Naruto: Threads of Crimson

Kushina's grin widened as she motioned for me to take a seat on the ground. "Now that I've tested your chakra control, we can dive into something a little flashier: ninjutsu. Well, sort of."

I straightened up as I looked at her to continue. Fire Style techniques were my clan's specialty, meaning naturally, they were something that I really wanted to refine and become the best at. "What do you mean?"

"I want you to pick a fire-style jutsu that you're 100% comfortable with," she said, folding her arms. "We're going to work with it so it becomes easier and faster to perform."

I nodded, deciding to start with a technique I'd been consistently using for the past couple of years. "I guess I'll choose the Great Fireball Jutsu since I've been using it for practically my whole life," I said.

"Good choice," Kushina said. "It's a classic for a reason. But before we start slinging fireballs, I need you to perform the hand seals for me, very slowly. I want you to feel what happens to your chakra while you make hand seals for a jutsu."

I raised an eyebrow but complied, interested to see what she was trying to get me to notice here. Forming the first seal—Snake—I channeled my chakra instinctively, but Kushina held up a hand to stop me.

"Wait," she said, crouching beside me. "You're doing it wrong, close your eyes and get into an almost meditative state. Take note of where your chakra goes in your body when you form the seal. Let the pull guide you down the winding path of your chakra network and then tell me what you feel."

I paused, closing my eyes as I shifted my focus inward.

'Alright, Snake, what am I supposed to feel when I make your hand seal?' I thought, my hands forming the sign carefully. I concentrated, feeling the pull of my chakra as it centered itself in my core. "It's gathering, pooling itself right in the middle of my stomach."

"Good," Kushina said, as my eyes opened to look at her which were sparkling just a tiny bit from my quick answer. "Snake is about stabilizing your chakra. It pulls energy into your core and creates a foundation for whatever you're planning to do with it next. Now go on to the next one."

I nodded slightly, extending my index and middle fingers upwards from my closed fists creating the ram seal.

'So how is this one different from the Snake sign,' I thought as I felt a shift in my chakra. It surged toward my shoulders and arms, then began to splinter off into a multitude of different paths as it made its way down my arms. 'So the ram sign forces the chakra to start moving towards your upper body and then arms.'

"The ram seal allows your chakra to take on flowing properties, like all Water-style techniques," Kushina explained. "This gives it more flexibility and adaptability compared to something like the rabbit seal. When it's incorporated into the Great Fireball Jutsu, it allows the flames to be shaped into a ball as it comes out of your mouth instead of just being a stream of flames."

I continued through the sequence, each seal bringing a new sensation as my chakra flowed through different parts of my body. With the monkey seal, I felt the energy ripple down my spine, heightening my awareness. With boar, it sank deep into my lower abdomen, tapping into my sizeable chakra reserves.

Finally, the Horse sign sent a steadying wave of chakra to my legs, anchoring me to the ground, while the tiger sign flooded my chest and lungs with heat in that unique way fire-style feels, ready to burst out of my chest.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Kushina watching me intently. "See what I mean?" she said, her grin widening. "Each seal has a purpose. It's not just about shaping your chakra; it's about guiding it and preparing it for the technique you're about to unleash."

"So what about the rest of the seals then? What do they do?"

"Well, I guess we can start with rat," she said, pointing to her temple. "This one focuses chakra on your brain and nervous system. It sharpens your mental clarity and boosts your concentration, similar but not identical to the monkey seal."

I nodded and said, "So it's used more for genjutsu than any physical techniques, then?"

"Exactly, but it's not limited to just genjutsu. Sometimes, a little extra focus can help with precise ninjutsu or strategy in battle, which is often why you'll see it used in medical ninjutsu and why most of the Nara clan's shadow jutsus incorporate this seal in particular."

She raised her hand, forming the Rabbit seal. "Next is the rabbit seal. This one focuses on your fingers and hands, improving your chakra precision to a greater degree than the ram seal as it doesn't need to be fluid, which is why you'll often see it associated with sealing techniques as well as medical techniques more so than any ninjutsu."

"Precision, huh?" I murmured, making the rabbit seal, feeling the chakra surge to my fingers and hands. "I guess that makes sense. You can't get sloppy with medical jutsu, that's a very delicate field and any heavy handness could hurt more than it would help."

