Transformation Technique, Nine-Tails Fox Demon

"Maybe... I should give it a try."

After Shinki said he wanted to try, the whole class burst out laughing.

Shinki chose to ignore them.

Worried that the other students' laughter would affect Shinki, Iruka-sensei reassured him, "It's okay, Shinki. Failure isn't anything to be afraid of. Don't mind their jokes."

Shinki shook his head. "It's okay, sensei. I got used to it a long time ago."

Iruka's gaze grew even gentler as he looked at Shinki.

The child had endured so much at such a young age.

Yet he remained strong and eager to improve.

"Iruka-sensei."

Shinki suddenly looked up.

He looked at Iruka and said seriously, "Could you teach me how to use the Transformation Technique one more time?"

Although Shinki had inherited his predecessor's memories and knew the hand seal and principles of the Transformation Technique,

he still felt a little uneasy.

He would listen to his teacher explain it again and reinforce what he knew.

It couldn't be helped.

Shinki thought helplessly.

After all, he was just an utterly ordinary good-for-nothing.

"All right."

Iruka nodded because he saw the thirst for knowledge in Shinki's eyes.

That pure eagerness to learn

was truly rare!

"To get a high score on the Transformation Technique exam, it's best to transform into something you're as familiar with as possible and keep visible flaws to a minimum. First, you do this..."

Then Iruka explained the principles of the Transformation Technique to Shinki in detail.

He also reminded him of several things to watch out for.

"Shinki, there's more than one way to approach any Ninjutsu. You can try different things."

"Comprehension and adaptability are very important..."

Iruka added those last two sentences.

Shinki nodded, understanding only part of it.

Comprehension and adaptability.

Shinki frowned in thought.

When the original Shinki had practiced the Transformation Technique, he had been intent on transforming into a person, and the results had been disastrous.

Could he experiment by transforming into something else?

Something familiar, whose details people wouldn't scrutinize too closely...

Shinki stood there thinking for a long time.

The students around him had already started shouting impatiently.

"Shinki, can you do it or not?!"

"You're going to embarrass yourself anyway, so what difference does it make if you do it sooner or later?!"

"Yeah! What are you dragging your feet for? You're wasting everyone's time!"

"Shinki, go ahead and try."

Only Iruka-sensei patted Shinki on the shoulder, encouragement in his eyes. "Even if you fail, I'll still applaud you."

Shinki was touched.

"Thank you, sensei."

With that, he left the classroom and went out to the playground.

His teacher had already said failure was nothing to fear.

There was nothing to worry about.

Adaptability and comprehension...

Those words repeated in Shinki's mind.

Several characters and Tailed Beasts he knew from Naruto came to mind.

In the end, he picked the one he was most familiar with, and the one his classmates in his previous life had liked to discuss most.

Give it a try.

Take that first step!

Shinki formed a hand seal and shouted, "Transformation Technique!"

"Whoosh!!!"

A Nine-Tails Demon Beast fifty or sixty meters tall appeared outside the Ninja Academy's school building!

The savage aura surrounding it,

and the contempt for humanity in its eyes,

made even Iruka, a Chunin, tremble with fear!

"Whoa!"

"A monster!"

In the classroom, quite a few girls were frightened into tears.

Even the usually composed Sasuke and Shikamaru stumbled back several steps, cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads, when they saw Shinki use the Transformation Technique to become a demon beast dozens of meters tall.

It looked just like it!

Far too much like it!

It was as though a real Nine-Tails Demon Beast stood before them all!

That pressure from its power, that trembling from the depths of their hearts!

It felt far too real!

After using the Transformation Technique, Shinki keenly noticed that Iruka-sensei's expression seemed to have frozen.

He instinctively thought his transformation hadn't been good enough.

So he released the transformation and stood before Iruka-sensei like a child who had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry, sensei. My comprehension and adaptability are just too poor. This is all I could manage."

Shinki spoke seriously.

Hearing that, Iruka snapped out of his shock, the corner of his mouth twitching.

This is all he could manage?!

He calls that all he could manage?!

Iruka had seen the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox with his own eyes back then, and his parents had died at the fox's hands.

That was why he had just been stunned speechless!

Because the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Shinki had transformed into

was exactly like the one he had seen back then!

In fact, the one Shinki had transformed into had even stronger Chakra fluctuations and an even fiercer, man-eating savagery!

Although Iruka was already a Chunin and had seen the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox with his own eyes back then,

he reckoned that if he tried the transformation himself, he couldn't capture even a thousandth of the spirit Shinki had!!

Could it be that my student has finally seen the light?

He isn't a good-for-nothing after all. He's a Ninjutsu genius!

"Shinki, I want to ask why you transformed into that demon beast, and made it so... lifelike."

Iruka forced down his shock as he asked.

"Because I once dreamed about that giant beast. I thought that if I transformed into it, its body would be so huge that people wouldn't scrutinize the other details."

Shinki sounded a little dejected. "Was my transformation still not good enough?"

Iruka pressed a hand to his forehead.

What a simple thought!

Finally, he forced himself to give his assessment despite the shock in his heart. "That was a good transformation. Next time, try to transform into a normal person..."

Seeing how strained his teacher looked as he spoke, Shinki knew Iruka-sensei must be trying to comfort him.

"Sensei, you don't have to comfort me. I know I'm a little lacking in talent..."

Konoha.

The Hokage's Office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, saw the giant Nine-Tails beast appear at the Ninja Academy!

That terrifying aura made him think the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox had broken through the Sealing!

Just as he was preparing to go fight it, the Nine-Tails mysteriously vanished!

So he sent his Anbu subordinates to investigate.

Now, the investigation had produced news.

"Are the investigation results in? Did the seal the Fourth Hokage placed loosen, letting the Nine-Tails Demon Beast inside Naruto escape?"

The Third Hokage asked tensely.

The masked Anbu investigator replied, "No, it was just an ordinary student at the Ninja Academy using the Transformation Technique."

"What?"

The Third Hokage's pupils narrowed slightly. "Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?"

"I'm sure."

The Anbu spoke with certainty.

"Who used that Transformation Technique? Naruto?"

The Third Hokage continued.

"Only he has enough Chakra to support imitating a Tailed Beast with the Transformation Technique, and only he, with the Nine-Tails sealed inside him, could imitate its aura so closely. That boy has gone too far with his antics..."

The Third Hokage spoke to himself.

"No, it was Shinki, the war orphan you named."

The Anbu replied.

"What?"

The Third Hokage's voice rose a couple of pitches.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had mastered all kinds of Ninjutsu and was known as the Professor of Ninjutsu.

He had also studied the Transformation Technique in depth.

So.

He knew.

To imitate a Tailed Beast with the Transformation Technique,

not only did it require a vast amount of Chakra to support it,

it also required familiarity with the Tailed Beast and superb skill with the Transformation Technique!

"That child Shinki has never encountered a Tailed Beast before, has he?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi drew a sharp breath.