To be human was to live in blissful acceptance of the unknown. Back during my time on Earth, I never understood advanced anatomy, physics, chemistry, or really anything under the broad umbrella of science. But I knew that people far smarter than I did, and that was enough to preempt most of my curiosity on each subject. If I wondered about something, I'd Google it, and I almost always got my answer. I'd had faith in the ability of others to discover and understand what I didn't need to.
Here, I didn't have Google. I couldn't easily find the answers to all my questions, so you'd think that attitude would put me at a disadvantage. But I understood something that most people in this world didn't: every question I could think of had an answer. There was always a solution. I may not currently have it, but it could be found.
So many people in this world had accepted that great breadths of knowledge would be forever out of their reach. That they were fundamentally unattainable. I knew better, and through the influence of chakra, I now had the mental ability to grasp what I couldn't in my past life. I understood how the body worked. I understood everything I read about chemistry and physics (though it was merely a shade of what had been discovered in my previous world). But most of all, I understood chakra. And I understood that, if there was something I didn't understand, I could uncover the answer on my own.
My current conundrum was elemental chakra, a great source of fascination since it was tied into so many of my foci. Elemental Nature Transformation, Chakra Signatures, Fūinjutsu. The scope was unreal. So I set out to discover all I could, devouring every book on the subject that Biwa-sensei could provide me with. Here is what I found.
Counterintuitively, elemental chakra wasn't naturally found in the so-called elements they represented. If a candle is lit with a match, the fire that catches doesn't contain fire-nature chakra. If a bucket of water is scooped out of a river, its contents do not contain water-natured chakra. During a thunderstorm, if lightning strikes down from the heavens, that bolt doesn't contain lightning-natured chakra. In actuality, all three examples contain the same type of chakra. Natural chakra, which very, very few humans throughout history had managed to command.
Elemental chakra, like Yin-Yang chakra, was a human invention; a mutation of the Sage's gifts to mankind. I'd already discovered in the academy that the elements were a component, each one a piece that merged together to make up the chakra that I could find in my canals. Once separated, elemental chakra had special properties that made it both useful and dangerous, the two most well-known being elemental superiority and material amalgamation.
Superiority refers to the strength/weakness balance of elemental chakra. Water cancels out fire, fire cancels out air, air cancels out lightning, etcetera, etcetera. But that is merely the relationship between the types of elemental chakra used in jutsu, not the elements themselves. Without elemental chakra, fire would be extinguished by water, but that's really the only case in which the elemental superiority wheel is reflected reliably in nature. In all others, interactions between materials are determined by factors that would be considered far less mystical by those knowledgeable in matters of science.
When attempting to predict the interactions between different elemental chakras, however, it was always best to ignore what was visible to the eye, and fall back on theoretical knowledge rather than logic. For example, it is easy to attend a bonfire, and come to the conclusion that wood should be weak against flame. But Uchiha Madara quickly realized his disadvantage against his rival, Senju Hashirama, because that man's kekkei genkai was a fusion of water and earth. The water half actively suppressed his fire, and the earth didn't open up the combination to any weakness. So, any trees created by his bloodline resisted Katon ninjutsu, so long as Hashirama's elemental chakra remained within them. But ordinary trees weren't nearly so protected, because, again, wood in its natural state is flammable.
More interesting, to me at least, were interactions between elemental chakra and materials that didn't contain it. If an offensive lightning jutsu was used against a defensive earth jutsu, the lightning chakra would disrupt the earth chakra in the technique and pierce its defenses. However, if that same lightning jutsu was used against a stone wall of satisfactory stability (elemental chakra still possess a supernatural punch), it wouldn't be nearly as effective at damaging whatever hid behind it because the wall didn't contain any earth-natured chakra to disrupt.
What did this mean for me? Well, since I was currently attempting to learn how to seal away elemental chakra using examples I found on Sasori's puppet, quite a bit.
