CHAPTER 36: A NEW TECHNIQUE

(Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. I do own my OC's, however)

"Talking / Jutsu"

'Thinking'

'Flashback'

"Flashback talk"

Demonic voice

Letter

The young Ozuma was currently inside his bedroom, sitting at his desk while a dozen of books and scrolls were lying on the floor, some of them closed and some of them open in a random page. Shujinko was reading one of the Academy books he kept in store, hoping to find any new information about anything that could help him, but so far, his research had proven to be fruitless. 'I already know about this stuff,' Shujinko groaned in frustration as he closed the book titled Ninjutsu Theory and Application. 'Nothing here is worth my time,'

Ever since the invasion took place, Shujinko was determined not to fall behind Naruto and Sasuke, whose skills had improved by leaps and bounds compared to his. However, there was one big issue that was preventing him from moving forward: How was he supposed to improve?

His sensei was out of commission and, therefore, unable to talk to him, let alone teach him something new. Naruto was still traveling with Jiraiya, Sasuke was comatose, and Sakura was feeling way too emotional to actually do anything, due to Sasuke's current state. Almost every Jounin and Chunin were away from the village, working overtime to make up for the tremendous damage caused to the village's infrastructure, and the few of them who were not on a mission had no reason to help him at all. There was virtually no one who had the time nor the inclination to train him.

As a consequence of that, Shujinko was on his own, at least for the time being. There wasn't a lot that he could do about his abilities like shuriken-throwing and Taijutsu as there was nothing left for him to learn, at least not now. He wanted to learn something new, something that could give him the edge during a battle. But in order to achieve that, he needed a source of information, whether it came from a person or a scroll. He didn't mind not having someone to guide him as he was confident he could teach himself, just like he had taught himself several techniques in the past. However, he needed at least some indications to work with.

"Screw this," Shujinko muttered as he stood up from his desk and made himself comfortable in his bed. He wanted to be angry, and he was, but most of all, he was feeling hopeless. Team 7 was more distanced than ever, and although he had faith that better times would eventually come, he just couldn't sit on his ass and do nothing.

He turned his head around and stared at the framed pictures that were on his nightstand. The first one was a picture taken the day Team 7 was officially born after passing the bell test. Kakashi gave each and every one of his students a copy of the picture as a gift. At the time, Shujinko merely thought of the picture as a nice little detail, nothing too special. But after everything he and his teammates went through, he now found himself longing for the good old days when his biggest worries were to catch cats and clean polluted rivers. 'Everything was so much simpler back then,'

The second picture was taken years ago when Shujinko was still a snot-nosed brat working his way to the top in the Academy. His father Daichi was standing behind him, placing one hand on his shoulder and carrying his usual, almost blank facial expression. Daichi had always been a serious individual due to his messed up past growing up as an 'undesirable' among the Ozuma clan for not being able to awaken the Karura Tensei like the rest of his family, so he really couldn't be blamed for not being the happiest fella around. Masumi, his mother, was holding a toddler Nanami with one arm and placing her free hand on Shujinko's other shoulder. As for Shujinko, he was in the center of the picture with his hands on his hips and showing a toothy grin.

Shujinko smiled softly. He remembered being very happy that day, although he couldn't exactly remember what he was so happy about. Now, he couldn't remember the last time he felt truly and genuinely happy like he used to be.

His gaze focused on his father. It was kind of weird how he knew very little about his past, which was primarily his fault for not asking. Then again, Daichi rarely asked him about his missions, so one could say they were even. The only time Daichi had told him about his life was when Shujinko was introduced to the Karura Tensei and the history of the Ozuma clan.

"... The years went by, and war seemed inevitable. A handful of well-known clans offered my father to form an alliance with them. Of course, my father refused every single petition, stating that 'the Ozuma clan had no need to join forces with inferior clans'. The other members thought the same way he did, obviously. Only my mother and I were able to see the bigger picture, and she feared for the future and survival of our family. Because of that, she revealed to me a secret: She had been gathering all the information about the Ozuma clan behind my father's back, including our history and our techniques. She hoped that the memory of our clan wouldn't fade away because of the war and entrusted me with the task of keeping our archives safe. Nyoko was a visionary woman and knew what would most likely happen to our clan. That was the reason why she wanted me to learn about commerce, so that I could make a living and keep the Ozuma name alive..."

