Naruto: Reaching the Stars

When Kisuke returned home, Kirikou found him covered in paint, his body looking battered.

"What happened?" she asked, worried as she rushed over to check for any injuries. Finding none, she looked into his brown eyes. "Who did this to you?"

Kirikou knew Kisuke spent his days training and playing, but he had never come home looking like this. She feared he had been bullied.

"Yoruichi..." Kisuke muttered through gritted teeth.

Hearing this, Kirikou's expression shifted from concern to a smile. She covered her mouth, trying to suppress her giggles.

Knowing the culprit was the daughter of her best friend, she didn't get angry. Instead, she laughed. She had known Yoruichi since she was little and couldn't be upset, even if she bullied her son.

Seeing her barely holding back laughter, Kisuke sighed. "As expected, no one in this house is on my side."

"Hehe, alright, enough with the drama. Go wash up while I make dinner, and then you can tell me everything."

Kirikou, still smiling, sent Kisuke to the shower, handing him clean clothes and a rough towel to scrub off the paint.

As Kisuke showered, he recalled what happened in the afternoon.

Due to his weak body, he had to rest after using the Body Flicker technique repeatedly. But Yoruichi had no such problem. She used his rest time to pelt him with paintballs.

He pleaded with her to stop, even threatening not to speak to her again, but she just ignored him and continued.

He ran around the training ground, using trees as cover, but there was no escaping that little demoness. She showed no mercy.

Being chased by a five-year-old girl was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to him. He wished he could use earth-style jutsu to sink into the ground.

'But I can't say playing with her was a complete waste.'

Realizing he couldn't catch her due to his poor Body Flicker skills and weak physique, Kisuke changed his strategy. Instead of chasing her, he focused on dodging the paintballs as if they were hidden weapons.

'My reaction time improved a bit thanks to that rascal. So I shouldn't be too mad, right? Who am I kidding? I'll definitely get back at her...'

Despite being an adult mentally, Kisuke had no problem planning revenge against an annoying kid, especially since she started it. She'd have to deal with the consequences.

Smirking at the thought, he continued his shower, making sure to scrub off all the paint.

Afterward, he had a hearty meal with Kirikou, and they shared their day's experiences.

Kisuke saw no reason to hide anything from her and told her he could use the Body Flicker technique to some extent.

Kirikou looked pleasantly surprised. Despite not being a ninja, she came from a ninja clan and knew that mastering the Body Flicker technique at five was impressive. She was proud and kept praising him. But when she heard how Yoruichi had handled Kisuke, she laughed, ignoring his sour mood.

To her, Yoruichi wasn't just her best friend's daughter; she was like her own child. Having known her since birth, she didn't take her 'bullying' seriously, seeing it as a sibling quarrel.

Seeing Kirikou's carefree attitude, Kisuke sighed, but a faint smile tugged at his lips.

Despite being laughed at, he didn't mind. Honestly, it felt oddly refreshing.

'Maybe this is what family is for—being able to talk freely without any ulterior motives or fear of your words being used against you.'

After dinner, Kisuke went to his room to meditate and practice hand signs.

Currently, he could perform two hand signs in a second—three in a second and a half, which wasn't bad for nearly two months of training.

After memorizing the hand signs, he practiced different combinations to get used to them for when he finally learned ninjutsu.

Once done, Kisuke rested for a while, thinking about how to develop the Body Flicker technique into Shunpo. After his afternoon 'play' with Yoruichi, he realized he'd been too hasty in trying to modify the Body Flicker before mastering it.

He also found a few flaws in the technique. The biggest problem was that it was physically draining. He could only perform seven consecutive Body Flickers before his calves started to hurt. If he pushed further, they would become sore, and he'd need hours to recover his stamina, showing just how weak his physical condition was.

But if he managed to shift the chakra burst from his calves to the soles of his feet, it would reduce the strain, allowing him to perform more Flickers and even maneuver mid-air.

'The concept is simple. I wonder if anyone else has thought of this and already modified it.'

Kisuke didn't see himself as a genius who could be the first to come up with such a technique, so he wondered if someone else had already created the jutsu he was working on.

'Well, it doesn't matter. It's more fun to experiment and create it on my own.'

Even knowing it might take months, even years, he wasn't discouraged. Instead, he was excited about creating something by himself without help.

Getting up, Kisuke took out some papers Kirikou had given him to practice writing for when he entered the academy in a few months. Sitting on his bed, he took a piece of paper and stared at it, lost in thought.

'In the Naruto world, there are five basic nature transformations: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water. I know my affinities thanks to the chakra paper Kanao brought me, but any ninja can master all five.'

Kisuke didn't want to limit himself to using only his natural affinities.

'Affinity in the Naruto world has a few benefits. It makes it easier to learn the jutsu of that element, they're easier to use, and chakra consumption is lower. With practice, the power and control of affinity jutsu can improve, potentially raising the rank of a jutsu.'

Many famous shinobi had mastered elements outside their affinities. For example, Kakashi and Sarutobi could use all the elements at a professional level. Sarutobi even managed to combine several affinities to use variant jutsu without needing a Kekkei Dota.

'In his fight against Orochimaru, Hiruzen used Mud Release, which should be a combination of Earth and Water styles. He did this without a Kekkei Dota, which means anyone could combine different affinity jutsus if they have high mastery.'

Since Kisuke already knew his affinities, he didn't need to waste time figuring out which element to master first. His affinities were Wind and Water. Of these, he only knew the proper training method for Wind Nature, as it was well-documented. Though he had a rough idea of how to train in the other elements.

'When someone channels chakra into a chakra paper, it reacts according to their affinities. Mine split and got wet, showing Wind and Water. For the other affinities: Lightning makes the paper wrinkle, Fire makes it burn, and Earth makes it crumble.'

Seeing the different results of chakra paper for the different affinities, Kisuke came up with a theory.

'What if the paper isn't just showing affinity, but the proper training method for each nature transformation? For me, to master Wind, I have to cut paper; for Water, I have to wet it. For the other natures, I just have to replicate what the chakra paper does.'

Even though he wasn't sure how accurate his theory was, Kisuke decided to try it before asking a more experienced ninja.

'It's a pity it's too dangerous to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu for now, or else my training would go faster.'

Without that convenient jutsu, he could only train one element at a time. He chose Wind as the first nature to train. Only after mastering it would he move to the next element.

Tightening his grip, he channeled his chakra and tried to cut the paper.

Unsurprisingly, he failed to even leave a scratch after hours of trying.