered [Camouflage Concealment], I might even be able to omit this one hand seal.'
Nara Keisuke's thoughts drifted.
'And the effect of [Camouflage Concealment] is indeed powerful. Although it's just an illusionary invisibility and can't eliminate my physical existence, in actual combat, this optical camouflage-like ability has a very wide range of uses!'
'Even if I can only hide a finger, it can still produce miraculous effects! For example...'
Nara Keisuke took out a standard-issue kunai and activated [Camouflage Concealment] at the same time, manipulating the water molecules to wrap around the weapon. The black kunai, glinting with a cold light, was immediately hidden in the air by the A-rank jutsu.
'[Invisible Air]!'
(End of Chapter)