Shen - Hai - Wu…!
Akira Sato deliberately slowed his hand seal sequence, not only to make it easier to perform but also to demonstrate it clearly.
The order of the seals wasn't the real issue.
The key lay in the internal chakra flow — and the handling of small details was what truly mattered.
Without understanding those aspects, learning a jutsu would be impossible.
In the future, Kakashi would be known as the "Copy Ninja," but that was only because he mastered a wide range of general-purpose jutsu that weren't particularly difficult. As for truly powerful, unique techniques — when had you ever seen him successfully replicate those?
The jutsu Akira had developed, however, was one that no one else could use. For anyone else, learning it would basically be suicidal.
"Fire Release: Flame Cloak!"
A faint reddish glow, like a thin veil of flames, wrapped around Akira's body.
The surrounding temperature immediately began to rise.
Akira bent slightly at the waist, then leapt toward a wooden post about ten meters away.
Whoosh!
As he sprang up, a blast of fire shot out from under his feet, propelling him forward like a rocket.
He landed right in front of a thick wooden post, roughly the height of a person.
"Fire Release: Fire Fist!"
Akira drove his right fist forward, and flames spiraled tightly around it as he punched.
Boom!
A blast of fire erupted from the point of impact, shattering the wooden post completely.
The flame cloak wrapped around Akira's body dispersed after the strike.
"Jutsu without hand seals?"
Kakashi and Koji Yamakami both stared in shock.
As ninjas, they understood very well how powerful it was to fight using jutsu without needing hand seals.
"No, that was the effect of the Flame Cloak."
Akira stepped over the charred remains of the post, a satisfied look on his face.
He was extremely pleased with this C-rank jutsu he had developed.
Even though it was classified as C-rank, its practicality was in no way inferior to B-rank techniques.
And keep in mind, B-rank jutsu were typically trump cards reserved for jonin-level ninjas.
Sure, it wasn't on the level of Sasuke Uchiha in the future — who, fresh out of the academy, could already use A-rank jutsu — but Sasuke was basically the son of destiny, the chosen one blessed by the Sage of Six Paths. Akira, on the other hand, was just a traveler without a cheat system. He had to keep his expectations realistic.
"Flame Cloak…" Kakashi murmured to himself.
While Kakashi had already learned quite a few jutsu, they were all ones he had studied and memorized — he had never actually developed one himself. Seeing this new jutsu stirred in him the idea of creating his own unique technique.
But if he were to develop something, Kakashi thought, it had to be stronger than Akira's. Otherwise, what was the point?
A competitive spark ignited in Kakashi's heart.
Minato Namikaze, their teacher, naturally noticed the glint in Kakashi's eyes. Far from being worried, he was delighted.
This was exactly the kind of motivation he wanted to see.
"Akira, you really did it!" Koji Yamakami exclaimed, his face full of disbelief.
"Yeah, thanks to Teacher Minato's guidance, I didn't waste any time." Akira acknowledged the credit fairly.
If it had been just him working alone, he might have had the right ideas and development direction, but actually succeeding would've taken who knows how long.
It was only with Minato's instruction and assistance that he was able to skip past the trial-and-error phase.
"No, even without me, Akira, you would have eventually pulled it off." Minato shook his head gently, not taking credit.
He knew very well that what he had done, any other jonin might have been able to do too — it would have just taken more time.
But the jutsu itself? Without Akira's creativity and development direction, it would have been impossible.
"Alright, alright, you two can stop arguing now! Just call it a joint effort, okay?" Kushina Uzumaki interrupted the two of them.
Minato let out a wry smile and didn't argue further. He simply led Kakashi and Koji Yamakami off to one side to continue their own training.
After all, for ninjas, jutsu were matters of life and death.
Unless Akira chose to teach it to them, it was fine to let them watch — but the finer details were definitely not something they could stick around to overhear.
"Akira, what exactly do you want me to help you with?" Kushina got right to the point, her straightforward personality showing through.
"Sister Kushina, if I want to make the transformed flames last longer and burn hotter, is there any way to do that…?" Akira asked, laying out his request and his thoughts.
The Flame Cloak!
This Fire Release jutsu was essentially the prototype for a whole series of techniques he wanted to develop.
Thanks to the natural energy extraction potion derived from the sacred Fusang tree, Akira had massively boosted his fire-style capabilities. Combined with the fact that Uchiha naturally excelled at fire jutsu, it made perfect sense for him to focus on developing this kind of technique.
The effect of the jutsu was actually very simple.
Conversion and control!
Using his own chakra, he continuously transformed it into fire.
Normal Fire Release jutsu also involved converting chakra into flames, but only in a brief, explosive burst.
However, if you skipped the explosion phase, you got the basic form of this technique.
The hard part wasn't transforming chakra into fire — it was precisely and steadily releasing it in a sustained flow.
Luckily, thanks to his constant training in chakra control, Akira barely met the necessary standard.
At the same time, the most dangerous aspect of this jutsu was one's resistance to the flames themselves.
Even if chakra effectively insulated his body from direct contact with the fire, mere flesh and blood couldn't endure high temperatures for long.
But here, Akira had a huge advantage.
Adaptability!
Or more specifically, his improved fire-nature affinity, which also increased his resistance to heat.
What he could withstand, others simply could not.
High temperatures were a double-edged sword — both a strength and a weakness.
And that was exactly why he developed the Flame Cloak.
It was designed for close combat!
Close-quarters fighting was Akira's weak point. No matter how hard he trained, he wasn't making much progress.
But if he used the Flame Cloak, who would dare come near him?
And if his enemies didn't dare get close, he certainly wasn't afraid of a jutsu battle from a distance — not to mention he had summoning beasts to assist him.
In short…
The Flame Cloak jutsu was specifically created to patch his weaknesses.
After hearing all of this, Kushina fell into thoughtful silence.
With sealing techniques, she could definitely achieve what Akira wanted — in fact, she could probably make it even better and stronger.
The only problem was, it would have to be her doing it personally.
So, she needed to think carefully about how to help Akira achieve it himself.
Akira, noticing that she was deep in thought, didn't interrupt her. Instead, he summoned a flickering flame into his palm.
Training!
No ninja ever complained about having too much chakra control. From the moment he had arrived in this world, Akira had never stopped working on it.
Besides, the current Flame Cloak was just a foundation.
What Akira truly wanted to develop was "Sage Mode," or at the very least, a "Flame Chakra Mode."
That was the advantage of being a transmigrator.
He would never lose his way!
Whether it was Sage Mode or Chakra Mode, both were feasible paths. There was no need to worry about taking a wrong turn or hitting a dead end.
After a while, Kushina finally spoke.
"I have two solutions."
"One: I can teach you sealing techniques, and you can slowly improve your jutsu yourself."
"Two: I can design a custom sealing formula for you and inscribe it onto a special chakra tool…"
As expected of a descendant of the Uzumaki clan — the masters of sealing arts.
Not only did she have a way to meet Akira's needs, she had two.
The first option was a long-term plan, but it offered a permanent solution.
The second option was a quick fix, but it was easier for enemies to counter, and it would cost a fortune.
After all, just think about how much it would cost to keep supplying specialized ninja tools.
So, Kushina was curious to see which option her "little brother" would choose.
(End of Chapter)