Chapter 11: Water and Earth
Ichirō pulled a small wooden box from the storage cabinet. When he opened it, dozens of pale yellow sheets were neatly arranged inside—special Chakra Paper.
The texture of the chakra paper was rough, its edges showing uneven natural fibers. Faint, barely visible ripples of weak chakra shimmered across its surface.
"This is paper used to test chakra attributes. It can detect your chakra nature with high accuracy." Ichirō took a sheet and handed it to Kotetsu. "Focus your mind, channel a small amount of chakra into the paper, and the corresponding change will appear naturally."
He paused, then explained in detail, "Fire Nature will make the paper burn. Water Nature will soak it. Wind Nature will split it down the middle. Lightning Nature will cause it to crumple. Earth Nature will make it crumble apart. If you have more than one nature, the paper will show multiple changes at the same time."
Kotetsu accepted the chakra paper with excitement. He gripped it tightly with both hands, and a thin layer of sweat formed on his temples.
A moment later, the paper suddenly made a sharp cracking sound and split cleanly right down the center.
"It's Wind Nature!" Kotetsu's eyes lit up.
"Oh?" Ichirō smiled faintly. "Wind Nature is fairly rare and has extremely high offensive power. Unfortunately, Konoha doesn't have many Wind Release Ninjutsu."
Ichirō then handed a sheet of chakra paper to Izumo. "Izumo, your turn."
Izumo took a deep breath. He accepted the paper, then slowly guided a small stream of chakra from within his body to his fingertips and gently touched the chakra paper.
At first, the paper showed no reaction at all. Just as Kotetsu started to look confused, tiny droplets of water suddenly formed across the surface, slowly soaking most of the sheet.
Not long after, small cracks appeared along the edges. With a soft popping sound, the paper crumbled into pieces, the fragments still damp with moisture.
"Water Nature and Earth Nature!" Ichirō's eyes flashed with surprise, then softened into a look of genuine admiration. "Dual chakra attributes. Under normal circumstances, this kind of talent usually only appears in ninja with a Kekkei Genkai."
"Izumo, you inherited Water Nature from your father, and it turns out you also possess Earth Nature. In the future, you might even have the potential to create your own Kekkei!"
Izumo stared at the wet fragments of paper in his hand. A wave of excitement surged through his chest.
Water Nature should be an innate trait of his original body, while Earth Nature was something he himself possessed. That meant he could train both the Ninjutsu Ibiki-sensei had given him—Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall—and the scroll he had just received—Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field.
Kotetsu patted Izumo on the shoulder, his face filled with envy and admiration. "Izumo, you're incredible! Dual chakra attributes! One day, you're definitely going to become a really powerful ninja!"
Izumo smiled and nodded. His fingertips gently brushed over the fragments of chakra paper as his mind was already racing, planning how to train his two new Ninjutsu.
After returning home, Izumo couldn't wait to open both scrolls.
On the Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field scroll, the hand seal sequence was clearly written: Ram–Tiger. There was also an important note about chakra control:
"Chakra must be converted into Water Release with an extremely high level of viscosity. When released, concentration must be carefully maintained—thick enough to provide strong binding power, but not so sticky that it restricts the user's own movement."
Meanwhile, the hand seals for Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall were: Tiger–Hare–Boar–Dog.
This technique required chakra to be channeled into the ground, then using Earth Nature chakra to gather soil and stone from the surroundings, rapidly forming a solid defensive wall.
After completing the hand seals, the flow of chakra had to be continuously maintained to preserve the hardness of the earth wall. Otherwise, the wall would be easily shattered by the enemy.
Izumo decided to train Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field first.
He raised both hands and moved through the seals quickly. His fingers danced with practiced speed, completing the two hand signs in an instant.
But the sticky Water Release he imagined didn't appear. Only a few weak wisps of water vapor drifted from his fingertips before instantly evaporating when they touched the floor.
"How did that happen?" Izumo frowned and tried again.
This time, he deliberately increased the flow of chakra. Unexpectedly, the vapor went out of control. Instead of becoming sticky, it burst into tiny droplets of water that scattered in every direction, even soaking the tatami mat beside him.
After trying more than a dozen times, the result was still the same. Either the chakra was too weak to form proper Water Release, or it went wild and made the effect chaotic. He couldn't compress the Water Release into a proper Starch Syrup Capturing Field at all.
He then switched to trying Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.
The hand seals went smoothly. But the moment he channeled chakra into the ground, the problem appeared again.
The surface of the earth only bulged slightly, forming a small mound that wasn't even as tall as his calves—completely incapable of becoming a solid wall.
Even when he occasionally managed to raise a wall about half a meter high, it would immediately collapse due to uneven chakra flow.
He opened his panel and glanced at it. Just as he expected, neither of the two Ninjutsu had appeared there.
"Why can't I make this work?" Izumo thought for a moment, then quickly found the core of the problem—his chakra control was still lacking.
Basic techniques like the Three Basic Techniques and Taijutsu didn't demand a very high level of chakra control.
But these two nature-based Ninjutsu required not only precise hand seals, but also extremely fine regulation of chakra output, viscosity, and flow speed.
With the level of chakra control he currently had, he simply didn't meet the requirements to properly train these two techniques.
"Looks like I have to start with chakra control training first." Izumo's eyes hardened with determination. He was determined to master both Ninjutsu before the day of his graduation arrived.
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