A Sword Swing, and Whatever He Called Came

Kisame's puzzled voice made a bead of cold sweat slide down Araki's forehead.

"Uh, my Gale Palm failed just now. Could that have been the hand seal for Wind Release: Great Breakthrough?"

Araki scratched his head, his voice suddenly tinged with delight.

"That doesn't seem quite right either. Wind Release: Great Breakthrough expels a fierce gust from the mouth. You released it from your hands just now, though the effect was about the same. This ninjutsu is generally only used to blow away things like smoke."

Kisame was a little surprised, but he did not dwell on it. After all, it was only a C-rank Wind Style technique.

Having successfully bluffed his way through, Araki patted his chest and decided to try simplifying the hand seals for Gale Palm.

First, get rid of the hand seals used to gather chakra!

Araki had exceptionally precise control over his body. He could easily gather chakra in his palms without the aid of hand seals.

Then use a hand seal to transform the chakra into wind!

Araki formed the Dragon Seal, then sharply clapped his palms together.

Clap!

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

Whoosh—

A violent gale surged forth in response, kicking up layer after layer of waves ahead of him.

"It worked!"

A delighted smile spread across Araki's face.

As long as I can figure out the principle behind transforming chakra into wind, I can eliminate even that final hand seal!

Araki gathered chakra in his palms again, then formed the Dragon Seal, carefully sensing the changes in the instant the chakra burst forth.

Through his bodily perception, he found that when his hands formed the Dragon Seal, the chakra gathered in his palms seemed to undergo a slight fluctuation. After that fluctuation, the chakra experienced an indescribable change, and what naturally erupted from it became wind.

The key lies in that final adjustment. It determines the change in chakra's nature.

Araki thought to himself.

After all, chakra should have no attribute when it was first extracted from cells—or rather, its attributes were not apparent. Ninja used different hand seals to impart corresponding nature transformations to it, thereby casting ninjutsu of the appropriate attributes.

So the process of forming hand seals can actually be divided into three steps:

First, extract chakra and gather it in the part of the body that will release the ninjutsu, such as the hands or mouth.

Second, determine the chakra's manifested attribute.

Third, shape the ninjutsu.

Based on his experiments and understanding, Araki roughly summarized the three crucial steps in casting ninjutsu.

With my current control over my body, I can completely skip the first step of gathering chakra. I still have no clue about determining its manifested attribute, and as for shaping the ninjutsu, that is even further beyond me.

"Sigh, I'm still a long way from just clapping my hands and getting whatever I call for!"

Araki sighed.

"No, I still have to wield a sword. It should be a sword swing, and whatever I call comes. Simplifying Gale Palm until only one hand seal remains is enough for now. Next, it's time for a new research project: Coordinating Gale Palm and Swordsmanship."

Araki did not stubbornly keep grinding away at simplifying the second step. He had always been very clear-eyed about himself.

For now, he was merely an ordinary newly promoted genin with at most chunin-level combat strength. His understanding of every aspect of the Shinobi World was still woefully insufficient.

Watching the original anime did not mean he knew all the secrets of this world. Without strength, knowing certain secrets would be useless anyway. Besides, some things could never be understood through watching alone; they had to be experienced firsthand.

At the very least, I should wait until I've learned several more ninjutsu of different attributes and compare them with one another!

Araki calmly changed the direction of his research.

"Hmm, the first application of Gale Palm: accelerating the flight speed of thrown weapons."

He touched the ninja tool pouch strapped to the side of his thigh, reluctant to use his newly bought shuriken. Once accelerated by Gale Palm, who knew how far those little throwing stars would fly? He would probably never recover them.

For children from poor families, thrift was a fine virtue.

After glancing at Zabuza and Kisame, Araki felt too embarrassed to ask them.

Over there, Zabuza was practicing the Water Clone Technique. Three identical figures were embroiled in a chaotic melee, making for quite a lively sight.

And Kisame?

When Araki turned his gaze toward him, he found that Kisame was actually practicing hand seals!

His large hands darted back and forth with swishing motions, incredibly fast. It was obvious he had put in the effort and practiced seriously.

For some reason, the sight suddenly made Araki feel rather sentimental.

Captain Kisame, don't worry. Once I figure out the principles behind simplified hand seals, I'll definitely turn you into a ninja who can swing Samehada and get whatever he calls for!

Having secretly made up his mind, Araki turned back and drew the long sword from his back.

"If I don't have any ready-made projectiles, can't I just make my own?"

He gripped the sword with both hands and slashed diagonally into the water at a strange angle.

Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu: Water Dragon Flash!

As the sword struck, the water beneath Araki's feet suddenly exploded. Countless tiny droplets shot into the air, densely raining toward the front.

"Now!"

Araki released the hilt, gathered chakra, formed hand seals, and clapped his hands in one fluid motion.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

Whoosh—

A fierce gust swept past, and the tiny droplets before him seemed to activate nitrous acceleration. They even gave off whistling sounds as they cut through the air, vanishing from Araki's sight in the blink of an eye.

"Hehe, the effect looks pretty good. I'm just a little rushed. I need to get more practiced!"

Araki nodded at his results, picked up the long sword floating on the water, and continued practicing.

Time flew by, and more than half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, under Kisame's guidance, Araki and Zabuza spent most of their time practicing ninjutsu aside from carrying out tasks such as hunting and patrolling. Their results were quite gratifying.

As for Zabuza, he had become highly proficient with the Water Clone Technique and could instantly create nine clones that were nearly impossible to distinguish from the real one. His Hidden Mist Technique could also cover an area dozens of meters wide, and his swordsmanship was beginning to take shape as well.

In short, an assassination tactic using the Hidden Mist Technique and Water Clone Technique for support and restraint had taken form. From here on, he could not improve through training alone; he needed to identify problems through constant combat and make further refinements.

Araki's gains were no less impressive. Aside from becoming highly proficient in two D-rank ninjutsu, he had also developed a second application for Gale Palm.

He could bind the formed gale around his body, using it to propel himself rapidly.

After repeated tests, Araki found that each use of Gale Palm could maintain the [Grace of the Wind] state for roughly twenty seconds.

During that time, his speed greatly increased, and he could rapidly shift in any direction without moving his body.

It was practically a godly support technique.

Thanks to Huimou Lizhi Xiao for the tip!