18 You're On Your Own
"I won't give you the training method for that either. For right now, I just want you to focus on perfecting the couple of jutsu that you have already and also practicing your control and refinement of your chakra. As of this point, you are far ahead of any of your peers. You don't need to grow up so quickly, especially when you haven't even started the academy."
When he said this, I was genuinely upset because you can never be too prepared, especially in a world where someone stronger than you can just decide to kill you, and you wouldn't be able to do anything, nor would anyone but your close family really care.
"However, I can tell you the theory behind one of the nature transformations, and if you can somehow figure out a way to transform your chakra after that, there will be nothing that me or your mom can do about it," he added with a little wink.
'Maybe it's not Dad's decision to hold me back right now then?' I thought while trying to decipher his words and actions just now.
"To do elemental jutsu, the nature transformation is not technically needed, but it does help significantly with the amount of the elemental chakra you can produce, and it also helps with the quality and strength of the jutsu used," my dad said while allowing me to absorb the pros of learning nature transformation.
Before he could lose the thought, he continued. "The theory behind this is that you have to somehow change your chakra to have the properties of the element you want to use. For example, to change your chakra nature to fire, you need to rub your chakra together, like if you were to start a fire with sticks, but with just your chakra. Once you can burn a leaf in a controlled manner, you can consider the first step to be completed and you can move on to the next."
(A/N: The theory is similar to the way Asuma explained wind chakra to Naruto)
"Interesting, so the thought behind it is transforming the chakra while it's in your body to create a different nature and then releasing it so it affects something in the environment. It sounds a lot like regular jutsu but scaled down so it's repeatable for training purposes," I said while trying to think of how I could transform my chakra nature.
"Alright son, I'll leave you here if you want to get some extra training in. I'm sure your mother will have dinner in a couple of hours, so don't forget to drop by in time. You know how she gets if we don't come home for dinner and have a legit reason for it."
I smiled at that; mom sure could nag a little, but she truly cares about all of us and wants to see us all together for as long as possible. Perhaps it's because she knows in the world of ninjas, a family can be ripped apart in a matter of moments.
"Alright Dad, I'll see you later. Tell mom I'll be home in time for dinner!" I said while waving at the fading figure of my dad.
-----
'I already know the theory on how to do fire and wind because of my dad and the anime, respectively, but how do I get my chakra to transform into lightning and water?' I thought back to the way both my dad and Asuma explained nature transformation.
'Perhaps I can try this to transform it into lightning.'
I sat on the ground looking at my hands and the spaces in between my fingers. I took a small portion of my chakra, split it into two parts, and started rubbing them together in circular motions. The theory I wanted to try is similar to what you would do if you wanted to stick a balloon to your head using the static electricity that builds up between your hair and the balloon.
The good thing is that it worked ever so slightly as I felt the hairs on the back of my arms start to rise even if it was only slightly.
'I think I'm on the right track with this line of thinking, perhaps the key lies within rubbing the chakra faster and faster as time goes on.' I thought as I split my chakra again into two different parts and started going again.
----
*An hour later*
"Ugh, why is this so weird, no matter how fast I rub them together, nothing works. It's like I hit an upper plateau and can't go any higher even if I put 200% effort into it. Think Shiran, think. It's almost like I need to produce a higher quantity of lightning element instead of a stronger element."
I tilted my head toward the numerous clouds intermingling within the sky. "Perhaps that's what's wrong, I need more sections that can produce the lightning element. It won't hurt to try, I guess."
With that thought, I split off 10 pieces of my chakra and started to pair them up and rub them together. Immediately, I felt a change and I saw tiny sparks start to jump between my fingers indicating a small amount of electricity being produced.
To me, this was the best news because it meant that there wasn't a plateau, it was just that I was thinking too hard about what was going wrong instead of just going off of gut feelings.
*Ding*
My eyes widened a little bit. "What if I take all 10 parts of chakra and instead of rubbing them together individually, I rub them all together at the same time with each other creating a big ball of electricity?"
With the way that I've found the lightning element to work, I figured this was probably the correct way of thinking, and boy was I not ready for what would happen next.
As I started to rub all 10 parts together with each other, the couple of sparks that were happening constantly in between my fingers turned into a constant stream of electricity that I could feel. There was so much electricity running through my hand that I just looked at it in awe even as my hand started to go a little numb.
"This is the first time that I've genuinely seen such a raw element being held in the hands of someone. And that someone that's holding it is me, I can't believe I'm holding lightning right now." A smile bloomed on my face after saying this, this is the first time I've felt like I had power at all in this life.
I looked to my side and picked up a leaf figuring that the amount of electricity that I had running through my hands right now was more than enough to crumple a leaf.
I shut off the constant stream of lightning and put the leaf between my right index and middle fingers then started up the stream again. It felt a little weird this time trying to insert chakra into something that seemed to be rejecting the flow of chakra but it wasn't hard, just a weird sensation.
Almost instantaneously, the leaf crumpled into a ball, leaving a look of satisfaction on my face.
"Although I can crumple a leaf like that I should be able to control its rate just like Dad said, to have completely mastered it."
I grabbed a few leaves and set off back home to get a nice family meal and also to accomplish this goal by the end of the night, no matter how late I have to stay up to make it happen.
