The Ninjutsu he was studying and trying to improve was, of course, Water Release:Dragon Dance Bomb, the A-rank Jutsu created by his father, Senju Tobirama.
His father gave him this Ninjutsu right after Seimei came back home after finishing the first round of interclass competition in the Training Ground 102, or the Forest of Silence.
However, he barely had any free time to study and perfect this Jutsu carefully.
As a result, his proficiency in Dragon Dance Bomb Jutsu remained awkwardly stuck at level 1.
Seimei discreetly glanced at the Water Release skill section of his transparent blue system panel and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile.
[Water Release: Dragon Dance Bomb Lv.1 (4 /200)]
He wanted to focus on mastering this technique.
He really did.
But then, he got a sudden call from Nara Shikamo. He had to attend the gathering to discuss additional countermeasures against their possible opponents in the second round.
When he came back and was about to head back to the training ground, his little sister, Tsunade, came running to him and asked him to play with her.
At first, he was a bit hesitant. He had to master the Jutsu, after all.
But then, he was hit with little Tsunade's expectant, starry eyes that silently stared at him.
That expectant stare from little Tsunade, who was barely one year and a few months old, turned out to be a deadly weapon.
It instantly melted his determined heart.
So, he threw his motivation to train out of the window and went to play with little Tsunade.
His sister was so innocent and cute. He was determined to protect this sweet girl from the corruption of his uncle Hashirama's dark gambling habits.
You want to teach Tsunade how to gamble and make her addicted to it?
Over his dead body.
In this life, he would protect little Tsunade's pure mind from the evil, corruptive, demonic force called gambling by banishing it to faraway lands of no return.
He could train tomorrow, but the young years of his precious sister shouldn't be wasted. After all, once gone, it wouldn't come back.
Unfortunately, this also caused his progress with the new Water Release Ninjutsu to halt at level 1.
"At level one, this Water Dragon Bomb Jutsu is no different from its B-rank counterpart, Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
"It just creates a slightly more powerful water dragon that hits the enemies with tremendous momentum."
"However, its trajectory would be fixed."
"It doesn't have the manual control and the detonation effect this Ninjutsu should have."
"I guess I will have to advance this Jutsu to level 2 before I can see any improvement."
"Otherwise, even if it's an A-rank destructive, crowd control Ninjutsu, it will always remain a glorified, slightly enhanced Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
Seimei's mind raced as he remembered the personal notes left by his father on the scroll.
In the scroll, Senju Tobirama divided the power, effect, and application of the A-rank Water Dragon Bomb Jutsu into three distinct stages.
Stage 1: At this stage, the mechanics and the effect of the Jutsu would be no different than the B-rank Ninjutsu, Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
However, due to its immense chakra requirement, advanced rank, and further refinement, regular water dragons created through this Jutsu would be at least 1.5 times bigger, 2 times faster, and have 3 times more momentum, making this Ninjutsu at least 3-5 times more powerful than its B-rank counterpart.
Stage 2: At this stage, the user could manually control the water dragon even after casting it to attack multiple enemies, disrupt their formations, and gain a tactical advantage on the battlefield.
Don't underestimate the usefulness of the ability to control the water construct after its release.
Just imagine an enemy dodging your water dragon and giving you a mocking look, only for that water dragon to turn around unexpectedly and hit that guy hard, leaving behind nothing but broken bones, mangled tissues, and a lifeless body.
As long as the enemies don't have any intel on his Water Release: Dragon Dance Bomb beforehand, they will all die without even knowing what hit them.
Imagine an at least 15-meter-long serpentine water dragon rampaging throughout the battlefield.
Now, this is art!
Jie jie jie…oops!
Stage 3: At this stage, you can not only control the water dragon construct manually after casting it, but you can also make it explode with tremendous force.
Once the water dragon strikes, it will trap all enemies within a 5-meter radius inside a semi-spherical water barrier created by the coiling water dragon before the entire water construct explodes with a brutal, violent, and powerful force.
Unless the enemies trapped inside the semi-spherical barrier have any effective defensive measures or quick, almost instantaneous escape methods, their bodies will be completely obliterated, reduced to multiple pieces.
Of course, if you pour more chakra into the technique, the radius of the semi-spherical coiling water barrier and the blast range will increase proportionately.
You can control when the water dragon explodes with a special hand seal devised by his father, or you can do without seals if your water affinity and chakra control capabilities are high enough.
"Right now, I'm stuck in the first stage."
"However, this should change once I upgrade this Jutsu's proficiency to the next level."
"But before that…"
Seimei said to himself before extending his right hand while making his palm face upwards.
Slowly, a gentle chakra gathered in his palm, which attracted countless microscopic water particles in the air and condensed them into a floating ball of water.
The transparent, colorless, fluid water ball silently hovered above his extended palm, cooling down the surrounding temperature by a notch.
Then, Seimei manipulated his water chakra and changed the shape of the water ball.
At first, the water ball twisted and twirled before transforming into a rope-like, featureless water serpent.
Seimei made the serpent slowly coil around his right arm before transforming it into a moderately spinning water vortex covering his entire forearm just below his elbow.
Finally, he made the vortex of water slow down its rotation, guided the water on top of his extended palm, shaped the water into a ball again, and slowly dispersed it.
Seimei Tenseigan shone radiantly as he kept analyzing what he had just done.
"Perfect!"
"With my level 5 water affinity and level 6 chakra control, my water nature transformation and shape transformation capabilities became smoother than ever."
"I can effortlessly transform my attributeless chakra into water-attribute chakra."
"I can use that water-attribute chakra to gather moisture available in the air, condense it into water, and manipulate its shape and flow at will."
"I can also turn the pure water-attribute chakra into pure water. It just costs more chakra, but that's fine since I have a lot of it."
"Although the water I generate without hand seals and specific Jutsu has little to no lethality, it does prove that my control over the water element has increased drastically."
"This means…"
Seimei's eyes gleamed, and a calculating smile spread on his face.
"As long as I increase the Water Dance Bomb Jutsu's proficiency to level 2, I should be able to control the water dragon even after casting the technique."
"No need to wait for the technique to reach Lv.3 to control the water dragon construct."
"Alright!"
"Now…"
"It's time to grind."
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