Homework on "light"

Minato kept his word.

Over the next few days, Shuo found that training really did become "interesting"-if "interesting" meant "finding new ways to torment people."

Minato no longer scheduled standard taijutsu sparring or ninja tool throwing.

Instead, he introduced all sorts of highly targeted, even slightly bizarre exercises.

For example, he had Kakashi use Lightning Release: Earth Flow to create a constantly expanding field of randomly roaming electrical arcs. Shuo had to cross it without getting shocked, using as little effort as possible, while also picking up several little bells Minato had placed inside beforehand.

At first, Shuo thought this was downright absurd.

He tried using his limited Yata Mirror hypothesis to predict and interfere with the arcs' paths, but the speed and randomness of lightning were far beyond his control. Several times, he nearly got shocked badly enough to make his hair stand on end. He only narrowly escaped thanks to the slight boost in speed and reflexes from light particle activation, and he looked utterly bedraggled.

Obito watched from the sidelines, laughing away-until Minato assigned him the homework of "maintaining the form of Fire Release under interference from Rin's medical chakra." Then he stopped laughing.

Another exercise had Shuo stand in the middle of an array of wooden posts that constantly rotated, rose, and fell. From every direction, Minato, Kakashi, and Obito-with Rin occasionally helping-simultaneously threw rubber kunai and soft balls at different speeds, angles, and levels of force. Shuo was forbidden from leaving the array and could only dodge, while the number of hits he took was recorded.

It was practically a three-dimensional bullet hell game. Shuo got pelted until his head was covered in bumps. It did not hurt, but it was annoying.

He was forced to push his "energy-saving dodging" to the limit, twisting his body like a noodle at all sorts of impossible angles. Occasionally, he even had to use his half-baked "Light Particle Shift" to teleport a short distance in an emergency.

By the end of the day, his muscles ached, and his chakra expenditure-mostly mental-was enormous.

"Minato-sensei..."

After training ended, Shuo lay sprawled on the ground, complaining weakly, "Can this kind of training... really help someone 'save effort'? I feel like I've already... used up all my strength for next month..."

Minato crouched down and handed him a cup of water with a smile. "This is to develop your adaptability in complex environments and your awareness of extreme energy conservation. So far, the results look good. You were hit thirty percent fewer times today than yesterday."

Shuo took the water, gulped it down, and rolled his eyes. That's because you're practically forcing out all my potential!

Kakashi stood nearby without speaking, though there seemed to be a trace of agreement in his eyes.

Even he found Shuo's way of dodging a little troublesome: the more extreme the pressure, the more slippery and "effort-saving" he became.

What gave Shuo the biggest headache was the "homework" Minato assigned him individually.

"Shuo, you have a real gift for using 'light,' but your methods are also very primitive and crude."

During a training break, Minato called him aside and said seriously, "Whether it's your accelerated movement, making shuriken glow, or even that sense of... interfering with trajectories that you occasionally display, all of it lacks systematic understanding and control."

Shuo's heart tightened. Sure enough, Minato had been watching all along.

"So I have a suggestion for you."

Minato took a small, rather old-looking scroll from inside his clothes. "This isn't a ninjutsu scroll. It contains some old conjectures and theoretical notes about the relationships between 'light' and 'heat,' 'vision,' and 'speed' in chakra nature transformation. I happened to collect it some time ago. It might help you."

Shuo took the scroll, a little surprised. Was Minato... helping him?

"Of course, these are only theories."

Minato added, "You'll have to explore and experiment for yourself to work out how to turn those theories into your abilities. Remember, control matters more than power. Especially with that ability of yours that... seems to consume so much."

Shuo held the scroll, his feelings mixed. Minato really was helping him, but that also meant it would become increasingly difficult to keep brushing things off with "unorthodox tricks" or "I don't know how it works either."

The trouble just got worse. He sighed.

"Thank you, Minato-sensei."

He put the scroll away, his face showing no particular expression. "I'll... give it a try. But these theories... look so complicated..."

"Take your time."

Minato patted his shoulder. "Oh, and starting tomorrow, once afternoon training ends, you can find somewhere to practice controlling 'light' on your own. If you have any questions, you can come ask me anytime."

And so Shuo's daily routine became this: in the morning, he was "tormented" by the squad in all sorts of ways; in the afternoon, he found a deserted spot-usually a more secluded corner of the mountain behind the Uchiha Clan Compound-to study Minato's scroll and practice controlling light energy.

The scroll's contents really were profound, full of abstract terminology and philosophical speculation. Things like "light is the manifestation of energy, and also the measure of time," "the deception of vision arises from the bending of light's path," and "extreme speed brings not power, but choice"... Reading it made Shuo's head spin.

Yet when he related it to his own experience of using his abilities, he vaguely felt that some of it made sense.

Following one of the meditation methods in the scroll, he tried sitting quietly in the sunshine, "feeling" and "capturing" the sensation of light against his skin, imagining light energy circulating through his body like chakra.

At first, he felt nothing. The sun only made him drowsy.

But several days later, with the aid of "light energy affinity (basic)," he gradually began to faintly sense that sunlight seemed to contain something extremely weak that shared the same origin as the light energy inside him, something he could slowly absorb and convert.

The efficiency was appallingly low, but it did exist.

At the same time, he also began consciously practicing fine control over his existing abilities.

