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Early that morning, Aki got up even earlier than usual. The day before, the First Hokage had told him that today they'd be heading into the Forest of Death to begin a six-month-long training regimen. Aki had already packed the daily necessities his parents had prepared into a storage scroll. Storage ninjutsu was surprisingly simple—even a genin could use it. In fact, even people without chakra could use it, though normal folks could only take things out, not put anything in.
Once everything was packed and ready, Aki left home under the concerned gaze of his parents and headed toward the village gate. After meeting up with the First Hokage, they made their way to the Forest of Death together.
Following the First Hokage deep into the forest, they eventually arrived at the base of a tall tower. Aki stared at it, when suddenly a chilling wind blew past, sending a cold shiver down his spine. From birth until now—including his past life—he'd only ever heard of "killing intent," never felt it firsthand. Let alone have it hit him directly like this.
Right now, he could feel it clearly: a strange, invisible aura full of deadly pressure and biting cold. In his mind, he thought, So this is killing intent… it's invisible, but terrifying. How do I even learn to give off something like that? It's basically a one-shot kill technique! Just imagine—killing someone with a single look! That's the stuff of legends! I can't wait to see what kind of training the First Hokage has for me. Hopefully, he'll teach me how to master that kind of power.
Just then, a few ninja wearing animal masks suddenly appeared around the First Hokage. They dropped to one knee on a single leg, and one of them reported, "Lord First Hokage, we've cleared out the large beasts in the area. Within a 500-meter radius around the tower, there shouldn't be any major threats for at least a month. Please let us know if you need anything else."
The First Hokage nodded with satisfaction. "Good. That'll do for now. You can return. Make sure to deliver food every three days and check for any new signs of wildlife. We won't be staying here longer than two months. Thank you, ANBU."
This was the first time Aki had seen real ANBU in person. "The ANBU—short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai or 'Special Assassination and Tactical Squad'—are kind of like elite special forces in my previous life's world. They're selected from the best ninja in the village. Their main job is to protect the Hokage and keep the village safe from external threats. Sometimes they handle scouting missions or even assassinations. The work they do is usually either extremely dangerous or incredibly boring—like guarding high-value prisoners or, like now, clearing wildlife around the training grounds. Because of the nature of their missions, they wear these creepy white animal masks. All their identities and missions are kept top secret. The ANBU report directly to the Hokage and are completely loyal. The teams are split into four- or five-man squads, each led by a captain who passes down the Hokage's orders. When they're on duty, they only use code names."
Looking at these silent, masked ninja radiating pure killing intent, Aki thought to himself, These guys could probably kill me with a flick of their finger…
One of the ANBU added, "It's an honor to serve you, Lord First Hokage. There's no trouble at all. We'll take our leave now."
With that, the squad vanished in an instant using a body flicker technique.
The First Hokage glanced around, then turned to Aki. "Let's begin your training. This is one of the ANBU's secret training bases. It's mainly used for practical ninjutsu and taijutsu combat drills. First, we'll figure out where your skill level is at so I can decide where to start you. For now, attack me with everything you've got. Don't worry about chakra control or conserving energy—this will help me gauge your chakra reserves, the strength of your jutsu, and your overall control."
He gestured for Aki to begin.
Aki bowed respectfully and said, "I'm starting now. Watch out, Sensei!"
He quickly formed hand seals: Tiger → Boar → Monkey → Ram → Horse → Snake.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A massive fireball burst from his mouth and flew toward the First Hokage.
The First Hokage watched the incoming fireball and commented, "With your current chakra output, the power of that jutsu is already near perfect. Not bad. Next."
With a simple palm strike, he sent out a wave of air that instantly snuffed out the fireball.
Aki stared, dumbfounded. He said it was almost perfect, but then casually smacked it away like it was nothing. Is that really a compliment? Fine! Let's see how you like this one!
Without hesitation, he formed another, longer chain of seals:Tiger → Boar → Monkey → Ram → Horse → Snake → Tiger → Dragon → Rabbit → Tiger.
"Fire Style: Grand Fire Dragon Dance!"A massive fire dragon shot out of his mouth, slithering through the air like a serpent, heading straight for the First Hokage.
