Genius?

As they watched Yemo form the Hand Seals, Shikaku and Inoichi were both stunned. Although Yemo's speed couldn't compare to theirs, this was his first time using Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, and he had only seen it once.

But what came next shocked them even more. Yemo formed the seals quickly, completing all six-"Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger"-in no time.

Recalling Shikaku's earlier movements, Yemo took a deep breath. A great rush of air filled his chest, making it swell, and he held two fingers of his right hand together by his mouth.

For some reason, the sight made Shikaku and Inoichi tense up, as though they were the ones performing the Ninjutsu. The same thought flashed through both their minds: Can Yemo pull it off?

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Yemo gave a low shout, and in the next second, a torrent of flames poured from his mouth. The flames burned fiercely, radiating scorching heat and dazzling light. They rolled together into a fireball several meters across, which rushed forward like a wildfire sweeping across the plains.

Like a meteor falling from the sky, the fireball slammed into the dense forest ahead with terrifying force. An earth-shattering boom rang out. The ground split apart, and even the air trembled.

Before the powerful fireball, trees so large it would take several people to encircle them shattered like rotten wood. The fireball exploded, sending blazing flames spreading in every direction like a flower of fire bursting into bloom.

A scorching heat wave, driven by a fierce wind, swept over them, scattering countless sparks across the training ground. The earth had already turned pitch-black, and the fallen trees looked like dark claws waving in the light of the flames.

The heat washed over Shikaku and Inoichi, orange firelight illuminating their dumbstruck faces. Their mouths hung open, and for a long time, neither could close them.

"Unbelievable. How is this possible? Yemo succeeded on his first try. Is this guy a genius...?" Shikaku was utterly shocked as he watched.

To perform Ninjutsu, one first had to form Hand Seals. This required a calm mind to ensure the seals were correct, as well as practiced skill to transform the refined Chakra into a technique and release it. These were steps required to perform most Ninjutsu.

Besides the speed and accuracy of the Hand Seals, skillfully refining Chakra to release the technique was also crucial. Yemo had perfectly executed the entire Ninjutsu on his first try, which meant he had performed perfectly in both respects.

But that raised a question. His speed and accuracy with the seals were understandable; perhaps Yemo had a good memory. But skillfully refining Chakra was something that required repeated practice.

Yet Yemo had watched only once and had perfectly controlled the entire process. Only a "genius" could do something like that.

After a brief moment of shock, Inoichi recovered. "Not only that, Shikaku, didn't you notice? The Great Fireball Jutsu Yemo used was stronger, whether in the size of the fireball or the damage it caused."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Shikaku replied with a nod, disbelief still written all over his face.

Wood crackled in the blazing flames, and sparks flew as the fire burned fiercely. More than ten square meters of forest had been destroyed in an instant. Seeing the destruction he had caused, Yemo's face showed excitement he could hardly conceal.

"This kind of power is what real Ninjutsu is!" Yemo clenched his fist and muttered excitedly to himself.

It had been quite some time since Yemo came to the world of Naruto, but this was his first time using a Ninjutsu with such destructive power. Honestly, the power of Ninjutsu was truly frightening. No wonder ninja were the group that changed this world; they wielded the greatest power.

While Yemo was still excited, Shikaku and Inoichi had come up behind him without him noticing. Shikaku put a hand on Yemo's shoulder, his voice still filled with surprise. "Yemo, come clean. Are you hiding some secret from us?"

Inoichi was also full of suspicion. "Yemo, was that really your first time using Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique?"

Yemo brushed Shikaku's hand away and said irritably, "Obviously. Of course it was. If I already knew this Ninjutsu, why would I have come to you two?"

From Yemo's expression as he spoke, Inoichi and Shikaku knew he wasn't lying, but that only shocked them even more.

Yemo naturally had no idea how Shikaku and Inoichi felt at that moment. Suddenly, a smug look appeared on his face. "Hey, what do you think? I did pretty well, didn't I?"

Shikaku coughed lightly. "More than pretty well. You gave both of us quite a shock. I've never seen anyone execute a B-rank Ninjutsu perfectly after watching it just once. I think we could call you a genius."

"Huh, really?" Yemo's face lit up at once, a smug look flashing across it.

Seeing how pleased with himself Yemo looked, Shikaku immediately replied, "No."

"Jealous. You're just jealous," Yemo said with a laugh, pointing at Shikaku.

Inoichi spoke up. "All right, you two, stop messing around. Seriously, Yemo, you really gave us both a shock. Shikaku's right, you're practically a genius. How did you do it?"

"I wouldn't dare call myself a genius. As for how I did it, I can't really explain," Yemo said, scratching his head.

Yemo couldn't describe how it had felt either. Apart from being a little awkward at first, forming the seals, refining Chakra, and releasing the Ninjutsu had flowed smoothly. Yemo didn't know why either; it was as though his body had instinctively completed the Ninjutsu for him.

"Maybe that's what makes geniuses different from ordinary people like us," Inoichi said with a smile. Then he changed the subject and said seriously, "But really, Yemo, there is something different about you."

He paused, then continued under Yemo's puzzled gaze, "Leaving aside your grasp of Ninjutsu, just the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique you used was considerably more powerful than mine."

"Of course," Shikaku said. "Yemo is a member of the Uzumaki Clan. The Uzumaki Clan naturally has powerful life force and vast amounts of Chakra in their bodies.

"For example, the First Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki, was a princess of the Land of Whirlpools. She had a vast amount of special Chakra inside her that could even suppress a Tailed Beast's power, which was why she became the first Jinchūriki. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, it's normal for Yemo to have far more Chakra than us, so naturally his Ninjutsu would be somewhat more powerful too."

Shikaku's exceptionally high intelligence had led him to read many ancient texts. After all, every generation of the Nara Clan served as advisers to the Hokage, so Shikaku naturally knew quite a few obscure things.

Yemo and Inoichi nodded at the same time. Shikaku's theory was well supported. Yemo knew his own condition better than anyone: the amount of Chakra in his body was unusually vast, even greater than that of his older sister Kushina.

After that, under Shikaku and Inoichi's guidance, Yemo kept practicing Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, gaining an increasingly clear understanding of the Ninjutsu.

Repeated practice also significantly increased the speed at which Yemo performed the Ninjutsu. Shikaku and Inoichi also taught him a few tricks for using Chakra, all of which they had learned at the Ninja Academy. These techniques had been gained by Konoha's ninja in life-and-death battles and included in the Ninja Academy's textbooks.

There was a reason Konoha was so powerful. The Ninja Academy was like a heart that constantly produced fresh blood, supplying Konoha with a steady stream of vitality.

It was only natural that other ninja villages couldn't defeat Konoha. Konoha's children received systematic training from an early age; all they needed was a trial by blood to become truly powerful ninja.

From sunrise in the morning until the sun sank behind the mountains in the afternoon, Yemo and the other two stayed at the training ground for most of the day, and Yemo practiced the whole time.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

At first, Shikaku and Inoichi were still shocked, but by the end, they had grown numb to Yemo's enormous Chakra reserves. Comparisons really were enough to drive a person mad.