After finishing their meal, Furin sidled up to Itachi, anticipation sparkling in her eyes. "Big brother, teach me how to train! You promised."
Itachi smiled faintly, set down his book, and stood up. "All right, let's go."
After a quick tidy-up and grabbing two kunai, Itachi led Furin to a secluded training ground outside the village. The space was small, featuring a few wooden stakes and a couple of tall trees—evidently a spot specially designated for practice.
Itachi turned around, took a strip of chakra testing paper from his pouch, and handed it to Furin. "Focus your mind and channel your chakra into the paper. That way, I can confirm your chakra nature."
Furin took the paper, murmured a quiet acknowledgment, and closed her eyes to begin circulating the chakra within her.
As the chakra flowed into it, the paper rapidly changed—splitting into five pieces right down the middle, each displaying the distinct properties of Lightning, Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind.
Itachi froze, a trace of shock surfacing in his eyes. "Furin, you have all-nature chakra!"
Furin looked down at the paper in her hands, a hint of hard-to-conceal smugness crossing her face. "Hehe, pretty impressive, huh?" She feigned shock as she rubbed the back of her head, putting on an "I never expected this either" expression.
Itachi nodded, his tone conveying certainty. "Of course. All-nature chakra is extremely rare; you might just be a genius."
Hearing this, Furin was over the moon. She thought to himself with quiet pride: *Five chakra natures? Isn't this just a bootleg Kakashi? No, wait—a super high-end version!*
"Then let's start formal training!" Furin said eagerly.
Itachi smiled gently. "All right. However, I mainly specialize in Genjutsu, followed by Ninjutsu. What would you like to learn first?"
Furin tilted her head in thought, then declared decisively, "Ninjutsu!"
She calculated in her mind: *Although Genjutsu is also powerful, top figures in the Shinobi World mostly rely on formidable Ninjutsu, like Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, and future Naruto and Sasuke.* If she wanted to reach the peak, Ninjutsu was definitely the top priority.
"All right, then I'll teach you a C-rank Ninjutsu first—Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique." Itachi immediately raised his hands and began demonstrating the hand seals. "Watch closely. The sequence of hand seals is Boar—Dog—Bird—Monkey—Horse—Tiger. Did you commit that to memory?"
Furin nodded emphatically. "Got it!"
Afterward, she began attempting the hand seals.
However, the System clearly had not bestowed Furin with any "hand seal talent." Her fingers fumbled in the air for ages, yet she couldn't smoothly complete a single set of movements no matter what.
"What a pain! Why can't I just clap my hands together and have Ask and You Shall Receive kick in?" Furin muttered under her breath, her tone carrying a fair bit of complaint.
Itachi stood off to the side, watching patiently without rushing her. Instead, he offered gentle encouragement: "Don't rush. Take it slow."
Furin took a deep breath, forced herself to steady her mindset, and continued trying. After a few failures, she finally completed a fluid sequence of hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
As the words fell, Furin sucked in a sharp breath and forcefully expelled a scorching blast of flame. The fire rapidly expanded into a colossal fireball, nearly engulfing the entire forest.
"Yay! It worked!" Furin cheered, jumping up and down, her eyes flashing with excitement.
However, when Furin looked around, she realized the entire training ground had been swallowed by roaring flames.
The glare of the fire dyed Furin's little face red. She froze, staring blankly at the burning woods all around her.
"Eh?"
Furin instinctively let out a sound of confusion, her mind going completely blank.
Itachi stood on a patch of scorched earth, gazing at the burnt-to-a-crisp forest, utterly unable to maintain his usual calm expression.
Itachi frowned slightly, a complex mix of emotions churning within him: *This level of destructive power is definitely something a mere C-rank Ninjutsu could never achieve.*
Yet, the blazing fire right before them was an urgent problem that needed to be addressed.
Fueled by the wind, the fire spread rapidly. Surrounding trees were ignited one after another, and tongues of flame licked wildly outward, threatening to consume the entire training ground.
Itachi's gaze sharpened as his hands flew through hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A giant dragon made entirely of water materialized out of thin air, roaring as it charged toward the raging sea of fire.
The water dragon struck the flames with pinpoint accuracy, and the torrent of water instantly quenched the ferocious blaze. Billowing white steam enveloped the training ground.
As the very last wisp of fire went out, the area finally returned to peace, leaving behind only charred tree stumps and steaming-hot ground.
Furin stood frozen in place, witnessing it all with a mixture of awe and trepidation. Once the fire was completely put out, she trotted over to Itachi's side, her little face written all over with guilt and unease.
"Big brother, did I do something bad?" Furin tugged at Itachi's sleeve, her voice sounding no louder than a mosquito's buzz as if she feared being reprimanded.
She chanted inwardly: *Setting the mountain ablaze means a lifetime behind bars.* This modern warning dominated her thoughts for a moment, making her panic more and more.
Itachi looked down at Furin, his previously somewhat stern expression gradually easing. He reached out to gently ruffle Furin's hair and said in a soothing voice, "It's fine. It's just a minor issue, and the fire is already out."
