Naruto: Power in Play

[Congratulations! You have mastered the leaf-sticking technique!]

[Leaf-sticking technique (Level 20/20): A fundamental training exercise used to develop precise chakra control.]

[-5% base chakra cost for chakra related skills]

[Congratulations for mastering you first technique!]

[5SP]

[Chakra manipulation (Level 22/25) (74%): Allows the user to freely shape and manipulate their own chakra.]

[11% to base chakra regen]

It took Ando around a month and a half of pure, dedicated training—along with countless sleepless nights—to finally master the leaf-sticking exercise. For an academy student with limited guidance, achieving this feat in such a short span was nothing less than remarkable.

The ability to control chakra with such precision is a foundational skill, yet notoriously difficult to perfect. By now, Ando could effortlessly stick a leaf to any part of his body and maintain it with minimal chakra expenditure, a testament to his skill.

Ando could feel the benefits of the leaf-sticking exercise as he effortlessly ran chakra through his body. One of his biggest challenges—sending chakra to his legs and expelling it in a controlled manner, much like in the leaf practice—had been resolved. This newfound control gave him a sense of confidence and fluidity in his movements.

At that moment, Ando felt as though he had achieved complete mastery over his chakra. Yet, he knew better. It was a fleeting illusion. While he now had a deeper understanding of his chakra and significantly improved control, he was fully aware of how much more there was to learn. Still, this accomplishment had unlocked new opportunities for him.

With his progress in the leaf-sticking exercise complete, Ando paused to consider his next steps. His chakra control had reached a level where it could now be used as a genuine asset.

He contemplated visiting the academy exchange shop to acquire useful jutsu scrolls and explore the next chakra control exercise to tackle. His taijutsu was also advancing at a solid pace, aided by sparring daily with opponents stronger than himself.

All in all, things were moving in the right direction. With all that in mind, Ando decided to pay a visit to the exchange shop after excusing himself from his teacher.

"Hello, Miss Amaya," Ando greeted the woman overseeing the academy exchange shop with a friendly smile.

"Hello, Ando. It's been a while," the beautiful shopkeeper, Amaya, greeted him with a warm smile. "What brings you here today?"

"Chakra control exercises, and… any type of ninjutsu I might be able to master now that I've completed the leaf-sticking exercise. Oh, and genjutsu too, if there's anything available," Ando replied, his tone eager.

"Wow, you're a fast learner," Amaya said with an approving nod. "Keep it up, Ando!"

"Thanks!" he said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Amaya busied herself looking up the requested items, and after a few moments, she directed Ando towards the second counter, where he was handed a detailed list of options. The list also included the next chakra control exercise, which was provided free of charge as part of the academy's training resources.

Ando found himself looking through a quite exhaustive list. It contained a list of jutsus like: Earth formation technique, Wind petal technique, Shadow drop technique, Light pulse technique, Earth protection technique, Spark technique, Water orb, and a lot more.

He had to take a seat at the nearby chair to study it. Ando decided to prioritize getting an Earth nature technique first, then a support one, preferably a genjutsu type.

After going through the list, Ando identified 4 techniques that could be useful to him. Earth formation, Earth protection, Dirt flurry, and Muddy steps. The first technique consisted of using the earth nature chakra to form small objects like kunai, bricks, and other objects that could be used as thrown weapons. Thought they were fragile; they could be used when in a pinch.

The second, earth protection, was used to coats the user's hands or arms in a thin layer of dirt for basic protection against cuts or scrapes. Ando hoped that if he could master the technique, he could turn it into a much more reliable armor, or even a weapon.

The dirt flurry technique was a jutsu which allowed the user to kick up a small amount of dirt in the air to momentarily blind the opponent. Ando thought that it could turn out to be quite useful during his daily spars.

And finally, muddy steps. A technique which softens a small patch of ground beneath an opponent's feet, making it hard to maintain balance. As an E-rank ninjutsu, Ando doubted that the technique would be useful against opponents who had mastered water-walking. But in the academy, it could be quite deadly.

Putting the earth ninjutsu aside, Ando turned towards the genjutsu and support technique list. And there were quite a lot that piqued his interest. Techniques like false attack, shadow drop, spark, fractured vision, echo, and the list kept on going. He even wondered if he should drop the earth technique in favor on one of them.

He wished Chika was there to help him make a decision. Sadly, the girl was still attending to her lessons. Ando was only able to visit the exchange shop during class hours because he finished his part in the taijutsu sparing exercises.

After thinking about his options for a long time, Ando settled for fractured vision, and earth formation. The two techniques had high synergy and versatility. Fractured vision allowed him to cast a genjutsu on the surrounding, blurring and cutting his opponent's vision for a short period of time. If he timed it well, he could use the momentary confusion caused by the technique to pelter his opponent with weapons transformed from earth formation, or seize the opening and rush in for a direct assault.