When I learned about this interaction, my first thought on how to apply it to my skills was to rid my Doton constructs of their elemental chakra, removing the elemental advantage that Raiton users might employ against me. I neglected to consider that the Doton chakra was what held my constructs up to begin with, and that by removing it, said constructs would immediately collapse. So, the next logical step was figuring out how to rid the attacking jutsu in this scenario of its Raiton chakra. What remained would be natural electricity, which wouldn't be able to penetrate my defenses.
Or the technique would fizzle out entirely, for the same reason that Raiton chakra would physically tear apart a Doton barrier. The second significant property of elemental chakra, which was referred to as material amalgamation.
Material amalgamation was the tendency of elemental chakra to draw towards itself the material it reflected. Pure Suiton chakra doesn't contain water; if you were to touch it, your hands would be bone dry. In a theoretical setting that is, like one you'd find in a word problem on an exam. However, if you were to try that in reality, you would assuredly be able to feel moisture, because water would be drawn out of every surrounding source, including the air itself. Similarly, pure Doton chakra would attract dirt particles towards itself, Raiton would presumably attract ambient static energy and…Futon? Katon? I'm actually not sure about either of those. Whatever, that's besides the point. For this reason, it was a lot less chakra intensive to use elemental jutsu when their respective element is already present, because it's far easier to amalgamate the material that forms the substance of the techniques.
Which is important, because when elemental chakra is separated from Yin-Yang chakra, it can't survive on its own for long at all. It needs something to sustain it, and that fuel is…? Anyone?
Did someone guess Nature Chakra? If you did, you're one smart cookie. My texts are pretty insistent that there's only one type of natural chakra (I bet that's incorrect, but I don't have the means to disprove it), and that each type of elemental chakra is only able to feed off the natural chakra present in the element associated with it…because the kami say so, I guess.
I'd figure out the real reason later. I already had enough on my plate.
If Yin-Yang chakra is in equilibrium—i.e not broken into its elemental components (what that looks like varies from person to person, as everyone has different elemental proportions)—it feeds on itself. Meaning that chakra has an expiration date, though in a healthy body it can replenish itself far faster than it burns out. However, if that chakra is separated into its elemental components, it will begin to amalgamate, even if it's still within your own body.
Which was why Nature Transformation was so dangerous. I could do it pretty damn well, but I was still wary. I rarely felt the need to pull that little trick out anyway; so far, it only really came in handy when I had to make a lot of clones, and I'm not Naruto. That's not my style. Usually.
What was really strange about nature transformation, though, is that I literally can't do it with any element I don't have an affinity for. No one can. Which, like, what? Why?
That definitely had something to do with genetics and a person's Chakra Signature/Identity, which was another point of interest for me. Kazuhiro was born with a Doton affinity, but after his surgery, he could use Futon nature transformation—that was the whole point in stuffing a second Shōmon in him. Which was jarring to learn, not to mention a downer, because I was pretty sure that some people in the anime did have that ability. Either that was a difference in the world I currently found myself in, or there were exceptions that weren't common knowledge.
There was something more there. Something important that I was missing, I just knew it. But for now, it would have to remain a mystery.
My failed attempts at non-Doton nature transformations led me to play around with the other elements present in my Signature. They were there, and I was getting better at moving them; I just couldn't make more outside of my body's (relatively) slow, natural processes. Not like I could with Doton. But improving my fluidity with them was useful when learning how to seal them away, and it would be even more so when it was time for me to learn jutsu for elements I didn't have an affinity for (on my to do list, but not until I had an overabundance of C-Rank Merits to blow).
I had finished my Earth Sealing Method and, courtesy of Biwa-sensei, my Fire and Wind Sealing Methods. Each of them took time, especially because I didn't have a guide for my seals. Just one example to work off of. But I got there eventually. The thing is, they didn't completely seal away jutsu. They merely sealed away the elemental chakra inside of them.
From my earlier soliloquy, you might grasp why that's not a perfect solution. The Material Amalgamation property means that any jutsu attracts their element. So if I used my Fire Sealing Method to counter a flame bullet, my defense wouldn't save me from getting toasted. It would just remove the Katon chakra powering it. But even that imperfect solution would be far better than attempting to use my Earth Sealing Method to counter an earth bullet. Even if I got the timing right and sealed away all the Doton chakra before impact, I would still be hit with the same clump of earth, traveling at the same speed. It might lose form, turning from solid rock to a clump of dirt, but is that really much better?