Kushina smiled. "Exactly. Now, let's move to one of the heavy hitters: Dragon. This one sends chakra throughout your entire body, amplifying it across the board. It's used for high-power techniques, things like a summoning jutsu or a similar jutsu to Great Breakthrough. Think of it as the seal that powers up a jutsu."

"That sounds pretty similar to how the boar seal felt."

"Yes but not quite, the boar seal is more to draw out more chakra than it is to excite and charge up the chakra that is already incorporated into your current jutsu. Think of it like boiling water. The boar seal adds more water to the pot while the dragon seal turns the flame up to a large degree and boils the water instantly."

The idea clicked in my head as she said this and I smiled "That's actually really easy to understand sensei."

She rolled her eyes slightly and smiled as she formed the bird seal next. "This one focuses chakra in your throat and windpipes, which means it has pretty limited situational use, but it does have its place."

I tilted my head and cut her off a little. "That sounds like it's mostly used for wind-style jutsus then, right?"

"Mostly," she agreed, "but it has other uses too. Anything that involves sound, breath, or even subtle communication can benefit from it's use."

I nodded my head. 'I guess I'll have to keep that in mind if I make a sound-based genjutsu then.'

Finally, she made the dog seal. "And last, but certainly not least, we have the Dog seal. This one's all about defense. It focuses chakra into your arms and hands, enhancing barriers and shields. You'll see it a lot in protective techniques and earth-style jutsus, similar to the boar sign. It's the backbone of anything meant to guard, contain, or block."

As she finished explaining the dog seal, that's when it hit me, "So it's like we're building a piece of furniture when we do hand seals then. Understanding these makes it feel less random. Like, instead of just putting together random seals, I'm actually building towards something."

"Exactly. Each seal has its own purpose, and when you combine them, you're creating a roadmap for how your chakra flows and telling it what it should do."

"Let me show you another thing you might not have noticed before," Kushina said, getting up from the ground. "Watch carefully with your special eyes, and pay attention to my flow."

I activated my Sharingan, the tomoe spinning into view as I focused on her turquoise-colored chakra. She moved through the seals slowly for my benefit. And I saw what she wanted me to see: with each sign, the glow of her chakra brightened in some places and dulled in others.

With snake, I saw her chakra glow briefly in her core. When she made the ram and monkey seals, the glow intensified exponentially, and my tomoe spun ever so slightly as I saw the chakra continue to grow as her hands began to make the boar seal.

'Jesus, how much chakra does this woman have? I know Uzumaki are known for their chakra. But this is unreal seeing it in person, it's as if she has a bottomless well within her stomach.'

Just as that thought popped up, something strange caught my eye. For the briefest moment, as she pulled chakra into the fireball jutsu, a tiny flicker of blood-red chakra pulsed from her core, mingling with the turquoise. It was faint, almost imperceptible, but it was there. 

'What was that?' I thought, my brow furrowing. 'Her chakra's supposed to be turquoise, not red. Was that something else? Maybe she has a seal or something there that makes her massive amount of chakra easier to control. She did mention her chakra lashed out in the training ground when she was a genin being trained by Mom, maybe that's why.'

I shook the thought away, focusing back on what was important as she completed the final seals.

The turquoise chakra grew brighter, almost blinding, as she reached Tiger. It swirled through her chest and lungs before surging upward, condensing into a roaring flame as she gathered it in her mouth.

Exhaling, she let a massive orb of fire and heat soar across the training grounds, hitting the barrier she had set up for today's training session. As it hit the barrier, it dissipated harmlessly into nothing more than some hot air.

The heat was intense, even from where I sat, and I blinked, deactivating my Sharingan as she turned back to me.

"See how it all comes together?" she asked, her tone lighter now. "Each seal builds on the last, gathering and shaping the chakra until it's ready to be released. It's a very elegant and technical process when you begin to understand how it all works and why more powerful jutsus typically have a much more complicated set of seals."

I nodded. "How's knowing that going to help me refine my fire-style jutsu though, sensei?"

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(A/N: Sorry for the inconsistent chapters the past couple of days, I've been addicted to Marvel Rivals and haven't been able to get myself off of it. Anyway, this [and the next couple of chapters] is a little bit of an info-dump but it will be important when it comes time for Shiro to make jutsus. Hope you guys are doing well and Happy New Years!)

Powerstone Goal

25 = extra chapter

50 = 2 extra chapters