Reincarnation of the Aburame God (Naruto Fanfic)

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

— Helen Keller

...

When I reached the finish line, there was Hizashi with half a dozen extras standing nearby and Asuma more in the corner. Hizashi had his typical calm expression.

I know I said I intended to talk to him, but he had a surprisingly intimidating aura.

I didn't know much about Hizashi or his personality, apart from the background story of the Hyuuga Clan. That wasn't something that was explored much in the anime after his death.

Maybe I couldn't necessarily get his help, but an insight into what his perspective was like when he saw the chakra channels was possible. If my father was able to see that there was nothing wrong with my chakra without even touching me, it could be some technique I didn't know about.

Sure, I could also ask my father to help me with this. Yet, I had the slight impression that he would never allow a boy, even his own son, who had only recently learned to control his own chakra, to tamper with his wife's weakened chakra.

I kept my hands in the pockets of my white turtleneck and slowly approached Hizashi, who didn't take long to notice.

"Aiden Aburame, right?" asked Hizashi, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

I raised my head and looked at him directly. "Yes. Let me guess, you knew from my long clothes."

He nodded. "That's right. And I also knew because you, Aburame, are practically the only ones who wear those sunglasses all the time. It's hiding your chakra in the eye area, right?"

"Chakra in the eye area?"

"So, you don't know? Well, I can see." He said and suddenly moved his hands, making hand seals.

First, he brought his two hands up together and made a kind of triangle. Then his hands went down and made a box. Then, his hand seals became faster and more complex. Finally, he put his two hands together, intertwined most of his fingers, and touched his two raised index fingers. In this way, the veins around his eyes popped, and he took on a slightly angrier expression.

"I can see exactly how your chakra flows throughout your body. From your stomach to your feet, hands, and neck, except for your head. It's thanks to those glasses you Aburame Clan wear. I'd like to understand why. Do your insects concentrate on the...? Wait, you don't have insects on your body."

I put a hand to the back of my head and turned my face a little, embarrassed. "This is a very personal secret. Try not to tell anyone," I mocked.

The expression on Hizashi's face eased, and his startled veins returned to their normal state. He put a hand on his waist and said:

"If this is a secret, you shouldn't keep it too well. Everyone knows that there's an Aburame at the Ninja Academy who doesn't know how to use insects. They say that this is a normal trait in the women of her clan, but that it has never happened to men. Well, the good news for you is that not everyone knows this Aburame is you, Aiden-kun."

"I try not to attract any more bad attention."

"I see… Then, it's best that we don't spend too much time talking. The others might think you're flattering me. See you later, Aiden Aburame."

"Please, wait."

"What? What do you want?" Hizashi's asked.

"I have a question for you. Do you mind if we talk some more?"

Hizashi squinted his eyes and analyzed me for a moment. Then he turned to me and said:

"I must wait for the joint training to finish. So, tell me what you want to know, and I'll think about answering depending on the question you ask."

"Thanks for that." I said and bowed my head slightly. "Recently, I discovered that my problem with insects was related to my chakra. Today, they no longer fear me. However, when I saw you and remembered the Byakugan, I remembered that the Hyuuga Clan is the one that probably understands chakra best in all of Konohagakure. If I'm not mistaken, all your techniques involve the use of chakra, and you use it in different ways."

Listening to me, Hizashi crossed his arms. "It seems you know a lot about my clan."

"And you about mine... Anyway, what I wanted to ask you about is what it's like to see people with the Byakugan."

"If that's all, you didn't have to give all that explanation. Many kids in my class have already asked about it. They think I can see women naked and are excited about the idea of having a Byakugan to do it too. In fact, what I see is only one percent of people's flesh, just enough to give them their silhouette, while the rest of what I see in people is the many chakra pathways."

"Hmm. That's why you usually attack the chakra points to disable a ninja's ability to use your techniques."

"Exactly."

"But, at the beginning, wasn't it difficult to see so many things in such detail?"

