Shen—Hai—Wu…!
Shien slowed down his hand-seal sequence. Not only was it to make the process easier, but also to demonstrate it more clearly.
The order of the seals wasn't the hard part. The true key lay in the flow of chakra within the body, and in mastering the fine control behind each step.
Without understanding that, no one could truly learn a jutsu.
In the future, Kakashi would earn the title Copy Ninja because he mastered hundreds of easy, common techniques. But the truly powerful jutsu— have you ever seen him use anyone else's?
By contrast, the jutsu Shien had just developed was something that would literally kill anyone who tried to copy it.
"Fire Style: Flame Cloak!"
A faint crimson glow enveloped his body, like a sheer veil woven from fire. The air around him grew noticeably hotter.
Shien crouched slightly, then leapt toward a wooden training post several meters away—
Whoosh!
Flames burst from beneath his feet, propelling him forward like a rocket.
He landed before a wooden stake thicker than a man's torso, over two meters tall.
"Fire Style: Fire Fist!"
His right fist shot forward, fire spiraling around it as he struck.
Boom!
A burst of fire erupted from the point of impact, the explosion completely shattering the stake. The fiery veil around Shien's body flickered—and then dissipated.
"A jutsu without hand seals?"
Both Kakashi and Yamanaka Koji stared in shock. They knew better than anyone how terrifying a seal-less jutsu could be in actual combat.
"No," Shien corrected, stepping over the charred splinters.
"That's one of the effects of Flame Cloak."
He couldn't hide the satisfaction in his voice.
This new C-rank jutsu might sound modest, but in terms of practicality, it rivaled many B-rank techniques. And B-rank jutsu were usually jonin-level trump cards.
Sure, he wasn't on the level of the future Sasuke, who could sling A-rank jutsu not long after graduating— but that guy was the Sage of Six Paths' golden child and a walking cheat code.
Shien, a system-less transmigrator, had to keep his expectations realistic.
"Flame Cloak…" Kakashi murmured.
He'd mastered plenty of jutsu himself, but always by learning—never by creating.
Watching Shien now, a spark lit in his eyes. He wanted to try developing one of his own.
And in Kakashi's heart, there was no middle ground. If he created something, it would have to be stronger.
A competitive flame had been ignited.
Minato Namikaze noticed that gleam in his student's eyes, and instead of worry, he smiled with satisfaction. That was exactly what he wanted to see.
"Shien, you really did it!" Yamanaka Koji was still in disbelief.
"Mhm. With Watergate-sensei's guidance, all that time finally paid off."
Shien divided the credit carefully. Without Minato's help, he might've had the concept and the direction, but it would've taken him far longer to make it work.
Minato just chuckled and shook his head. "No—without me, you'd still have figured it out eventually."
He wasn't one to steal credit. What he'd done, any other jonin could've done too, given enough time. But the idea and design of this jutsu— those belonged solely to Shien.
"All right, that's enough mutual flattery," Kushina Uzumaki interjected, rolling her eyes.
"Just call it a joint project and leave it at that!"
Minato smiled helplessly and led Kakashi and Kōji off to train elsewhere. Ninjutsu was a shinobi's lifeline— and while Shien didn't mind showing off, the deeper workings of a personal jutsu weren't something you let others overhear.
"So, Shien," Kushina said directly,
"what do you want me to help with?" Her personality didn't allow for small talk.
"Big Sis Kushina," Shien replied,
"if I wanted to make the flames last longer—and burn hotter— do you think that's possible?"
He laid out his goals and thoughts.
Flame Cloak.
This jutsu was just the prototype for a whole series he had planned. Thanks to the Fusang Tree Extract that boosted his natural energy affinity, his fire-style talent had soared. Combined with the Uchiha clan's innate mastery of fire release, it was only natural that he'd start there.
At its core, the technique was quite simple: Conversion and Control.
Sustainably transforming his own chakra into fire.
Most fire-style jutsu did that too—but only in a single explosive burst. Flame Cloak simply skipped the "explosion" part.
The real challenge wasn't creating fire, but maintaining it— keeping the chakra flow perfectly steady.
Thankfully, his constant chakra-control training made that barely possible.
The real danger, though, came from the heat itself. Even if chakra acted as a buffer between flesh and flame, a human body could only endure so much.
But Shien had one huge advantage: Adaptation.
His enhanced fire affinity meant he had far greater resistance to heat than normal shinobi. Temperatures lethal to others were tolerable for him.
Still, heat was a double-edged sword— and that was precisely why he'd created Flame Cloak.
It was designed for close combat.
Melee had always been his weak point. No matter how much he trained, he couldn't close that gap. But with Flame Cloak active— who would dare fight him up close?
And if the enemy stayed at range? He had ninjutsu exchanges and even his summoning beast to rely on.
That was the whole idea: a jutsu to patch his greatest weakness.
Kushina listened carefully, brow furrowed in thought.
Sealing techniques could absolutely achieve what Shien wanted— even surpass it. But only if she did the work herself.
The question was: how to let Shien accomplish it on his own.
Seeing her lost in thought, Shien didn't interrupt. A small flame danced in his palm as he quietly refined his chakra control.
After all, you could never be too good at chakra control. He'd been practicing it daily since the moment he transmigrated.
Besides, this version of Flame Cloak was just the foundation. His real goal lay ahead— Sage Mode, or at least a Fire Chakra Mode.
That was the advantage of being a transmigrator: he already knew which paths worked. No risk of walking into a dead end.
After a long pause, Kushina finally spoke. "I can think of two ways."
"One: I teach you sealing arts. You can slowly refine the jutsu yourself over time."
"Two: I make a custom ninja tool for you— I'll design a sealing formula that enhances your Flame Cloak and inscribe it directly onto the weapon or armor."
As expected of the Uzumaki heir, master of sealing arts— she not only had a solution, but two.
The first was a long-term investment; the second, a quick fix.
One took time but would last forever. The other worked immediately—but could be countered easily, and would cost a fortune.
After all, specialized ninja tools didn't come cheap.
Now, Kushina waited, curious— to see which path her "little brother" would choose.
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