As he kept remembering the rest of the conversation, Shujinko's eyes suddenly widened in surprise and immediately jumped out of bed. 'Of course! Why didn't I think of this before?!'

Rushing down the stairs, he saw his father was about to live the house and begin his daily business routine. "Tou-san!"

Daichi turned around. "What is it, son?"

"Do you remember that day you told me about the history of our clan and everything? You know, when I returned from that mission in Nami no Kuni,"

"I do. Where is this question coming from?"

"You said something about Nyoko-baa-san entrusting you with the archives of our clan so that they wouldn't be erased from existence. Do you have them here? Can I take a look?"

Daichi frowned upon hearing Shujinko's petition. Certainly, a strange one considering the fact that his son had never been particularly interested in their clan's history. "I do have them in my possession, but why do you want them so bad?"

"Does it really matter why?" Shujinko asked back, his anxiety getting the better of him. "I just want to examine them, that's all. I swear it's only gonna take me a while. Come on, please?"

Father and son stared at each other as if they were trying to guess what was inside each other's heads. On the surface, Shujinko looked calm and resolved, but inside he was growing increasingly worried that his father would deny his request. "... I suppose it was only a matter of time before you asked me. You do have the right to know about your clan. Here, follow me,"

Letting out a relieved sigh, Shujinko followed Daichi to his office, a place so private and unsullied that both Shujinko and Nanami were both forbidden to enter without their father's consent. When Shujinko asked his father why he didn't want them to enter on their own, Daichi told him: "My office is where I work, and my job is meant to be completed by me and me alone. The same way I don't meddle in your shinobi assignments, I ask you not to meddle with my business," Shujinko had never felt a hundred percent satisfied by that answer, but he knew better than to get into a pointless argument with his dad, so he didn't bother to ask him again.

As soon as they entered the office, Daichi locked the door behind them. Without uttering a single word, the oldest of the Ozuma used a key to open a wardrobe filled with mostly papers and books, as well as other decorative objects. Before Shujinko could ask what he was doing, Daichi began taking out everything that was on top of the third shelve, placing what was inside on top of his polished desk.

At first, Shujinko thought maybe those were the clan archives, but upon taking a closer look, he realized the papers that Daichi was dropping on his desk were nothing but letters, contracts, assignments, and bills. In other words, a bunch of old paperwork that had little to nothing to do with the Ozuma clan. Once again, Shujinko remained silent.

Once everything from the third shelve was removed, Daichi gave his son a very, very serious look, even for his standards. "I know this goes without saying, but I will say it anyway: Do not, and I repeat, do not tell Nanami about this. She is too young to understand. I cannot stress this enough," he warned.

Shujinko gulped. "I promise, but you will eventually tell her, right?"

"... Eventually," Daichi replied. He then turned around, placed his hand inside the closet where he removed all of the paperwork and slowly began to push the back panel. The golden-eyed boy heard a 'click' sound. Daichi opened a small drawer from inside the closet, revealing a secret compartment. Shujinko's heartbeat increased and his pupils expanded as his father retrieved what was inside the secret compartment, which happened to be nothing more and nothing less than... a scroll.

That's it. Just a single scroll, nothing less, and nothing more. It wasn't even big like the one Jiraiya carried on his back.

Shujinko felt disheartened, and even a bit scammed. Really? That was everything his grandmother could gather from the clan archives? How much information could be written in one simple scroll? He had done Academy homework more extensive than that.

"So... Is that all?" Shujinko asked meekly, not wanting to offend his father.

Daichi shook his head. "Not quite. Kaa-san told me this scroll contains everything about our clan, but that it could only be opened by a member of the Ozuma clan. To be more specific, someone who has awakened the Karura Tensei. Your blood is the key to access the clan archives, she said. I cannot tell what she meant by that, at least not for certain,"

Taking the scroll from his father's hand, Shujinko stared at it extensively. If this truly contained all of the archives of his clan, then he had to find a way to gain access to it. He opened the scroll and found it to be empty, not a single kanji to be seen. Shujinko left the scroll open on the floor and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to come out with an answer.