That isn't to say all my efforts were wasted. These seals were still incredibly useful, because while they couldn't simply nullify a jutsu if it were thrown my way, they could disrupt a sustained technique. And really, for Katon, Futon and most attractively Raiton (which didn't have significant mass associated with their respective elements), I wouldn't even have to worry about momentum. I could tank a bit of formless, ordinary fire, lightning, or a gust of wind.
Which was the inspiration for my next invention.
"Okay, I give up," Iwao said, leaning against the tree I sat under. "That's not a seal, or a jutsu. I don't think it even has any medical applications. What is it, and why are you bothering with it?"
"I do care about things other than seals and jutsu, you know," I said, grumpily, fiddling with the pieces of wood I was using as a prototype. The final version would be metal.
"You do?" he asked in genuine bewilderment.
"Yes, asshole," I said. "I do."
"Huh. Then, what is it?"
"A…mechanism," I began, clamping down on my bluster. "That will, when it's finished…"
I whispered the last part.
"I didn't catch that," he said.
"It, when it's finished…look, this doesn't counteract what I said, but it just so happens that this is…going to be a mechanism."
"We established that."
"Shush. A mechanism that…will automatically retract the thin material that is wrapped around it."
"The thin material," he repeated, a small smirk appearing. "Like…paper? Parchment?"
"Likely one of those things," I confirmed, keeping my voice steady. "Or cloth."
"Will there be anything written on that material?" he wondered. "Like seals, perhaps?"
"I mean, I suppose it's possible," I waffled.
"So you're making a sealing scroll that self-retracts," he summarized, and I scoffed at the teasing tone of his voice. Was it too late to go back to him hating me?
"Perhaps," I allowed. It was inspired by one of those retractable projector screens they had in every classroom back on my old world. I'd never dissected one back then, but I was slowly figuring it out. I didn't need it to latch open; actually, it would be detrimental if it did. So that was less for me to worry about.
"Okay then, miss I-have-other-interests-besides-seals-and-jutsu. Your break's over. Sensei wants us."
Sensei hadn't called us in for a mission in over a week. That wasn't strange; I was pretty sure he wanted to keep us on our toes by springing them on us when we least expected it. Which made sense because, when the war started, that would be our waking reality. However, this instance was different because, in the meantime, he's been working us to the fucking bone. To the extent that it became unreasonable for us to be expected to embark on a mission without another substantial rest break, which didn't appear to be incoming.
Outrageous bouts of conditioning. Lectures on advanced theory. He was literally beating chakra enhancement into Iwao, which was, by the way, a chunin level skill for anyone who wasn't me. My teammate was taking to it as well as can be expected for a talented but still inexperienced genin. And when his joints were busted up to the point that he needed a break, he practiced his Antlion Trap and Trailblazing Drill techniques. His finesse with the latter had improved tenfold, and so had the size of the former, to the point that sensei had to interrupt our own individual training to teach us how to free ourselves from its grasp.
Meanwhile, Daigo's time was split between honing his sensory ability and weaving his genjutsu into activation conditions. Yeah, Daigo was a natural-born sensor. Something he did his damndest to keep under the radar. But his index rating, used to determine how sensitive people with his gift were, wasn't very high. That could be improved to an extent with practice, which is what we were trying to do now, but he'd never be, say, Karin level.
We were confident in that because his father, even as a fully-realized jonin, didn't have all too impressive of a range either. But that wasn't the point of their gift. To the Hirose's, sensing wasn't primarily used to determine an enemies position without seeing them. It was to help them better cast genjutsu. Most of those required a clear line of sight anyway, so a greater range was superfluous.
Not that that kept Biwa-sensei from pushing Daigo to increase it to its utmost regardless. The skill hadn't been altogether relevant so far, as we hadn't been pitted against any enemies other than a few bandits. People with locked chakra wouldn't even register on Daigo's senses. But we wouldn't be facing no-names forever.
