Talent

"Bye! I'll be home these next two days. Take good care of yourself!"

At last, Kushina excitedly left through the front door with her backpack, leaving Yemo at home, bruised and battered after the beating she had given him. As he watched his sister leave, Yemo's excitement was beyond words. Finally, he was free of oppression. He was like a liberated serf bursting into song.

There was no helping it. At home, Kushina was just like a mother, nagging him about everything. Yemo sometimes wondered whether nagging was a talent every girl possessed. Now that his sister was gone, he would finally have some peace and quiet.

"Ss..."

He touched his swollen cheek and sucked in a sharp breath as intense pain shot through it. His sister really had been too ruthless, he thought. She hadn't held back at all. She had nearly beaten his handsome face into a pig's head.

Yemo had originally planned to go out for a stroll, but there was no way he could go out looking like this. That wasn't enough to stop him, though.

Yemo circulated the Chakra in his body, directing the vast amount of it through the meridians toward his face. When the Chakra reached his face, something miraculous happened.

A faint light shone from Yemo's injuries. It wasn't caused by anything on his face; it seemed more like it was coming from beneath his flesh, shining through his skin.

Where the light appeared, the injuries on Yemo's face rapidly healed. They recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye: the swelling in his face visibly subsided bit by bit, and the bruises grew fainter until they finally disappeared.

In hardly any time at all—not even ten seconds-Yemo's bruises and swelling had completely healed. There was no sign that he had ever been injured.

What terrifying regenerative power! It was practically monstrous. If an ordinary person had suffered the same injuries as Yemo, they would probably have needed ten days to half a month to recover. Even a ninja, whose recovery was far better than an ordinary person's, would have needed two or three days. Yet Yemo had recovered in just a few seconds. It was truly terrifying.

Even Yemo couldn't explain his monstrous regenerative power. It was more accurate to call it one of his innate talents: he only needed to circulate his Chakra to heal his injuries.

Members of the Uzumaki Clan were born with powerful vitality, and they recovered much faster than ordinary people. But Yemo didn't think that explained his own monstrous regenerative power. Not a single person in the entire Uzumaki Clan could compare to him.

That wasn't the only unusual thing about Yemo's body. He had once been curious and tried to find answers, but after searching for a while without success, he stopped dwelling on it. It was his own body, after all. Why should he worry about being far beyond ordinary people in some respects? He ought to be happy instead.

Seeing that his reflection had returned to normal, Yemo nodded. Now he could go out.

"Yemo, are you there?"

Suddenly, someone called out to him from outside the courtyard. Yemo looked out the window and saw Shikaku and Inoichi standing at the small courtyard gate, calling his name.

"Wait a second! I'll be right there!"

Yemo called back, quickly put on his clothes and shoes, and ran outside. This was the time he had agreed on with Shikaku and Inoichi.

Once outside the courtyard gate, Yemo clapped a hand on Shikaku's shoulder and laughed. "I didn't expect a lazybones like you to come this early, Shikaku. I thought I'd have to wait quite a while."

Shikaku yawned and said listlessly, "If Inoichi hadn't come running to my house after breakfast, I wouldn't have been here so soon. What a drag."

"A bet's a bet. You're the one who lost to Yemo, so you have to keep your promise today," Inoichi said calmly, folding his arms across his chest.

"That's right," Yemo chimed in with a laugh. "You lost to me last time, so today's the day you make good on your promise."

"And why do you have to make me teach you Ninjutsu? You could just ask your sister to teach you, or you could learn it when you go to the Ninja Academy," Shikaku complained as they walked.

Yemo spread his hands, looking helpless. "You think I want to? I don't have a choice. My sister won't teach me, so I can only turn to you guys. Of course, if you can persuade her to teach me Ninjutsu, I won't have to trouble you."

At that, Shikaku instantly woke up. "No, don't tell Kushina. I'll teach you myself."

Shikaku's reaction alone showed how formidable Kushina's reputation was. The name Red Hot-Blooded Habanero was no empty title.

Shikaku and Inoichi led the way to the place the three had agreed on long ago: a quiet, secluded training ground. A thick wooden post wrapped in thick rope stood in the middle, with several wooden targets hanging behind it.

