Finally done with this run.
I don't really blame them for wanting to skip on it, but we have to do it.
Even if it's ridiculously annoying.
"Bye, Amai! Those meat sandwiches were amazing!" Rei exclaimed, waving both arms as he jogged off.
Hamburgers weren't really a thing in this world, at least not yet. Tomatoes and lettuce were on discount yesterday, and I was craving some, so that's that.
"Make sure you keep your apartment clean, and study at least half an hour when you get back!"
"'Kay!"
Seriously, I feel like their mom sometimes. Then again, mentally, I'm probably three times older than them, so maybe it's not that far off.
Still though, it's kind of nice.
"Now that he's gone..." I muttered with a sigh, exhausted.
I have something to do.
What is that, you may ask?
That's right, it's finally time to check out what my chakra affinities are!
Now that I've got some money to splurge, I can afford to buy some of these chakra papers. If I'm not wrong, these are supposed to conduct chakra really well, and come from a special kind of tree.
They're called Chakra Induction Papers, apparently.
If my memory doesn't fail me, there's five basic elemental chakra natures in this world:
Fire, Wind, Earth, Water and Lightning.
You can get an affinity to one of these elements depending on the paper's reaction to your chakra. If the paper burns and turns to ash, that's Fire. If it splits in two, Wind. If it crumbles into dirt, Earth. If it gets damp, Water. And if it wrinkles, that's Lightning.
I don't really know much about how those are actually processed and how the materials for these papers are obtained, but my assumption is that these trees grow in areas saturated with natural energy and chakra. They absorb that stuff, and eventually they gain certain properties that make them pretty damn sensitive to chakra.
My theory? I'll probably have at least a Water Affinity, because of this body's origins. I'm an orphan from Kirigakure, who—for some reason—ended up living in Konohagakure.
I thought I'd be a Kaguya clan member, but my bones have shown no sign of doing anything special, so that possibility is straight out of the window.
And I've been secured and transported here for a reason, so I must be from a clan.
A Kekkei Genkai.
All the signs—my memories, my appearance—all they point to is one name, and one name only.
The Yuki clan—wielders of Ice Release.
It makes absolutely no sense why or how I'm here. Konoha definitely hasn't interfered in Kirigakure's civil war in the original timeline, so why?
The only explanation I can think of is that they initiated some kind of operation from the shadows. Maybe they rescued orphaned children like me—not out of kindness, but to secure powerful Kekkei Genkai for themselves.
It was kind of smart, actually—considering the Mist didn't have clans with heightened sensory abilities like the Inuzuka or the Hyūga.
That might be the most likely outcome. With Kirigakure completely immersed in its own civil war—caused by its dictator of a leader—it would've been a hundred times easier for any major village to take advantage of the situation.
"It's gonna be hard, but I'll have to talk the old man Hiruzen into telling me the truth when I'm ready," I muttered. "There's probably a bunch of documents and folders for each orphan they took in, which means I should have my own file in some place."
Just hidden—and kept from me.
Amazing.
I set off with a sigh, a few hundred Ryo in my pocket.
The ninja market shouldn't be too far, and I'd probably get there in about 10 minutes with my current speed.
I should learn the Body Flicker when I have enough chakra and control, too. Maybe when I reach half an hour of holding the leaf? That'll be for later, though.
After a while, I reached the market. I went to the General Shinobi Supply store, where they just about what you'd expect from a market in this world of ninjas.
Ink for sealing tags, paper for scrolls, soldier pills—I'm pretty sure you need to fill out some stuff and have at least graduated from the Academy to buy these, or be above the age of thirteen for the lower grade ones, since they're technically drugs. Drugs that are helpful in boosting your chakra, but drugs nonetheless.
And there it was: the Chakra Paper I'd been looking for.
It was 200 Ryo for a single sheet that looked to be about a tiny 5x6 centimeters!
What am I buying, fucking gasoline?!
Reluctantly, I took it to the counter and bought it—said it was something a brother of mine needed, and the shopkeeper easily fell for the lie.
Being a child sometimes is wonderful.
Sometimes.
Anyway, after a while of walking, I finally got back to my apartment. Which meant I could finally figure out what affinities I had!
Yay for the power of money.
"Okay, let's see..." I muttered, looking at the small piece of paper in my fingers as I sat on the small chair near my table. "I have to send my chakra through this thing, don't I?"
Yeah, I probably have to.
I just needed to do it in a way similar to how I used chakra for the Leaf Exercise—except instead of trying to create sticking properties, it had to be pure, raw chakra.
I closed my eyes for a second.
"Should be easy enough."
My eyes opened, and I sent a small jolt of chakra through my pathways, channeling it straight out of the tenketsu in my right hand's thumb and index finger, directly into the paper.
What I saw next, I didn't completely expect, but I didn't not expect it either.
"Holy shit..."
One half of the paper split clean off onto the ground, and the other half became wet.
Wind Release and Water Release.
Two affinities, right off the bat!
It doesn't yet confirm that I possess a Kekkei Genkai, but this is still very good. This obviously means I can focus on both elements and learn them at a faster pace than the others.
But more importantly, they're perfect.
Water is flexible, and can be used both offensively and defensively. Not only that, it also has use outside of battle, and has various properties. Density, viscosity, conductivity.
"If I'm not wrong, I could likely manipulate the viscosity to such a point it becomes something like an anti-Newtonian fluid. When you mix starch with water, the fluid becomes thick and resists flow when pressure is applied, but otherwise, it behaves just like normal water."
I've found out about it one time I tried cooking up some fried chicken—it felt weird and annoying to mix the chicken with the starchy solution, but I guess that left me with some really damn useful knowledge.
There's many possibilities and combination jutsus with Water Release. Mist, syrups, high-pressure cutting water blades...
Then, we have Wind Release.
This element is based purely around offense and mobility, which means that it'll be one of my main weapons in this world.
Bursts of wind, sharp wind blades, Chakra Flow to enhance my weapons, large gusts of dense air to either knock enemies far away or enhance fire jutsus...
For some reason, I can't help but feel some kind of deja vú, like I had done it before on some other life.
Eh, not like it matters! Time to get back to work.
I walked up to one of the shelves, and opened it.
"There you are."
Heh. I'm quite prepared, aren't I?
I rented an E-Rank Water Style jutsu from the library a few days earlier, just in case it was included in my affinities.
Water Beam!
"Well, it really isn't a beam, since it's supposed to let out a small amount of water from out of one finger, and it barely resembles a beam," I muttered, a small bead of sweat traveling down my neck.
Wonder who was the idiot who named this thing. There's always that one braindead mongol who names something after a grand concept, even if the actual thing doesn't resemble it at all.
Still, though. This would be my first elemental ninjutsu, so I really couldn't complain.
I'll work on this and completely master it. Then, for the following months, I'll keep following the routine I set for myself and figure out just what the hell is up with my apparent Kekkei Genkai—and probably Fuinjutsu, too.
Let's do this, shall we?