Chương 6

Hana instinctively, immediately, she wanted to tell him everything. About the contract. About the chakra. About the impossible kekkei genkai their son had awakened. But the moment the thought formed clearly in her mind, her chest tightened again. Her throat closed slightly. The contract restrictions took into effect. Nothing came out.

"…Hana?" Daichi looked at her curiously.

"…Rei has been training a lot lately," she finally managed to say instead.

"Training? Rei? Didn't we decide that he would start his training from 6th year after the admission in the Academy?" Daichi was confused.

".. Something happened. And he started his training on his own..." Hana replied, half heartedly, as this was one of the few times she had to seriously lie about something. There was no other way. Daichi didn't notice the change of expressions of his wife, and at the moment he was too tired to notice.

"So he had started? I told you, my son is a genius." Daichi said.

"You mean our son.." Hana's eyebrow went up.

"Yes.. Yes.. That.."

A few months had gone by since Daichi had returned from the border patrol mission. Thankfully, he didn't need to go on long-term missions anymore as the problems at the border had mostly settled down. Now he was taking more casual missions around the Land of Fire, ones that could usually be finished within a day or two. And honestly, the village itself wasn't forcing shinobi with young children into extended deployments anymore unless absolutely necessary.

Too many families had already been broken apart after the Nine-Tails attack. Too many children had lost parents. Too many parents had lost children. The Third Hokage had apparently become stricter regarding those things after the attack. Not that Daichi complained. If anything, he was thrilled to finally spend more time at home. Especially after witnessing the so-called "talent" of his son firsthand. Though "thrilled" was honestly an understatement.

Daichi had somehow become even more unbearable over the last few months. Every small success Rei achieved immediately became a village-level achievement inside his father's head. Rei managed to hold a transformation for two minutes?

"MY SON IS A GENIUS!" Rei successfully hit the training post with three kunai in a row?

"HANA! DID YOU SEE THAT THROW?!" Rei accidentally used too much chakra and blasted a hole through a wooden bucket?

"… CONTROL ISSUES ARE A SIGN OF GREAT POTENTIAL!" Something to note here. It was all in his head. Not in real. Because Rei forbade him to talk to anyone about what he was witnessing at home. Rei himself was beginning to understand why highly intelligent people in fiction eventually became sleep deprived. Because dealing with Daichi's enthusiasm every single day was exhausting. Still… despite all that excitement, there was one thing Daichi absolutely didn't understand.

When Rei spoke to him about it he was genuinely devastated. And honestly, Rei almost felt bad. Well, almost. Apparently asking Daichi not to brag about his son was equivalent to asking a bird not to fly. The man physically struggled with it. More than once Hana had caught him taking a deep breath before leaving for missions like he was preparing himself mentally not to tell random strangers that his son could already perform basic jutsu before even entering the Academy.

Still, despite the suffering written across his soul, Daichi agreed in the end. Mostly because Rei had promised that he would explain everything "when the time was right." Not that his promise mattered, but even his own wife was more adamant than his son was. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"What the hell is going on?" Daichi didn't understand what that meant exactly. But he trusted his son and his wife. Which honestly worried Hana sometimes. Because somehow, without either of them realizing it, the five-year-old child in the house had slowly become the most mentally mature person among the three of them.

Six months later. It was evening by the time Rei finally decided that enough time had passed. The sun had already started setting outside, orange light slipping through the windows of the Amagi household while Hana prepared dinner and Daichi sat nearby after returning from another simple escort mission. Honestly, looking at the man now, relaxed and lazily talking about how some merchant had somehow lost his own wagon halfway through the journey, nobody would believe he was a shinobi.

"…And then he blamed me for it," Daichi complained dramatically.

"Apparently I was supposed to 'sense the wagon's emotional distress' or something."

"…You accepted a mission from an idiot," Hana replied flatly.

"Hey, ryo is ryo." Rei quietly watched the interaction for a few seconds before speaking.

"Dad."

"Hm?"

"I need to explain something." The tone alone made both adults look toward him. Rei rarely sounded hesitant, so whenever he did, it usually meant something important. Daichi blinked.

