Hidden Trace Technique

Time always flew by when he was focused. Yuehua Ai was so absorbed that he barely noticed the morning classes had already ended.

Today's lessons had left a deep impression on Yuehua Ai. It wasn't just the subject matter that had affected him; the experience of attending class itself had made the strongest impression. Including his previous life, it had been more than a decade since he'd last sat peacefully in a classroom and listened to a lesson.

Yamazaki Kazuna's earlier explanations had also taught Yuehua Ai a great deal. She was no longer teaching just the basics of medicine; she had begun focusing on how chakra activated cells. Although he couldn't verify the material through his own experiments at this stage, that didn't stop him from memorizing the principles and conclusions. After all, medicine in this world surpassed that of his previous life in certain ways. The knowledge and principles that had been recorded and passed down here had stood the test of time and were reliable.

After class, Yamazaki Kazuna made a point of checking in on Yuehua Ai. She asked whether he could follow the lessons and told him to come to her or ask Shizune for help if anything was unclear.

After seeing off his conscientious instructor, Yuehua Ai got up to leave.

It was already noon. The students were free to do as they pleased until two in the afternoon. Those who lived far away or couldn't be bothered with the trip naturally chose to eat at the school. Their families usually packed them a lunch before they left in the morning, though some families simply gave them money to buy food at a nearby shop.

Yuehua Ai and Jiraiya's home wasn't far away, and he was the only one there at the moment. No one had told him that he could bring lunch to the training class, so while the other students took out the lunches from their insulated boxes, poor Ai had no choice but to go home and cook for himself.

It wasn't that he couldn't order food at a nearby shop. But after thinking it over, Yuehua Ai decided it was better not to waste the little money Jiraiya had left behind, not when he had no idea when the man would return. After all, he didn't even know whether there were places in Konoha that hired child laborers.

Shizune watched Yuehua Ai get up to leave and opened her mouth, but in the end she said nothing. She knew he was living alone. The people behind them were distantly connected, but she had only just met him and felt awkward inviting him to stay for lunch. They got along, but they weren't that close yet—and besides, her family had only packed enough lunch for one.

Yuehua Ai wandered along, stopping now and then. He didn't buy anything, but that did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for browsing the shops. There was still plenty of time before afternoon class, so he had no need to hurry.

Leaving the busy shopping district for a quieter residential area, Yuehua Ai found the streets still fairly crowded with people coming and going at midday. He glanced around as he walked, and before long he had reached an old neighborhood tucked away from the main roads.

After turning down an alley, Yuehua Ai stopped before he had gone very far.

With both hands tucked into the pockets of his tracksuit, Yuehua Ai tilted his head slightly and spoke coldly to the person behind him.

"Come out. You've been following me for long enough!"

"..."

"Still not coming out? I went out of my way to give you such a perfect opportunity, and you still don't dare show yourself..."

Yuehua Ai sighed in disappointment, then shook his head and walked toward the alley's exit.

Just as he took a step, a sudden voice sounded behind him.

"Wait!"

The faint light rippled like a watery curtain, and a figure suddenly "walked" out of the wall at the corner of the street.

Yuehua Ai turned around and frowned at the sudden appearance. The other person was a boy, around eleven or twelve years old. He wore a Konoha Ninja Forehead Protector and a gray-green casual outfit. On the sleeve was a diamond-shaped emblem divided into four sections. It looked like a clan crest, but unfortunately Yuehua Ai didn't recognize it. The only clan crests he knew in the Naruto World belonged to the Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha.

The boy had fairly regular features. There was a touch of rebelliousness and roguishness in his face, but at his age it wasn't unpleasant. The reason Yuehua Ai frowned was the hostility in the boy's eyes as he stared at him.

He looks a little familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before. He's a teenager, and a ninja...

Of the people I've met, the only ones who fit that description are my classmates at the medical training class!

"Hmph!"

Yuehua Ai's unrestrained scrutiny made Takeda Shin bristle. The other boy's calm, utterly indifferent gaze was really... asking to get punched!

Before Yuehua Ai could ask what he wanted, Takeda Shin took the initiative and asked, "How did you see through my disguise?"

Takeda Shin found it utterly unbelievable that Yuehua Ai had seen through his technique and discovered him. The concealment technique he had used was the Takeda Clan's secret Hidden Trace Technique.

Every secret clan technique had something exceptional about it. The Takeda Clan's Hidden Trace Technique was different from ordinary concealment techniques, and its ability to hide the user was far superior.

The Takeda Clan's Hidden Trace Technique could use chakra to create an area resembling a genjutsu, while also allowing the user to blend into the surroundings like a camouflage concealment technique. It couldn't compare with the A-rank Invisibility Technique, which only jonin could learn and which concealed one's body, chakra, and mental fluctuations. But compared with the ubiquitous Raincoat Invisibility Technique, it was many levels above it.

Takeda Shin still remembered that when he first mastered the clan's Hidden Trace Technique, he had even caught the attention of some of the clan elders. The Takeda Clan had fallen into decline, with only one jonin left to support it, but it still wasn't easy to cause such a stir throughout the clan. He also remembered that many clan members had praised him as the second genius ninja after Kakashi!

The Hidden Trace Technique was indeed far beyond the techniques normally available to students at the Ninja Academy, and it had helped him become one of the standouts among the graduates of his year. His name had spread widely among the students, and even a number of teachers had taken the initiative to learn more about him. Takeda Shin had always been proud of this.

He knew that a large part of his reputation as a genius rested on the clan's Hidden Trace Technique, but that didn't stop him from taking pride in himself. The technique was rare and difficult to master. As long as he didn't give himself away, nobody below the rank of Chunin could possibly detect him. After all, within a certain range, the Takeda Clan's technique was known as the strongest physical concealment technique.

The strongest physical concealment technique. It didn't conceal chakra or mental activity, but when it came to hiding one's form alone, it was truly flawless.

Yet this technique, said to be the strongest and capable of fooling most Chunin, had been easily seen through by the seven- or eight-year-old child in front of him. Takeda Shin couldn't help being shocked. He had followed Yuehua Ai all this way without daring to act rashly because he assumed that anyone so young who had joined his class midyear must have some exceptional ability. But when he concealed himself to find out just how strong the boy was, he never expected the Hidden Trace Technique he was proudest of to be exposed so easily!

"I noticed you because you kept staring at me from behind."

Yuehua Ai didn't mind answering the boy's question. He was actually quite interested in the other boy's technique. If he hadn't had such a keen sense of perception, even an ordinary ninja would have found it very difficult to detect.