The time to enter the academy was close, and Seijuro could smell a war brewing, so he wanted to gather power as soon as possible, if he may. Studying had its perks—his chakra control was probably... no, the best for a child his age.
He was confident in his skill, yet he didn't have that much chakra. He could stimulate his cells to generate more, but oh well, that was just a gradual process. For him to truly have as much chakra as he wanted, he would need more.
Hm, he needed a weapon. Something to defend himself with, to not be defenseless in case something went wrong.
You know, the usual stuff.
He was currently seen in front of the Kurama Clan's small but dignified archive center.
Seijuro strolled down the corridor of the Kurama Clan's small but dignified archive center. Behind him was his nanny, Madam Yui. She looked like a reserved but very respectful old lady.
She should be in her 60s or something like that.
Hm, her chakra was roughly low Chunin level, so heh, wasn't that high. He guessed she used to be a ninja, but age was a bitch and now she was hella rusty.
Maybe in her prime she was like high Chunin level or something.
She was looking at him as if she expected him to go for the flashy jutsus.
Not that Seijuro would. That was way too flashy. He had plans. Real ones.
With the creak of an old sliding door, they entered the archive's first level—restricted to Genin-level materials and some dusty old Academy stuff. Nothing wild. But for Seijuro, it was paradise wrapped in parchment.
"Remember," Yui said softly, holding up a worn bronze key before slipping it into the lockbox, "only the first level. No Bloodline Techniques, no clan secrets. Pick what you need. That is all the Clan Leader allowed."
Okay, that was still better than what some civilian kids got. He was okay with this. He needed to find something useful for himself.
Most kids would go straight for the flashiest scrolls they could legally touch—maybe a Fire Release technique or some dramatic Lightning Jutsu. But Seijuro? He would not make such a mistake. He was unaware of his affinity, so he'd rather not risk it.
He would, however, take a chakra paper to see what his affinity was.
He would like to have water, or earth, or even air. They could be useful.
Well, for now, he needed useful jutsu.
He took the scroll for the Clone Technique, then Transformation, and of course Substitution—the bare bones of ninja combat. He paused for a second, then also grabbed Shunshin no Jutsu. Fast movement. Subtle misdirection. Perfect for a Genjutsu specialist like him.
Yui raised a brow as she watched him.
Next, he picked out a small manual: "Introduction to Swordsmanship: Holding the Blade with Purpose." It wasn't flashy. The wooden sword he found hanging on the wall beside it? Even less so. But he picked it up anyway, giving it a small test swing.
He made one last stop—right at the bottom shelf where the dust practically whispered forgotten knowledge—and pulled out "Chakra Control for Beginners."
Yui crossed her arms. "That's all?"
He then took a small chakra paper. He needed to know his affinity.
Once that was done, he nodded.
She gave him a look. "No flashy jutsu? Not even a C-rank technique?"
Seijuro paused, then turned to face her, deadpan. "What's the point of a flashy jutsu... if you can only use it once?"
"My chakra reserves are pathetic," he added like he was reading off a grocery list. "If I want to survive, I need to maximize every drop. I don't need flashy. I need to be effective."
And with that, he turned and walked off—wooden sword on his back, scrolls tucked in a cloth bag, calm as a monk.
Yui just stood there for a second. Then muttered, "...This child... is terrifyingly rational..."
Later that evening, as the sun dipped behind the mountains, she sat before the current head of the Kurama Clan—a composed, sharp-eyed man known as Kurama Renjirō. Mid-forties, lean, always looked like he was mid-chess game with life itself. Life had fucked this man up badly. He only became Clan Leader because... well, his dad had 5 kids, then the First Shinobi War happened, and he was the last one standing.
If not for that war, his brother with the clan technique would have been Clan Leader. In terms of strength, the man was like mid-tier Jonin level... yes, the Kurama Clan had fallen that much.
Yui bowed and delivered her report. Everything Seijuro had taken. His reasoning.
Renjirō listened in silence, fingers steepled.
When she finished, he simply nodded. "Good. Very good."
Yui looked up. "You approve?"
"That boy may not be strong," Renjirō said, "but he understands strength. He knows his limitations, and more importantly, he respects them. That is the foundation of mastery."
He leaned back, eyes thoughtful.
"Perhaps... the Kurama Clan has a future after all."
POV change, Seijuro's room.
Scrolls were opened and stacked like a tiny library across his floor. The one in front of him? Transformation Technique.
His eyes darted across the inked diagrams, following the chakra flow patterns. The problem wasn't the technique—it was maintaining the transformation and the illusion. He needed to layer them together. Trick the eyes and the chakra perception.
He tried it once. Poof. Half-success. His clone looked like an old man with no nose.
Again. Poof. Now it looked like an oddly muscular toddler.
"Hm, too much chakra and some details get inflated, too little and some get shriveled up. It also seems to demand a very good portrait of the person."
After making that astute assumption, he made the handseal once more.
As the smoke vanished, the man looked like the perfect replica of his nanny Yui, down to the last minute detail.
"Is everything to your liking, Seijuro-kun?" Hm, he had mimicked her voice perfectly. He was quite proud of himself for that.
He made the handseal once more.
As the smoke once again cleared, a cat could be seen—a black cat, to be exact. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel★fire.net
Seijuro looked at his paws. He walked around his room, getting used to walking on all four limbs. It was weird. Going from bipedal to quadruped was taking some getting used to.
He sighed a bit. Hm, , he could explore the village at night. There were cats everywhere in Konoha, so it didn't matter if he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.
When he got stronger, he would try to turn into a bug, or a rock or something—something small so he could explore better.
As he returned to his human form, he felt much better. Hm, he still had enough chakra to continue mastering those jutsu.
Well, now that Transformation was semi-done, he would still practice it.
Time for Substitution. Once he got it, he would try to add Shunshin into it. Once he could do that, he could add layer upon layers of illusion into one Shunshin, and use it to do more.