Winter passed and spring came, time flew by, and more than a year had passed in the blink of an eye.
Bang bang!
The sound of fighting echoed across a small river, where two figures—one large, one small—were engaged in a rapid sparring match.
It was Kirito and his maternal grandfather.
Kirito swept his leg, and his grandfather reached out to grab Kirito's right leg. Kirito's left leg quickly followed up with a counter-kick, knocking the old man away. He flipped in the air and landed neatly on the water.
He formed hand seals, clap clap clap—three in one second—and opened his mouth.
Water Release: Water Shockwave!
A high-speed torrent of water burst from his mouth, rushing toward his grandfather. The old man quickly formed hand seals, pressed his palm onto the water surface, and a swirling wall of water rose from the river.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
The two currents collided, splashing water high into the air.
"I give up!" Kirito raised his hand in surrender—he had no chakra left.
"All right, take a break. Children shouldn't refine too much chakra," his grandfather said, understanding. At his age, to reach this level of combat was already impressive. Few children his age could match Kirito, and even more rarely, he hardly ever played like other kids.
Standing on the water, Kirito scooped up river water to wash the sweat from his face. A handsome little boy stared back at him from the rippling reflection.
He was quite good-looking—he had to admit that. Thanks to his parents' appearance, Kirito looked bright and cheerful, not effeminate in the slightest.
He shook his arms loose and walked ashore.
His progress still felt too slow. He was already six years old and about to enter the Ninja Academy. At most, he'd be on Sasuke's level at graduation. But Sasuke hadn't had any solid guidance at that time, whereas Kirito had received occasional personal tutoring from his grandfather.
Also, his upper limit was already clear. His grandfather once said his chakra reserves would max out around the Jonin level, which Kirito believed. After all, the man had lived since the Warring States Era. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto had been on a cheat path from the start, becoming absurdly powerful.
In a world ruled by bloodlines, effort only helped one reach their limits faster.
His age was a serious bottleneck too—it limited his chakra capacity. So far, he could only manage two B-rank ninjutsu before running dry. With C-rank techniques, he could cast five to six depending on their cost; if particularly chakra-heavy, four would drain him entirely.
He lacked solid accumulation. Although his grandfather was Jonin-level in strength, his theoretical explanations were lacking—he couldn't clearly convey the principles. Kirito wondered if he could find a teacher in the future with deeper theoretical grounding. Otherwise, his ideas would remain out of reach due to an unstable foundation.
His grandfather pulled a scroll from behind him and tossed it over.
Kirito casually caught it and unrolled the scroll. It listed two jutsu:
Lightning Release: False Darkness.
Lightning Release: Ground Running.
Perfect! He had always wanted to learn Lightning Release, but his grandfather didn't know any.
Ever since he had casually brought up developing Wood Release, his grandfather had stopped teaching Earth Release and sternly warned him not to even think about that path again.
Kirito had only been speculating. Of course, he knew how difficult Wood Release was. Aside from Senju Hashirama, no one had ever naturally awakened it. Even Senju Tobirama, who created so many jutsu, couldn't figure it out. Kirito had no desire to end up as Danzo's experiment or in Orochimaru's lab.
Clearly, his grandfather knew something about it too—otherwise, he wouldn't be so opposed. Konoha wasn't run by saints.
Actually, there was another release style Kirito was far more interested in:
Storm Release.
Technically a Kekkei Genkai, Storm Release combined the destructive force of Lightning Release with the fluid control of Water Release. It was stronger than either element alone. Even more important, if Kirito successfully developed Storm Release, it could optimize his genetic structure—greatly increasing his chakra limit—and become inheritable by future generations.
If successful, he could easily reach Elite Jonin chakra levels, perhaps even Kage-level.
In the original, Darui's Storm Release was so underwhelming that it made the technique look bad. But the truth was, this Kekkei Genkai had great potential.
If he went a step further and mastered Sage Mode, he wouldn't just be a bystander in the final battle. Uchiha Madara's Storm Release in Sage Mode could even disrupt Naruto's Yin-Yang Release black rods. Even Madara himself couldn't fully endure its destructive force.
