The Nonexistent Kekkei Genkai

In the original story, Kumogakure generally appeared with the spirit of "Martial Faction—just fight," displaying strength second only to Konohagakure. Yet everything else was left vague. Even the names of the successive Raikage were never mentioned, only the inherited title.

Simply put, it was one-dimensional.

That was the limitation of a work; it was impossible to describe every single aspect in full detail.

But in reality, Kumogakure was a complete, well-rounded Great Ninja Village. Though the current timeline was only between the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, and many things might differ from decades later, Kumogakure had its own systems, its own style, and its own foundation.

It was not the one-dimensional power portrayed in the original work.

What surprised Dada the most was Kumogakure's governing system.

In his previous life, many people had made guesses based on the successive Raikage and scattered indirect descriptions.

Kumogakure possessed a powerful ruling clan that led the entire village through its formidable strength and personal charisma. The smaller clans and Civilian Ninjas all united behind this clan.

That clan was the Yotsuki Clan Dada had been born into.

A powerful ninja clan that possessed the Lightning Release Chakra Secret Technique and excelled at Nintaijutsu and direct combat.

Dada was the Second Son of the Third Raikage A, as well as the younger brother of the future Fourth Raikage.

It was an exceptionally good birth.

But he had an illness...

He had Bloodline Disease. That was the conclusion reached jointly by Kumogakure's many experts and the clan.

The evidence was the erratic, unceasing electric shocks around his body, as well as the purple spine visible through his skin...

Compared to children his age, Dada was somewhat frailer. This was especially obvious among the Yotsuki Clan, where adults were all around two meters tall.

His skin was also much paler than everyone else's, making him stand out in Kumogakure, where people generally had darker complexions. These physical abnormalities were likewise considered consequences of Bloodline Disease. After all, Bloodline Disease could encompass all manner of symptoms. His light blond hair, at least, had been inherited from the Yotsuki Clan.

But none of that was the important part, because he was also a humanoid Pikachu.

He discharged electricity at random.

There was no pattern and no cause. From the day Dada was born, electric shocks—or rather, arcs of electricity—would appear around him without warning. Sometimes seventy or eighty times a day, sometimes more than a hundred. There was no pattern to it; it could happen while he ate, slept, or used the bathroom.

At its strongest, it could shock an ordinary person into unconsciousness and leave them bedridden. Even at its weakest, it was enough to make an ordinary person jump around in pain.

Fortunately, Dada himself felt absolutely nothing and suffered no effects. Otherwise, he would have electrocuted himself to death long ago.

Kumogakure and the Yotsuki Clan had exhausted every means available to them, yet they could neither cure this strange condition nor even determine its basis or mechanism.

So it could only be attributed to Bloodline Disease.

After all, this was the Shinobi World. If something could not be explained, calling it Bloodline Disease was perfectly reasonable.

Even Dada believed it.

The purple spinal bone behind his back, which had turned purple along with the surrounding skin, was even stranger. Its cause was unknown, its function was unknown, but it certainly did not look like a good thing.

Dada had also wondered whether it might be some kind of cheat ability. But aside from discharging electricity, it showed no extraordinary properties. Moreover, he had died of spinal cancer in his previous life, so he was afraid to pry too deeply into his own condition.

Thus, for the time being, Dada accepted the clan's judgment:

Years of secret technique training had gradually pushed the Yotsuki Clan's physique toward a Kekkei Genkai, and Dada was the crucial generation. Unfortunately, something might have gone wrong.

As for the purple spine, Dada privately believed that it might be connected to the illness from his previous life.

Though he had taken little medicine over the past few years due to his young age, the examinations had never stopped. A major checkup every three days, a minor one every two. Everyone kept the unspoken conclusion of Bloodline Disease to themselves, but Li Da had long understood—he, a person who did not exist in the original story, had contracted an illness that should not have existed in a clan without a Kekkei Genkai.

Dada tottered into the inner hall and saw his mother already waiting at the dining table. Just as he was about to greet her, he felt someone scoop him up from behind.

"Ambush successful! Dada!"

Hearing that foolish voice, Dada knew who it was without turning around—his older brother, Yotsuki Ki, the man who would become the Fourth Raikage. For now, though, he was only a ten-year-old child, seven years older than Dada.

"Put me down! I want down! Mother, he's bullying me!" Dada instinctively complained to his mother.