'My blood is the key to access the clan archives... In that case... I might as well give it a shot,'

The older Ozuma raised an eyebrow as he saw his son grabbing a kunai. "What are you going to do?"

"I think I have an idea," Shujinko responded as he pressed his thumb against the edge of the blade, making a small cut. He then wiggled his thumb until a drop of blood landed on the blank scroll.

Nothing happened at first, and Shujinko started to think that maybe what he had just done was a mistake. But then, the scroll absorbed his blood, and the once blank paper was suddenly filled with symbols and designs made out of red ink. A big kanji was illustrated in the center of the scroll, and Shujinko recognized it right away.

"It worked!" Shujinko exclaimed, overwhelmed by joy. "Tou-san, this is a sealing scroll! It's used to... well, seal stuff inside. It makes carrying things way easier,"

"... So that was what my mother meant," Daichi said, visibly perplexed. "Your blood truly is the key to unlock our past,"

"It sure seems that way," he replied while putting a band-aid around his thumb. He didn't want to spoil any important documents with his blood by accident. Then, he placed his hand on the seal while his other hand raised his index and middle finger. "Let's see what we have here,"

As soon as he activated the seal, a magnificently-crafted chest made out of black wood appeared, making that classic POOF sound that was produced when something was unsealed. Shujinko touched the polished surface of the wooden chest with the tip of his fingers, and it felt as smooth as glass. The borders and edges of the chest were covered by a thin plaque made out of gold that only enhanced its beauty. The size of the chest itself was fairly small, however. It could be easily picked up with two hands.

But by far the most astounding ornament of the chest was a jewel placed in the spot where the lock was supposed to be. This circularly-shaped jewel was a yellow tourmaline that had the size of a clenched fist. The golden-eyed boy was left speechless by the sheer perfection of the jewel. "... Holy crap," he said, forgetting how much his father disliked hearing foul language.

But Daichi was so dazzled by what was in front of him that he didn't even bother to chastise his son. "... There is no doubt about it. That is the Kazemaru no Me..."

"Kazemaru no Me?" Shujinko repeated. "What's that?"

"That jewel is the Kazemaru no Me, the Eye of Kazemaru. When I first told you about the Karura Tensei, I mentioned the founder of the Ozuma clan, Ozuma Kazemaru. It is said that this jewel belonged to him, and according to the legends of our clan, only a direct descendant of Kazemaru can get in tune with it. This chest has been passed down from one generation to another for decades, and as the head of the clan, my father was its last owner... I never thought I would see it again,"

Shujinko blew a whistle. "Well, that's one heck of a family heirloom,". Selling that jewel would probably set them up for the rest of their lives, he thought. "I'm guessing the clan archives are somewhere inside," the Genin said as he put his hands on the chest. "Let me just..."

But as soon as he tried, he realized that the chest wasn't going to be easy to open. He applied all the strength he could muster, but the chest simply wouldn't budge. It was like trying to break open a padlock with his bare hands. Ignoring Daichi's warnings, Shujinko decided to try one last time, placing both his feet between the chest so that it wouldn't move and using his two hands to pull up that blasted thing. 'What's your problem?! Open up, damn it!'

SWOOOSH

Shujinko was so desperate to try and open the chest that he accidentally ended up throwing it over his head. The chest reached the ceiling, leaving a big dent on its surface. When gravity started to kick in, Shujinko was too slow to react and, gawking like an idiot, saw how the chest landed right on top of his head.

BAAM

"Oooooouuch! Son of a... That piece of... Oooouch!" Shujinko moaned in pain while he rubbed his head, a tear running down his cheek. The chest wasn't that heavy, but the jewel sure was solid, which was exactly what made contact with his head.

Daichi sighed and picked up the chest. It was obvious at this point that brute force wasn't going to help here. The only thing Daichi knew for sure was that Shujinko was the only person in the world able to open the chest. While Nanami also had the blood and the right genetics, she was still a little girl and she had yet to awaken the Karura Tensei, which according to Nyoko, was a requirement.