Furin raised her head, looking at Itachi's smile, and felt a slight sense of relief, though some self-blame lingered. "But that fire just now... was huge. Was I just being too careless?"
"Indeed, the power was a bit excessive," Itachi nodded without denying it, his tone remaining gentle as he offered a reminder. "However, next time you'll need to pay attention to your chakra control. Your talent is wonderful, but you also have to learn how to rein it in and let it loose at will."
Furin lowered her head and nodded. "I'll try my best, big brother."
Watching the docile Furin admitting her mistake right in front of him, Itachi couldn't help but feel ripples in his heart. The might of the Great Fireball from moments ago was certainly not something an ordinary beginner could ever achieve.
Even when he had used the Great Fireball Technique for the first time himself, he hadn't displayed the world-destroying momentum Furin just showed.
*My little sister's talent is truly astonishing...* Itachi mused to himself. A flash of complex emotion crossed his eyes—pride as an older brother mixed with deep-seated worry.
*A tall tree in the forest catches the wind.* Itachi knew better than anyone that this Shinobi World never allowed overly dazzling existences to remain safe and sound. Being too outstanding wasn't necessarily a good thing.
He raised a hand to ruffle Furin's head once more, a hint of softness returning to his voice. "Don't think too much about it. We'll take it step by step. I'll always be by your side, Furin."
Furin looked up at Itachi, and seeing that he had no intention of blaming her, she finally flashed a relieved smile. "Mm, thank you, big brother!"
"Then I still want to learn other Ninjutsu!" Furin looked up at Itachi, her eyes sparkling with eager anticipation.
Itachi's brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at Furin with some hesitation.
It wasn't that he didn't want to teach her, but he had understood since childhood that biting off more than you can chew gets you nowhere, and mastering one art is better than dabbling in a hundred. Even with Furin's exceptional talent, learning too many Ninjutsu could backfire.
"Won't that be pushing yourself too hard, Furin?" Itachi asked in a low, gentle voice laced with concern.
"Don't worry!" Furin grabbed tight to the hem of Itachi's clothes, her small figure paired with an innocent smile that made it exceptionally hard for anyone to stay firm. "I still want to learn more Ninjutsu so I can protect everyone in the future."
Having said that, she didn't forget to give Itachi's sleeve a coquettish shake, her face full of pleading.
Itachi sighed inwardly, knowing he simply couldn't resist his little sister's spoiled-child offensive.
Looking down at Furin's hopeful little face, he ultimately compromised. "All right. But remember, the moment you start feeling unwell, you must stop. Understand?"
"Understood! Big brother is the best!" Furin cheered.
Over the time that followed, Itachi began teaching Furin hands-on.
"Body Flicker Technique." Itachi demonstrated once, substituting himself with a wooden stump, then reappeared to explain, "This is a basic Ninjutsu used to quickly escape danger in combat."
Furin watched intently, then tried it a few times under Itachi's direction. Although her movements were slightly clumsy, she quickly grasped the essence of the Body Flicker Technique.
"Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower Technique!" After forming seals, Itachi unleashed a flurry of flames resembling dancing phoenix feathers, which struck the target wooden stake with pinpoint precision.
Furin excitedly imitated the move; though her flames were somewhat scattered, she successfully released them all the same.
"Transformation Technique." Itachi pointed to the side of the wooden stake, where a clone materialized without a sound.
"Wow, this is super cool too!" Furin tried it out with great excitement, quickly summoning two clones. Though one of them looked a bit translucent, it was already quite impressive for a beginner.
Time and again, Furin kept learning and trying. Her talent was truly astonishing; she managed to master almost every single Ninjutsu within a short span of time.
As he guided her, Itachi felt gratified by his sister's potential, yet he also harbored a vague unease, worried she might wear herself out.
At last, upon finishing her final Transformation Technique, Furin felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. Her small body swayed a few times before she caught herself against a nearby wooden stake.
"I'm so sleepy..." Furin mumbled softly, her limbs turning weak as she tipped straight toward the ground.
Itachi was quick-witted and caught her on reflex, scooping her up into his arms before sitting down on the ground and gently resting Furin across his lap.
"Wuwu..." Feeling Itachi's intimate gesture, Furin's little face flushed crimson instantly, and she tried to break away in a flustered panic. "Big brother, I... I'm fine, you don't have to do this..."
Itachi reached out to gently press down on her shoulder, his tone soft yet brooking no refusal. "Don't move. You've exhausted your chakra. You need to rest properly right now."
Hearing Itachi's tone, Furin's struggling movements gradually came to a halt.
She lowered her head, her cheeks as red as a ripe apple, and nervously twisted the hem of her clothes between her fingers as she whispered, "Th-thank you, big brother..."
Itachi looked down at the quiet little sister in his arms, a soft smile welling up in his eyes.
He reached out to tidy the hair that the wind had blown across Furin's face, speaking in a low, gentle voice. "You did a great job today. Get some rest, and leave the rest to big brother."