"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Shen lay flat on the ground gasping for breath after throwing a punch. The Fire Nature Chakra Mode was simply too overwhelming—it nearly evaporated all his body's moisture in an instant. His throat was so parched he couldn't speak, and every cell in his body screamed with pain.
Kazushi gently touched the torn corner of his sleeve, filled with emotion. In his ultimate state, Shen had forced him to use full strength just to avoid getting his sleeve touched. Now, while pride swelled on his face, concern grew for his youngest son's condition.
Quickly stepping forward to examine his son, Kazushi found Shen lying there as if severely dehydrated. Immediately forming hand seals, he used Water Release to replenish his son's moisture.
"That felt great, thank you, Father," Shen gratefully told Kazushi.
He quickly got up and turned to the two worried figures approaching him, saying, "Sorry Mother, sorry Fugaku—please don't worry."
Shen knew his earlier performance lying on the ground must've seemed alarming, but now that his body had rehydrated, he immediately felt refreshed.
Right now, Aiko and Fugaku were genuinely happy for Shen. Previously, their whole family believed his body might not be suitable for learning taijutsu. Now though, his taijutsu had become incredibly powerful—well, though admittedly its duration was somewhat short.
"Shen, what exactly is that martial art? Why did you end up so severely dehydrated after just one punch?" Fugaku asked excitedly yet worriedly after calming down.
Kazushi and Aiko also waited anxiously for Shen to explain everything.
Shen first signaled with his eyes to the three before walking into the house ahead.
Inside the house, the four family members sat together.
"It's way more comfortable to sit like this," Shen lazily remarked while slouching back in his chair.
"???" ×3
The three looked confused at first, thinking he must've gone inside because there was an important secret to talk about. When they found out it was just because he didn't feel like standing anymore, the warmth they'd briefly felt disappeared in an instant.
"Actually, it wouldn't matter even if others learned this method since no one else could possibly replicate it without my unique system," Shen casually explained to them.
"You know how chakra is extracted from cells, right? Well, the reason I became completely dehydrated earlier was because I infused fire-natured chakra directly into every cell throughout my entire body."
After his words fell, the other three stared at him in shock. Originally, they'd assumed it was merely cellular activation—but never imagined it involved channeling such wild and violent fire nature chakra straight into individual cells.
"Shen! Are you trying to kill yourself?! If your chakra ever got out of control, you'd be finished right then and there!" shouted the three in unison, leaving Shen feeling awkward inside.
However, he couldn't tell his family the truth—that he was actually a transmigrator possessing an innate extraordinary ability. He absolutely didn't wish to disrupt or harm this loving family who chose to trust him unconditionally.
Once everyone had calmed down somewhat, Shen hurriedly shared his specific methodology. Their expressions changed—from initial worry, through excitement, then shock, finally settling into stunned silence. It was truly quite a sight to behold.
"Well, that's it. To be honest, I originally only wanted to test something small, but unexpectedly developed such an impressive chakra mode." Saying this, his throat dry once more, Shen grabbed his cup and took a large gulp.
"It's basically a Kinjutsu for single-element users," Kazushi summarized the advantages and drawbacks of elemental chakra modes.
This is an advantage for ninjas who aren't skilled in Taijutsu. But it can be rather disadvantageous for those with non-conflicting chakra natures. Still, having parts of the body infused with elemental chakra is quite useful.
Kazushi raised his right hand and slowly infused fire-natured chakra into his cells. He realized that elemental chakra mode wasn't as simple as it seemed—it required attention not only to the cell capacity being infused but also to blocking with opposing natures.
Under the gaze of the three others, Kazushi spent half an hour completing the elemental chakra mode on the tip of his right index finger. Feeling quite embarrassed at this point, he suddenly recalled how his youngest son could activate the mode across his entire body in just one afternoon. Slightly ashamed, he was reluctant to admit even his finger had finished "charging."
"Father, try morphing it next," Shen suggested.
Shen was really curious about how Kazushi's attempt would turn out. He wondered if this method could actually allow performing ninjutsu without hand seals.
The group returned to where father and son had previously sparred.
Kazushi bent his right index finger forward and attempted to channel chakra using the Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu method.
"Shen, I can't shape the chakra into form."
"Then try releasing the chakra first!" Kazushi found Shen's words confusing—wouldn't that make him the test subject? Still, his curiosity drove him forward.
Kazushi raised his right hand again and snapped his fingers into the air. Immediately afterward, he transformed the surging fire-natured chakra, producing a small flame atop his right index finger—a tiny flickering flame like a candle's.
All four of them looked completely stunned.
That's it? So much effort just for a little candle flame? What sets Fire Release apart from other elemental releases isn't the jutsu rank, but the amount of chakra applied. Even a B-ranked technique like the Great Fireball could be boosted to S-level power—just like Madara did.
"Father, hold on a second!"
After being stunned briefly, Shen quickly regained focus, gave instructions, then ran back inside, leaving three others behind staring blankly at each other.
Soon after, Shen returned, holding a bag.
"Shen, isn't that the groceries you bought today?" Aiko asked, frowning as she pointed at the bag.
"Yes, Mother." After answering, Shen turned to Kazushi. "Father, lower your hand please."
Wanting to see what his son had in mind, Kazushi went along with it.
Shen pulled out a chicken leg already prepped by Aiko from the bag. Borrowing a kunai from Fugaku to skewer the chicken leg, he carefully placed it onto his father's finger flame, his free hand holding various seasonings.
Seeing this, Kazushi immediately had his temples bulging and his entire body trembling with rage.
"Father, don't move," Shen commanded without looking away, noticing the flame position had shifted due to Kazushi's anger.
"Dear…" Aiko's gentle tone stopped Kazushi mid-glare, then she shook her head slightly, advising him to endure momentarily.
Helplessly, Kazushi could only watch as Shen brushed all sorts of seasoning onto the chicken leg balanced atop his fingertip.
Five minutes later...
"Father, could you increase the flame a bit?"
"This tiny little flame, when will it be done?"
Kazushi nearly exploded in anger as soon as he heard those words. Having served as a "candle" for so long, he originally thought the other was trying to test something. Turns out this kid just wanted to play "finger barbecue" with him! He struggled to suppress the rising fury inside him. What else could he do? If he attacked, Aiko would cause trouble later; if he scolded him, it'd just go in one ear and out the other.
Since last night, Kazushi had been increasing the chakra output from his fingers and sensed his status at home continuously dropping, while his youngest son Shen's position kept rising. He was nearly ready to give up on fighting for his familial standing altogether.
Shen hummed a tune while roasting a chicken thigh. Knowing how weird he could be, he mused that if the Konoha Daily found out he was grilling chicken thighs on the Uchiha clan head's hand, he might actually steal Nawaki's spotlight for a couple days.
(Nawaki: You're killing me! Dude, please hog the front page every single day!)
"Ten minutes done, Father, how's your stamina consumption?" After finishing his barbecue session on his old man's palm, Shen took a bite of the crispy-skinned, tender chicken leg. With his mouth full of oil, he still dared to ask while staring into his father's narrowing eyes.
Kazushi's blood pressure shot up thirty percent in an instant. Covering his chest with a devastated expression, he replied, "About equivalent to an ordinary Great Fireball."
"Aww? Such low cost-effectiveness? Guess regular jutsu won't work then." Shen concluded while pulling another chicken thigh from his bag.
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!