Chika's incessant talks about strategy has not been in vain. It not only helped Ando during his fights, but also provided insight about how he was shaping his arsenal of jutsu.

Ando had a total of 2,650 Academy Points—a sum he had managed to accumulate, thanks to the "generosity" of his selfless classmates. With E-rank jutsu scrolls costing around 1,000 AP each, depending on their utility and complexity, buying them through sheer savings alone would have taken him nearly a year of careful planning and sacrifices.

The clerk quickly processed his order and bid him a good day. Ando carefully placed the scrolls in his backpack and headed out, his mind already churning with plans for his new techniques.

As he made his way back, Ando's path was interrupted when he bumped into a familiar face.

"Hello, Mizuki-sensei," Ando said, stopping in his tracks as he recognized the man.

"Ando-kun, it's been a while," Mizuki greeted him with a genial smile. "You're not skipping class, are you?"

A practiced smile naturally appeared on Ando's face. While he acted polite, his mind worked swiftly to assess the situation. Mizuki's sudden appearance wasn't a coincidence—Ando had a rough idea of what the teacher wanted.

It was likely about the advanced scroll Mizuki had passed to him a month ago. Despite the veiled "gift," Ando hadn't approached Mizuki since then, nor had he sought the man's advice about its contents. Mizuki's patience, it seemed, was wearing thin, and his anxiety about the outcome of his little scheme was beginning to show.

With those thoughts in mind, Ando felt more at ease. He had the upper hand in the interaction. "How could I be skipping class, Mizuki-sensei? Soda-sensei would probably kill me if I ever did that."

"My, of course, I was just teasing you." The older man laughed. "By the way, how has your training been going?"

Ando's practiced smile didn't falter. His sharp eyes observed Mizuki, reading between the lines of the man's friendly demeanor. "It's been going well enough,"

"Well enough?" Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "I'd have expected more enthusiasm from someone with your potential. I've been hearing things, you know."

"Good things, I hope," Ando replied smoothly.

"Oh, absolutely." Mizuki's smile widened, though if one looked carefully, there was the faintest hint of frustration beneath it—a tightness at the edges of his lips, a fleeting flicker in his eyes. "In fact, I was wondering how you've been progressing with the scroll I gave you. It's advanced stuff, after all. Most students would struggle with it, but I figured someone like you could handle it."

Ando met his gaze. "It's definitely a challenge," he said, noncommittal.

Mizuki's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone turning more coaxing. "A challenge is good—it means you're pushing your limits. But even the best of us need help sometimes, Ando-kun. I was expecting you might come to me with questions. After all, chakra theory at that level can be... tricky to understand without guidance."

"Oh, you meant the chakra theories? I found them quite manageable actually." Ando grinned upon seeing the glimmer of surprise that briefly passed through Mizuki's eyes. "Sensei, the issue I have right now is that I actually do not like the main affinity of my chakra. I was wondering if you had a way of helping me with that?"

There was a moment of pause between the two as Mizuki properly processed Ando's request. Then he gave out an awkward laugh. "Ahh, you see Ando. Things like main chakra affinity cannot be changed. But your main affinity doesn't really stop you from learning ninjutsu of other affinity, you know? It's not really that much of an issue. Plus, I think focusing on your main affinity would be better."

"But the difficulty is higher. If only there was a way to at least develop a second affinity." Ando made a show of sighing, then gave Mizuki a hopeful look. "You wouldn't happen to know of some secret methods, do you, sensei?"

For once, Mizuki hesitated. "Okay, there is some way. But it's an advanced technique, and require some supplements that I can't give you right now."

Ando was simply testing Mizuki, he did not expect the man to really have a solution. But now, he felt quite curious. In the end, he agreed to meet Mizuki after a few days. Ando felt that as long as he stayed within the premises of the academy, he would be safe from whatever machinations the teacher had.

After bidding the man goodbye, Ando returned to the practice field where his classmates were still busy challenging each other in the ring. He found his teacher Soda observing the exchange from the shade of a tree and decided to join the man.

"Sensei, I'm back," Ando announced as he positioned himself beside the man, dropping his backpack to the ground.

Soda didn't look away from the sparring matches before him, but his tone was sharp enough to convey his awareness. "Oh, you took a little longer than I thought. Had some difficulty choosing a jutsu?"

"Yes and no," Ando replied with a shrug. "I crossed paths with Mizuki-sensei on the way and had a little chat with him."

That caught Soda's attention. His gaze flicked to Ando, this time lingering as his brows knitted slightly. "Mizuki, huh?" He didn't ask further, but his tone carried a hint of skepticism, almost as if waiting for Ando to elaborate.

"Anyway," Ando continued, smoothly steering the conversation, "I'm going to dive into these awesome new jutsu if you don't mind."

