Lightning Release Talent

Kaede accepted the ninjutsu scroll, his heart racing with excitement as he slowly unrolled it.

This was his first time encountering something as lofty as ninjutsu, and these mysterious powers deeply captivated his thirst for knowledge. Any fan who had watched Naruto would know—no one could resist such temptation.

Ninjutsu was classified into five grades—A, B, C, D, and E—based on difficulty of learning. Techniques like [Clone Technique], [Substitution Technique], and [Transformation Technique], the easiest to master, were ranked E-rank.

D-rank techniques were generally ordinary offensive taijutsu, like Might Guy's [Dynamic Entry], or weapon-based ninjutsu for manipulating shuriken, such as Sasuke's [Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique].

Most attribute-based offensive ninjutsu started at C-rank at minimum. Whether their power was strong or not aside, their learning difficulty certainly surpassed E-rank and D-rank techniques.

Moreover, the learning process carried a certain degree of danger.

The technique his father had given him was the C-rank [Lightning Release: Ground Run].

As the scroll unfurled, the first thing he saw was the technique's name, followed by the precautions for learning Ground Run. A fair amount was scribbled down, with notes from several different people, proving the scroll had been used by multiple individuals.

After that came the hand seal sequence for Ground Run—Boar, Ram, Snake—accompanied by a chakra circulation diagram.

"It seems the essence of a ninjutsu scroll must be the precautions at the beginning. With so many people's notes here, they're probably their personal insights from learning."

Thinking this, he flipped back to the front and began reading the precautions carefully. At first, it was perfectly normal, explaining how to go about learning Ground Run. Until—

"Trash technique, ruined my youth."

"Useless garbage, infuriating to learn, can't hit anyone when used."

Line after line—all complaints.

"????"

Kaede was bewildered. He rubbed his eyes and looked again to be sure.

"This... this... is this something a tsundere Uchiha should be doing?"

At the end of the precautions, several people's notes were indeed insights, but these insights left Kaede feeling numb!

"Ha... haha... I'd better just look at the chakra circulation diagram instead."

He spotted his father Mingye's handwriting among those complaints. It seemed it wasn't that tsundere Uchiha were unreliable—it was that this particular branch of Uchiha was unreliable.

Silently studying the final chakra circulation diagram, after a long while, he began to discern a pattern. Within the diagram, a mass of chakra was sealed, constantly moving along a certain trajectory through the acupoints in the image.

This should be the circulation pattern of chakra inside a ninja's body when using [Lightning Release: Ground Run].

From the dantian position in the lower abdomen, mobilize the accumulated initial chakra, travel up through the body's meridians, and branch into the meridians of both hands. At this point, the initial chakra must be converted into lightning-nature chakra.

Then circulate it to the hands, and the moment the lightning-nature chakra is expelled from the body, transform it into lightning. Thus, the technique [Lightning Release: Ground Run] is successfully released.

"Let me give it a try."

No matter how much you read, nothing beats hands-on practice. Without actually doing it, you'll never know if you truly understand or are just pretending.

Form the [Boar] seal to mobilize chakra.

Form the [Ram] seal to convert the initial chakra into lightning-nature chakra.

Form the [Snake] seal to transform the lightning-nature chakra into lightning.

"Whoa..."

A flash of lightning coursed over his body, and he felt a sensation like an electric shock—tingly and numb.

...Heh.

It was actually pretty comfortable.

"I got distracted just now and transformed the lightning too early, releasing the technique into my own body. Luckily, it seems I'm not afraid of being electrocuted."

Wrong hand seals cannot mobilize the chakra inside the body, making it impossible to successfully release a technique. But being interrupted just as you're about to release one is still dangerous—you might get injured by your own jutsu.

This isn't a game; there's no rule that your own technique won't hurt you. The ninjutsu you release is a real natural element. If it hits you, you'll get hurt just the same.

This is especially true for lightning-nature chakra. Its plasticity is low, making shape transformation harder than with other elemental techniques.

And it's difficult to control, often leading to self-injury.

The ninja world's version of the Seven Wounding Fist.

So unless someone had exceptional ninjutsu talent and specialized in Lightning Release, Konoha rarely produced ninja who used powerful Lightning Release techniques.

Future Kakashi and Sasuke would be considered top-tier Lightning Release users.

"But it seems there's no danger for me."

Just now, when he used the technique to emit lightning, the Thunder Rune in his mind, which had been dim, lit up. At that moment, he realized he could control the lightning between his fingers as easily as moving his own arm.

It was that split-second lapse in concentration that caused the lightning to strike his own body—tingly and numb, but without a single injury.

"So the rune only takes effect when it lights up?"

He looked at the Divine Body Rune and Divine Soul Rune glowing inside him, along with the newly lit Thunder Rune.

The Thunder Rune granted him an affinity for lightning's power, while the Divine Body Rune and Divine Soul Rune brought a slow transformation to his body.

Because of this, Kaede felt certain his chakra reserves would be anything but small.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He threw himself back into training Ground Run, determined to test his chakra capacity.

From dawn to dusk in the courtyard, all that could be heard was someone's strange groaning.

"Ah... ah... numb..."

"Hey... heh... numb numb..."

Even with an extremely strong affinity for lightning, circulating chakra was still a technical skill. Learning a ninjutsu involved many details, all of which determined success or failure.

"Boar-Dog-Snake, Lightning Release: Ground Run."

He released lightning through his hands, sending it spreading across the surface of the lake. Electric sparks flickered over the small pond in the yard, and the little fish inside were shocked until their bellies floated to the top.

"Hahaha... I did it... I did it..."

He touched his hands, blackened from the stray lightning that had leaked out. He wasn't injured, just a little tired. But all of this was washed away by the excitement of successfully learning a ninjutsu through hard work.

He didn't notice his father Mingye standing at the door, quietly watching him, rubbing his eyes and looking again and again.

"This... you succeeded already?"

Giving Kaede the C-rank ninjutsu Lightning Release: Ground Run, he had planned for Kaede to practice it until he started school. Lightning Release was generally the hardest of the five elemental natures. A C-rank ninjutsu was enough for Kaede to study for a whole year.

He had also intended to teach him the Three Basic Techniques and chakra control skills, and maybe some shurikenjutsu on the side, so he wouldn't embarrass himself out there like yesterday.

With so much content, he thought it was plenty for Kaede to learn.

But Kaede had mastered the C-rank ninjutsu Lightning Release: Ground Run in a single day. It couldn't be used in actual combat yet, but it was already incredibly talented.

"What a little monster! But... this is my son! Ha... ha... ha..."

Mingye laughed heartily.

"Father, what's got you so happy? Is it because you're proud of your clever son's monstrous talent?"

Learning a C-rank ninjutsu in one day—he could proudly say he was an outstanding ninja with talent for jutsu. In time, he would surely become one of the Twin Stars of the Uchiha alongside Uchiha Shisui, who was famed for his Body Flicker Technique.

"Hmph! Learning just one C-rank ninjutsu in a day—you're only a little bit better than your father was back then. What's there to be so proud of?

A ninja must never let the victory before his eyes go to his head. Because a ninja has never been a profession suited for direct confrontation. Assassinations relying on cunning, and stealth kills that catch you off guard—that is the true melody of a ninja."

To keep Kaede from being too arrogant, Mingye furrowed his brow and scolded him.

For a four-year-old like Kaede to display such powerful ninjutsu talent—that was not a good thing in Konoha.

They were Uchiha, after all.