Choosing Ninjutsu

After flipping through the scroll for a while, Uchiha Akira reached the end of the Sealing Jutsu section.

True forbidden techniques, such as the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, weren't recorded in this Scroll of Sealing.

Techniques like the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, though called forbidden, were recorded in the Scroll of Sealing.

This showed that, in the Second Hokage's eyes, the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique wasn't a true forbidden jutsu.

The Scroll of Sealing contained a great many techniques, and Uchiha Akira felt his blood stir as he read.

The sealing jutsu he had always yearned to learn were also recorded in the scroll.

Although his skill with sealing jutsu was still fairly ordinary—he had only begun to master the Uchiha Clan's ancestral Uchiha Flame Formation—

he believed he had a talent for sealing jutsu. He had encountered no obstacles in his studies so far, and everything had gone smoothly.

Even though he was tempted, he didn't make sealing jutsu his first choice.

Uchiha Akira was fairly confident he could get his hands on sealing jutsu for free.

He planned to go to Kusagakure after a while and bring Karin's mother back.

There was a chance that Karin's mother would have some of the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu.

Besides, even if she didn't, it wasn't impossible that Uzumaki Kushina would teach him a few techniques in exchange for bringing back two of her clanspeople.

For that reason, Uchiha Akira didn't consider sealing jutsu as an option.

"What should I choose?" Uchiha Akira looked at the open Scroll of Sealing, uncertain.

According to his original plan, the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Spirit Transformation Technique were the two techniques he'd definitely choose.

But after seeing the Strength of a Hundred secret technique, a method of channeling power, Uchiha Akira had to reconsider his choices carefully.

Amid his busy work, Minato Namikaze noticed Uchiha Akira lost in thought. He didn't interrupt him; instead, he smiled faintly.

He remembered looking just like that the first time Jiraiya brought him to choose a jutsu from the Scroll of Sealing. Fortunately, he had made the right choice.

Otherwise, Konoha wouldn't have its Fourth Hokage today.

"Kamui will do for now, so I'll put the Flying Thunder God Technique on hold." After thinking it over, Uchiha Akira made up his mind.

He decided to choose the Strength of a Hundred technique and the Spirit Transformation Technique.

Of course, choosing them was one thing. Whether he could learn them was another.

That was true of all S-rank jutsu. Most people didn't have the ability to learn them.

Choosing the Spirit Transformation Technique wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. He had given it careful thought.

According to its description, the Spirit Transformation Technique was clearly closely connected to Yin Release, and the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan was itself an expression of Yin Release.

Moreover, as a transmigrator, his spirit was far stronger than that of an ordinary Uchiha.

That was why Uchiha Akira had decided to give the Spirit Transformation Technique a try.

Still, very few people could learn a technique of this caliber, and he didn't believe he was certain to master it.

He could only say that his chances were better than those of an ordinary person.

The jutsu recorded in the Scroll of Sealing weren't suitable for everyone.

They were meant for the few who had the talent.

But Uchiha Akira was confident he could learn the Strength of a Hundred technique.

He considered his control over his chakra to be excellent.

As the saying went, a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

Once he learned the Strength of a Hundred technique, his strength would improve considerably.

"Lord Hokage, I've made my choice." Uchiha Akira rolled the Scroll of Sealing back up and walked over to the Hokage Office. "I'll take the Strength of a Hundred technique and the Spirit Transformation Technique."

"The Spirit Transformation Technique?"

A trace of surprise flashed in Minato Namikaze's blue eyes. He hadn't expected Uchiha Akira to choose that jutsu.

Minato Namikaze reminded him solemnly, "Are you sure you want to choose the Spirit Transformation Technique? No one in Konoha knows it now. If you choose it, you'll only have the notes left by its previous practitioners to refer to."

"I'm sure, Lord Hokage." Uchiha Akira nodded.

"All right. Just a moment."

As he spoke, Minato Namikaze opened the Scroll of Sealing, and blue light began to glow in his hand.

After pressing his hand against the scroll twice, he handed it back and said, "I've undone the seals on the Strength of a Hundred technique and the Spirit Transformation Technique. Record them for yourself, but don't teach them to anyone else."

For someone with a Sharingan, recording jutsu was a simple matter.

Uchiha Akira took the scroll. A sweep of his scarlet Sharingan was enough to record the Strength of a Hundred technique and the Spirit Transformation Technique in full, engraving them in his memory.

After recording both techniques, Uchiha Akira returned the Scroll of Sealing to Minato Namikaze and said, "Lord Hokage, if there's nothing else, I'll head back and get to training."

"Wait." Minato Namikaze said, "Jonin Akira, these are the notes left behind by Dan Katō, the only person in the village who ever learned the Spirit Transformation Technique. Take them home and have a look. They may help you."

Uchiha Akira accepted the scroll solemnly. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

"It's my duty as Hokage. The greatest thanks you could give me would be to master the Spirit Transformation Technique," Minato Namikaze said with a smile.

When he got home, Uchiha Akira took out two blank scrolls and copied down the Strength of a Hundred technique and the Spirit Transformation Technique. Then he studied them carefully.

Although he had already stored both techniques perfectly in his memory, Uchiha Akira was still used to reading them on paper.

The ritual mattered.

The Strength of a Hundred technique wasn't very difficult for him. After reading through it once, Uchiha Akira had a good grasp of it.

The more precise a shinobi's chakra control, the easier it was to learn the technique.

Those without sufficient chakra control would make slow progress, and the technique could also injure them.

Disability would be the least of their worries. If a large amount of chakra gathered and then burst out, they could be reduced to nothing but bones.

Following the power-channeling method described in the Strength of a Hundred technique, Uchiha Akira focused chakra into his finger and gently pressed it against the ground.

Crack!

A sharp snap rang out, and the courtyard's ground split with a web of cracks.

Looking at the spiderweb of cracks in the ground, Uchiha Akira nodded in satisfaction and murmured, "Not too hard!"

All he had to do now was improve his proficiency with the Strength of a Hundred technique until he could release its power from any part of his body. Then he would have mastered it.

After trying it out for a bit, Uchiha Akira turned his attention to the Spirit Transformation Technique.

While copying it down, he hadn't studied the contents closely at all. He had merely rewritten what his Sharingan had recorded.

As Uchiha Akira read further, the corner of his mouth curled into a smile. He murmured softly,

"No wonder no one else could learn the Spirit Transformation Technique. The key is that their spirit isn't strong enough!"

That was right. To even begin training in the Spirit Transformation Technique, one's spirit had to be far stronger than an ordinary person's.

Only a sufficiently powerful spirit could become a spirit body. That was the most difficult part.

It was also the hardest hurdle to overcome.

Dan Katō had been born with a spirit far stronger than an ordinary person's, which was why he had been able to learn this S-rank jutsu.

"Perfect. I was born with a powerful spirit, far stronger than that of an ordinary shinobi!"

After trying to practice it a little, Uchiha Akira even felt as if the technique had been made specifically for him.