Back home, Kairi sat down and looked at the scrolls on his desk three of them, all about the Three Basic Jutsu. Beside them was a chakra paper he'd picked up on the way back.
He picked up the paper and fed his chakra into it. Within seconds, the sheet split cleanly down the middle, and the half in his hand crumpled up.
"Wind and Lightning, huh?" he murmured, nodding slightly. Not surprising. His absentee father had apparently had Wind affinity, while Sina had told him her nature was Lightning.
So he'd inherited both of his parents' chakra attributes. That was a solid result. As far as he remembered, Wind and Lightning didn't combine into any known kekkei genkai. Then again, even if they did, he wasn't planning to try to fuse them.
After all, attempting to create new bloodline limits was practically suicidal. If it were that easy, kekkei genkai wouldn't be so rare in this world to begin with.
From Kairi's perspective, existing kekkei genkai likely resulted either from reckless experimentation or random mutation. As for himself, unless someone handed him Naruto's bloodline, gave him Tsunade-level medical supervision, and bolstered his body to Might Guy standards, there was no way he was going to risk it.
And really, if he had all that, who'd even need a kekkei genkai? He could brute-force his way through anything.
Still, Wind and Lightning were excellent on their own. With them, he had the qualifications to one day learn jutsu like Rasenshuriken or Chidori. Of course, the Rasenshuriken required massive chakra reserves and Sage Mode to use properly, while Chidori demanded incredible dynamic vision.
Otherwise, the former would cause more damage to the user than the target, and the latter would just be a straight-line stab that never landed.
Sage Mode was on his long-term plan, but for now, it was out of reach. As for dynamic vision, that generally came down to natural talent or a dojutsu like the Sharingan or Byakugan.
He had no intention of transplanting someone else's eyes. Even if he tried, the Sharingan would probably drain his chakra dry, and make further progress impossible. The Byakugan was... more manageable, maybe, but still not something he was keen on acquiring.
Kairi wondered whether combining Sage Mode with Chidori might offset the technique's flaws. Sage Mode enhanced everything maybe it could improve his vision too. Something to experiment with in the distant future.
For now, it was time to focus on learning the Three Basic Jutsu.
Kairi opened the scrolls and began reading.
The content was fairly straightforward. With Iruka's notes added in, he finished reading everything in one go.
The Three Basic Jutsu Transformation, Clone, and Substitution were all simple, practical foundational techniques.
Transformation only required a single hand seal. Clone needed three. Substitution required five. Their difficulty was largely based on the complexity of their seals.
Just as Kairi had expected, the hand seals served mainly as guides to channel chakra properly. The key to any jutsu was still the way chakra transformed and flowed.
Each technique had its own unique chakra manipulation pattern. So even if you knew the seals, without understanding the chakra shifts involved, you couldn't use the jutsu properly.
That also meant... if one could fully master those patterns, maybe the seals wouldn't even be necessary. Like those high-level shinobi who could cast jutsu with just a clasp of their hands.
As for the Three Techniques, Kairi planned to learn them all, of course. But in terms of priority, Transformation only needed to be used proficiently. The Clone Technique, he could practice more if time allowed. But his main focus would be the Substitution Technique.
It was simple and incredibly useful. The only issue was speed. With his current level, stringing together all five hand seals took nearly two seconds. Against a speed-type ninja, that was way too slow.
He had to get the cast time down to under a second.
Now came the time for practice. Kairi began directing his chakra as described in the scroll, forming the first seal while picturing an image in his mind.
"Transformation Jutsu!"
A puff of white smoke filled the room and when it cleared, standing where Kairi had been was a small but graceful young woman. He glanced at the mirror and caught sight of "Tifa."
His face flushed. He quickly canceled the jutsu.
He hadn't expected to succeed on the first try. Still, maybe he should practice Transformation a little more... ahem.
Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, Kairi exhaled in relief. That was enough for Transformation. He'd run it a few more times to get familiar, but there wasn't much room for optimization just one seal, after all.
Soon, different figures began appearing in his room one after another. They were all small, yes but gradually becoming more and more refined.
Asuna, Misaka Mikoto, Akame...
Time flew by.
By the time Sina came home, Kairi was already able to use both the Clone and Substitution Techniques. Honestly, it had gone more smoothly than he'd expected.
Unlike the single-seal Transformation, the Clone and Substitution Techniques required better chakra control, and his chakra manipulations couldn't quite keep up with his seal speed yet.
But that was just a matter of practice.
Only now did Kairi realize his talent might be far better than he'd initially thought. Sure, the Three Basic Jutsu were simple, but to learn them all on his first try and even execute them successfully? That was talent.
"So... I am a genius, huh?"
"Mom, welcome back," Kairi said as soon as he heard the front door and Sina's voice. He stepped out into the living room to greet her.
"Ta-da!" Sina waved a scroll at him with a proud grin. "Look what I brought home, Kairi!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu," he replied calmly.
"Boo, you're no fun," Sina pouted. "Shouldn't you be a little more excited?"
"I am," Kairi said, smiling.
"Fine, here you go, my little grown-up." Sina handed him the scroll and added, "I spoke with my old sensei. They said Shadow Clone isn't really suitable for you."
"Maybe not," Kairi said as he carefully accepted the scroll, "but I think it is."
"I figured you wouldn't listen, so I redeemed it anyway. At least it's Shadow Clone. If it were any other B-rank jutsu, I might not have been able to get it."
"Why's that?" Kairi asked, intrigued.
"My sensei said Shadow Clone was originally developed in Konoha, but the technique got leaked a long time ago. Other villages have similar jutsu now, so it's not exactly a secret anymore. That's why they're willing to let people like us who might eventually leave the village get access to it. But the more classified jutsu? No way."
Kairi nodded. That made sense. Either way, he'd gotten it. Now he had a new training goal.
"Oh, by the way, Mom I won't be home for dinner tonight."
"Huh? Don't tell me you're already sick of my cooking?" Sina pretended to be hurt, wiping away imaginary tears.
"Of course not." Kairi then told her about his dinner plans with Iruka and how he'd probably wander around the village afterward, so he might come home late.