While Iwao practiced his ninjutsu, Daigo practiced piggy-backing off them, using their traits as activation conditions for his genjutsu. Iwao's Antlion Trap made noise, and Daigo's current focus was using that characteristic to trap targets in auditory genjutsu. A potentially lethal combo, which would make escape almost impossible. And that was before my bombs were thrown into the mix.
He could also utilize Iwao's Trailblazing Drill to launch tactile genjutsu, though the timing for that was apparently far trickier. But both methods were far more difficult to break than anything he'd cast on his own.
Any formidable ninja we faced would be able to discern that they were caught in a genjutsu if given enough time. But most genjutsu also became more difficult to break the longer you found yourself in its clutches, because a practiced user could utilize that time to cement their chakra's control over whatever processing centers they targeted. It was like a disease in a way; ever play Plague Inc? The best strategy for that game was to keep from developing noticeable symptoms until people were infected, so that by the time people were committed to eradicating the disease, too many had already been exposed.
Same concept. In order to extend the illusion's lifespan past that initial period of fragility, it was useful to induce physical disorientation, which might mask any "symptoms." In this case, unusual imagery or sensations caused by the genjutsu itself. Details that might otherwise tip the target off could be misattributed to, say, the feeling of real sand grating against their skin, or a visual change in perspective as they're knocked on their ass. That's why my teammates' combos were so punishing.
Once the targets were trapped? Well, that's where I came in.
My focus, unlike my teammates, wasn't on offensive jutsu (aside from some instances of accuracy training with my Doton: Iwadeppō no Jutsu). It was on agility, and speed. I was already the fastest on my team, with my chakra enhancement active. But that wasn't enough, as far as Biwa-sensei was concerned.
In addition to my base enhancement, I had three other supplementary techniques centered around mobility. The first was my recently purchased Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique), second was Tosshin no Jutsu (Rush Technique, which my asshole sensei took to calling Mubōna Tosshin, meaning Reckless Rush), and the third was the good 'ole Kawarimi, which was something I more often than not used to safely cut my momentum rather than add any additional movement.
Back on Earth, there was a great deal of discourse on the utility of both the Body Flicker and the Replacement. Which one was faster? Which one was better over all? Why use one when you had the other? But once I learned both, I realized that all of these questions missed the point entirely. It was like comparing apples to oranges. Yes, both of them got you from one point to the next quickly. But they worked in entirely different ways.
The replacement technique was faster. At my current skill level with the Shunshin, at least. It allowed you to instantly move in any direction without reorienting yourself, which was huge. As the Tosshin was an offshoot of the replacement technique, it carried both of these characteristics, and deposited me at my destination at its top speed, with its maximum momentum. It was wild and reckless, like Biwa-sensei said, and I could use it to set up devastating attacks. But it had more than its fair share of drawbacks, even on the occasion that it was executed perfectly.
The replacement technique worked by launching a tether. If that tether connected with an unrooted object, that object would be launched towards my previous position at the same speed that I was launched towards it. That reciprocity was what allowed me to move at such high speeds. If there was nothing to latch onto, then the technique would fail, simple as that. And despite what media would lead us to believe, there wasn't always a convenient object lying around to replace yourself with. If there was, there was a good chance that the object wasn't in the right spot to put you in any advantageous position. And that was assuming you could successfully pull it off, which wasn't a guarantee in the midst of a fight. Attempting the replacement technique always bore the risk of missing your tether, and the smaller the object you attempted to connect it to, the more likely you'd be to fail. That risk was only compounded if said object was moving; despite how often I practiced it, I still couldn't land a replacement with a thrown projectile mid-air one hundred percent of the time, so I was incredibly thankful that I managed to do so in the fight against Sasori.
Meanwhile, the Shunshin technique was variable in its speed and agility, but more consistent in its effectiveness. You weren't beholden to the environment around you, but that didn't make it safe. It was like chakra enhancement times five, and it cost ten times the chakra, so the trade-off was inefficient. Changing direction was difficult, though not impossible like in the case of the replacement technique and its variants. However, overuse could burn your chakra coils.