"Hurry up, hurry up, Shikaku!" Yemo urged impatiently, calling to Shikaku as he trudged along behind him.

"All right, all right, I know. What a drag!" Shikaku waved his hand as he slowly walked over.

The three arrived at the training ground, and Inoichi stood to one side. He wasn't the main character today, and there was nothing for him to do. He had only come to watch because he was bored and had nothing else to do anyway.

Shikaku and Yemo stood in the middle of the training ground. Shikaku had shed his earlier laziness, and his face was solemn beyond words.

"Yemo," he said sternly, "I won't go into the basics of Hand Seals and Chakra for Ninjutsu. You've already learned some basic Ninjutsu, and you even use them better than I do. But today I'm teaching you offensive Ninjutsu. How well you can use them is up to you."

Lin Yan nodded, focused his gaze, and fixed his full attention on Shikaku's hands.

Shikaku took a deep breath. His hands moved rapidly, forming one seal after another.

When a ninja used Ninjutsu, they first formed Hand Seals. They needed a calm mind to ensure the seals were correct, as well as practiced skill to transform the Chakra they had molded into a technique and release it.

There were twelve seals in total. Each Ninjutsu required different seals, some more and some fewer, and naturally, the order in which they were formed also differed.

For example, the Body Flicker Technique required only one seal, while some high-level Ninjutsu required several.

"Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger."

To make sure Yemo could see clearly, Shikaku deliberately formed the seals much more slowly and called out each one as he made it.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Shikaku roared, abruptly drew a large breath, and raised two fingers of his right hand together beside his mouth. Then he opened his mouth and blew.

The next second, scorching flames spewed from Shikaku's mouth. The orange-yellow blaze gave off a dazzling light and terrifying heat, raising the temperature across the entire training ground. The flames rolled like ocean waves, gathering together and transforming into a huge fireball.

A wave of heat swept over Yemo, and beads of sweat quickly appeared on his face. He stared wide-eyed at the sight. This was Ninjutsu, and it truly was incomparably powerful.

The meter-wide fireball flew forward like a falling meteor and crashed into the forest ahead. The flames exploded with a deafening boom.

The next moment, a visible wave of heat sent clouds of dust flying. A fierce wind swept in, driving grains of sand through the air at high speed. They scraped against Yemo like invisible blades.

The heat roared across the training ground like a bulldozer charging through everything in its path. At last, the dust and sand settled, and the orange-yellow firelight faded.

Yemo finally saw the scene before him clearly. The land was scorched, the earth burned black by the flames, and burning branches lay everywhere. It was as though someone had taken a huge bite out of the lush green forest. The power was truly terrifying.

Yemo was stunned by the sight, and excitement soon followed. A B-rank Ninjutsu was already this powerful. How powerful would an A-rank Ninjutsu or an even higher S-rank Ninjutsu be? This was real Ninjutsu. Learning techniques like these was what made it interesting.

Shikaku ended the Ninjutsu and said, "Well? Did you see it clearly? If not, I'll show you again."

"No need. I saw your Hand Seals perfectly clearly," Yemo said, shaking his head. This wasn't a very advanced Ninjutsu, only a B-rank technique, and Shikaku hadn't demonstrated it slowly. Naturally, Yemo had seen everything clearly.

"In that case, give it a try!" Shikaku said.

"Sure!"

Yemo nodded and took a few steps forward to a slightly more open spot. He recalled Shikaku's demonstration, scene after scene flashing through his mind like a movie, and made sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

Yemo took a deep breath and began forming Hand Seals. His hands moved, quickly forming one seal after another.

Shikaku and Inoichi were already dumbfounded when they saw how fast Yemo formed the seals. He was moving faster than they had expected.

If Yemo had practiced the Hand Seals for this Ninjutsu often, Shikaku and Inoichi wouldn't have been so shocked. But this was his first time. He had only seen it once, yet he was already this fast on his first attempt.

Shikaku couldn't help glancing at Inoichi, who happened to look over at the same moment. Their eyes met, and each saw the same shock in the other's gaze.

But this was only the beginning. What Yemo did next surprised them even more.