"Rejected."
Aoba lay on his bed, his eyes devoid of emotion, and without hesitation, he passed on the first option.
Using the Chip to stimulate the secretion of growth hormones in his body was somewhat like forcing seedlings to grow. The side effects were severe: it drained his potential and caused his growth plates to close early. He only wanted to grow up sooner; there was no need to make such a huge sacrifice.
"As for the second option... that's more troublesome!" Aoba rolled over and curled his blanket into a ball. "A creature with Chakra? That thing could be used as a summoning beast. And wild beasts with Chakra often gain intelligence. They're like monsters—they can even talk."
Then he could only hunt in the Forest of Death, Aoba quietly pondered.
Rumor had it that the Forest of Death had been created by the First's Wood Release. Many beasts within had been affected by the First's residual Chakra and had grown abnormally large.
They had also become extremely dangerous, which was why it was called the Forest of Death.
Many of the village's summoning beasts had been captured from the Forest of Death as well.
"This might be worth trying..."
The troublesome part was that it was like antibiotics. Eat too much of it, and resistance built up, so he had to keep switching things up.
When he had first eaten Killer Bee Honey, the effects had been astonishing. Not only had he grown taller, but his Chakra had increased dramatically too. Now, he could only eat it like candy.
Sigh...
Aoba sat up and scratched his messy hair.
[Re-searching database... Option Three: Obtain a Kekkei Genkai. Analyzing feasibility...]
"Kekkei Genkai..."
Aoba rubbed his chin, lightly tapping it with a finger.
His half-baked Chakra Radar activated again.
There was no Anbu surveillance. Ever since he had beaten Asuma senseless that day, the Anbu seemed to have never returned.
Of course, they might simply have become more covert. But that possibility was slim, because his vague sixth sense had not reacted either.
This "sixth sense" was one of the benefits of having lived two lives. Like veteran soldiers on the battlefield, who were exceptionally sensitive to even the slightest killing intent and could evade enemy traps.
Aoba formed the Snake hand seal with both hands, and a small fireball appeared above his palm.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique]
It was also the only Fire Release ninjutsu Aoba had mastered. After several Chip-assisted improvements, he no longer needed to spit it from his mouth. However, without the boost from expelled airflow, the technique's power had dropped sharply.
But it had also become more controllable, making it easier for him to study the Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation of Fire Release.
He still had too few Fire Release techniques. Even with the Chip's analysis, progress was slow.
Besides Fire Release, he also had Earth Release. He possessed dual-nature Chakra, something he had tested with Chakra paper two years ago.
Though progress with Fire Release was slow, he could still gain something by grinding away at it. Earth Release, however, left him completely at a loss. He had no idea where to begin.
Uncle Shinku definitely had it, and he could give Aoba some guidance as well.
The troublesome part was finding a sufficiently "perfect" reason. Chakra Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation were advanced ninja knowledge.
It was monopolized knowledge. Even ordinary chunin could not access knowledge at that level. For most ninja, knowing the hand seal sequence and being able to cast a technique proficiently was the norm.
Aoba waved his hand and dispelled the fireball.
After washing up, he began preparing breakfast.
Even if his development was temporarily restricted, ensuring adequate nutrition was still necessary.
Aoba was so determined to "grow up" not only because he did not want to be treated like a little brat. Being a child was troublesome and came with far too many restrictions. Just buying Kunai and Explosive Tags required presenting ninja identification, having an adult accompany him, explaining their intended use, and so on.
He also wanted to increase the capacity of his "bucket."
The body was the container, and Chakra was the water. If the container was not large enough, then even if he mastered forbidden techniques, he would not be able to cast them.
With the Chip's help, mastering ninjutsu was no problem for him. He did not want to end up like the future Sharingan Kakashi, who was supposedly capable of copying a thousand techniques yet had to analyze every fight and hesitate to spend Chakra because of his limited reserves, earning him the mockery of Hatake Fifty-Fifty from netizens everywhere.
Beyond that, he also needed to solve another issue of identity.
The civilian students at the Ninja Academy were too insignificant. Even after graduating, they would only become ordinary civilian ninja and would have no access to high-level information.
The ninjutsu scrolls left behind by his parents did not even mention Chakra Nature Transformation or Shape Transformation, much less Kekkei Genkai.
If he wanted to fuse two Chakra Nature Transformations, imagination alone would not cut it.
How was that any different from knowing that a nuclear reaction involved neutrons striking an atomic nucleus?
What about the process? The method?
The longer he stayed in this world, the more he could feel the suffocating rigidity of its class structure. The monopoly over ninjutsu knowledge was simply outrageous.
Ordinary civilians wanted to learn ninjutsu? Keep dreaming.
He had visited the village's public library several times. The shelves were filled with brainwashing material like Inheritance of the Will of Fire, Quotations of the Successive Hokage, and History of Konohagakure, while the rest were worthless biographies and novels. As for profound theories involving Chakra Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation, there was not even a trace.
Even the Ninja Academy library had little beyond Three Body Technique scrolls worn fuzzy around the edges from overuse. The rest taught how to set traps, identify codes, and find food in the wilderness.
Knowledge was power, and Konohagakure's upper ranks had locked that power inside a safe. Only the major ninja clans and the upper ranks possessed the key.
If the source of one's information could not withstand investigation, then long-term surveillance was the mildest outcome. Searching memories, being sent to Root for brainwashing, or ending up on an autopsy table after death were all standard procedures.
"Fine. Novels really are all lies."
Aoba sighed, cleaned up the dishes, then grabbed the ninja tool pouch from the table and tied it around his waist.
Before leaving, he grabbed several handfuls of feed and fed the crows in the yard.
That was right, he had started raising crows.
The nickname "Yamashiro Aoyuu" was not bad either.
Most importantly, it was cool!
Forest of Death.
After passing through a broken gap in the barbed wire fence, the clamor of the village gradually gave way to the chirping of insects and birds.
Massive ancient trees blotted out the sky. Sunlight could only filter through gaps in the leaves, scattering mottled patches of light. The air was filled with the mixed scent of rotting leaves and soil.
Aoba darted swiftly between the tree trunks, moving as lightly as a civet cat.
As he used Body Flicker more frequently, the speed at which he activated it also grew faster and faster.
"Hm?"
Aoba stopped. With a light tap of his toes against the trunk, he leaped onto a high branch like a weightless feather.
Rumble—
The ground began to shake, and the bushes ahead collapsed to either side as if flattened by a bulldozer.
A massive spherical object spun at high speed, charging forward with tremendous momentum. Trees along its path were smashed apart, sending wood chips flying. Any slightly thinner ones were snapped cleanly in half.
"Human Bullet Tank?"
Aoba raised an eyebrow.
Only one family in all of Konohagakure used such a distinctive taijutsu.
The human cannonball finally stopped after crashing into a huge boulder with a dull boom. As the dust settled, a round-bodied boy sat on the ground in a daze, circles spinning in his eyes.
"Owww, that hurts..."
The boy rubbed his head and struggled to climb to his feet. He wore an oversized training uniform, with the character for "food" embroidered on his chest.
The Akimichi Clan.
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