Upon taking a closer look, Daichi noticed something. There was a symbol inside the Eye of Kazemaru, and when he narrowed his eyes to see better, he identified what was inside. "Come here, son. I might have found something,"

"What is it?" Shujinko asked, still dealing with a lot of pain. He could already feel a lump growing.

Daichi showed him the gem. "Look at this. The kanji for nature energy is carved inside the Eye of Kazemaru. Perhaps it might be just for decoration, but it could also mean what we must do to open the chest,"

Shujinko forgot about his swollen head and focused on the matter at hand. His father was right. If he came close enough, he could easily see the kanji carved inside. But why? What did this gem have to do with Senjutsu?

'Come on, think... Think about what Nyoko-baa-san told tou-san. She told him only someone with the Karura Tensei could gain access to the archives... Tou-san said that, according to the legends, only a direct descendant of Kazemaru can get in tune with the jewel, whatever that means... Wait, if my grandfather was the head of the clan, then that means that he was a direct descendant of Kazemaru. Following his bloodline, that makes me a direct descendant of Kazemaru as well since I'm his grandson... But what do I have to do?' "Tou-san, when you said only direct descendants of Kazemaru can get in tune with the Eye of Kazemaru, what do you mean by that? Did you ever saw someone actually open this chest?"

Daichi took his time to go back and revisit his childhood memories. After a while, he nodded and faced his son. "... I have. When I was a child, I was forbidden to attend the clan's meetings. However, during one of those meetings, I decided to test my luck and tried to spy on my father. For a brief moment, I managed to catch a glimpse of their meeting. Although I was unable to hear what they were speaking about, I did watch my father place his open hand on the Eye of Kazemaru and the chest opened shortly after... That was all I could see before I had to leave in order to avoid getting caught,"

What Daichi didn't tell Shujinko was that, somehow, his father did notice his presence during the meeting, and once the gathering was over, Hotama had a "little talk" with his son and gave him a severe punishment. Daichi never dared to spy on the clans' meetings ever again.

"Really? He simply placed his hand and the chest opened up, just like that?" Shujinko furrowed his brow, giving Daichi a questioning look. He refused to believe the chest would open up by just placing his hand on the gem. It was far too easy considering that he had to use a drop of his blood just to activate the seal that contained the chest in the first place. 'Maybe it's a button,' he thought as he attempted to push the Eye of Kazemaru, but the jewel was heavily embedded in the chest. He was running out of ideas...

'Nature energy... Nature energy... Nature energy...'

A lightbulb magically appeared over his head as Shujinko snapped his fingers. "That's it! I think I got it!"

While his right hand was touching the jewel, Shujinko closed his eyes and raised his index and middle finger of his left hand, performing a standard shinobi hand seal. He took a deep breath and slowly began to gather as much energy as he could. It was true that he could enter Sage Mode instantly thanks to his Kekkei Genkai, but if he patiently waited long enough first, he could take in more nature energy, which resulted in more Senjutsu chakra for him to use.

He waited for five minutes straight until he felt he had enough. Then, he turned on that mental switch inside his head that triggered the Karura Tensei, but instead of keeping all of the gathered energy to himself, he redirected the energy through his body and transferred it into the Eye of Kazemaru.

Said jewel started to glow, much to Daichi's shock. Shujinko was too focused on sending nature energy to the gem that he didn't see the sudden glow, but he smirked nonetheless. It was hard to explain, but he could definitely feel his energy connecting with the gem, as if the two of them were in tune with each other. If he had to put it into words, it was like tasting the perfect tea, with all the right amount of ingredients and neither too cold or too hot. When he opened his eyes, he saw the chest was beginning to open, much to his utter delight. "It worked! It actually worked! I'm a genius!"

"After all these years..." Daichi whispered. The chest was fully open and the Eye of Kazemaru had stopped glowing. The inside of the chest was coated with blue velvet of the highest quality, the one that was sold only to lords and wealthy merchants. There were two objects inside. One of them was a large scroll and the other one was a shiny necklace.

"Woooooah," Of course, Shujinko ignored the scroll and went for the necklace instead. The necklace had the shape of a feather made out of solid gold, and it was the size of his pinky. "Tou-san, what's this? It looks so cool!"