"Yes, it was. Like any technique, the Byakugan requires training and practice. Up to a certain age, it's normal to use hand seals to help us better direct our chakra to certain areas of the body," said Hizashi, and that gave me a great insight.

Hand seals. I had never given much thought to why ninjas use them. As a mere viewer of the anime, I saw hand seals as more than something stylish and never stopped to think about their purpose.

It was impossible for me not to remember the lesson I had with Iruka-sensei on my first day in this world. I was confused and paid little attention to the subject, but I remember that there was a chapter in the textbook that paid a lot of attention to seals and their relationship with the Byakugan.

Hizashi realized that I had understood something from his explanation because I didn't even think about hiding it. He put his hands in the pockets of his green jacket of jounin, turned around, and started walking with a smile on his face.

"I hope I've helped you, Aiden Aburame. Maybe I'll see you at the Genin Exam."

-:-

When I got home from class, I immediately went to my room, took my academy textbook out of my bag, and sat down at my desk.

The Ninja Academy textbooks always seemed dull at first glance. A worn cover, yellowed pages, and simplistic illustrations. Still, the tedium of reading a textbook couldn't get to me if I was interested in learning about the subject.

"Hand seals are the fundamental ways of shaping and channeling chakra into jutsus. Each seal activates a specific command, like gears in a machine," I read aloud. "The most basic seals are twelve, all based on the animals of the zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. Each one performs an essential function in the chakra flow."

'So it's like... video game cheat codes?' My mind wandered.

If chakra were like raw energy, the hand seals would be the commands that translate that energy into action.

"For example, the Tiger seal is often used to shape fire chakra, while the Horse seal is associated with speed control."

'If that's true, I can use jutsus as if they were a combination of keys. Now it makes even more sense that anyone can use any basic jutsu, as long as it's not a kekkei genkai.'

Immediately, I tried to imitate the Tiger seal with my hands. My thumb slipped, and I repeated the gesture three times before I got it right.

"Why doesn't anyone explain this in a way that makes sense to us?" I muttered, looking at my fingers in position. 'It would be so much easier if it were just something like: press X and O at the same time to make fire come out of your mouth!'

I turned back to the book, this time with more curiosity than before.

"The sequence of seals is important because it aligns the chakra reserves in the body, directing the flow to produce the desired effect. A mistake in the sequence can lead to unpredictable results."

"By mastering the seals, the ninja gains absolute control over his chakra, allowing quick adaptations in combat... Hmm... Absolute control... that's a lot more powerful than it sounds. Imagine combining seals in the middle of a fight, as if you were improvising a combo. It could kill me or hinder me, but it might give me the chance to do a completely new jutsu."

At this point, I was more in the middle of a daydream than I was coming up with any really useful ideas.

"Now it makes sense for Kakashi to be called the Ninja of a Thousand Jutsus. He copies the hand seals perfectly and reproduces the jutsus."

An idea that sent shivers down my spine interrupted my excitement. If the seals really were commands, then there was something else I had never considered.

'If my father did it yesterday, that means Aburame can see chakra, right? Maybe not like the Hyuuga, but...' I closed my eyes, trying to remember more about the lessons Aiden watched Shibi give Torune when Torune was much younger.

Memories were pretty hazy about that time, but Shibi Aburame always said that by observing the chakra flow of the insects, we could identify the nuances of the chakra of the bearer of those insects.

I opened my eyes again, this time focusing on the reflection in the mirror next to the bed. My pupils seemed too normal to see anything like a person's chakra channels, and the Meikyugan wasn't as powerful as a dojutsu. So an idea popped into my head.

'What if this is more than identifying chakra with the eyes? What if we Aburame can sense and visualize through specific vibrations?'

The textbook remained open beside me as the idea consumed me.

'If I could see the flow of chakra, it would be perfect. But although my father was looking at me that day, he didn't see my chakra but felt it somehow... Insects, then, can sense other people's chakra and transmit it to the bearer of the insect. The question is: did he do it through a specific insect or through the kikaichuus?'

*

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