Summoning Jutsu

The next morning, Qing Si opened his eyes and unconsciously stretched. A series of crackling sounds, like beans popping, came from all over his body.

"Feels great!" Qing Si came back to himself and loosely clenched his fists, feeling his body brimming with strength. After a night of deep sleep, his chakra had fully replenished itself, and the weakness from last night was completely gone.

He got up and walked out of the room, finding Genji sitting upright at the table in the main hall.

"Come have breakfast. Once we're done, we'll begin today's lessons," Genji said to Qing Si. Qing Si's awakening and extraordinary talent had made it seem as though a ray of light had appeared in Genji's bleak world.

In the Shinobi World, where strife was everywhere and lifespans were generally short, Genji, having just entered his thirties, was already considered a seasoned middle-aged man.

And this middle-aged man, who had once spent his days in dejection, had gotten up early for the first time in ages and cooked again after several years. Though it was only a simple wild vegetable porridge, it was a tremendous surprise to Qing Si, who had not eaten food made by his father in a long time.

"Yes, Father!" Qing Si sat down at the table. "Thanks for the meal!"

After eating and drinking their fill, father and son cleaned up together before returning to sit at the table.

"Father!" Qing Si looked at Genji with expectant eyes.

"I know your heart is full of confusion, uncertainty, and curiosity. No rush. We'll take it slowly." Genji pulled at the corner of his mouth. His face, numb and expressionless all year round, looked as if it were both smiling and crying.

"I already told you last night. This ability is called the Dead Bone Pulse, a Bloodline Limit passed down through the generations of our Kaguya Clan. But because this Bloodline Limit is too powerful, extremely few people in the clan awaken it. Only those with exceptional talent can do so." Genji then sighed. "No... I don't even know whether you can still bear the Kaguya name. Our family has already been expelled from the clan. It's all Father's fault."

"The Dead Bone Pulse is an ability that lets one freely control every bone in the body, using them for defense or attack. Anything related to 'bone,' such as osteoblasts, osteoclasts, calcium concentration, and so on, can be manipulated without limit. Bones strengthened by chakra are among the hardest substances in the Shinobi World. At least, I have never seen anything harder than my bones. At the same time, after awakening the Dead Bone Pulse, our bodies gain the ability to rapidly heal external injuries." Genji slowly removed his upper garments and circulated the obscure chakra within his body. Bone tips emerged from his chest, back, and arms. With a fluctuation of chakra, Genji gave a low shout, and bone spikes burst from his body, looking somewhat ferocious.

"This is the Dead Bone Pulse. Bones can grow from any part of the body at any time according to our control." Genji caught his breath and continued explaining. "When attacking, these bones are the sharpest spears. When defending, they can also become our toughest shields."

"Father's body suffered serious injuries in the war when I was young, so using chakra is rather difficult for me. Once you learn to control the Dead Bone Pulse skillfully, bone growth is actually very fast." Genji's tone carried a trace of unwillingness.

"You must have found the scroll your mother left behind before. It only contains ordinary elemental techniques. Your mother never awakened the Dead Bone Pulse, so she did not possess its cultivation methods or the related Bloodline Limit ninjutsu that came afterward."

"Yes, Father." Qing Si was still trying to process all the information Genji had just given him.

Genji retracted the bone spikes on his body, then crossed his arms and gripped the spikes protruding from his forearms. With a slight pull, he extracted them from his body.

He casually handed the two bone spikes to Qing Si while demonstrating that the places where the bones had just been pulled out were rapidly healing under the effect of chakra. "Father has never given you any proper gift. I've already reinforced these two bone blades with my chakra. Take them to protect yourself."

"Thank you, Father. I really like them!" Qing Si happily accepted the bone blades and carefully tucked them away against his body. This was the first gift his father had given him since he could remember.

"Our situation isn't very good. That damned Kaguya Musashi has been sending people to watch and guard us. If he learns that you awakened your Bloodline Limit this early, he'll definitely make a move. So Father can't personally teach you ninjutsu." Genji spoke bitterly and let out a deep sigh.

Genji bit his finger, slowly formed hand seals, and lightly pressed his palm against the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A cloud of white smoke dispersed, revealing an ancient ink-black scroll on the ground.

"This is the Bloodline Limit scroll passed down through our branch of the family. Genji married the Sixth Elder's daughter, so we are considered part of the Sixth Elder's branch. It records the cultivation methods for the Dead Bone Pulse, as well as all kinds of ninjutsu and taijutsu that can be used alongside it. Today, Father will teach you this Tool Summoning Technique. Once you master it, follow the scroll to cultivate from then on. If you have any questions during your training, come ask me. Remember to go farther away. Those people are mainly watching me, so they probably won't pay much attention to you."

"Come, let's learn the Summoning Jutsu first. Once you've mastered it, you'll be able to summon this scroll whenever you want."

"Summoning jutsu is a type of space-time ninjutsu, roughly ranked C. One type is blood contract summoning, which can summon living creatures to assist a ninja in battle. You need to form a blood contract with the creature before you can summon it, and the size of the summoned creature is also related to the amount of your chakra. We won't discuss that for now, and Father never had a summoned beast before." Genji smiled. Most members of the Kaguya Clan preferred close-quarters slaughter. Though they knew various ninjutsu as well, most clan members rarely used them in battle.

"The second type is non-blood contract summoning, which can summon objects stored elsewhere. That is the Tool Summoning Technique we'll be learning."

"First, inject your chakra into the summoning array on the scroll, then leave your blood behind. After that, whenever you want to summon the scroll, the two mediums of chakra and your blood will summon the scroll stored in our branch's ancestral hall." Genji explained, "Boar—Dog—Rooster—Monkey—Ram. Those are the five seals for the Summoning Jutsu. Summoning jutsu isn't difficult to master. With your talent, you should learn it after practicing a few times."

Having encountered ninjutsu for the first time, Qing Si was filled with curiosity. He recalled the hand seals Genji had formed just now, bit his finger like his father had, and slowly began forming seals with both hands. Boar—Dog—Rooster—Monkey—Ram. With the assistance of the seals, chakra rapidly flowed through his body. After all, this was Qing Si's first time forming hand seals. His hands moved clumsily, and it took him a full five seconds to complete the five seals. He then slammed one hand hard against the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

As the thick smoke dispersed, Genji's eyes widened as he stared at the scroll, which had changed positions on the ground. Once again, he could not help marveling at his son's talent.

"Did it work, Father?" Qing Si asked, his voice carrying the excitement of performing ninjutsu for the first time.

"It worked. You succeeded on your first try. As expected of my son. You can stop supplying chakra now and let the scroll return to its original location." Genji continued, "Then go out. Go farther away and cultivate step by step according to the scroll."

"Yes, Father. Then I'll be on my way." Qing Si stood and spoke respectfully to Genji.