And that was just a hastily crafted version of Storm Release—it wasn't even refined.
All in all, Storm Release had a promising future.
Feeling the limited chakra in his body, Kirito abandoned the idea of continuing Lightning Release research for now. As powerful as it was, he needed to take things one step at a time.
He stored the scroll, said goodbye to his grandfather, and headed home for lunch.
His grandfather always maintained a certain emotional distance. Kirito could feel the internal conflict in him. Even now, the old man stood silently, watching Kirito disappear down the path.
Kirito probably understood why. He had lived in Konoha for several years now and could guess what was going on. The village leadership often suppressed the major clans, subtly or otherwise. Last year, for instance, Hinata's kidnapping incident by the Cloud Ninja had just occurred. The end result? The Hyuga Clan head's twin brother died. Regardless of the reasoning behind these events, the effect on the major clans was the same—disillusionment.
Not to mention the looming Uchiha massacre.
It made sense. To weaken great clans, the leadership had to uplift civilians. Even if civilians had lower ceilings in a bloodline-based world, they were numerous. Quantity could always counteract quality—so long as no godlike figures like Hashirama or Madara appeared again.
For now, none of this concerned Kirito. He was just a six-year-old boy. As long as he didn't court death, he had years to build himself up.
Back home, lunch was almost ready.
As the saying goes: a growing boy eats like a lion. Since Kirito began cultivating, his appetite had increased significantly. He also needed enough meat daily, which added pressure to the family budget. Thankfully, his grandfather often hunted in Konoha's back mountains, so the family wasn't burdened too much.
Liya looked at her son and couldn't help but admire him as he ate. The more she looked, the more handsome he seemed. She hugged his cheeks and planted a big kiss.
Kirito was used to it. He'd had a bit of baby fat when he was younger, but after a year of training, he'd grown leaner and more defined. Ever since then, his mother would sneak in kisses from time to time, smiling like a schoolgirl afterward.
He rolled his eyes but didn't complain. In truth, he was grateful.
He was lucky. In this life, he had a loving mother, a supportive father, and no financial burden. If only people would stop trying to destroy Konoha every few years, life here would be pretty nice.
After lunch, Kirito returned to his room.
He opened the Lightning Release scroll his grandfather had given him and began studying it closely.
Kirito had never slacked on chakra control training. Aside from sleeping, he always had chakra circulating through his body. Sometimes it formed water flows circling him. Sometimes he shaped a lump of mud from the ground into various forms.
His naturally strong mental energy gave him an edge in chakra control. Thanks to consistent meditation, even though "qi" hadn't fully awakened, his spiritual strength continued to grow steadily.
He was confident he could perform this C-rank Lightning Release in the palm of his hand without needing a proper training ground. Of course, he wouldn't cast jutsu inside his room.
He focused intently on the Lightning Release technique, studying its key mechanics. Meanwhile, his right hand shaped a blue Rasengan, spinning with speed and precision. After a moment, the rotation slowed and he absorbed the chakra back into his body.
With his current reserves, using Rasengan would completely drain him.
He had reverse-engineered Rasengan long ago. The original anime explained it clearly. But he kept it a secret—its origins were too mysterious, and he couldn't just admit he knew it.
Understanding the technique's core steps, he quickly formed hand seals, and crackling—tiny sparks flickered in his palm.
Lightning Release: Ground Running.
If he increased chakra output and struck the ground, the technique would activate. But in this room, he dared not go any further unless he wanted to destroy it.
As for Lightning Release: False Darkness, that was off-limits for now. It consumed too much chakra and caused too much damage. As a B-rank ninjutsu, its power was significant. He could only practice the hand seals by studying the technique breakdown.
With his chakra control, many jutsu hand seals could be simplified. If he ever reached the level of Senju Hashirama, where a simple clap summoned entire forests, it would be as close to instant-casting as ninja could get.
Unfortunately, his ninjutsu research was still lacking.
After all, he didn't have a little brother to experiment with forbidden techniques.
End of the Chapter.