Chapter 4: Summoning Technique
The next morning, Kiyoshi opened his eyes and unconsciously stretched, hearing a series of popping sounds from various parts of his body, like beans bursting.
"Comfortable!" Kiyoshi came to his senses, clenching his fists lightly, feeling his body full of power. After a night of deep sleep, his Chakra had also replenished within his body, and the weakness he felt last night was completely gone.
He got up and walked out of the room. In the hall, Genji was sitting upright at the table.
"Come and have breakfast. After eating, we'll start today's training," Genji said to Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi's awakening and the strength of his talent made it seem as if a ray of light had appeared in Genji's dark world.
In the ninja world, a place filled with conflict, Genji, who had just turned 30, was already considered middle-aged.
The middle-aged man, who had been living a decadent life, had unusually gotten up early today and cooked for the first time in several years. Although it was just simple wild vegetable porridge, for Kiyoshi, who hadn't eaten his father's cooking in a long time, it was a complete surprise.
"Yes, Father!" Kiyoshi came to the table and sat down. "I'll take this!"
After eating their fill, the father and son cleaned up together and then returned to the table to sit down.
"Father!" Kiyoshi looked at Genji with expectant eyes.
"I know your heart is full of doubts, confusion, and curiosity. Don't rush, we'll talk slowly," Genji said, a slight smile appearing on his lips, his face, usually numb and expressionless, now looking like he was both smiling and crying.
"As I said last night, this ability is called Shikotsumyaku, the Kekkei Genkai passed down through generations of our Kaguya clan. However, because this Kekkei Genkai is too powerful, very few people in the clan awaken it. Only those with extremely high talent can awaken it." Genji then sighed, "No, I don't even know if you can still bear the Kaguya surname. Our family has been expelled from the clan. I'm sorry, son."
"Shikotsumyaku is an ability to freely manipulate the bones of the entire body, using them for defense or attack. Anything related to 'bones,' such as osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and calcium concentration, can be manipulated without limit. Bones enhanced by Chakra are arguably among the hardest substances in the ninja world. At least, I haven't seen anything harder than my bones yet. At the same time, after awakening the Shikotsumyaku, our bodies also possess the ability to rapidly heal external injuries." Genji slowly took off his upper garment, circulating the obscure Chakra within his body. Several bone spikes appeared on Genji's chest, back, and arms. With the fluctuation of Chakra, Genji let out a low roar, and the bone spurs burst out of his body, looking somewhat ferocious.
"This is Shikotsumyaku. Bones can grow out from any part of the body at any time according to our manipulation," Genji explained, catching his breath. "These bones are the strongest spear when attacking, and they can also be our hardest shield when defending."
"My body was severely injured in the war when I was young, so using Chakra is quite strenuous for me. Once you learn to skillfully manipulate the Shikotsumyaku, the growth of bones is actually very rapid," Genji's tone was slightly unwilling.
"You should have found the scroll left by your mother before, right? It only contains ordinary elemental ninjutsu. Your mother didn't awaken the Shikotsumyaku, so she didn't have the training methods for it or the related bloodline ninjutsu."
"Yes, Father," Kiyoshi replied, still trying to digest the various pieces of information Genji had just given him.
Genji retracted the bone spurs on his body, then crossed his arms and grasped the bone spurs on his arms, pulling them out of his body with a little force.
He casually handed the two bone spurs to Kiyoshi, while also demonstrating how the broken skin had quickly healed under the effect of Chakra. "Father hasn't given you any decent gifts yet. These two bone blades, I've already strengthened them with my Chakra. I'll give them to you for self-defense."
"Thank you, Father, I like them very much!" Kiyoshi happily accepted the bone blades, treasuring them and carefully keeping them close to his body. This was the first gift his father had given him since he could remember.
"Our situation isn't very good. That damned Kaguya Musashi has been sending people to monitor and watch over us. If he finds out that you awakened your Kekkei Genkai so early, he will definitely take action. So, Father can't personally teach you ninjutsu," Genji said resentfully, letting out a deep sigh.
Genji bit his finger, slowly formed hand seals, and gently slammed his hand on the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
A puff of white smoke dissipated, and an ancient, ink-colored scroll appeared on the ground.
"This is the bloodline scroll passed down through our lineage (Genji married the Sixth Elder's daughter, so it belongs to the Sixth Elder's lineage). It records the training methods for the Shikotsumyaku and various ninjutsu and taijutsu that can be used in conjunction with it. Today, Father will teach you the summoning technique for this tool. Once you master it, you can train according to the scroll in the future. If you have any questions during your training, come and ask me again. Remember to go far away. Those people's main target is me; they won't pay much attention to you."
"Come on, let's learn the Summoning Technique first. Once you learn it, you can summon this scroll at any time."
"The Summoning Technique is a type of space-time ninjutsu, roughly a C-rank. One type is blood contract summoning, which can summon creatures to assist ninja in battle. It requires signing a blood contract with the summoned creature. The size of the summoned creature also depends on the amount of your own Chakra. We won't talk about this for now, and Father doesn't have any summoning beasts anyway." Genji smiled. Most members of the Kaguya clan preferred close combat. Although they knew various ninjutsu, most of them rarely used it in battle.
"The second type is non-blood contract summoning, which can summon objects stored elsewhere. This is the tool summoning technique we are going to learn."
"First, inject your Chakra into the summoning array on the scroll, and then leave your blood. This way, later, when you want to summon the scroll, it will use Chakra and your blood as two mediums to summon the scroll stored in our lineage's shrine," Genji explained. "Boar - Dog - Rooster - Monkey - Ram, these are the five hand seals for the Summoning Technique. The Summoning Technique is not difficult to master. With your talent, you should be able to learn it after practicing a few times."
Kiyoshi, who was encountering ninjutsu for the first time, was full of curiosity. He recalled the hand seals Genji had just formed in his mind, and imitating his father's actions, he bit his finger and slowly began to form the hand seals: Boar - Dog - Rooster - Monkey - Ram. Chakra flowed rapidly within his body with the assistance of the hand seals. After all, it was Kiyoshi's first time forming hand seals. He clumsily moved his hands, taking a full five seconds to complete the five seals, and then slammed his hand on the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
The thick smoke dissipated, and Genji's eyes widened as he looked at the scroll that had changed its position on the ground. He couldn't help but marvel at his son's talent once again.
"Did it succeed, Father?" Kiyoshi asked, his voice filled with the excitement of performing ninjutsu for the first time.
"It succeeded. You succeeded on your first try. You truly are my son. You can stop supplying Chakra now and let the scroll return to its original position," Genji continued. "Then you should go out, go far away, and train step by step according to the scroll."
"Yes, Father, then I will set off," Kiyoshi said respectfully to Genji as he stood up.