If I was in a situation where I was that outclassed in speed, I had other things to worry about than chakra cost. So the Shunshin was my most consistently chosen option. However, I most frequently combined it with the Tosshin, using the latter as a crutch to change direction more precisely and to magnify my exit speed when the environment permitted.
As you can imagine, this wasn't an easy thing to do at all. It was a mental exercise just as much as it was a physical one. Which is why Sensei had me running obstacle courses every day, made from Doton ninjutsu. Oh, and he'd throw kunai and projectile jutsu at me randomly all the while. My senses, including my active chakra sense, were really put to the test. If not for the added resilience granted by my chakra enhancement, I would simply be unable to do any of this training. Even still, I was sent limping to the hospital far more frequently than either of my teammates.
That being said, I got considerably more free time than either Iwao and Daigo. Mostly because my training required his personal attention, which in the interest of fairness he divided between the three of us. But that was okay, because he knew he could trust me to keep myself occupied.
"Yo," I greeted Biwa-sensei, taking my place next to Iwao a step ahead of me. Next to the jonin, Daigo stood, not yet worn out, which was a rarity these days. "Are we doing a team exercise?"
"Yep," he replied. "But first, it's been a while, so I wanted to check progress. Imai, do you have those seals on hand?"
He didn't need to clarify which ones he was talking about. I nodded, unsealing my Fūinjutsu chest from my inventory.
I already knew my own progress. I used the Observe seals on myself obsessively, just because I liked watching the numbers go up. But truthfully, I didn't even need any help from the measuring stick Aimi and I invented. I was well in tune with my own body, and the gates that my seals quantified.
But I was quite excited to see how Iwao and Daigo progressed after half a year under sensei's tutelage.
"First, for reference," I said. "There have been more trials since we last did this. The sample size is larger so the ranges are more accurate. There may have been more trials since I've last connected with Aimi on the matter." We'd been more focussed on the ink I wanted to get on my tongue. "But this is the most recent version that I've received."
I showed them the research page, underlining the references I wanted to bring to their attention.
Kaimon (Logic) ~ Genin: 15-39 ~ Chunin: 30-56 ~ Jonin: 52-91
Kyūmon (Creativity) ~ Genin: 11-37 ~ Chunin: 28-58 ~ Jonin: 54-95
Seimon (Vitality) ~ Genin: 14-39 ~ Chunin: 34-62 ~ Jonin: 67-127
Shōmon (Chakra Affinity) ~ Genin: 7-25 ~ Chunin: 16-50 ~ Jonin: 45-93
Tomon (Strength) ~ Genin: 16-48 ~ Chunin: 33-64 ~ Jonin: 60-154
Keimon (Chakra Capacity) ~ Genin: 39-132 ~ Chunin: 72-197 ~ Jonin: 180-337
Kyōmon (Speed) ~ Genin: 13-39 ~ Chunin: 34-76 ~ Jonin: 69-172)
The trends shown by these statistics were ones that I had predicted. As the sample size increased, the lower bounds decreased and the upper bounds increased. Most drastically in the genin's ranges. Since the Genin Corps was so large and so difficult to get out of, there was a much higher degree of variability in their capabilities. There were some truly impressive individuals in there, who simply haven't gotten the opportunity to distinguish themselves.
Which was a big reason I was so proud of mine and Aimi's invention. It might give these individuals attention that they wouldn't otherwise receive, without having to suffer through dangerous or traumatic situations. I, of course, wouldn't have any personal say in the matter, but it was only logical, so I took this as my first step towards building an objectively better Iwagakure. A small step, but not an insignificant one. After all, the Genin Corps, as it was now, was a cesspool of an organization, and one that I had a great interest in upheaving.
But I digress. All the numerical gaps between each rank's ranges had been filled, as they should be, and there was a good deal of overlap. The chunin rank saw the smallest change in range size, but the jonin rank saw some widening as well, especially at the upper bound. I was now more satisfied with the accuracy of whatever results my Observe seals would display.
