Chapter – 39: Changing affinity

[Rei POV]

'It's confirmed, I truly did gain it!' I sigh in relief.

In my hand are the remaining half of a paper and some ashes reminiscent of something I held that had already burned away. Yes, I was testing my chakra affinity. Obviously, this is not my first time testing it.

The very first time I tested was about half a year ago; just before casting the Seal of Ouroboros on myself. At that time, the chakra induction paper just burned away when I inserted my chakra, meaning I only had Fire affinity which every Uchiha has. I was even depressed about it for quite sometime after that.

But I was hopeful that once I start using the Seal of Ouroboros to change my chakra, my chakra affinities will also change; even the A. I chip had predicted similar results.

To my despair, with the first two casts of the seal, I gained nothing and my affinities still remained the same; only Fire. Just when I was about to lose hope, the third seal produced results. When I first tested today, I couldn't believe it so I tried multiple times, but the result remained the same, I gained the Wind affinity!

'A. I chip, analyze the cause for such a change!'

[Beep! Gathering data… Analyzing… Done!]

[Beep! Cause of change: gene activating chakra used has a very high affinity for wind nature. Host has inherited a part of the said affinity after being influenced by the chakra for a long duration.]

'So, that's the reason! a very high affinity should be present in the chakra to inherit it! the first two chakras I used should not have made the cut hence I couldn't inherit anything from them. It's similar to Hiruko's Chimera technique where he gets affinities from the Kekkei Genkai he integrates himself with. I need to keep that in mind next time when selecting chakra to activate my genes. It's better if I plan so that I gain all five affinities as soon as possible.'

'A. I chip, is it possible to enumerate the affinities I have and the chakras I have gathered for gene activation?'

[Beep! Positive! Affinities above 66% are observable with Chakra Induction Paper and above 75% affinity is required for host to inherit it.]

[Name: Uchiha Rei (Chunin). Affinities: Fire 82%, Wind 67%, Lightning 44%, Earth 11%, Water 3%]

[Affinities for Gene #11: Fire 65%, Wind 3%, Lightning 14%, Earth 14%, Water 4%]

[Affinities for Gene #12: Fire 73%, Wind 7%, Lightning 26%, Earth 23%, Water 11%]

[Affinities for Gene #13: Fire 81%, Wind 34%, Lightning 77%, Earth 3%, Water 7%]

…

'So, I have the chance to gain Lightning affinity when activating the thirteenth gene. It's better than nothing I guess. Still, I will have to be on the lookout as someone else with high affinity might have the same gene active…'

'A. I chip, in the future show affinity data along with my stats.'

[Beep! Updating status window… complete!]

'I have three years before the start of the Third Shinobi War which will result in the extermination of many Kekkei Genkai clans in Kirigakure. I need to prepare so that I can get as many samples as possible. Even if not all the clans, there is one that I have to get no matter what, the Kaguya Clan! It would be excellent if I could capture some test subjects while I am at it.'

'It all comes down to the success of cloning and the control technique! I need to put more emphasis on it…'

Creating the clone is a long process that I cannot rush because the more I rush the more mistakes I might commit. For the control technique, I have already found the direction. Next is to gather as much intel about the Yamanakas as possible.

For the next few weeks, I stopped one of my shadow clones from ninjutsu practice and started to gather information about the Yamanaka.

Location-wise, the Yamanaka clan is situated towards the center of Konohagakure, close to the Konoha stadium and the Hospital.

The Yamanaka are firm believers in the Will of Fire, as well as the Senju and Uchiha's wish to make Konoha a place for all to live in. They were also among the very first clans to join the hidden village. The members of this clan specialize in mind-related techniques which makes them experts at intelligence gathering, espionage, and interrogation amongst other things. As for their specialties, they have sensory abilities and their techniques include transferring their consciousness, reading minds, and communicating telepathically.

The Yamanaka clan has a special relationship with the Akimichi and Nara clan. For many generations, these clans have formed three-man cells together famously known as the "Ino–Shika–Chō" trio. Therefore going against one clan would be the same as going against all three!

'The Yamanaka are experts at interrogation, so trying to use my amateur methods to break their minds and get what I want will be useless; unless I catch someone untrained, but in that case, they might not even completely know the jutsus either.'

'I could try knocking someone out and injecting a parasite, but the problem is I still have a long time to completely recover and use it, and when I do recover, I have plans to use it on someone else and I don't want to waste that opportunity either…'

'What to do? good old fashion kidnap and blackmail?' I am having a headache thinking about it.

'If only there was a way to trick them into teaching me…'

'Trick?'

'Wait a minute!'

'A. I chip, is it possible to drag someone else's consciousness into the virtual environment without using the parasite?'

[Beep! Positive. Warning: 1. The subject needs to take the initiative on their own and cooperate or be unconscious before trying. 2. Any external interference during the process would awaken them. 3. Since the parasite is absent, the process will take a very long time.]

'It's possible! I don't know which Yamanaka you will be, but I promise that I will show you the most beautiful dream you will ever experience in your life!'