MTLNOVEL Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Water Attribute Transformation
Chapter 22: Water Attribute Transformation
Water Release: Water Thread consumes 0.9C of chakra, requires 18 hand seals, and focuses all its destructive force into a single point. The jutsu's power depends on how much the water is compressed. Besides raw chakra control, that compression also hinges on a user's deeper understanding of water-nature chakra.
During his repeated practice of the Water Substitution Technique, Ishiro gradually grasped some fundamentals of Water Release. Yet he hadn't formed a clear personal intuition for water-nature chakra.
Previously, Ishiro's mastery of Earth Release had been less about his own insights and more about absorbing results already achieved by others (like the way he learned Earth-Style Wall). That meant he couldn't directly apply those experiences to Water Release. As a transmigrator, however, he had knowledge of the five elements and how they interrelate, plus a solid theoretical background from class. He wasn't short on the basics.
Using Earth-nature chakra to cast Water Substitution had required him to overcome water's fluidity. Ishiro realized from the start that refining his sense of "flow" would be key to unlocking water-nature chakra. Harnessing that property allowed him to at least force a Water-nature shift in his chakra. But, after countless tries, his progress plateaued; though he could perform the transformation somewhat, doing so smoothly remained difficult.
Moreover, fluidity alone hadn't offered an appreciable combat boost, so Ishiro shifted gears. He'd focus on compression. But he intended a different route than the usual approach: drawing on the principle that pressure increases with water depth.
An object submerged in water is hit by pressure from all directions, intensifying with depth. Ishiro hoped to replicate that sensation in Water Thread – effectively stacking pressure along every segment of the water line, transmitting it forward to the tip. If he could gather those forces into a single point, the impact could be devastating.
Coupled with Water Thread's inherent velocity, Ishiro believed that if this idea worked, it would surpass most Water Release techniques, perhaps even rivaling the famously destructive Wind Release.
At present, it was only a theory. Maintaining a steady, forward-transmitting pressure in the water demanded carefully layered chakra control, all of which would require further development. Ishiro wasn't in a hurry. Even geniuses like Kakashi or the Fourth Hokage took years to create their signature jutsu. As long as he had a viable concept and time for repeated experimentation, he was confident he'd succeed.
Having settled on compression as his goal, several days later Ishiro embarked on a new round of C-rank training. This time, the journey was nowhere near as smooth. First, he lacked familiarity with Water-nature chakra; second, he had grown so accustomed to channeling Earth-nature chakra that his body resisted any changes. In short, learning Water Thread was an uphill battle.
Thankfully, Water Thread used far less chakra than Earth-Style Wall, so he could cast it more often each day. After about three hundred failed attempts, he finally managed his first success. A thin, laser-like stream of water about ten meters long drilled into a stone target, forming a small, finger-length hole. Against flesh, that would be enough to punch clear through a human body.
At that point, Water Thread was at least minimally lethal. But using it in actual combat was still out of the question. Ishiro had only just learned it, having succeeded once, with no partial-seal variant or environmental tests completed. If the jutsu misfired or aimed poorly mid-battle, he'd be in trouble.
Ishiro estimated he'd need hundreds more tries to achieve the same level of mastery he had with Earth-Style Wall. Yet his supply of medicinal meals was almost gone. When he finished with Earth-Style Wall, he had 27 servings left; over 23 of them went into Water Thread attempts, leaving less than enough for two days.
He sighed at the difficulties of ninja training. It would be nice to have Naruto's massive chakra reserves, enough to spam jutsu at will – or to create an army of Shadow Clones to multiply his training. But the ninja world was hardly the "hot-blooded manga" it appeared to be, and "bloodline superiority" often decided one's fate.
Still, he planned to spend what remained of his medicinal meals further refining Water Thread, at least to become passably comfortable with it. Right then, though, an Anbu summons arrived.
Making his way to the Tsuchikage's office, Ishiro found that not only he, but also Bunji and Meisha were there. Before long, the same group of high-level Jōnin who had helped seal the Five-Tails arrived too, along with the experts who co-developed the Five-Elements Seal. Essentially, all of Iwagakure's seal specialists had been gathered.
Once everyone was accounted for, an Anbu led them into the Tsuchikage's office.
Inside, Onoki was seated as usual, joined by four elders in extra chairs: two older than Onoki (a man and a woman) who had served as advisors since the reign of the Second Tsuchikage, and two who were roughly Onoki's age – a female ninja well-known for administrative prowess, and a male ninja who'd been an elite in Onoki's generation. These five formed Iwagakure's current high council. Their simultaneous presence, plus all the sealing experts, meant something major was happening.
"Has something gone wrong with the Jinchūriki again?" Ishiro wondered. He saw the calm expressions of the top brass and realized it didn't seem like an emergency. Since it wasn't his place to speak out of turn, he listened quietly.
Once everyone settled, the middle-aged male elder addressed them: "Lord Tsuchikage has gathered you here for two reasons. First, we want to discuss the expansion of the Barrier Division's seal unit now that you've successfully contained the rampaging Five-Tails with the Five-Elements Seal. We need to talk about cultivating more sealing experts."
He paused, eyeing Ishiro approvingly, then continued. "Second, after that incident, our Five-Tails Jinchūriki is no longer able to shoulder his responsibilities. We must consider appointing a new Jinchūriki and figure out the best sealing approach. Let's open the floor to suggestions."
He turned to a Jōnin known as Min, the head of the Sealing Division and one of the Five-Tails seal casters, and said, "Captain Min, do you have any recommendations?"
Min had come prepared. Given how the new Five-Elements Seal had exposed a shortage of sealing talent, she presented an expansion plan. Onoki and the council listened intently, but once asked about how to train more seal experts, Min shrugged. Standard daily tasks of the Sealing Division, like creating storage scrolls, hardly deepened real-world sealing proficiency. Many "seal masters" had never performed any large-scale sealing in practice – they certainly couldn't hone a skill like that by letting a tailed beast out periodically just to recapture it.
The room fell quiet. The leaders understood that advanced sealing was difficult to master. None seemed especially shocked or disappointed. Onoki glanced at Ishiro and asked, "Ishiro, you proposed and helped design the Five-Elements Seal. Before that, you also devised a three-part training method for B-rank sealing. Your thinking is broader than most. Do you have any ideas?"
A bit startled to be singled out, Ishiro pondered briefly, then spoke up: "Perhaps we can try developing more brand-new sealing arts. Right now, most of our sealed goods revolve around making storage scrolls, which doesn't really push the user's technique. If more people tried to design seals, they'd debate and test ideas, which might help them grow in the process."
Bunji's face lit up. "He's right! After all, I was only borderline capable of using an A-rank seal. But working on the Five-Elements Seal recently bumped my technique to the next level. And I'm not the only one – others who participated also improved dramatically."
A few others concurred, nodding. Onoki also brightened. He recognized the logic as an A-rank sealing master himself. But after a moment's thought, he sighed, "That's definitely feasible, but how would we find a steady stream of fresh ideas? That's harder than just learning existing seals."
Indeed, if ideas were that plentiful, they wouldn't be in this bind. At that point, Meisha added: "We could reach beyond the Barrier Division. For instance, we can see what the Academy students might come up with. Sure, most of their ideas might be naïve, but they might also provide breakthroughs."
Their eyes widened at the suggestion. Meisha had been inspired by Ishiro's out-of-the-box approach. Freed from the older generation's mindsets, Ishiro had proven that "unlikely" concepts could bear fruit. Maybe other children could do the same.