"That necklace was worn by the elite warriors of our clan," Daichi replied, showing practically no interest in the necklace whatsoever. His eyes were fixed on the scroll inside the chest. "The feather of a hawk was... is, the symbol of our clan, and those who had proven themselves worthy of praise in the battlefield were given this necklace as a token of respect," Before Shujinko could even articulate his question, Daichi added something else. "And yes, you may keep it,"

Shujinko's face was contorted with surprise. "R-Really? I mean, it's not like I was gonna ask you if I could have it or anything like that, but if you insist... I guess I have no choice," he said with a normal facial expression while going 'HELL YEAH!' inside. The young Ozuma greedily accepted the gift and immediately put the necklace on, admiring its craftsmanship.

However, his admiration quickly died off as he watched his father staring at the thick scroll, the one that surely contained the archives of the Ozuma clan. It was like seeing a man who had finally found the treasure chest he had been looking for his entire life but was too afraid to go ahead and open it at the same time. Father and son nodded at each other, deciding it was time to finish what they started once and for all. Shujinko grabbed the scroll with utmost care and took out the golden ring that kept the scroll together and opened it.

Unlike the previous scroll, this one already had the seal on display, so there was no need for him to use his blood. The seal was bigger than the ones Shujinko had seen before, but other than that it was pretty standard. He left the open scroll on the floor and gave his dad one final look. "Are you ready?"

When Daichi nodded, Shujinko took a deep breath and activated the seal by pumping a bit of chakra into it...

POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF

What neither of them gave much thought about was the fact that, when Nyoko sealed the clan archives before they were wiped out, she literally sealed ALL of it.

That was why, in a blink of an eye, Shujinko and Daichi found themselves lying on top of a huge pile of books and scrolls of all sizes. There were so many of them you could barely see the floor of the room. There were also paintings, poems, and small objects like figurines and sheathed daggers and what not. Daichi's office, once a tidy and impeccable little workplace, was now looking like an attic after an earthquake.

Shujinko blinked three times consecutively, and after a minute of dead silence…

"… Yatta! Found 'em!"

"This is insane! Just look at all this!" Shujinko exclaimed in delight. In less than ten minutes, he went from barely having any knowledge of his clan to having all the information possible spread across the room. He came looking for a coin and ended up finding the whole treasure chest.

"Unbelievable…" Daichi made no effort to hide his shock. His calm and composed demeanor was long gone, and the more he looked around, the more amazed he became. He was, in a way, sitting on top of the entire legacy of the Ozuma clan.

Shujinko carefully moved away from where he was, trying his best not to step on any of the ancient books and scrolls he had just unsealed. His father probably wouldn't find it humorous if he accidentally ruined a piece of the only source of information that was left from their clan. Once he reached a corner of the room where there was actual floor to stand on, Shujinko crouched and began going through the clan archives, one scroll after the other. While he was very eager to learn more about the history of his clan, the young Genin had one specific target: He wanted to get his hands on a scroll or a book that contained techniques developed by his predecessors, techniques that he would've been taught anyways if the Ozuma clan hadn't been nearly wiped out.

Unfortunately, there was no way of telling which scroll contained what he was looking for. The books had their titles on the front cover, but none of them seemed to have anything jutsu-related as they were mostly history volumes and things like that, and there were quite a few of them.

Daichi interrupted his son's train of thought. "I suppose we cannot leave them just like that. We should start picking them up and arrange them according to their subject, wouldn't you say?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure. That sounds great," Shujinko replied absentmindedly as he began picking up random scrolls, hoping to find what he was looking for as soon as possible. 'What am I even worrying about? There must be tons of techniques here. I bet I'll find something useful in less than ten minutes,'

…

After one and a half hour of picking up books and scrolls and organizing them into different categories, Daichi's office was finally clean and tidy again, this time with way more stuff lying around than before. Since there wasn't enough furniture to keep everything under lock and key, most of the clan archives were lying on the floor, one book on top of another, resulting in several piles of documents that were separated from one another according to what kind of information contained.

As for Shujinko, after checking, doublechecking, and triplechecking every single book and scroll, his search concluded with a total amount of…

… cero techniques. Not a single jutsu was to be found in the clan archives. There were maps, diaries, short biographies, paintings, but no techniques whatsoever.

