Chương 176

Weeks passed as I kept at it, training with Shisui from morning until afternoon on Stormdrive enhancement. In the later hours, he focused on making sure that Kaen, Sena, and I were becoming a high-functioning team through coordination and teamwork drills. Kaen was unusually motivated, especially after hearing about the upcoming chunin exams, and actually tried his best to cooperate. Shisui used that need for recognition and achievement to push him further into working with us.

Slowly, under his relentless tests and trials, we began to operate like a proper team. Then came the miserable day of me trying to learn the hardest thing ever, Water Release. Shisui stood across the clearing with his arms crossed, the faint sound of running water echoing from a nearby stream. His expression was calm but serious, which already made me nervous.

"Water Formation Wall is an advanced jutsu," he began, his tone even.

"But its rank depends on the user. The more chakra you pour into it, and the better your control, the larger and stronger it becomes. At its highest level, it's a jonin-class defense that can block wide-scale elemental attacks. But for now, we'll start with a miniature version. Just enough to counter someone at your level." I nodded slowly.

"So, a smaller version of drowning myself. Great." He ignored the sarcasm and crouched down, tracing a small semicircle in the dirt with his finger.

"The concept is simple in theory. You release chakra from your mouth or hands and shape it into a curved wall of water. But the difficulty lies in control. You're not summoning water, you're creating it from chakra and keeping it dense enough to hold shape." He stood and pointed toward the stream.

"Normally, Suiton users rely on an existing water source to reduce chakra cost. But we'll train without one first. You need to learn how to convert chakra directly into water. It's one of the hardest transformations for non-water users."

"Great," I muttered.

"So, the perfect match for me." Shisui smirked faintly.

"That's the point. Learning outside your affinity teaches you control. You're used to generating sharp, agitated chakra for Lightning Release, but Water is different. It isn't about power or speed, it's about flow and cohesion. You'll need to reshape your chakra, make it move together as one current instead of splitting apart like sparks." He formed a single hand seal. A faint hum filled the air as moisture gathered before him, swirling until it formed a curved sheet of clear water.

It rippled softly, holding its shape for several seconds before collapsing and soaking into the ground.

"That's the structure," he said, calm and precise.

"Start small, palm-sized at most. Don't try to force it into existence. Guide your chakra like you're tracing a stream. If it scatters, your focus is too rough. If it bursts, you're pushing too much power through it." I looked down at my hands and frowned.

"Other chakra natures are really hard for me." Shisui chuckled.

"Which is exactly why you're learning it." He stepped back, giving me room.

"We'll start slow. First, just focus on forming the chakra, not the water itself. Watch carefully." He moved through a quick series of hand seals, each one smooth and deliberate.

"Tiger, Snake, Rat, then Tiger again. That's the full sequence for the Water Formation Wall," he said.

"You've seen me use just one seal before, but that's because I already know the flow by instinct. For you, the full set will help guide your chakra properly. Each seal directs it in a different path, like channels in a river. You'll need to feel the current forming, not force it." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I nodded, copying his motions. The moment I tried channeling chakra through the pattern, it felt wrong. It didn't flow, it sputtered.

The energy felt dry and unstable, like my chakra refused to change form. It scattered apart before it could even start to condense. Shisui's Sharingan spun slowly as he watched.

"Stop. Don't push it. I can see your chakra network straining. The flow isn't forming properly. It's reacting like it's being rejected." I dropped my hands and exhaled in frustration.

"It's not just me being bad at this. My chakra really hates anything that isn't lightning release." He gave a thoughtful hum, eyes narrowing slightly as he kept watching the faint residual traces of chakra dispersing from my hands.

"You might be right. Your network is reacting defensively, almost like it refuses to stabilize into another nature. That's unusual."

"Great," I muttered.

"So even my chakra's stubborn." Shisui smirked faintly.

"It seems you and your chakra share a personality. Still, this tells me something important. You'll need to train your body to accept the shift before you even think about forming water." He stepped closer and placed a hand lightly on my shoulder, guiding his chakra alongside mine.

"Try again. I'll stabilize the flow with you this time." I did, focusing carefully as his chakra pulsed through the network like a calm current beside a stubborn, uneven tide. For a moment, it felt smoother. Then, as soon as his influence faded, my chakra wavered and broke apart again, losing form like water slipping through my fingers. Nothing. Not even a drop. Shisui exhaled through his nose.

"Alright. So it's not attitude, it's resistance. Your chakra system really doesn't want to produce another nature." I gave a small shrug.

"Told you." He chuckled quietly.

"That doesn't mean you get to give up. We'll start with the foundation instead. Until you can form even a drop of water, you'll keep practicing the nature shift itself. No shapes, no jutsu, just pure elemental conversion. Once you manage that, we'll move forward." I groaned, staring at my dry, empty hands.

"You must be loving this."

"Immensely," he said with a grin.

"Prodigies rarely get humbled. When they do, it's usually what drives them to improve further. At our level, it's easy to lose that push to keep growing since there aren't many people or challenges left that can truly test us." For a full month, I kept at it. Normally, I could learn a Lightning Release jutsu in a few days and even refine it within a month. But this was torture. I had spent weeks just trying to form a single drop of water, and not once had I managed it.

Shisui, of course, found my suffering endlessly entertaining. Each failure earned a quiet chuckle or a subtle smirk. He called it valuable experience. I called it psychological torture. Then, on what felt like the millionth attempt, something finally changed. I finished the hand seals, focused everything on keeping the chakra calm and heavy like he taught me, and this time something actually shifted.

A cold sensation filled my chest, rising toward my throat, and before I knew it, a small splash of water came out of my mouth. I froze. My eyes went wide.

"Sensei, did you see that?" Shisui narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Did you just try to spit and convince me it worked? You've done that before." I scratched the back of my head, grinning nervously.

"No, no, I swear, I did it this time." His Sharingan flared to life.

"Do it again." I sighed, refocusing. Forming the hand seals felt smoother now, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Tiger. The chakra built up inside me, cold and foreign, so different from the sharp, crackling power I was used to. It didn't surge or spark, it crawled and gathered, heavy like water pressing from the inside out. The pressure built in my throat, and I released it forward. This time, a faint stream trickled out before breaking into droplets that splashed weakly onto the ground.

Shisui's eyes tracked every movement of the chakra.

"It's still unstable," he said, thoughtful.

"But that was real water." I coughed slightly, feeling the strange chill that lingered through my chakra network.

"That was weird. It's like trying to force my chakra to move slow when it's built to move fast." Shisui nodded.

"Good way to put it. Water depends on rhythm and flow. Your chakra still resists that movement, but you're getting closer." I stared at the few droplets soaking into the dirt, still half disbelieving. For the first time, it wasn't just theory. It actually worked. Barely, but it worked.

"Which means unlimited free water," I muttered.

"No more water bills." Shisui sighed.

"If that's your takeaway from learning a new chakra nature, I'm starting to regret teaching you." I grinned.

"Hey, you say that now, but wait till the next drought. You'll be thanking me." Shisui shook his head, muttering, "If sarcasm were a bloodline limit, you'd be unstoppable."