"Huff, huff, huff..."
After throwing a punch, Shin lay flat on his back, gasping for breath.
Fire Style Chakra Mode was far too overbearing. In just one second, it had nearly evaporated all the moisture from his body.
His throat was so parched that he could not speak, while every cell in his body was still wracked with pain.
Chiken rubbed the missing corner of his sleeve, deeply moved.
At his limit, Shin had been able to force him to take things seriously.
Still, he began to worry about his younger son's condition.
Chiken hurried over to check on his younger son.
Seeing him lying there as if dehydrated, he immediately formed hand seals and used Water Release.
Though from Aoko and Fugaku's perspective, all they could see was Chiken's back.
The whole scene looked rather like... that.
"That feels much better. Thank you, Father," Shin said gratefully to Chiken.
Then he quickly got to his feet and said to the two worried people approaching him, "Sorry, Mother, Brother Fugaku. I made you worry."
Shin knew that the way he had been lying on the ground earlier had indeed been alarming.
Now that he had replenished his fluids, he immediately came back to life.
Aoko and Fugaku were both sincerely happy for him.
In the past, their whole family had believed that Shin's body might not be suited for taijutsu training.
Yet now, his taijutsu was this powerful.
Its duration was just a little short...
"Shin, what was that taijutsu? How did you become severely dehydrated after throwing just one punch?" Once Fugaku's excitement passed, he immediately began worrying about his younger brother.
Chiken and Aoko also looked concerned as they waited for Shin to explain.
Shin first signaled to the three of them with his eyes, then headed inside.
Inside, the family of four sat together.
Shin sprawled limply in his chair in a Ge You Slouch. "Sitting is still more comfortable!"
"???" ×3
The three of them were full of question marks. They had thought he had brought them inside because there was some secret that required caution.
When they learned that the truth was simply that he was tired of standing, their good moods instantly vanished.
"Actually, it doesn't matter if other people learn the method..."
Shin lazily explained to them, "Because this taijutsu mode isn't something just anyone can learn."
"You know that Chakra is extracted from cells, right? The reason my entire body dehydrated just now was because I injected Fire Style Chakra into every cell in my body."
After he finished speaking, all three of them were stunned.
They had initially thought it was merely cellular activation.
They never expected him to inject such a violent attribute as fire into his cells.
"Shin, are you trying to get yourself killed? If the Chakra lost control, you'd be finished!..."
The trio's barrage of accusations left Shin feeling extremely awkward.
He could not tell his family that he was a transmigrator with a cheat ability.
He did not want to do anything that might disrupt this family, even if they all chose to trust him unconditionally.
Once their emotions had settled a little, Shin eagerly revealed his method.
Their expressions went from concern to excitement, then shock, and finally numbness.
It was truly a spectacular sight.
"That's how it is. I only wanted to run an experiment at first..."
"I never expected to develop this Chakra Mode." With his throat dry from talking, Shin picked up a cup and drained it in one gulp.
"So it's a forbidden technique for people with only one attribute..." Chiken summarized the pros and cons of Elemental Chakra Mode.
It was a blessing for shinobi who were not skilled in taijutsu.
But without mutually restraining Chakra attributes, it was not very friendly.
Partially converting the body's Chakra attribute was still quite useful.
Chiken raised his right hand and began trying to inject Fire Style Chakra into his cells, proceeding bit by bit.
He felt that Elemental Chakra Mode was not that simple.
Not only did he need to pay attention to the capacity of the cells being infused, he also had to isolate them with a corresponding attribute.
"..."
Under the gazes of the other three, Chiken spent more than half an hour before finally completing Elemental Chakra Mode at the tip of his index finger.
Feeling a little awkward, he remembered that his younger son had entered the state throughout his entire body in just one afternoon.
Feeling a little ashamed, he was too embarrassed to say that his finger had finished charging.
"Father, try seeing whether you can perform shape transformation next."
Shin was filled with curiosity about the result of Chiken's attempt.
