Great Breakthrough!!

Hahaha, top condition, top condition!! I'm in top condition, I say!!

Not only did I recover from that fever a week ago, but right now? I'm learning a C-Rank jutsu. Wind Style, Great Breakthrough!

I borrowed this baby from the local library just yesterday in exchange for around 750 ryo. Bit expensive, considering I'll be returning it anyway, but hey! You only live once.

Or twice, in my case.

Why was I learning this one specific skill, you ask? Simple. Wind Affinities are rare, and it'd pair very well with Fire Release, and considering mostly everyone has a Fire Affinity, it would be that much more useful. It'll also serve as another high ranked technique to show when I finally graduate!

As far as I know from chemistry, oxygen and some kind of fuel such as butane react together with a spark, the fuel being chakra in this case, to produce a combustion reaction, right?

Flames feed on oxygen to stay alive.

It would make a perfect combo whenever we have to burn down a lot of... enemies... while staying high on chakra. Yeah, let's not think about the details.

Currently, my clone was trying to cut a piece of metal using chakra alone. Took me around 30% of my chakra to create her, and I've also finally gotten it in check.

The reason it was constantly talking smack to me was because of the way I used the Yin aspect of my chakra while using the technique. In addition, they take around 21% of my chakra to remain stable. Anything below that, and it just pops. That's why I usually create them with at least half more than needed.

"Okay, so these are the hand seals, and I have to... Oh, I see how this is." I said, adjusting my non-existent glasses.

It was the same principle as the D-Rank, inferior version. Just like the Breakthrough, it formed in your lungs. Except it required almost thrice the chakra, and it was molded in such a way that it not only generated strong winds, but made them sharp. Cutting, heavy winds.

Deadly, dare I say. This could easily cut a vein or two if my opponent was unlucky, leaving them with a hemorrhage—bleeding to death if they had no means to stop it.

There was apparently a variation of this for every element, that used the same concept of forming the element needed in the lungs, each molded a different way and adjusted to be safe to use.

Honestly, I could see the similarities. Great Fireball jutsu? Check. Great Waterfall? Of course. Great Mud Avalanche? Why the hell not.

The only element not usable for this kind of thing was Lightning, which was understandable. It would travel across your pathways and fry you from the inside.

Would be an idiotic way to go, being fried by your own chakra.

Imagine getting fucked over by your own ability. Couldn't be me, and you would never catch me doing it.

...Did I just trigger a red flag?

No, no. Let's not jinx it, shall we? I'll just move on and finally get onto learning this thing.

So, the seals are apparently just Tiger, Ox, Dog, Rabbit and then Snake. Should be easy enough to learn.

While my clone chipped away at the piece of metal in their hands, I weaved the hand seals necessary, and felt the air building up in my lungs, being infused with my chakra and getting... sharper? It's a weird feeling, but it's not necessarily bad.

Once it had fully built up, I exhaled with all my might, unleashing every last bit of air onto the poor, unsuspecting snowy trees around the training grounds.

Whoosh!! The blast sent most of the snow scattering around in the air, a few of the weaker branches swayed violently, and a couple of twigs just outright snapped and fell to the ground, while the wind also left cuts around the tree's figure.

Huh, not bad for a first try. I'm surprised I managed to do it with just one go.

My clone, still working on the metal, glanced up and observed the destruction. "Good job, now the environmental activists and the Lorax are coming for your dumbass. Especially so if you make that any stronger than it already is."

"Aren't you supposed to be quiet? I thought I fixed you being able to speak."

"Oh yeah, I have no free will. Carry on."

Weird. I'll figure out what's wrong with my shadow clones later.

Either way, it's rather impressive that I managed to do this in one go. I noted that it took around 5% of my reserves when I executed it, so I'd say I had around 11 chances. I'm definitely not going below 10% and hitting absolute chakra exhaustion, thank you very much.

11 chances with this thing to master it further, decrease the chakra requirement, and increase the power itself.

I'd need to decrease the number of hand seals as well. I couldn't be wasting time on a battlefield going through them—it'd get me killed way too easily, even if I am decently quick at making them.

This means one thing, and one thing only.

Practice, more practice, and even more practice! Endless practice!!

Was it careless that I was still training despite having been sick a week ago, and the fact that it's still snowing? Perhaps, but who the hell cares? That was only one time, and it will be the last time that I'm getting sick.

Probably.

Either way... I weaved through the seals again, trying to optimize the chakra used while keeping the same amount of power. I didn't want to be branded an enemy of the environment, after all. Or a deforestation criminal.

"Wind Style, Great Breakthrough!" I shouted, exhaling as much as I could once again. This time, I only used around 4.5% of my chakra for the same result. A 10% decrease in chakra cost on my second try... Not bad.

I looked at the abused tree, which had lost more twigs and an entire branch, along with most of its leaves. Further cuts appeared on its figure. If this technique's strength grows enough to uproot trees, I'll definitely be branded an enemy of nature.

Fuck, why am I even aiming it at the trees? I can just aim at the sky and keep training that way!

I took a few steps back, and brought my hands forward. Again. Tiger, Ox, Dog, Rabbit and then Snake.

"Wind Style, Great Breakthrough!"

More heavy winds shot forward out of my mouth, sending thousands of snowflakes astray in some kind of white mist.

Oh yeah, I think I might know why people don't do this. I can feel the recoil because my head is tilted upwards, and it hurts.

Imagine what it would do if it was charged with even more chakra. Charging jutsus with more chakra...

I need to learn how to do that later on. An elite Jonin could probably uproot at least a quarter of this forest with a supercharged Great Breakthrough.

By the way, this one only took me 4.2% of my reserves. Diminishing returns are a bitch to deal with. If they weren't a thing, life would be a hundred times better than it is. Curse the idiot who invented them!

It's not all bad though, I'm progressing faster than I expected with this jutsu. It'll probably be my second best technique to spam when it comes to offense for a while, so I'm glad. I think this is also the first one that actually damages objects and people on a larger scale for me.

Eventually, my Ice Release will become powerful, so I'll probably use that more than wind or water.

There's two types of ice I can create currently. First, ice that's made purely from my own chakra with no outside source, and second, ice that's formed from me freezing water, or any kind of freezable liquid.

I'll monologue about this later when I'm training specifically for my Kekkei Genkai. Right now, I'm gonna give it my all to learn this thing.

"When can I get a break from this? I'm tired of chipping away at metal with no one to talk to!" my clone asked, itching to do something else other than the same thing for more than an hour straight.

"How about never? I need you to keep going at it until you get a deep enough cut. I'd summon more of you to keep you company, but I don't have the chakra for it yet."

"Slave driver, slave driver!!" she pointed at me accusingly, "If even a minute of this was leaked, you'd be considered a monster! Where are our labour laws? Minimum wage? Worker rights?! We clones aren't appreciated enough and are expected to just slave away for free!"

"Why do you complain so much? I swear to god, I tried everything I could to fix that."

"You want to take away my free will too?! Keep this shit up, and I'm going on strike. I swear on the God of Shinobi's soul!" she dramatically declared, still pointing at me.

Sighing, I did the hand seal needed to dispel the clone, and in a puff of smoke, she disappeared.

Lord, how troublesome.

I still have almost a month before I return to the academy, don't I?