Shujinko wanted to cry out of despair. Why? Why did Kami enjoy making his life miserable? Why were there no techniques in the clan archives? If this was all of the information his grandmother managed to seal, then surely some Ninjutsu had to be there. Clan techniques were one of the most valued and representative aspects of every clan, and Nyoko most definitely would've wanted them to be passed down to the next generation of the Ozuma clan. Were they sealed inside another scroll? If that was the case, in what scroll? He had already gone through all of them, and Daichi would've let him know if he stumbled across something worthy of his attention.

"Such a vast amount of information should not be this exposed, but I suppose there is nothing we can do about it in the meantime," Daichi said as he finished reading a scroll that contained information regarding the first descendants of the Ozuma clan. "I happen to know a very efficient home designer that can help us with this. I will contact him immediately so that we can begin with the preparations right away,"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds great," his son replied, trying not to sound disappointed and utterly failing at doing so. 'This was such a waste of time,'

Now, Shujinko didn't fully believe that. Of course, it was a great thing to have all of this information at hand, but if there were no techniques that he could learn and improve his abilities, then it really didn't feel all that great. Having no way of learning any clan techniques didn't affect Daichi or Masumi since they were civilians at heart and were only part of a shinobi clan on paper, but it certainly affected both him and Nanami, his little sister. He was already a Genin and Nanami was on her way to becoming one, so not having clan techniques to help them grow as ninjas was a real pity.

Daichi didn't seem to notice his son's sudden uninterest in the clan archives and continued rambling on about Kami knows what. However, during the middle of his sentence, Daichi suddenly stopped as he caught sight of something. "... Is that a scroll over there?"

"Hmnh?" Shujinko looked at where his father was pointing. He immediately saw what Daichi was talking about. There was a scroll under one of Daichi's pieces of furniture. It most likely rolled down there when Shujinko summoned the clan archives. With renewed curiosity, the Genin crawled towards the furniture and stuck his hand out until he reached the scroll. Once he got it, he noticed it was rather short, so it couldn't contain that much information.

KNOCK KNOCK

Both father and son were slightly startled by the sound of the entrance door being knocked. Daichi stood up straight and looked at his son. "It must be your mother. I will go get the door, and you leave the scroll were it belongs. Remember to lock the door once you leave. Hurry," Once Daichi left his office, Shujinko opened the scroll to check what was written on it.

Upon reading the first sentences, his heart skipped a beat and his eyes grew wide. 'This is...'

Without thinking twice about it, the young Ozuma closed the scroll and placed it inside his pocket. His heartbeats became twice as fast and twice as hard, and a rush of adrenaline invaded his body. Once he locked the office door as Daichi told him to do and ran up the stairs as if his life depended on it, making loud noises that earned him a shout of warning from Masumi, to which he replied with a quick 'Sorry!' before slamming his bedroom door closed.

Gasping for breath, Shujinko took out the scroll and began reading its content.

Kazekiri:

By focusing our chakra in our hand, and transforming it using our wind element, the result is a wind-based chakra blade. This blade has the capacity to slash or pierce through any known substance, including metal. The power of this jutsu and its effectiveness comes from the user's chakra control and mastery over Fuuton. Combined with the abilities granted by the Karura Tensei, this jutsu is incredibly dangerous in close-combat situations. A skilled user of the Kazekiri is able to increase its length, granting the jutsu a longer reach.

Unlike many others, the chakra cost of this jutsu does not depend on how many times it is used, but rather for how long it remains active. The Kazekiri is not meant to be used for a prolonged period of time, for the user must constantly pour chakra into it in order to maintain the technique. If the Kazekiri remains active for far too long, the user will soon experience chakra exhaustion.

The hand signs for this jutsu are Dog, Rat, Bird, Horse, and Snake.

The text included a few drawings that illustrated the Kazekiri. If done correctly, the Kazekiri looked like an energy field that covered the user's hand from the tip of his fingers to half his forearm, surrounded by wind chakra shaped like a blade. The scroll also contained another technique called Fuuton: Fuuryuudan no Jutsu, which created a powerful dragon out of wind used to strike down one or several targets, dealing a tremendous amount of damage. Shujinko was delighted at first, but as he continued reading, he realized there was no way he could learn such a technique as a Genin. The Fuuryuudan no Jutsu required far more chakra than what he had, and on top of that, there were a total of thirty-five hand signs he had to weave if he wanted to try it out.

