Chapter 13: Kenta and Rats

Kenta sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, his fingers drumming against his knees as he stared at the two wooden cages in front of him.

One cage held a tiny white rat, its nose twitching as it explored the enclosure. The other housed a slightly larger grey rat, lazily grooming itself with complete indifference.

For days now, Kenta had been mulling over the potential of his Boogie Woogie technique. It wasn't enough to simply switch himself with objects or people—he wanted to push the boundaries of what the ability could do.

He remembered how Aoi Todo had used the technique to swap two external parties entirely, without involving himself, during battles. The possibilities of such a move in a shinobi world were staggering.

Imagine Kakashi trying to hit his ally with a Chidori and clap he switches the person with Kakashi's ally. He takes out another enemy shinobi while dealing trauma damage to Kakashi.

Today, he would attempt it. Not the Kakashi thing but the boogie woogie ability.

Kenta grinned, leaning forward and cracking his knuckles. "Alright, you two. Let's see if we can make some magic happen."

The rats ignored him.

Kenta had already grasped the basics of Boogie Woogie. By clapping his hands, he could switch his position with a target he had focused on. But switching two external parties? That was an entirely different level of complexity.

He closed his eyes, visualizing the process in his mind. The technique didn't require any physical contact or marking of the targets. Instead, it relied solely on intent and precision.

"Boogie Woogie isn't about handsigns or seals," Kenta muttered to himself. "It's about focus. If I can lock onto two targets in my mind and visualize their exact positions, all I have to do is clap to make the swap."

The challenge lay in the mental aspect. Kenta needed to divide his focus between two separate targets, establish a link between them, and then activate the technique—all in a fraction of a second.

'If I can master this,' Kenta thought, 'I won't just have a party trick. I'll have a game-changer.'

Kenta carefully lifted the white rat out of its cage and placed it on the floor. The tiny creature sniffed the ground curiously, its whiskers twitching. Next, he opened the grey rat's cage and set it down a few feet away. The two rodents didn't seem particularly interested in each other, each content to explore its little section of the room.

"Alright, you two," Kenta said, clapping his hands together for effect. "Let's see what you've got."

The rats didn't respond, of course, but Kenta liked to imagine they were silently rooting for his success.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He focused first on the white rat, imagining its position in his mind. Then, he shifted his focus to the grey rat, locking onto its location as well. With both targets firmly in his mental grasp, he clapped his hands.

Nothing happened.

Kenta opened one eye, frowning when he saw that the rats were still in their original positions. "Huh. Okay, maybe I didn't focus hard enough."

He tried again, this time pouring more of his concentration into the visualization. He clapped again, harder this time.

Still nothing.

"Seriously?" Kenta groaned, rubbing his temples. The white rat sniffed at his foot, oblivious to the frustration radiating off him.

For the next hour, Kenta experimented relentlessly, tweaking his focus and trying different methods to improve his control. At one point, he clapped so loudly that the white rat squeaked in alarm and scurried under his bed.

"Hey! Get back here!" Kenta exclaimed, crawling on all fours to retrieve the wayward rodent. After a brief chase, he managed to coax the rat out with a piece of bread and placed it back on the floor.

"This is getting ridiculous," Kenta muttered, slumping against the wall. "Am I overthinking this? Or maybe underthinking it?"

The grey rat, apparently bored, decided to chew on the corner of one of his books.

"Oi! Stop that!" Kenta lunged forward, gently shooing the rat away. "You're supposed to be helping me make history, not ruining my history book."

As Kenta sat there, frustrated but determined, a thought struck him. What if the key wasn't just focus, but timing? He had been trying to lock onto both targets simultaneously, but perhaps the trick was to alternate—focus on one, then the other in quick succession, before clapping to execute the swap.

"Alright," Kenta muttered, rolling his shoulders. "Let's try this again."

He closed his eyes, focusing first on the white rat. He visualized its small, twitchy form and its exact position on the floor. Then, he shifted his focus to the grey rat, locking onto its lazy demeanor and the spot where it sat.

This time, instead of trying to maintain simultaneous focus, he allowed the two mental images to overlap, creating a link between them.

Kenta opened his eyes, clapped his hands, and held his breath.

There was a sudden flash, accompanied by a faint popping sound. When Kenta looked down, his jaw dropped. The white rat and the grey rat had swapped places.

"I DID IT!" Kenta shouted, punching the air triumphantly.

The rats, however, didn't seem nearly as impressed. They sniffed at their new surroundings, completely unbothered by the fact that they had just defied the laws of space and physics.

Kenta leaned forward, examining them closely. "It worked," he murmured, a grin spreading across his face. "It actually worked."

His body felt slightly fatigued, and his chakra reserves were noticeably lower. He estimated that the swap had consumed about 20 percent of his total chakra—double the cost of swapping himself with another target.

"Figures," Kenta muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "Two targets, double the cost. Makes sense."

But he wasn't discouraged. He knew that with better chakra control and increased reserves, the cost would eventually decrease. This was just the beginning.

He picked up his journal and began scribbling notes. He wrote everything in English just so that his enemies don't find the weakness or the shortcomings of his technique. "Mental focus is key," he wrote.

"Lock onto targets one at a time, then link them. Current cost: 20 percent of chakra. Potential for improvement with training."

He glanced at the rats, who were now sitting side by side, grooming themselves. "You two are pretty good test subjects," he said with a chuckle. "Thanks for not exploding or anything."

The rats hair stood on end at that statement as they backed away in fear.

Kenta knew he couldn't reveal his progress to anyone—not yet. The world of shinobi and nobles was full of opportunists, and the last thing he needed was for someone to discover his kekkei genkai before he was strong enough to protect himself.

For now, he would keep practicing in secret, refining his technique and pushing its limits. The rats would remain his silent allies, their contributions to science forever unrecognized.

---------Author Notes----------

Loving Kenta's antics? Join my Pat*reon for 15 exclusive extra chapters packed with more Boogie Woogie fun, clan drama, and dessert-fueled revenge—support the story and dive deeper into the shinobi madness! Thank-you!

https://pat*reon.com/BoogieWoogie266