With Light-Speed Kick, he stopped pursuing that pitiful bit of power and instead focused on concentrating light energy more evenly and explosively at a single point on his toes. He tried controlling the direction and size of the light projectile released after a kick, though it still worked only intermittently.

For "Light Shuriken," he practiced attaching light energy quickly and consistently, and tried to trigger its "blinding flash" deliberately rather than relying on chance.

The hardest was still the Yata Mirror hypothesis.

No longer satisfied with slightly interfering with the trajectories of leaves and insects, he began trying something more concrete-for example, making a thrown pebble shift its landing point slightly in midair, or bending a shaft of sunlight passing through a gap in the trees just enough to illuminate a leaf of his choosing.

His success rate remained low, and the mental strain was considerable. Practice often left him dizzy and his vision blurred. Yet every tiny success gave him a little more vague understanding of the ability's nature.

[Continued systematic research and fine-control practice of "light-based abilities." Understanding of "light" and proficiency in its application are steadily improving. Imitation points +10/day.]

[Understanding of "Yata Mirror hypothesis" has improved significantly. Slight interference with the trajectories of tiny objects (pebbles, water droplets) can now be performed relatively consistently.]

[The effects of "light energy affinity (basic)" are gradually emerging. Natural light energy absorption efficiency has increased slightly. Light energy recovery speed +10%.]

Progress was slow, but it was real.

That afternoon, while he was practicing on the mountain behind the compound, using the Yata Mirror hypothesis to make a beam of sunlight hop across several different leaves in succession, he suddenly heard an argument nearby.

It was Obito and Kakashi.

Apparently, Obito had made another mistake during training, Kakashi had made a few cutting remarks, and the two had started arguing.

He could faintly hear Rin trying to mediate as well.

Shuo could not be bothered to pay attention and continued playing with his "hopping light spot."

But the argument drew closer and closer. Soon, he saw Obito running toward him in a huff, with a stony-faced Kakashi following behind and a helpless-looking Rin chasing after them.

Only when Obito came close did he notice Shuo crouching under the tree. He froze for a moment. "Shuo-senpai? What are you doing here?"

"Sunbathing."

Shuo answered offhandedly, his fingers moving unconsciously. With a "whoosh," the hopping spot of light landed squarely on the tip of Obito's nose, which had gone red with anger.

The light dazzled Obito for a moment. He instinctively squinted and stepped back, forgetting his anger. "Huh?"

Kakashi saw it too, and a flicker of something different crossed his dead-fish eyes.

He had seen it more clearly. The light spot's path had been very unnatural.

"Are you practicing that strange ability again?"

Kakashi walked over, his tone cold.

"Yeah. Passing the time."

Shuo lowered his hand, and the light spot vanished.

Obito asked curiously, "Shuo-senpai, how did you do that just now? Making light hop around wherever you tell it to?"

"No idea."

Shuo stood and brushed the grass off his backside. "Maybe... the light's just in a good mood today?"

Kakashi: "..." This guy never had a serious word to say.

Rin caught up too, panting lightly. "Obito, Kakashi, stop arguing... Huh? Shuo-senpai's here too."

"Rin, perfect timing."

Shuo looked at Rin, suddenly thinking of something. "Could I ask you for a favor?"

"Huh? Of course. What is it, Shuo-senpai?"

Shuo took an ordinary shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and handed it to Rin. "Could you use your medical chakra to sense... whether there's anything different about this shuriken? You don't have to examine it closely. Just get a general feel."

Although puzzled, Rin took the shuriken and closed her eyes. A faint green glow rose from her hands, enveloping it.

Several seconds later, she opened her eyes and said uncertainly, "It feels... like there's a very faint, very active layer of... energy attached to the metal's surface? It's not quite like chakra. More... elusive? And it seems to be slowly dispersing."

Shuo's eyes lit up. Rin's perception was sharp!

This confirmed that his light energy could indeed attach to objects in some form and could be detected by a skilled chakra sensor.

"Thanks."

He took back the shuriken.

"Shuo-senpai, is that how your glowing ninja tools work?" Obito leaned closer again.

"More or less." Not wanting to explain further, Shuo put the shuriken back in his pouch and looked at Kakashi and Obito. "What about you two? Done arguing? Want to do some 'sunbathing' too?"

Obito immediately shook his head. "No way! I'm going to do extra Fire Release practice! I'll make Kakashi see me in a whole new light!"

With that, he glared at Kakashi again, turned, and ran off.

Kakashi ignored him. He glanced at Shuo and suddenly said, "Minato-sensei asked me to tell you there's a new team mission tomorrow. C-rank. We're escorting a shipment of medical supplies to a border outpost. Meet at the village gate at seven in the morning."

A C-rank mission? An escort? That sounded even duller than clearing out rogue ninja.

Shuo nodded. "Got it."

Kakashi turned and left.

Rin gave Shuo an apologetic smile and followed him.

Quiet returned to the woods.

Shuo sat down again, leaning against the tree trunk as he watched the setting sun dye the horizon orange-red.

An escort mission, huh...

It probably... wouldn't be too "troublesome," right?

He yawned, feeling that he still had not fully recovered from the mental strain of that afternoon's practice.

Whatever. Thinking so much wouldn't help.

Home first, then food and sleep.

Tomorrow's business... could wait until tomorrow.

He stood, stretched, and slowly headed home.

Behind him, the setting sun stretched the trees' shadows long.

The edge of one of those shadows-his own-seemed hazier than usual, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible golden glow.