Yuzuru looked at the Chakra Paper before him, his eyes full of curiosity.
Although the world of Naruto was dangerous, it certainly had plenty of strange and wondrous things. Setting aside the risk of losing his life, everything else was quite interesting.
Unfortunately, that was not something he could really set aside. Was anything more important than his life?
Yuzuru and Kakashi each channeled their chakra into their Chakra Paper. Instantly, the sheets before them underwent different changes.
The Chakra Paper in front of Yuzuru first grew damp, then split down the middle.
The standard natures of the Yuki Clan.
The Chakra Paper in front of Kakashi, meanwhile, became wrinkled.
He had only the lightning nature.
"Only one nature?"
Kakashi felt a little disappointed when he saw his chakra nature.
"Hahaha, Kakashi, don't be impatient. Although everyone's innate chakra natures differ, they aren't fixed forever. Once you've mastered your own Chakra Nature Transformation, you can slowly learn the nature transformations of other chakra natures and eventually master those other chakra natures."
Hatake Sakumo ruffled Kakashi's silver hair with a smile.
"Look, your dad has mastered three chakra natures: lightning, wind, and earth. As for water and fire, I know a little about those too."
They watched Hatake Sakumo take out another sheet of Chakra Paper and channel chakra into it. Five completely different changes occurred instantly, making both their eyes light up.
"All right, now that we know your chakra natures, today I'll teach you the three most basic ninjutsu for a shinobi. Pay close attention."
Hatake Sakumo was very pleased with the looks in the two little ones' eyes and ruffled their hair even more happily.
"Yes!"
"Watch closely. This is the Transformation Technique! You need to form the ram seal with both hands and mobilize the chakra inside your body."
With that, Hatake Sakumo demonstrated it, transforming into Yuzuru and then Kakashi.
"This is the Clone Technique. It requires three seals, in this order: ram, snake, tiger."
Hatake Sakumo demonstrated this one as well, and three Hatake Sakumos appeared before Yuzuru and Kakashi. Both boys reached out to touch them curiously.
"Of course, only one is real. Its main purpose is deception."
"The last ninjutsu is the Substitution Technique. This is a ninjutsu you must master and become extremely proficient in. Of course, it's also the hardest. It requires five seals, in this order: ram, boar, ox, dog, tiger. As for its effect, it lets you instantly switch places with an object you've prepared in advance or locked onto."
With that, Sakumo vanished, leaving only a small wooden log that slowly fell to the ground. He himself appeared beneath the large tree beside the training ground.
"This is a ninjutsu that can save your life on the battlefield. Learn it well and become completely proficient in it. You'll face all kinds of attacks in the future, and it's hard to say whether you'll be able to react to every one of them. But whenever your body can react, use the Substitution Technique in time. It can greatly improve your chances of survival."
Hatake Sakumo wore a rarely seen serious expression.
"Understood."
Yuzuru and Kakashi nodded in turn, then began practicing the Three Basic Techniques.
Before that, however, Hatake Sakumo let each of them personally feel how chakra flowed through the body when using these three ninjutsu, especially how it moved in conjunction with forming hand seals.
Once he finished teaching, Hatake Sakumo told them, "The prerequisite for performing ninjutsu isn't forming hand seals, but the circulation of chakra. Hand seals simply help you concentrate better and use your fingertips to direct the flow of chakra through certain pathways inside your body. When you can control your chakra with greater focus and precision, you can reduce the number of hand seals."
"Starting today, apart from your required physical training every day, practice the three ninjutsu I just taught you. Also, practice your hand seals. You need to become proficient in all twelve hand seals and the way chakra flows through your body when forming them. You're still young, so once you can form two seals a second, we'll count that as a success."
"I'll be home with you for the next two days. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me at any time."
"Okay."
Both nodded at the same time.
And so, in the days that followed, their lives grew more colorful, and every day was full.
They also took advantage of the two days Hatake Sakumo was home to resolve all their questions about ninjutsu.
There was little need to say anything about Kakashi. He was a genius to begin with and mastered them quickly. All he needed to do next was keep practicing.
As for Yuzuru, although this was his first encounter with them, he had lived two lives, and his mind was no slouch either.
Before Hatake Sakumo left, both had mastered the Three Basic Techniques. They were still lacking in speed, but that was simply a matter of proficiency. They could take their time.
Yuzuru and Kakashi devoted particular attention to practicing the twelve hand seals, because Hatake Sakumo had said he would teach them new ninjutsu once they became fully proficient in forming them. This greatly increased their enthusiasm for training.
Though Kakashi had already been a tryhard to begin with.
Every time Yuzuru finished training, he would see Kakashi still putting in extra practice, leaving him no choice but to join him.
With the person closest to him being a king of grinding, he couldn't help grinding along. Of course, there was another important reason: if he didn't join in, he had nothing else to do.
Since he was passing the time anyway, he might as well train seriously.
After all, he didn't want to die. He wanted to live a good life, then marry a few beautiful wives.
In his previous life, he'd been hit by a truck before he even had a chance to stop being single. Surely he wouldn't get hit by another one in this life? The Shinobi World didn't have any, either.
So all his efforts now were for a happy life in the future.
A year later, the two faced Hatake Sakumo's test, using the Three Basic Techniques proficiently. Their hand seals had also improved tremendously, leaving Hatake Sakumo very satisfied.
They had even practiced throwing kunai and shuriken in their spare time. While they couldn't claim a hundred percent bullseye rate at twenty meters, they could manage ninety-eight percent.
Any farther than that, and throwing either kunai or shuriken had little point. After all, at excessive distances, ordinary ninja tools were of no use at all.
Seeing how quickly the two had progressed, already highly proficient in the Three Basic Techniques and hand seals, Hatake Sakumo looked gratified. He then began teaching them new ninjutsu.
"Now then, Kakashi, what I'm going to teach you is a genjutsu called the Hell Viewing Technique. It's a very useful ninjutsu. Combined with our clan's swordsmanship, even a single instant of distraction from your opponent can create a tremendous advantage."
"As for you, Yuzuru, I'll teach you a simple Water Release technique first. It's called the Water Prison Technique."
With that, Hatake Sakumo gave them a demonstration on the spot.
The hand seal sequence was: snake, ram, horse, hare, ram, horse, hare.
Then a large volume of water suddenly surged forth, surrounding Yuzuru and forming a special cage.
After finishing the demonstration, Hatake Sakumo released the ninjutsu, turned toward Kakashi, and cast the Hell Viewing Technique on him.
Kakashi's face instantly turned pale.
Seeing this, Sakumo immediately ended the genjutsu as well.
After emerging from the water prison, Yuzuru was a little curious about what exactly Kakashi had seen.