Great Fireball

After breakfast.

Uchiha Fugaku brought Yin Jie to the training ground in the backyard—the place Yin Jie "knew well," where Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke had learned ninjutsu.

The mirror-still lake resembled a sleeping beauty, tranquil and serene.

The first ray of morning sunlight spilled across the lake, as though draping her in a magnificent veil of golden gauze.

The golden radiance danced across the water like lively sprites, making the entire lake gleam with brilliant streaks of gold.

"This is chakra test paper. Before learning ninjutsu, we'll first test your chakra nature."

Fugaku took a palm-sized sheet of paper from his ninja tool pouch and handed it to Yin Jie. He needed to determine Yin Jie's chakra nature before deciding which ninjutsu to teach him.

"Just channel your chakra into it..."

Before Uchiha Fugaku could finish explaining, the chakra test paper in Yin Jie's hand had already begun to change.

The sheet first suddenly crumpled into a mass of wrinkles.

But in the next instant, another change occurred.

The upper half of the paper burst into roaring flames, while the lower half turned the color of earth before slowly crumbling apart.

"Lightning, fire, and earth—three chakra natures!"

A look of astonishment appeared on Uchiha Fugaku's face, only to turn into delight moments later.

After all, most members of the Uchiha Clan—including himself—had possessed only a single chakra nature, fire, when they had first been tested.

Only a very small number of Uchiha Clan members possessed a second chakra nature.

As for three chakra natures, there was no one in the current Uchiha Clan who had them.

Thus, Yin Jie having lightning, fire, and earth chakra natures right from the start meant he was already far ahead of the rest.

Of course, for a ninja, the number of chakra natures did not represent the level of one's strength.

However, since chakra natures countered one another, mastering more ninjutsu of different natures would create more possibilities in battle and allow one to seize a greater advantage.

That was always a good thing.

Yin Jie was also pleased with the result.

Fire was within his expectations, and lightning was not entirely unexpected either. After all, that Bloodline Limit wielder, Uchiha Sasuke, with his "Show-Off Release," possessed both fire and lightning chakra natures.

But the third nature, earth, was a pure and unexpected delight.

He rather liked the effects of Earth Release, especially the Earth-Style Wall that could have dog heads carved into it.

However, he was a member of the Uchiha Clan, so if he used it, the figures carved into the Earth-Style Wall ought to be ninja cats instead.

"In that case, we'll begin by practicing Fire Release today! First, the foundational Fire Release passed down through generations of the Uchiha Clan—the signature Fire Release of our clan!"

As Fugaku explained, his hands slowly moved through a series of signs. He did not forget to remind Yin Jie, "Use your Sharingan. Carefully observe my hand seals and the flow of my chakra."

Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger. Fugaku's hands formed six different seals in sequence. However, to accommodate Yin Jie, who was encountering ninjutsu for the first time, he slowed the six seals from one second to six.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!!"

A massive fireball erupted from Fugaku's mouth and surged toward the lake ahead.

In that instant, the calm lake seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, erupting into violent waves. The water churned like boiling liquid, continuously crashing against the shore and sending sprays high into the air.

The icy lake water rapidly evaporated beneath the scorching heat, forming thick billows of white steam interspersed with stray tongues of flame.

"You should have clearly seen the sequence of hand seals just now. Come on, give it a try!"

Fugaku raised an eyebrow at Yin Jie, hoping to find awe on his face at the Fire Release technique he had just unleashed.

Yet to his disappointment, Yin Jie's expression did not change in the slightest, as though nothing had happened.

Naturally, Yin Jie had been stunned by Uchiha Fugaku's Fire Release. After all, the ninjutsu he had watched in anime in his previous life was vastly different from seeing such a real, tangible Fire Release technique up close.

He simply did not show it.

"Alright!"

Yin Jie quickly came back to his senses and nodded. At the same time, he rapidly reviewed the six seals Uchiha Fugaku had formed, as well as the flow of chakra through Fugaku's body that he had seen with his Sharingan.

"Clap!"

With a soft, crisp sound, Yin Jie brought his hands together, interlocking his fingers to form the Snake seal.

Under the guidance of the seal, the chakra within his body rapidly gathered toward his chest.

After accumulating enough chakra, Yin Jie smoothly changed his hand signs, completing the Ram, Monkey, Boar, and Horse seals with remarkable fluidity.

However, he could clearly feel that each time he completed a seal, the pressure on his hands grew stronger. The farther he went, the more strenuous it became.

His chest felt as though it were occupied by a blazing, explosive fire.

Ready to burst forth...

A gentle breeze drifted past, stirring the lake that had once again calmed and sending ripples across its surface.

The loose strands of hair before Yin Jie's forehead also fluttered slightly, brushing softly across his long eyelashes.

Tiger!

Yin Jie completed the final seal.

An intensely serious glint flashed through those scarlet eyes.

This was the first ninjutsu he had learned and cast!

As though struck by sudden inspiration, Yin Jie raised his right hand to his mouth in a gesture resembling a horn, then fiercely expelled the fire-nature chakra gathered in his mouth.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!!"

A gigantic fireball, slightly larger than the one Uchiha Fugaku had just unleashed, roared over the lake and swept rapidly forward as vast quantities of white steam abruptly surged into the air.