'Yup, the Fuuryuudan no Jutsu is totally out of my reach for the time being. If I get tired after creating one shadow clone, I don't even want to know what this jutsu would do to me... The Kazekiri, on the other hand...'

The Kazekiri sounded exactly like what he needed, a close-range wind attack designed to cut anything standing in his way. He remembered how powerful and mighty Sasuke looked when he pulled out the Chidori against Gaara. He needed a weapon like that if he wanted to stand out and take the lead away from Naruto and Sasuke. If he could make this jutsu work, he would become far more of a threat to anyone he fought against.

He had what he needed to learn the Kazekiri. Now, it was up to him to go outside and put in the work. 'It's not gonna be easy. I don't know how much time it'll take me to get this jutsu right, and maybe I'm taking on a challenge that's bigger than what I am... but that never stopped either of them from getting stronger, and I refuse to be any different. This is my chance to prove myself and to prove to Kakashi-sensei I wasn't bluffing when I told him what my new goal was,'

Almost without thinking about it, Shujinko grabbed his necklace and stared at the golden feather. Years ago, only the strongest members of his clan had the right to wear one of these amulets, and they acquired that right by showing what they were made of in the battlefield like true warriors. What about him? What had he done to deserve that necklace? Even if he didn't know for certain just how powerful his predecessors were, there was no doubt in his mind that his achievements were not good enough... He was not good enough to show off that necklace.

Letting out a weary sigh, the Genin made a decision. He took off the necklace, opened his desk drawer, and stored it inside along with the rest of his personal stuff. As he did so, he promised himself one thing.

'I won't use that necklace until I master the Kazekiri. That'll be my test. Only then I'll be worthy,'

Just like every human being, Shujinko had his own flaws, but there was one thing no one could criticize him for: Shujinko never, ever took what he had for granted. He didn't become who he was by standing there waiting for things to go his way. Deep inside, the golden-eyed boy knew he couldn't wear that necklace today and feel proud at the same time. He wanted... No, he needed to earn the right to use it, even if he could very well avoid going through all the trouble of learning the Kazekiri and just put it on like it was nothing.

But that was not who he was. Feeling more determined than ever, Shujinko opened his left palm and punched it with his right hand, making a smacking sound. "Alright, let's do this!"

Aaaaaaand that was the end of chapter 36.

I would like to start out by addressing my tardiness. I had a lot of work to do. There, that's it.

Moving on, there are some things that I would like to clarify:

1) The Eye of Kazemaru (Kazemaru no Me) is simply a jewel that acts as a lock. It doesn't have any sort of special power beyond that... Well, at least not in this story. I've started working on a side project in which the Eye of Kazemaru plays a huge role. It's a crossover that I've wanted to do for a while, and I'm very ambitious about it. I'll probably start uploading it once this story (part 1) is over.

2) Both the Kazekiri and the Fuuryuudan no Jutsu are techniques invented by me. Well, to be fair, the Kazekiri no Jutsu already exists, but it's only been used once as far as I can tell, and it doesn't work the way I described my Kazekiri (Wind Blade), so I'ma take the liberty of claiming this Kazekiri as the one and only there is. If you want a more graphic description, picture Goku Black's (From Dragon Ball Super) Violent Fierce God Slicer technique, but slightly smaller and replace the pink energy with wind and a bit of silver energy over the edges. That's the best description I can come up with to explain the Kazekiri.

As for the Fuuryuudan no Jutsu (Wind Dragon Jutsu), it's pretty much the same as the Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Jutsu), but with wind instead of water. If you can make a dragon out of water, why not out of wind? Wind is literally almost everywhere, so it can't be that crazy, right?

Anyways, that's it for today. The next chapters will be about Shujinko trying to master the Kazekiri and the struggles that come with such a technique. He'll also learn other things regarding chakra nature and chakra transformation, but I don't want to give you guys a lot of details. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wish all of you a wonderful day.

Don't forget to Review, Favorite & Follow.

Ja ne!