Iwao went first.
Kaimon ~ (Logic): 35.10 (increased 2.25 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Kyūmon (Creativity): 32.28 (increased 1.54 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Seimon (Vitality): 37.15 (increased 3.22 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Shōmon (Chakra Affinity): 23.52 (increased 3.50 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Tomon (Strength): 42.86 (increased 5.14 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Keimon (Chakra Capacity): 90.47 (increased 21.24 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Kyōmon (Speed): 36.24 (increased 3.13 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Then Daigo.
Kaimon ~ (Logic): 41.82 (increased 3.05 — Mid Chunin)
Kyūmon (Creativity): 37.44 (increased 3.06 — Low Chunin)
Seimon (Vitality): 25.56 (increased 4.38 — Mid Genin)
Shōmon (Chakra Affinity): 17.21 (increased 0.36 — Mid Genin, Low Chunin)
Tomon (Strength): 24.33(increased 4.28 — Mid Genin)
Keimon (Chakra Capacity): 65.83 (increased 18.72 — Mid Genin)
Kyōmon (Speed): 28.97 (increased 4.41 — Mid Genin)
"His rate of growth seems to exceed mine in most aspects," Iwao noted, seemingly disgruntled by the fact. Not out of bitterness towards his teammate, however; he was just being hard on himself. "Am I doing something wrong?"
Sensei fielded the question to me with his eyes, still not adept at interpreting the data.
"I don't think so, Iwao-kun," I reassured him. "In the case of his chakra and physical ability, he started at a far lower point than you. It's easier for people with a lower baseline to improve than people with a higher baseline. And as for the mental stats, well. Most of his specialized training is mental in nature. I'm not surprised he's improved so much in those areas."
"In more respects, you still surpass me by a wide margin, Ishida-san," Daigo said, also seemingly displeased by the fact. Boys.
"Both of you are still in the upper percentile for your ranks," I said firmly, turning their attention to the reference. "In fact, Daigo, in your mental stats, you've redefined the upper bound, provided your scores aren't calculated to be outliers. I'll have to report that to Aimi."
That did seem to please him.
"Honestly, both of your numbers were higher than I expected," I stated. "The focus of our training, for the most part, hasn't been on increasing our base abilities. None of these numbers reflect the effort we put into improving our skill with using them."
"That is true," Biwa-sensei agreed. "Imai?"
My smile turned a little sheepish, because I knew exactly what they'd find. I quickly put on the patches with practiced ease, but kept the results to my chest.
"Before I show you these, I want to remind everyone that I'm a freak and not indicative of any standard that you should hold yourself to," I said, apologetically. Iwao groaned.
"The fact that you have to preface with that makes me feel worse."
"Just show us," Biwa-sensei said tiredly, so I did.
Kaimon (Logic): 38.63 (increased 5.16 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Kyūmon (Creativity): 43.32 (increased 5.32 — Mid Chunin)
Seimon (Vitality): 35.92 (increased 6.64 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
Shōmon (Chakra Affinity): 32.90 (increased 7.05 — Mid Chunin)
Tomon (Strength): 36.46 (increased 6.69 — Mid Genin, Low Chunin)
Keimon (Chakra Capacity): 170.51 (increased 40.88 — Mid Chunin)
Kyōmon (Speed): 38.14 (increased 5.22 — High Genin, Low Chunin)
"You just told us that the focus of our training wouldn't be represented by these numbers," Iwao protested. "Until this week, we've all done basically the same training!"
"That isn't…entirely true," I said slowly. "Biwa-sensei had me do extra reps, extra laps."
"That was to compensate for your chakra abilities. It makes no sense for the rate of improvement to be so much higher," Daigo pointed out. "And doesn't this mean you've also redefined the upper bound in multiple respects?"
"It was decided, by multiple people, that all of my statistics should be considered outliers and not counted towards the index," I said steadily, looking warily at the solitary jonin, who was glaring at me.
"You've been doing outside training," Biwa-sensei accused, eyes narrowing. "Damnit Imai, I tailored those plans to each of you!"
