Manifesting Moonwalk

Lately, Uchiha Makoto felt as though the eyes watching him had disappeared.

Before, whenever he walked down the street, he always felt a prickling down his back.

Now, it was gone.

Has that scheming old bastard Danzo finally crossed me off his priority watch list? Uchiha Makoto wondered. Or has he switched to a more discreet way of monitoring me?

He couldn't be sure.

But now that an opportunity had come, he had to seize it.

He had been spreading his lie about Moonwalk for over a month.

It was time to make it real.

The Training Ground.

Might Guy was doing push-ups.

"Nine hundred ninety-seven! Nine hundred ninety-eight! Nine hundred ninety-nine! One thousand!"

After finishing the last one, he sprang up, planted his hands on his hips, and threw his head back with a roar. "This is youth!"

Uchiha Makoto stood beside him, his mouth twitching.

"Guy," he said.

"Cheng!" Guy turned, his eyes lighting up. "You're here! Want to train together?"

"No training today," Uchiha Makoto said. "I have something to show you."

"What is it?" Guy asked curiously.

"Moonwalk," Uchiha Makoto said. "I think... I've learned it."

Guy froze for a moment.

Then his eyes went wide as saucers.

"You learned it?!" His voice shot up an octave. "Cheng, you really learned it?!"

"I'm still not very good at it," Uchiha Makoto stressed. "I can only take one or two steps."

"One or two steps are still steps!" Guy bounced up and down in excitement. "Cheng, you're amazing! I knew you could do it!"

[Lie-Into-Reality activated.]

[Target: Might Guy.]

[Lie: I have learned Moonwalk and can briefly fly by stepping on the air.]

[Trust: 100%.]

[Manifestation: 70%.]

[Manifestation commencing.]

Uchiha Makoto felt a buzz inside his head.

A stream of information flooded in.

How to gather chakra.

How to control its release.

How to step on the air.

How to maintain his balance.

And... his legs. His legs were heating up, but it wasn't the kind of heat that came after exercise.

It was heat seeping out from his bones. His muscles shifted, his bones clicked faintly, and his tendons stretched.

A few seconds later, the heat faded. Uchiha Makoto lowered his head and looked at his legs.

They seemed... unchanged.

But they felt different. He tried jumping.

One gentle jump took him half a meter off the ground. He landed, then jumped again.

This time, he rose a full meter.

"Cheng?" Guy watched him. "What... are you doing?"

"Testing my legs," Uchiha Makoto said. "They feel... stronger."

"Of course!" Guy said as though it were obvious. "A technique like Moonwalk must require powerful legs! Now that you've learned it, naturally your legs would get stronger!"

Uchiha Makoto nodded.

That was true.

Even if he used chakra as a shortcut, Moonwalk still demanded considerable leg strength.

The ninja-world version of Moonwalk was less about stepping on air and more about stepping on chakra.

Its principle was much like Water Walking.

If he could step on water, why couldn't he step on air?

As long as his chakra was dense enough and his control precise enough, stepping on air was no different from stepping on water.

"Watch closely," Uchiha Makoto said.

He took a deep breath.

Then he kicked off the ground with all his strength.

Boom!

A small crater burst open in the ground.

Uchiha Makoto shot into the sky like a cannonball.

Five meters.

Ten meters.

At the peak of his jump, he began to fall.

But the instant he started falling, he stamped his right foot downward.

Pop!

A faint crack rang out.

Ripples spread through the air beneath his foot.

Uchiha Makoto's body paused in midair.

Then he shot up another meter.

"Holy shit!" Guy shouted from below. "Cheng, you're awesome!"

Uchiha Makoto ignored him.

He focused on the chakra beneath his feet.

Gather, release, gather, release.

It was like bouncing on a trampoline.

But it was much harder to control.

He tried taking another step.

Pop!

He shot up another meter.

Then his chakra went haywire.

He hurried to adjust it, but it was already too late.

His body tilted, spun, and finally-

Thud!

He tumbled to the ground.

Fortunately, he hadn't been high up, only two or three meters.

Since this was his first time using Moonwalk, Uchiha Makoto wasn't yet proficient.

But with his genius trait, a few more attempts would be enough to get the hang of it.

"Cheng!" Guy ran over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Uchiha Makoto shook his head. "I'm still not very good at it. I can only take two steps."

"Two steps are already incredible!" Guy's eyes shone. "Cheng, teach me! I want to learn!"

"Teach you?" Uchiha Makoto glanced at him. "Have you mastered Flowing Iron Block?"

Guy said, "..."

"Then don't even think about Moonwalk," Uchiha Makoto said. "It's ten times harder than Flowing Iron Block. Build your foundation first."

Guy deflated.

"All right," he muttered. "I'll practice Flowing Iron Block first, then."

"Good." Uchiha Makoto nodded. "Once you've learned it, I'll teach you."

In truth, he had no idea when he would be able to teach it.

He had only acquired Moonwalk himself thanks to the system.

If he actually had to teach someone, he wouldn't know where to begin.

Forget it. I'll deal with that later, Uchiha Makoto thought. I need to perfect Moonwalk first, anyway.

The next day.

Uchiha Makoto arrived at the Training Ground with two others.

One was Obito.

The other was Shisui.

"Cheng, this is..." Obito looked at Shisui, a little confused.

"Shisui Uchiha," Uchiha Makoto introduced him. "He'll be training with us from now on."

"Training with us?" Obito's eyes lit up. "Shisui is a genius of our Uchiha Clan!"

Shisui smiled but said nothing.

He looked at Uchiha Makoto with a somewhat complicated expression.

"Shisui," Uchiha Makoto said. "Since this is our first day training together, I have something to show you."

"What is it?" Shisui asked.

"Moonwalk," Uchiha Makoto said. "A taijutsu technique I created myself."

"You created it?" Shisui paused. "A taijutsu technique?"

"That's right." Uchiha Makoto nodded. "Watch closely."

He took a deep breath.

Then he kicked off the ground and jumped, just as he had yesterday.

But today, it felt different.

His legs were stronger, his chakra flowed more smoothly, and his control was more precise.

He leaped fifteen meters into the air.

Then he stamped his right foot downward.

Pop!

The air burst beneath him.

He stopped in midair.

Then he stepped down with his left foot.

Pop!

This time, he rose less than half a meter.

His movements were smooth and graceful, as though he were walking through the air.

Below him, Obito's jaw dropped.

The complicated look in Shisui's eyes gave way to shock.

Two seconds later, Uchiha Makoto landed.

He landed firmly.

He wasn't flushed or out of breath.

"Cheng, you're awesome!" Obito shouted. "You can fly now!"

Uchiha Makoto waved a hand without speaking.

His legs were actually trembling. To make those two steps look like a perfect demonstration of Moonwalk, he had nearly given himself cramps.

But he couldn't let it show.

He had to keep up the act-the act of an expert who had mastered Moonwalk completely.

"This is Moonwalk," he said. "A taijutsu technique that lets you fly through the air for short periods."

"So, what do you think? Is my Moonwalk perfect?"

"Cheng, it's absolutely perfect! If only I could do it too."

[Lie-Into-Reality activated.]

[Target: Obito Uchiha.]

[Lie: Is my Moonwalk perfect?]

[Trust: 100%.]

[Manifestation: 80%.]

[Manifestation commencing.]