The next day, Gekkō Samukaze once again found himself lost in thought.
In his mind, the pale-blue motes of light not only had revealed to him the Refining Chakra Technique but had also passed on a piece of extremely important information—the limits of the Gathering Technique.
Samukaze had originally assumed that the technique was only restricted to three uses per day. But he had been far too naïve. After successfully gathering from a target, he realized there was another condition: he could only obtain three "skills" from the same person.
In short, every shinobi could only provide him with up to three jutsu.
If that's the case, I can't just randomly gather from important figures anymore…
If he ended up wasting his three chances on someone like Namikaze Minato or Jiraiya, only to walk away with just the Three Basic Academy Techniques, Samukaze really would be crying in the restroom.
The real problem was this: how could he precisely gather the jutsu he wanted from a specific target?
Samukaze narrowed his eyes, deciding to conduct a small experiment.
"Big brother!"
He bounded up cheerfully to a thick-browed clansman who stood a head taller than him. Looking up with wide, innocent eyes, Samukaze chirped, "Can you teach me the Transformation Jutsu? I want to transform into Ultraman!"
"Ultraman?" The clansman blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding. Almost instinctively, he glanced toward Gekkō Hoshino.
"Samukaze, don't cause trouble," Hoshino scolded. "Your brother Ryōkaze still needs to train his swordsmanship."
"Just for a little while! It won't take long." Samukaze's eyes sparkled as he tried to wheedle his way through with cuteness.
"Uncle, it's fine," said Gekkō Ryōkaze, not wanting to make Hoshino feel pressured.
"…Alright. You two have five minutes," Hoshino finally allowed.
He was about to head to the battlefield soon, and he had no idea whether he would return alive. All he could do was pass on as much of the basics as possible to the younger generation before leaving.
With that, Ryōkaze pulled Samukaze over to a quiet corner.
"Samukaze, you already know how to refine chakra, right?" Ryōkaze asked.
Samukaze nodded. "I do."
"Good. Then I'll teach you the hand seal for the Transformation Jutsu."
Ryōkaze extended his hands and slowly performed the hand seal before him. His form was textbook-perfect, the very image of a shinobi manual.
"Did you memorize it?" Ryōkaze asked.
Samukaze shook his head eagerly. "Do it again!"
Ryōkaze smiled faintly and repeated the seal once more.
At that moment, Samukaze decisively activated the Gathering Technique.
Green light rippled in his consciousness, and soon a faint-blue mote of light burst forth.
Gathering successful!
Without letting his expression shift, Samukaze wrapped his awareness around the glowing speck. Then, the corners of his lips curved into a smile.
It was the Transformation Jutsu.
He had actually gathered it!
Relief washed over him. This confirmed that as long as he carefully guided the target before using the Gathering Technique, he could influence what jutsu was drawn out.
Of course, a single success didn't prove the method was foolproof. Maybe he had just gotten lucky this time. He needed more experiments to confirm the theory.
Unfortunately, he had already used up all three attempts for the day: one failure, two successes—netting him the Refining Chakra Technique and now the Transformation Jutsu.
Samukaze didn't want to waste his time as a useless layabout. When Ryōkaze rejoined their father Hoshino for sword training, Samukaze quietly slipped back to his bedroom, sat cross-legged, and began refining chakra with solemn focus.
…
Under his conscious direction, his spiritual energy and physical energy fused together at a one-to-one ratio. But the process was agonizingly slow. For the first time, Samukaze truly felt the hostility of this world pressing down on him.
At this rate, it would take ten days of chakra refining just to gather enough chakra for a single use of the Transformation Jutsu.
With talent like this, his upper limit would be no higher than that of a mere genin.
Was he really destined to compete with Might Duy for the title of "Eternal Genin"? Samukaze touched his kind and gentle-looking face and sighed. How could fate be so cruel?
But then—was there some way to break past this limit?
What if he became a jinchūriki?
Samukaze's imagination spiraled. Could the Gathering Technique allow him to directly draw out a Tailed Beast from its host?
What if he tried it on Kushina Uzumaki?
But wait—if it really worked, would he end up accidentally pulling out Naruto as well?
No, absolutely not. That would never do!
Samukaze squeezed his eyes shut and firmly discarded the dangerous thought.
"Fū-chan, dinner's ready!"
The voice of Huiko, his mother, drifted from outside.
Samukaze hadn't eaten breakfast, and now his stomach rumbled. He dashed out quickly.
Huiko had made rice balls for lunch—wrapped in nori and sprinkled with sesame. They smelled delicious. The only problem was the quantity: she had made thirty of them. Samukaze figured he could barely stomach five at best.
He helped himself to five rice balls, only to see his father Hoshino walk in, leading Ryōkaze, Gekkō Hayate, and several other clan members.
Samukaze froze. Then, with quiet resignation, he put the rice balls back.
…
After the meal, the others returned to the backyard, training tirelessly under the blazing sun while Hoshino observed.
Samukaze lingered nearby, cicadas screeching shrilly in every direction until his eyelids drooped with drowsiness. With a sigh, he trudged back to his room, sealing himself away like a salted fish and drifting into a nap.
When he awoke, it was already past three in the afternoon. He hurried back to the yard and found Hayate, Ryōkaze, and the others still training relentlessly.
By now the sun was directly overhead, the air thick and oppressive. Sweat drenched their hair until it clung wetly to their scalps, their clothes drying and soaking over and over again.
Seeing them like this stirred a pang of guilt in Samukaze. While he had enjoyed a comfortable nap, they had been pushing themselves under the punishing sun. He genuinely wanted to join them… but what was the point, when he had his own "cheat" ability?
Their training dragged on until around five in the evening, when the exhausted group finally dispersed. Hayate was so tired he couldn't even climb the wall to his own house; their father Hoshino ended up carrying him over into the Hayate household next door.
"Dad, where's Mom?" Samukaze asked as he wandered through the house, realizing he couldn't find Huiko anywhere.
"Your mother's working overtime at the hospital. She'll be late tonight," Hoshino answered heavily.
The war effort had forced Konoha Hospital to dispatch a large number of personnel to the front lines. Though Huiko wasn't a medical ninja, she was still part of the support staff. Thankfully, she wouldn't be sent into combat.
As Hoshino's face darkened with thought, Samukaze hit him with the most important question:
"Then what's for dinner?"
Hoshino thought for a moment. "There are still two rice balls left from lunch."
Samukaze gawked at him. "Dad, don't tell me you don't know how to cook? You're a shinobi! When you're out on missions, don't you have to cook for yourself?"
Hoshino chuckled. "During missions we eat soldier pills. And Samukaze, didn't you already eat two rice balls at lunch? Just make do for tonight. When your mother comes home, she'll cook something good for you."
"…Fine."
(End of Chapter)