A person's personality and thoughts were affected by their body. In an aging body, desires and ambitions declined, while in a young body, one's thoughts were naturally constrained by the body and its hormones.

He was not completely like an adult, as so many novels claimed...

Especially when he could not beat his older brother.

"All right, Qi. Put Dada down and come eat."

Yotsuki Ki tossed Dada into the air several times like a ball. If this were not the Shinobi World, it would have been hard to imagine a ten-year-old possessing such strength.

Dada cried out in fury until an arc of electricity suddenly flashed over his body. With a snap, it struck Yotsuki Ki's hand.

Even though he had already begun cultivating the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Yotsuki Ki's hand stiffened. Still, he forcibly steadied himself and caught Dada, who had nearly been dropped flat on his face.

"Dada, you're getting stronger and stronger. Even I can feel that hurt." Yotsuki Ki shook his hand.

The only people in this household who dared touch Dada casually were ninjas who cultivated the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Ordinary ninjas, especially ordinary maids, would not touch him. Sometimes, if Dada fell, they could only stand around anxiously.

Previously, a maid had instinctively tried to grab Dada's little hand, only to be seriously injured. She had needed a month to recover.

Dada had felt guilty about it for a long time. Fortunately, the maid had not been left with any lasting ailment.

Although Yotsuki Ki had not cultivated the Lightning Release Chakra Mode for long, this future Fourth Raikage was by no means lacking in talent. Even so, the electric arc could still paralyze his whole body, showing that Dada's Bloodline Disease symptoms had grown increasingly severe over the past few years.

Dada's mother in this life was named Yotsuki Satomi. Worry flashed through her eyes. As the mother of two children, she knew that Yotsuki Ki had already been sturdy and strong at Dada's age, fully displaying the physique passed down through the Yotsuki Clan. In comparison, Dada was far frailer.

Of course, Dada felt that his own development was perfectly normal. Yotsuki Ki was the exaggerated one.

He had muscles all over his body at ten years old...

How the hell was he ten?

And as an ordinary person, Satomi had barely been able to hold Dada since he was born. How could that not leave her heartbroken and guilty...

Dada's condition made the Yotsuki Clan treasure him like a priceless jewel, because he might be the beginning of the Yotsuki Clan's Kekkei Genkai. Yet it also gave everyone a headache, because no one could be certain whether Dada would live to adulthood. His mother, Yotsuki Satomi, was especially burdened with worry.

After breaking free from Yotsuki Ki, Dada straightened his clothes and raised his face in mockery. "Looks like your Lightning Release Chakra Mode isn't that well cultivated. Father never gets shocked by me. You're still far behind!"

Yotsuki Ki was not angry. Dada was the family's little source of joy, and after returning home from grueling training each day, he always wanted to tease his younger brother.

The Third Raikage A also entered the house. Watching his eldest and second sons fool around, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

After dinner, the Third Raikage explained a few things to Satomi, then brought Dada to the Yotsuki Clan's ancestral hall.

The Yotsuki Clan had been one of the major founders of Kumogakure and was also its ruling clan. Their clan grounds were naturally vast, while the ancestral hall stood at the rear. Besides being used for holiday rites, it was also used to discuss important matters.

Quite a few people were already seated in the ancestral hall, all elders or elites of the Yotsuki Clan. Dada had been a little sleepy after dinner, but seeing this scene immediately drove away all drowsiness.

"Dada, today we'll teach you to try extracting Chakra."

It was finally here.

He had been reincarnated for three years. To a real infant, three years might have passed in a blur, perhaps leaving barely any memories, but to Dada, that was not a short time. There were many ninjas in the Yotsuki Clan, and Dada often saw clansmen practicing ninjutsu—shooting lightning at the ground, spitting fireballs, burrowing underground.

What was the resistance? How could electricity imitate things? Was dirt even conductive?

There were all sorts of things, some reasonable and some unreasonable, some overturning coffins and others nailing them shut. But he had never gotten to try any of it himself, and no one would seriously explain Chakra cultivation to a one- or two-year-old child. Was he finally going to do it himself this time?

But this lineup was truly excessive. He had always thought that A would teach him alone someday. He had not expected such a huge gathering for merely his first attempt at extracting Chakra. He even saw several people holding paper and pens, looking ready to record every detail at any moment.

It seemed the clan valued him even more highly than he had imagined.