Is This Hard?

The next day, in the courtyard of Uchiha Aozora's home.

Although Uchiha Aozora had already become a Genin, he did not need to start taking missions immediately.

According to Konoha's traditions, Genin in peacetime would be assigned to teams before taking missions, then grow into independent shinobi under the instruction of a Jonin Instructor.

Genin team assignments required the Hokage's approval, so he could stay home and rest for a few days.

However, he had no intention of resting. He planned to learn two Ninjutsu over the next day or two.

"Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar!"

"Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar!"

Uchiha Aozora recited each one as he formed the Hand Seals, slowly reviewing the gestures.

In fact, when he had first transmigrated, he had worked hard at practicing Hand Seals. By the age of five, he could already form three seals per second.

After all, in the Naruto manga, one had to form Hand Seals to cast Ninjutsu.

However, after learning the Chakra Refining Technique, he realized that was not quite how it worked.

Hand Seals were not merely finger movements. They also required the circulation of Chakra within the body.

In truth, Hand Seals were simply cues. Different seal patterns represented different amounts of Chakra, different directions of flow, and different transformations.

Perhaps adults could understand such knowledge, but it was far too complicated for ignorant children. Thus, powerful shinobi had divided Chakra transformations into twelve categories, with each category corresponding to a Hand Seal.

They would then have children learn Hand Seals. Each seal corresponded to a Chakra transformation, and while forming the seal, they would direct the Chakra within their bodies to undergo that transformation.

Once they mastered all twelve transformations, they could combine them to perform Ninjutsu.

At the time, he remembered an interesting post from his previous life. It discussed the Hand Seals for the Water Dragon Jutsu. When Zabuza the Demon first appeared, he formed forty-four seals, while Tobirama Senju later used the same technique with only three.

Most of the replies beneath it said things like, "The Second Hokage is cheating," or, "Kishimoto was too lazy to draw them."

But after understanding the principles of Hand Seals, Uchiha Aozora easily understood why simplified seals, one-handed seals, and even seal-less Ninjutsu existed. From then on, he had not been particularly keen on increasing his seal-forming speed, and he had barely practiced Hand Seals at all.

That was because Hand Seal practice did not train finger dexterity. It trained the speed at which Chakra circulated and transformed within the body. In that regard, the Heavenly Book's "Guidance" method was far more useful.

The reason he was reviewing the Hand Seal patterns today was not because he had discovered he was wrong. Rather, the Ninjutsu Scrolls did not explain how Chakra should flow and transform within the body when casting a technique; they used Hand Seals in its place.

In order to understand and learn Ninjutsu, he had no choice but to pick up the Hand Seals he had previously abandoned.

After breakfast, Uchiha Shisui got dressed and walked into the courtyard. Seeing his little brother's clumsy Hand Seals, he could not help shaking his head.

With his arms folded across his chest, Uchiha Shisui watched Uchiha Aozora practice from the side, growing more disappointed the longer he watched.

"Is this really how he plans to learn every Ninjutsu in the Shinobi World?"

"Was it a mistake to give him so many Ninjutsu Scrolls yesterday?"

Uchiha Shisui's attention did not distract Uchiha Aozora. After practicing for a while, he found the right feeling.

He had practiced his Guidance and Qi Cultivation method quite well, and his Chakra moved quickly within his body. He only needed to match the Hand Seals with the corresponding Chakra transformations.

Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.

Uchiha Aozora slowly formed the seals, directing the Chakra within his body according to the Hand Seal sequence.

Whoosh!

Uchiha Aozora's eyes lit up. He had finally matched the Hand Seals with the Chakra transformations correctly, and he laughed happily. "Haha, I finally learned it!"

Uchiha Shisui frowned when he heard that, growing disappointed in his younger brother.

Although the Great Fireball Technique was a basic Fire Release Ninjutsu for the Uchiha, its difficulty ranked near the top among C-rank Ninjutsu. Yet Uchiha Aozora had merely formed a few seals and claimed he had learned it.

He had never held much hope for Uchiha Aozora's talent. Giving him the scrolls had only been meant to encourage his little brother.

He regretted giving him those scrolls yesterday more and more.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Aozora began his first attempt at casting the Great Fireball Technique.

Snake—Ram—Monkey—

Before he had even finished forming the seals, Uchiha Shisui recognized the Ninjutsu his little brother was about to use, and his frown deepened.

"He's forcing it too much. He hasn't even learned to walk, yet he's trying to run."

"It looks like I should take those scrolls back. I just hope he won't resent me when the time comes."

He had no expectation that Uchiha Aozora would successfully cast the Great Fireball Technique, nor did he move to stop him.

In his view, at such a seal-forming speed, the Chakra would not circulate and transform in time. Before it could even surge into his throat, it would completely disperse.

But unlike what Uchiha Shisui expected, after the Chakra in Uchiha Aozora's body flowed to the necessary positions, it did not scatter everywhere after losing its guidance. Instead, it remained in place, waiting for the next instruction.

After a while, Uchiha Aozora finally completed the seals. The Chakra in his body underwent several transformations, seemingly becoming scorching air currents that gathered in his throat.

Uchiha Aozora's face reddened. It felt as though a thin stream of lava lay in his throat, its intense heat seeming ready to burn through it.

Yet faced with this situation, Uchiha Aozora did not panic. He slowly completed the Chakra transformation for the final seal.

A surge of Chakra rose from his abdomen, providing powerful momentum to the hot current in his throat. Uchiha Aozora knew that he had to open his mouth.

"Huff—"

A thin red stream of air instantly burst from his mouth. The moment it met the wind, it ignited, then swelled against the wind and instantly became a massive fireball half the height of a person.

After roughly three seconds, the red airflow diminished and vanished, while the massive fireball also lost its energy and dispersed in the courtyard.

Uchiha Aozora panted heavily, rubbing his throat with lingering fear.

Uchiha Shisui, meanwhile, stared wide-eyed at his little brother and muttered in shock, "He actually succeeded! How did he succeed?"

Although he had been too busy with missions to care much for his younger brother, he still knew that his brother's talent was ordinary. Otherwise, he would not have graduated from the Ninja Academy only at the age of twelve.

He had also heard that his little brother had only refined Chakra at the beginning of the year. He was not proficient in any of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, or Genjutsu, and only his Ninja Tool Throwing retained the Uchiha family's excellent tradition.

Judging by his brother's unfamiliar Hand Seals just now, there should not have been even the slightest chance of a successful cast!

Yet the scorched lawn before him and the hot breath his brother kept exhaling told him that it was all real.

His "good-for-nothing" little brother had succeeded in casting the Great Fireball Technique on his very first attempt.

Not merely succeeding in spitting out a few sparks, but truly succeeding in producing a massive fireball.

Even for him, who had been called a genius, he had only successfully cast the Great Fireball Technique on his third attempt. He had not truly produced such a massive fireball until after half a month of practice.

Uchiha Shisui was thoroughly baffled. He hurriedly grabbed Uchiha Aozora and asked, "Aozora, how did you cast the Great Fireball just now? Why did you succeed on your first try?"

Uchiha Aozora pushed Uchiha Shisui's hand away and asked in confusion, "I just cast it normally. Is this hard?"