Chapter 2: Awakening of the Shikotsumyaku
One day two years ago.
After dinner, Kiyoshi and his father, Kaguya Genji, returned to their respective rooms to rest.
Back in his room, Kiyoshi picked up a scroll from the corner. After slowly unrolling it, he sat down cross-legged and began to guide the Chakra within his body according to the method depicted on the scroll.
That's right, at that time, the 6-year-old Kiyoshi already possessed Chakra.
At the age of four, Kiyoshi had found a scroll at home that his mother, Kaguya Yukiko, had taken with her when she was expelled from the Kaguya clan. Following the method on the scroll, he extracted Chakra by combining his physical and spiritual energies.
Having inherited the top-tier Kaguya bloodline, Kiyoshi possessed much greater talent than his father, Kaguya Genji. Within a few breaths, he had guided out his first wisp of Chakra.
Untaught, Kiyoshi didn't know what his speed meant. At that time, he was just methodically mixing his physical and spiritual energies to continuously strengthen the Chakra within his body. Unfortunately, Kiyoshi was still too young, and the harsh living environment led to slow physical growth. He fainted after only a few minutes.
In this way, Kiyoshi extracted Chakra almost every night. However, limited by the scarcity of physical energy, Kiyoshi's Chakra grew very slowly.
After extracting Chakra, Kiyoshi did not stop training. He continued to guide the flow of Chakra within his body according to the Chakra pathways in the scroll. This was a Chakra training method passed down by the Kaguya clan since the Warring States period. The complete circulation of Chakra between fixed meridians and fixed acupoints could nourish the body and refine the Chakra, allowing it to flow faster within the body.
It was also said to stimulate the awakening of the Kekkei Genkai, but in the long history of the Kaguya clan, there were still very few who possessed a Kekkei Genkai, so this claim was not very convincing.
From the age of 4 to 6, over two years, although Kiyoshi's body was still poorly developed, it was much better compared to before he started training Chakra.
Chakra flowed rapidly within the meridians along familiar paths, slowly nourishing his young body. After ten complete cycles, Kiyoshi prepared to stop and rest. Just then, he found his body beginning to tremble uncontrollably, and the Chakra within him, which had been gradually calming down, suddenly began to circulate faster.
Kiyoshi panicked, not knowing what was happening. He thought something had gone wrong with today's training and tried his best to control the Chakra within his body, wanting to bring it back under his control. The speed of Chakra flowing between the meridians increased, and Kiyoshi's body became hotter and hotter. In a daze, he could almost hear the sound of Chakra flowing within him like a great river.
Just as Kiyoshi was at his wit's end and wanted to call for help from his father, who was sleeping next door, the flow of Chakra within his body gradually slowed down. At the same time, Kiyoshi's Chakra aura began to slowly increase. According to the ninja strength level assessment, it roughly increased to the level of a seasoned Genin. The amount of Chakra within his body also rapidly increased simultaneously, and Kiyoshi could feel his physical strength slowly increasing as well.
Opening his eyes, Kiyoshi looked bewildered, not knowing what had happened to his body. "How did my strength inexplicably increase?"
Kiyoshi remembered when his mother was still alive, she had told him about the general levels of ninja. After graduating from the Ninja Academy and passing the exam, one becomes a Genin. Then, through the Chūnin Exams or village appointment, one becomes an ordinary Chūnin, and then continues to improve, becoming an elite Chūnin. If someone possesses a special ability in a certain area and is to some extent comparable to a Jōnin, they will be appointed as a Special Jōnin. Following that are ordinary Jōnin, elite Jōnin, and finally, the Kage level.
Although the common ninja rank system in the ninja world only includes Genin, Chūnin, and Jōnin, these only represent the ninja's status within their respective villages, not their actual strength level.
Even among Jōnin, there is a big difference in strength between Special Jōnin, ordinary Jōnin, and elite Jōnin. Ninjas of different strength levels have significant differences in Chakra quantity and quality, as well as the rank and power of their jutsu.
Because no one taught him, Kiyoshi thought he might have increased in strength and reached the level of a Genin. He believed that the situation in his body just now was due to the increase in strength. He didn't know that he possessed a Kekkei Genkai that was very rare even in the ninja world, and the strange phenomenon just now was caused by the awakening of the Shikotsumyaku.
In fact, based on Kiyoshi's bloodline and talent, his Shikotsumyaku should have awakened around the age of 4. However, due to being exiled, the harsh environment and lack of nutrition led to extremely slow physical development, lagging behind the normal age by about 2-3 years. Moreover, Kiyoshi's Chakra reserves had also been unable to keep up.
So, it wasn't until today, after more than two years of Chakra accumulation and body nourishment, that the Kekkei Genkai dormant within him finally awakened.
Still excited about the increase in his strength, Kiyoshi suddenly felt his body slowly heating up. He had a strange feeling that he could do something. He slowly drove the Chakra within his body, following his body's instincts to evenly distribute all the Chakra in his ten fingers. He stretched out his hands in front of him.
Under the manipulation of Chakra, Kiyoshi's osteoblasts and osteoclasts in his hands were rapidly mobilized, and the calcium concentration in his palms quickly increased.
Ten sharp bone spurs slowly grew from the fingertips of his ten fingers. Kiyoshi was startled, thinking there was a problem with his finger bones. He hurriedly wanted to cut off the Chakra to make the bones retract, but as someone who had just awakened his Kekkei Genkai, he had no experience in controlling the Shikotsumyaku. The scroll left by his mother did not mention anything about the Shikotsumyaku. In Kiyoshi's panic, the ten bone spurs shot forward rapidly like bullets.
"Boom!"
With a loud bang, the wall suddenly collapsed under the impact of the Ten Finger Drilling Bullets. Kiyoshi, having exhausted his Chakra just after awakening his Kekkei Genkai, fainted directly.
The collapse of the wall woke Genji, who was sleeping next door. In a daze, he came to Kiyoshi's room and immediately saw his son lying unconscious on the ground and the shattered wall in front.
His eyes swept over the debris on the ground and suddenly stopped. He saw several bone bullets deeply embedded in the fragments of the wall.
"Ten Finger Drilling Bullets... so the Kekkei Genkai has awakened." Genji muttered to himself.
Just then, two figures quickly flashed outside the house. They were the two Jōnin who had been sent to monitor and watch over Kiyoshi's family.
"What happened?" one of the Jōnin asked loudly.
"Get lost, nothing happened!" a low growl came. Genji was not surprised by the arrival of the two outsiders. Genji, who usually ignored them, had to slowly walk into the courtyard to confront the two Jōnin in order to protect the news of Kiyoshi's Kekkei Genkai from being leaked.
"Since nothing happened, we brothers will leave. I hope you know what's good for you, Lord Genji." the other Jōnin said sarcastically.
"Hmph, my good brother's lackeys, our family's affairs are none of your business. Get lost quickly. Although my strength has declined, I can still manage to kill one of you even if I get injured. Want to try?" Genji glanced at them with slight disdain and threatened.
"Heh, let's go!" The two Jōnin didn't know that Genji couldn't actually defeat them without risking his life. After briefly checking the situation, they retreated far away under Genji's threat.