Even the First Hokage looked surprised. He actually modified a jutsu? This is clearly a mix of the Fireball Jutsu and Fire Dragon Flame Bullet… It's still a bit rough, but the raw power might already be approaching A-rank jutsu. And for a kid who's never been formally trained in chakra nature transformation or shape manipulation… a once-in-a-century genius really isn't an exaggeration.
Just as he was about to make a move, the fire dragon suddenly vanished. Looking over, he saw Aki clutching his mouth in pain, tears welling up in his eyes. The First Hokage chuckled to himself. No matter how talented he is, he's still just a six-year-old kid.
Aki had poured all his effort into that self-made jutsu, thinking he could pull it off. But as soon as it launched, he felt a burning pain on his lips—he'd literally scorched himself. He immediately stopped the chakra flow, grabbed his mouth, and cried out, "It hurts!"
The First Hokage walked over with a smile and said, "That jutsu of yours is too advanced for your current level. It's already close to an A-rank technique. You don't have enough chakra or control to fully execute it yet. Come on, we'll review it together, and I'll help you revise it."
Then, seeing the burn on Aki's mouth, he added, "This is actually pretty minor. If you had gone full power with that jutsu, the flames around your mouth would've been so hot even I wouldn't want to risk it."
He formed a green glowing ball of chakra in his palm and gently rubbed it against Aki's lips. Instantly, the pain faded and a cool sensation spread across the wound.
Aki touched his mouth, surprised. The burn was gone—there wasn't even a scar left. This is amazing… If we had this back on Earth, we'd be rich.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" the First Hokage said proudly, watching Aki's shocked expression.
Aki nodded. "Sensei, your medical ninjutsu is incredible! Can you teach me? This kind of jutsu can even get rid of scars! It would help so many people heal faster. My mom has a deep scar on her arm—I really want to help her get rid of it."
The First Hokage chuckled. "Ah, so that last part's the real reason. Helping others is a nice excuse, but you just want to help your mom, right?"
Blushing a little, Aki quickly replied, "It's true I want to help my mom, but I also really do want to help others! I meant both. Please, Sensei, teach me!"
He bowed deeply, sincerely asking.
Scratching his head awkwardly, the First Hokage said, "You can't learn this particular technique. It's a Wood Style technique, which is completely different from the five basic chakra natures—fire, wind, water, earth, and lightning. It's very rare. Once I die, there may never be another person who can use it. And while some other ninja might be able to learn it, your Uchiha bloodline makes it impossible. I won't explain why—it just is."
Aki asked, "Then… can you help my mom get rid of her scar?"
"Sure. I'll take care of it when we go back. It's been a while since I saw Nanako anyway. I wonder if she's still that cheerful little girl now that she's a mom."
"Alright, that's for later. Now that I've seen your ninjutsu foundation, I think we can jump straight into more advanced jutsu training. You know, all ninjutsu starts with chakra, and for us ninja, chakra has two key transformations: nature transformation and shape transformation.
Nature transformation turns chakra into elemental types like fire or water—like your Fireball Jutsu or Water Wave Jutsu. Shape transformation, on the other hand, focuses on how the chakra hits—its form and effect, like fire burning or lightning shocking. Today, we'll start with nature transformation."
He pulled out a piece of chakra paper and explained, "Use your chakra on this paper. It'll react based on your elemental affinity:
Fire: it burns
Water: it gets wet
Wind: it splits
Lightning: it crinkles
Earth: it turns to stone
This will help us find your primary nature—your best fit. Alright, go ahead."
Aki took the paper and focused his chakra into it. First, the paper wrinkled, then suddenly caught fire—and halfway through burning, it split in two.
Aki looked up, confused. "Sensei, what just happened? Isn't the primary element supposed to be just one?"
The First Hokage looked just as surprised. "This is the first time I've seen three reactions in one person. I told you before—your primary nature is the one that matches your chakra best and is easiest to train. Some ninja, like your grandfather and I, have two affinities. But you've got three! You really are a once-in-a-century genius."
"But don't let that get to your head. Just having talent doesn't make you strong. In this world, hard work can be even scarier than talent. You've got an amazing gift, so we'll have to change our training plan. The old method was too soft for you. Looks like I'll need to use some… energetic and aggressive training methods instead."
As the First Hokage smiled gently, Aki's whole body tensed up. He asked nervously, "Energetic… and aggressive training?"
This guy's smiling… but he's giving off serious killing intent.
The First Hokage, still smiling warmly, simply replied, "Yep."
"....."