"Whoa, whoa," I said quickly. "I didn't do outside training. I swear. I just…kami, this is going to make me sound like an asshole. I just…got more out of the training than they did. I used enhancement and internal chakra manipulation during the physical training to increase gains in my Strength and Speed. My Fūinjutsu projects have stretched my creativity and analysis to near failure, and I'd bet money that the experiments I've done with elemental chakra and my chakra signature did the same with my Identity. And I've put so much effort over the years into stretching out every chakra pathway in my body from the inside out that if I didn't see at least this much growth in my Chakra, I'd frankly be pissed."
It suddenly occurred to me that I'd said too much. So many of my secrets had come to light that I'd forgotten that I still had some worth keeping. And I'd spent so much time with my team, so much time unapologetically gracing them with my true personality, that my brain categorized them as confidants.
"You know what?" I decided. "For your own peace of mind, you should probably just forget I said that."
"Trust me, Imai," Biwa-sensei said, lowly. "I really, really wish I could."
Feeling unseasonably cold all of a sudden, I began to take off the patches.
I saw him glance over his shoulder.
"We'll talk about this later," he decided. "I stopped you guys for another reason. You've all grown well during your time as genin. But one thing you sorely lack is combat experience against a well-matched opponent. So, I've organized a joint training match against another jonin-led team."
We all straightened.
"Team Horie?" I asked, excitedly. Iwao had a pleased look in his eye; he was probably excited to see his girlfriend Takeo.
"No, from what I've seen, you've left them in the dust," Biwa-sensei said dismissively. I could see Iwao tamp down on the urge to defend our peers from Batch Sixty-Seven. "I wanted you to have a real challenge."
Four figures flickered into existence behind us, and my eyes widened.
"Sensei, what the fuck?" I asked, met with several sighs and a feminine laugh.
"Good to see some people never change," the young woman said, jutting incisor peeking out through her grin. "But is that any way to greet your dutiful senpai after so long?"
Ichikawa Hanabi sauntered forward, like she herself was the fucking team leader (the man in question—an elite jonin for fuck's sake—seemed used to this by now, and altogether done with his life).
"I've missed you, my little kouhai," she said. "Let's play a little. I want to see if you're as fun as you used to be."
- - - { ワナビー } - - -
AN: Hey guys! Here is a theory chapter for y'all. Sorry to people who don't love that, but I know a lot of you, like me, do. I'm bracing myself for all the um actually comments. I know there are examples in canon that contradict my explanation of how elemental chakra works. I'm sure people will bring up Sarutobi and Mu. Don't worry, I have explanations. There just isn't room to share them in this chapter, and Kasaiki doesn't have all the answers yet either.
I know y'all missed Hanabi. I did too. This is going to be fun.
After the last chapter, multiple people came to the conclusion that the next arc will be the chunin exams. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but no. At this point in time, the chunin exams, as an institution, don't exist. They were invented after the Third Shinobi War because of how horrible it and the Second was. Before that time, each village went about promotions in their own way. Some may have had individual exams, but Iwa doesn't. They award promotions based solely on merit.
So, yeah. No Chunin exams in this fic. That's the reason I made the academy exam so extensive; that was basically this fic's chunin exams.
I know myself, and I know that this next chapter is going to be significantly longer than the typical chapter. Because I want it to be up to my standards, I am going to postpone its release, and the release of the chapter after that, by half a week each. In other words, there will be two chapters over the next three weeks. Hopefully the chapter length will make up for that. I'll shoot for Wednesday the 31st for my next update, possibly give or take a day. I foresee having to do this again several weeks after that for another two chapters I'm super excited about.
I don't have a Ptrn. If you've gotten just five bucks of enjoyment out of this story, please consider buying my original work on amazon (information in my bio). Between the two sites this fic is posted on, I have over 1700 readers. If even half of you choose to support me in this fashion, I would have considerable bargaining power when it comes to getting future books published. More publishing deals means I can quit my day job, which translates into more time for fanfiction. It's a one time thing, and you even get more of my writing out of it.
Thank you all. I'll see you around the 31st. Peace!