That might allow them to find a way to use ninjutsu without forming hand seals.
The group returned to the place where the father and son had sparred earlier.
Chiken curled his right index finger toward the front.
He tried to make the Chakra circulate through his meridians according to Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
"Shin, I can't perform shape transformation."
"Then try it after releasing the Chakra."
Hearing Shin's words, Chiken felt inexplicably baffled.
Wouldn't that make him a lab rat?
Still, he was also full of curiosity.
Chiken raised his right hand again and flicked his finger at the air.
Then he immediately performed limited shape transformation on the surging Chakra flowing out.
A small patch of flame appeared at the tip of his right index finger.
It looked like a tiny flame burning on a candle.
"..." All four people present were dumbfounded.
That was it? After using so much Chakra, it could only serve as a Little Candles?
The difference between Fire Release and other release techniques was that its power was not classified according to the difficulty of learning the ninjutsu.
Instead, it depended on the amount of Chakra applied to the ninjutsu.
Madara had turned Great Fire Annihilation, a B-rank Fire Release technique, into something with the power of an S-rank ninjutsu.
"Father, wait for me a moment!" Shin snapped out of it after being stunned for only a short while.
He jogged back into the house, leaving the other three behind, staring at one another.
A moment later.
Shin came back carrying a bag.
"Shin, isn't that the groceries I bought today?" Aoko frowned and pointed at the bag.
"Yes, Mother."
After answering, Shin instructed Chiken again, "Father, lower your hand a little."
Chiken wanted to see what other tricks he could come up with.
So he could only comply.
Shin took out a chicken leg that Aoko had already separated from the bag.
Then he borrowed a kunai from Fugaku and skewered the entire chicken leg.
With a serious expression, he held the chicken leg over the flame on his old father's finger.
His free hand also held seasonings of all kinds.
At the sight, the veins on Chiken's temples instantly bulged, and his entire body began trembling slightly.
"Father..." Shin noticed that the flame had shifted, so without even turning around, he instructed his angry father again, "Please don't move around."
"Dear..."
Aoko's reminder drew Chiken's gaze toward her.
She shook her head, telling him to endure it for just a little longer.
Left with no choice, Chiken could only watch as Shin brushed all kinds of seasonings onto the chicken leg over his fingertip.
Five minutes later.
"Father, can you make the flame bigger? How long will it take to cook with such a tiny flame..."
Chiken nearly exploded with rage upon hearing that.
After serving as a "candle" for so long, he had thought Shin wanted to test something.
It turned out the brat wanted to play Fingertip BBQ with him!
He forcefully suppressed the anger in his heart.
What else could he do?
If he hit him, Aoko would give him trouble afterward. If he scolded him, it would just go in one ear and out the other.
Chiken increased the Chakra output from his finger.
Ever since last night, he had felt his status in the family falling again and again.
Meanwhile, his younger son Shin's position had risen higher and higher.
He was practically ready to give up struggling for status within the family.
Humming a little tune as he grilled the chicken leg, Shin was naturally in a wonderful mood.
He knew he was being a little absurd.
He even thought that if the Konoha Daily learned that he was "grilling chicken legs" on the Uchiha Clan Head's hand, he could probably snatch Nawaki's headline spot for a day or two.
(Nawaki: Go ahead. I wish you'd dominate the front page every day!)
"Done grilling in ten minutes..." Shin finished grilling on his old father's hand.
Only after biting into the crispy-skinned, tender chicken leg did he mumble, "Father, how much did it consume?"
With his mouth full of grease, he faced Chiken's narrowed eyes.
Chiken's blood pressure instantly shot up by thirty percent.
He clutched his chest and answered lifelessly, "About the same as an ordinary Great Fireball Technique."
"Huh? The cost-effectiveness is that low?"
Shin took another chicken leg from the bag, then solemnly announced his conclusion, "Looks like casting without hand seals won't work after all~"
Before you continue