Soda exhaled through his nose but said nothing more, his focus returning to the training grounds.

Ando sat down and pulled out the Earth Formation jutsu scroll. His eyes skimmed over the details as he absorbed the instructions. The jutsu required 4 handsigns: Snake, Boar, Monkey, and Ox.

The scroll explained the process in three primary steps. Gatheringchakra into his hands, compressingit to form a stable base, and finally, structuringit into a defined shape or object. An additional step—chakra release—involved diffusing chakra into the ground to manipulate the earth itself. However, the scroll mentioned this as a universal step common to all earth-style jutsu, so it wasn't counted among the core mechanics of the technique.

Thankfully, thanks to his mastery of the leaf sticking jutsu, Ando had already become familiar with the action of expelling and controlling his chakra outside of his body. As he read more about the essence of the technique from the scroll, he realized that it was actually quite simple.

In theory, at least.

He had to execute the Snake and Boar handsigns to summon his chakra and diffuse it into the ground following a certain pattern. Then, transition into the Monkey sign to gather it up again while applying the transformative nature of his chakra. And finally use the Ox sign to help him shape the gathered earth.

Ando had already committed to memory the official 12 handsigns used to manipulate chakra. He had a small understanding of how each of them resonated with the flow and release of chakra. After finishing the scroll, he immediately started gathering his chakra.

Ando carefully executed the Snake sign and sensed his chakra erupt inside, he slowly directed the energy to the soles of his feet and into the ground. He then immediately transitioned into the Boar sign, trying to make his chakra fluctuate like it was described in the scroll. But the energy soon dissipated into the ground, much to his chagrin.

Ando glanced at his chakra bar and realized that he had wasted close to a dozen chakra points. Not feeling too dismayed, he got ready for his second attempt.

But this one did not feel too different from the first one. After a dozen of unsuccessful attempts, and being already down to 200 CP, Ando realized that there was something seriously wrong with the way he was attempting to execute the technique.

From the side, Soda watched the orphan work and raised a curious eyebrow. He's got quite the reserve, he thought as he watched the orphan struggle to make sense of the technique. He could see that Ando had a good grasp of his chakra; his control could be considered excellent for his age.

But he was executing the jutsu with the wrong mindset. Soda watched him experiment on the execution for a little longer before finally deciding to offer some help. After all, Ando was still his student. Furthermore, he was attempting to execute a jutsu without the concepts and knowledges that should be taught to him in his later years.

Despite his raw talent and his impressive chakra reserves, Ando was falling into the same trap most young shinobi did: overthinking the process.

He allowed the young aspiring ninja a few more attempts, watching the chakra flicker and dissipate into the ground over and over again. Before finally steping in.

"You're doing it wrong," Soda remarked, his voice cutting through the sounds of frustrated grunts.

Ando looked up, visibly surprised, but his curiosity piqued.

Soda stepped closer, crouching next to Ando and eyeing the scattered dirt from his failed attempts. "You're viewing the technique in pieces, like building a puzzle one step at a time. That's not how jutsu works."

Ando frowned. "But the scroll—"

"Forget the scroll for a second." Soda cut him off. "The problem is you're thinking of each handsign as a separate technique. You're not chaining them together. When you move from the Snake to the Boar, you completely abandon what you did with the Snake. That's why your chakra keeps slipping away."

Ando blinked, processing Soda's words. "So, what...? I'm supposed to keep using the Snake while doing the Boar?"

Soda nodded, his voice taking on a more instructive tone. "Exactly. The Snake is your foundation. It sets the tone of your chakra, gives you control, connects you to the earth. When you move to the Boar, you don't just discard the Snake. You layer the Boar on top of it, transforming your chakra while still maintaining the grounding that the Snake provided. Every sign builds on the one before it. It's not a sequence; it's a chain, one continuous flow."

Ando's eyes narrowed in thought, and Soda could see the gears turning in his mind.

"It's not four separate steps, Ando," Soda continued. "It's one technique. When you transition into the Boar, you're still holding onto the Snake's control over your chakra. Think of it like trying to tame a wild animal. You can't let go of the leash each time it moves. You have to keep a hold on it the entire time."

Ando's face lit up with understanding, recognizing where he went wrong. His hands eagerly assuming the Snake sign, then a few seconds later transitioned into the Boar. He immediately felt the difference, but also the increase in difficulty.

This time, as Ando formed the hand signs, he didn't just release the chakra; he held onto it, feeling the connection between himself and the ground. As he transitioned into the Boar, he kept that connection alive, twisting the energy in the way the scroll described while maintaining the foundation the Snake provided. Ando got a new sensation about the earth as he executed the technique.

A small grin crept onto Soda's face. "Now, you're getting it."

AN: Thanks for reading. Don't forget to check out PatrE0n / RP741 for more chapters!