Yuhi Shinku's Guidance

Sitting at the table, Yuki Yuichi breathed in the delicious aroma of the food and couldn't help praising it. "Uncle Shinku, your cooking keeps getting better!"

Yuhi Kurenai's mother had passed away, and Yuhi Shinku had been both her father and mother all this time, honing his cooking skills along the way.

At his praise, the corner of Yuhi Shinku's mouth lifted in a barely perceptible smile. Then he waved a hand.

"Let's eat."

"Afterward, we'll start your special training!"

"Mm!" Yuhi Kurenai nodded earnestly beside them. "I'm definitely going to get stronger!"

"I want to protect Yuichi, too!"

After saying this, Yuhi Kurenai glanced at her own father and added, "And Dad."

Yuhi Shinku: "..."

His little girl's love was leaking out the seams!

The meal passed with Yuhi Shinku suffering heartache.

Yuhi Kurenai and Yuki Yuichi's cheerful laughter made him feel both a pang in his heart and a sense of warmth.

That was how family was supposed to be.

Watching Yuki Yuichi and Yuhi Kurenai, Yuhi Shinku thought to himself that it would be nice if they grew up quickly. Then he could retire and take care of his grandchildren.

Ninja could retire, too. If they no longer wanted to be ninja, they could simply apply for retirement.

Whether the application was approved was another matter.

A ninja like Yuhi Shinku would still be given some undemanding post, even if he could retire.

After they finished eating, Yuhi Shinku looked at the two of them sternly. Just as he was about to speak, Yuhi Kurenai pulled out a scroll marked with the character for "fire" and handed it to him, cutting him off.

"Dad, Lord Hokage gave this to Yuichi."

Yuki Yuichi nodded beside her and recounted what had happened that morning.

Holding the scroll, Yuhi Shinku looked at Yuki Yuichi in silence.

He wasn't an idiot. Of course he knew how unlikely it was to run into Sarutobi Hiruzen at a ramen shop.

Especially when he'd not only run into them, but also given them a ninjutsu scroll.

He was trying to win them over.

By contrast, he hadn't thought much of Minato Namikaze's involvement at the beginning.

He knew about Uzumaki Kushina's relationship with Yuki Yuichi, and Minato Namikaze naturally knew about it, too.

Yuki Yuichi and Kakashi Hatake had gone to train at a training ground Minato Namikaze had set up in the past, so it was only natural that they'd run into him.

Many people in Konoha knew about the training ground on Kage Rock.

Looking at the scroll in his hand, Yuhi Shinku sighed.

When Yuki Yuichi had shown him his Sharingan yesterday, he'd known it would attract attention sooner or later.

He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

This should be a good thing, too, Yuhi Shinku thought to himself. He'd been fretting over how to talk to the Uchiha Clan about the Sharingan.

Now he didn't have to worry about it.

Lord Hokage had taken notice of the boy, so he must already know about the Sharingan.

He could leave matters involving the Uchiha to Lord Hokage. All he had to do was pretend he knew nothing.

Thinking this, Yuhi Shinku unrolled the scroll in his hand.

The first thing he saw was the name of the ninjutsu.

[Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique.]

He knew this technique. It was an ordinary C-rank Fire Release technique.

Aside from the Three Basic Jutsu and the Body Flicker Technique, whose floors were extremely low but ceilings extremely high, C-rank techniques were the easiest to learn.

A technique's rank was based on how difficult it was to learn.

A C-rank technique didn't mean its power fell within the C-rank range.

However, the greater a technique's initial power, the more difficult it was to learn, and the higher its rank.

So it wasn't exactly wrong to use a technique's rank to gauge its power.

"Since Lord Hokage gave you this technique, I'll teach you both this one first."

As he spoke, Yuhi Shinku took two sheets of Chakra Induction Paper from his robes and turned to Yuki Yuichi. "You already tested yours in front of Lord Hokage, but I've already bought two sheets of Chakra Induction Paper."

"It'd be a waste to leave them unused, so test yours one more time."

Yuki Yuichi didn't object. He took one of the sheets and channeled his chakra into it.

Just like before, sparks appeared on one half of the paper, while the other half wrinkled.

Seeing this, Yuhi Shinku nodded. He still hadn't quite believed what Yuki Yuichi had told him.

After all, the impression the boy had given him over the past few years was hardly reliable.

Yuhi Kurenai followed suit, picking up the other sheet of Chakra Induction Paper and channeling her chakra into it. Then she blinked her big eyes and watched expectantly.

Under the three of their gazes, sparks slowly ignited around the edge of the Chakra Induction Paper. After that, nothing else happened.

Yuhi Shinku wasn't disappointed.

A chakra nature was only the beginning.

It was something that could be developed through training.

Having only Fire Release chakra now didn't mean she'd only have that in the future. Besides, his plan was to train Yuhi Kurenai as a genjutsu ninja.

That way, she wouldn't have to face as much danger.

This was just right.

After the two of them finished testing their chakra natures, Yuhi Shinku continued, "All right, that takes care of the preparations."

"Now I'll teach you both a ninjutsu."

As he spoke, Yuhi Shinku fully unrolled the scroll and continued, "I was originally going to teach you a genjutsu."

"But Lord Hokage gave you this scroll, and you both have Fire Release chakra, so I'll teach you both Fire Release first."

Yuki Yuichi and Yuhi Kurenai sat quietly in their seats, looking at Yuhi Shinku.

"You two probably can't make sense of this scroll, can you?" Yuhi Shinku asked with a smile, pointing at it.

"Mm-hmm!" Yuhi Kurenai nodded her little head beside him.

"When Yuichi gave me this scroll, I couldn't understand it either."

Yuki Yuichi added, "I know all the characters in it, but when they're put together, I don't know what they mean."

Yuhi Shinku nodded at their words.

"That's normal."

"Do you know what ninjutsu really is?"

"The essence?" Yuki Yuichi was taken aback. Then he tentatively asked, "Using chakra to perform ninjutsu?"

"Yes and no."

Yuhi Shinku shook his head. Seeing the two of them look at him in confusion, he didn't keep them in suspense and explained directly, "The essence of ninjutsu is using chakra to perform it."

"But how you do that is what really matters."

"Normally, chakra flows through your body."

"But it flows through your chakra pathways."

"The essence of ninjutsu is making chakra flow along specific routes to create techniques of various chakra natures."

"So the essence of ninjutsu is really the flow of chakra."

"If you know the route for a particular technique well and have good chakra control, you can simplify a technique that originally requires ten Hand Seals down to four or five."

Yuhi Shinku's explanation was simple and easy to understand.

Yuki Yuichi looked at him thoughtfully and asked, "So, can all ninjutsu be performed without Hand Seals?"

"Yes."