The Fruits of Training

At such a young age, he was already capable of performing Medical Ninjutsu with impressive skill.

Yu, standing before Kabuto, was undoubtedly the envy of every child in the orphanage.

"Hey! It's almost nine o'clock!"

"You little brats, get to bed already! And you, new kid!"

But before Yu could say anything, a stern voice rang out from inside.

A plump, middle-aged woman and an old man with white hair and a beard, wearing glasses, walked into the main hall from the back room.

They wore the black kimono and white shawls distinctive to the Konoha Orphanage. They were Enna and Fukamura, the two assistant directors who had long helped Yakushi Nonō run the orphanage.

"You don't have to look so scared..."

"They may look fierce, but Auntie Enna and Grandpa Fukamura are actually very kind."

Seeing that the young Kabuto standing before him seemed afraid of the fierce-looking, stern orphanage matron, Yu spoke calmly to reassure him.

After all, anyone who chose to work at the Konoha Orphanage without caring about salary or compensation couldn't be a bad person.

"My name is Yakushi Hane."

"I'm probably a year older than you, so you can just call me Yu."

With that, Yu paid no attention to Kabuto's reaction and headed straight for the bedroom.

After all, he'd trained all day and was already feeling quite exhausted.

He'd only recently gained the power of the String-String Fruit, and using it so frequently put an immense strain on his stamina.

"Yakushi Hane... Yu..."

Staring blankly at Yu's retreating figure, the young Kabuto murmured his name.

"Does he... not like me?"

He had noticed the complicated look Yu had given him.

Though still young, Yakushi Kabuto was clever and perceptive. He could tell that Yu treated him differently from the other children.

Of course, Kabuto had no way of knowing.

If nothing else intervened,

then, according to the original storyline,

the person who would become the most important in his life, Yakushi Nonō, would eventually be killed by his own hand.

"It's following the storyline exactly."

"Yakushi Kabuto has shown up, too..."

Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, Yu's thoughts churned.

The moment he confirmed Kabuto's identity, he had nearly used the power of the String-String Fruit to slice off Kabuto's head, but reason had forced him to suppress the impulse.

"But no matter what, I'll protect Nonō."

"I absolutely won't let the storyline repeat itself... absolutely!"

Yu clenched his fists with a determined look, feeling the power of his chakra and the String-String Fruit surging through him.

After a whole day of grueling training, Yu finally closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep...

Time flew by.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Soon, it was time for the annual entrance exams at the Ninja Academy in Konoha.

For the past few days, nearly every shinobi family in Konoha had been busy preparing to send their children to school.

Though this was an era when the Third Shinobi World War was growing ever more intense,

being a shinobi wasn't exactly a popular career, but it came with high risks and high rewards.

What's more, since it was wartime, the Konoha High Command required every child from a shinobi family to undergo training and become a shinobi, supplying more fighters to the front lines.

For example, Hatake Kakashi, the renowned genius shinobi of Konoha.

He graduated from the Ninja Academy at just six years old, thanks not only to his remarkable talent but also to the unique circumstances of this era.

Konoha Back Mountain.

In a tree-shaded forest.

"Chirp... chirp... chirp..."

Every so often, a sound like countless birds chirping rang out.

"Ox—Rabbit—Monkey..."

"The Hand Seals are so simple. There's no reason I can't pull off this technique!"

His hands formed three seals in quick succession. Chakra surged inside Yu.

A blinding burst of lightning erupted from his palm, but quickly vanished.

"Damn it! Why still won't it work?!"

When the technique failed, Yu's young face filled with frustration.

That's right. Yu was training in Chidori.

It was an A-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu that concentrated a large amount of chakra in the hand used for a thrust. Because of the user's incredible speed, it produced a distinctive sound like a thousand birds crying out.

In the original story, it was created by Konoha's genius shinobi, Hatake Kakashi. Its upgraded version was the S-rank Lightning Release Secret Technique, Lightning Blade, famous for being able to cut through lightning.

As everyone knew, the Hand Seals for Chidori and Lightning Blade were "Ox—Rabbit—Monkey."

And since Yu's chakra affinities were water and lightning, there was no reason for a transmigrator like him not to train in this powerful, spectacular technique.

But after spending an entire month training in this exceptionally difficult A-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu,

he finally realized just how hard it was to master such an advanced, forbidden technique on his own, without anyone to guide him.

"After two months of training, your strength has improved by leaps and bounds."

"Your chakra has also reached the level of a Genin, but isn't a technique this difficult a little beyond you for now?"

Without warning, the Demon's voice rang in Yu's mind.

She had watched Yu's near self-torturing, frenzied training over the past two months.

"Shut up..."

Yu cut off the Demon's alluring voice without a second thought.

"Just watch!"

His amber-clear eyes held unwavering determination.

Unwilling to give up, Yu continued forming Hand Seals. A dazzling mass of blue-white lightning lit up the entire forest.

Lightning Release: Chidori!

It was as though a thousand birds were crying out at once.

Amid a blinding flash of blue-white light,

a highly concentrated surge of wild electricity finally stabilized in Yu's left hand.

"You actually..."

"You really did it?!"

The Demon had always sounded lazy and indifferent, but now she couldn't hide her astonishment. Yu, whose chakra had only just reached Genin level, had actually mastered Chidori, an advanced forbidden technique.

In the shinobi world, techniques were roughly divided into six ranks according to difficulty.

E: Ninja Academy level (for example, the Tracking Technique, Transformation Technique, and Clone Technique)

D: Genin level (for example, Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu)

C: Chunin level (for example, Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique and the Summoning Technique)

B: Jonin level (for example, the Shadow Clone Technique and Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique)

A: Forbidden-technique level, advanced techniques (there were two main reasons a technique might be forbidden: first, it could endanger the user's life; second, its effects could gravely defy the natural order)

S: Secret-technique level (for example, Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu and Lightning Blade)

Of course, there were also techniques created by combining multiple nature transformations, such as Kekkei Genkai, Kekkei Tōta, and even Kekkei Mōra.