"…Should I be worried?"

"…Probably a little."

"… That is not comforting." Rei ignored that and instead sat down properly across from them. Six months had passed since he first gained half of Hana's abilities, and the difference between then and now was honestly massive. His control over the three basic jutsus had improved considerably. Transformation, Clone and Substitution no longer failed catastrophically every few attempts. Even his chakra flow had become steadier.

Though he wasn't able to use those jutsus with one hand sign yet, but he was able to do so in two hand signs instead of three or more. Now, only the medical side remained difficult. Mystical Palm required absurdly delicate chakra control and every failed attempt gave Hana at least three heart attacks. So Rei had come to a conclusion. He needed another part.

"…Mom," Rei said calmly, "you can talk now." [A/N: The contracted person is allowed to speak on the contract secret only when the User allows] Hana froze slightly. Daichi looked between the two in confusion.

"…Talk about what?" For a moment Hana hesitated. Six months. Six entire months of carrying this secret while physically being unable to explain it to anyone. Even now the sensation of the clause still lingered somewhere in the back of her mind like invisible chains. But strangely enough… this time her throat didn't tighten. The restriction had loosened. Or perhaps it recognized that Rei himself was allowing this conversation.

"…Rei has an ability," Hana finally said slowly. Daichi stared blankly.

"…An ability?"

"…A very strange one." Rei raised his hand slightly and with practiced ease, a familiar page materialized into existence above his palm. Daichi immediately stood up.

"…WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

"…Paperwork," Rei replied calmly.

"…THAT COMES OUT OF NOWHERE! I never taught you this." Hana rubbed her forehead.

"…Please sit down." Daichi slowly sat back down while continuing to stare at the floating contract like it might suddenly explode. Which honestly was fair. Rei handed the page toward him.

"Read it carefully." Daichi took it cautiously, like it was some forbidden explosive tag disguised as office supplies. The further he read, the wider his eyes became.

"…Half abilities?"

"…Yes."

"…Body constitution too?"

"…Yes."

"…What in the actual hell kind of kekkei genkai is this?!"

"…We are still figuring that out," Hana admitted. Daichi looked toward his wife immediately.

"…Wait… so this is why you couldn't tell me anything?" Hana nodded slowly.

"…The contract has a clause. I physically couldn't speak about it no matter how much I tried." Daichi looked horrified.

"…That's terrifying."

"…Yes." Hana sighed tiredly.

"It was." Then suddenly his expression changed.

"…Wait." He looked toward Rei again.

"…You mean you already used this on your mother?"

"…Yes."

"…That's why you suddenly started learning jutsu?"

"…Yes."

"…And you inherited half of Hana's abilities?"

"…Approximately." There was a long silence. Daichi slowly looked at Hana. Then at Rei. Then back at the contract.

"…My son really is a genius." Hana immediately smacked the back of his head.

"This is the part you focus on?!"

"…OW!" Daichi rubbed his head defensively.

"What?! It's impressive!" Rei honestly expected this reaction. After spending six months around Daichi, he had already realized something important about his father. The man processed dangerous information with the enthusiasm of an excited puppy.

"…Anyway," Rei continued before Daichi could start celebrating again, "I need you to sign it too."

"…Me?"

"Yes."

"…Why?"

"…Because I inherited Mom's chakra control and medical talent…" Rei explained calmly, "…but not enough physical instincts or combat-oriented experience. I think your abilities might help stabilize my control further." Daichi blinked slowly. Then puffed up proudly.

"…So what you're saying is…"

"…Please don't make this weird."

"…MY GENES ARE IMPORTANT!"

"…There it is," Hana muttered tiredly. And somehow, despite the absurdity of the entire situation, despite the terrifying implications of Rei's ability and the secrecy surrounding it… The room felt lighter than it had in months. Daichi, took the pen and was about to sign, but suddenly stopped.

".. Umm you don't want to sign?" Hana asked as she thought her husband might not allow her son to get power easily. Honestly a part of her also felt the same now. Her son achieving powers so easily, might be a bad news psychologically.