Chapter 29: Choices and Kakashi's Sense of Crisis

Having clarified the preliminary direction for his future swordsmanship, Gen'ichi Shita began to ponder which jutsu to select from the Scroll of Seals.

Multiple Shadow Clone Technique?
Unnecessary.
With his current level of chakra, the standard Shadow Clone Technique was sufficient.

Flying Thunder God?
He was a little, just a little, tempted.
However, this technique also required a massive amount of chakra to sustain.

Dead Demon Consuming Seal?
A sealing jutsu that resulted in mutual destruction? Forget it.

Perhaps the A-rank jutsu Water Wave?
Gen'ichi felt that would be a bit of a waste.

What about a sensory jutsu?
Capable of sensing, suitable for close-quarters combat, usable for mid-to-long-range ninjutsu attacks, compatible with genjutsu... an all-rounder?

For a moment, Gen'ichi could not make a decision.
"Perhaps I should consider it from two perspectives."
"First, the jutsu I need right now."
"Second, the future..."
Gen'ichi organized his thoughts.

The first day after his mission passed quickly, spent in training and contemplation.

The next day.
Gen'ichi accompanied Sakumo Hatake to the Hokage Building to meet the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This was not their first meeting.
Hiruzen placed great importance on ideological education and often visited the academy to preach the Will of Fire.

After meeting with Hiruzen, Gen'ichi was taken by an Anbu ninja to an empty room next door, where a scroll of the Scroll of Seals already lay on a table.
"This is the catalog of the Scroll of Seals. Choose one jutsu from here first; afterwards, the Hokage himself will copy the corresponding jutsu from the Scroll of Seals and give it to you," the Anbu ninja said.

Gen'ichi felt a touch of disappointment; it wasn't the real Scroll of Seals, just a catalog. But upon reflection, that was only natural.

Once the Anbu ninja departed, Gen'ichi opened the scroll.
The first technique listed was the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, complete with a brief summary.
Gen'ichi read through it rapidly, spotting many familiar jutsus and many others he had never even heard of.
Konoha was truly wealthy.
"If only I could copy the whole thing..." Gen'ichi couldn't help but be greedy.
To be honest, he really enjoyed practicing and researching ninjutsu.
Gen'ichi felt that from now on, he could be a kindred spirit to Orochimaru, striving for immortality just to learn more jutsus.

The Scroll of Seals contained a vast number of techniques, not just S-rank or A-rank, but those of all levels. However, Gen'ichi focused his attention primarily on the S and A ranks. After all, such an opportunity was rare.

Naturally, these ranks did not represent power, but the difficulty of mastery. The higher the rank, the greater the difficulty.
For instance, the S-rank techniques were ones that even Hiruzen, the Professor of Ninjutsu, had not mastered. Since Tobirama Senju, only Minato Namikaze had fully mastered them.
Therefore, choosing any high-difficulty jutsu carried the risk that Gen'ichi might never be able to learn it. There was a risk involved here. He might end up wasting this opportunity.

If he considered his current and future needs:
For the future, he would choose the Flying Thunder God.
But for now...
Gen'ichi's gaze landed on another S-rank jutsu.
Yin Seal!
Yes, the Scroll of Seals contained this sealing technique as well. According to the description, this technique originated from Mito Uzumaki of the Uzumaki clan, and it was not specified that only women could practice it.

After pondering for three seconds, Gen'ichi made his decision.
"Sir, I have made my choice!"
The Anbu ninja who had left earlier appeared again upon hearing him.
Gen'ichi pointed a finger: "This one!"
The Anbu ninja was slightly taken aback, then nodded: "Understood, please wait a moment!"
With that, he took the catalog and left.

In the adjacent Hokage's office, Hiruzen was surprised to see that Gen'ichi had chosen the Yin Seal. It was completely unexpected. But he soon understood Gen'ichi's intent.
Chakra!
Indeed, a lack of chakra was a major drawback at that age, especially for someone like Gen'ichi who was proficient in Water Release.
With no intention to interfere, Hiruzen went personally to retrieve the scroll for the Yin Seal. Yes, the bit about "copying" was just a formality. Some scrolls did not need to be copied.

A short while later, Gen'ichi left the Hokage Building with the Yin Seal scroll. As for Sakumo, he had already departed.
Taking the scroll home, Gen'ichi did not immediately open it to study; instead, he headed straight to his training grounds. He needed to seize every moment to learn more swordsmanship techniques from Sakumo, as there were not many days left before he would have to "overdraw" from the future again. As for the Yin Seal, there was no rush; he would study it at night.

The key was the next decade.
The future is built upon the present. Every time Gen'ichi overdraws from the future, it is done on the foundation of the present.

The days of tedious training passed in the blink of an eye.
Before he knew it, it was March 18th, the 43rd year of Konoha.
On this day, as usual, Gen'ichi spent his morning training with Sakumo Hatake. Kakashi had been there for the last few days, and having an extra sparring partner led to even greater progress.
However, it had to be said that with Kakashi as a benchmark, Gen'ichi truly saw what a real genius in swordsmanship looked like.
Kakashi was one. He was not.
But with his "cheats," he counted.

As the morning training ended and he lay on the ground resting, Gen'ichi asked, "Kakashi, are you already practicing the nature transformation of Lightning Release?"
Kakashi, lying nearby, replied, "Yeah, I've mastered the basics."
"What do you think about me developing my own Lightning Release jutsu?"
Gen'ichi raised an eyebrow slightly, then smiled: "Of course you can."
"Setting aside whether the development succeeds or not, the process itself should yield many gains."
Although the Rasengan wasn't suited for him, the process of practicing it had given him many insights and improvements in chakra control and shape transformation.
"Besides, I believe you can do it, Kakashi." Gen'ichi was full of confidence.

Kakashi smiled: "Thanks!"
He didn't actually have much confidence himself; it was just that since Gen'ichi had created the Rasengan, he wanted to try developing a Lightning Release jutsu as well. He hadn't expected Gen'ichi to have such faith in him.
Since that was the case...
"I'll give it a try!" Kakashi decided secretly.

Recovering his strength, Gen'ichi flipped up and laughed: "Kakashi, don't slack off! It might not be long before you can't beat me anymore!"
Kakashi stood up as well and said calmly, "I'll be waiting."
Gen'ichi waved: "I'm off!"
With that, he vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

Watching Gen'ichi leave, Kakashi frowned slightly: "With the speed at which this guy is improving, it seems I need to work even harder."
Gen'ichi's performance over the past two days had indeed given him a sense of crisis. Moreover, Gen'ichi trained too crazily, much like that guy Guy.
"This afternoon... I'll keep practicing swordsmanship!"
"I'll leave the Lightning Release nature transformation for the evening."
With that in mind, Kakashi started walking home, but soon he too utilized the Body Flicker Technique.
Walking slowly seemed like a waste of time.
He would get home, eat, rest a bit, and then continue training!
He couldn't let that guy Gen'ichi catch up...