A sharp spray of tea shot out of Tadao's mouth, right into Shin's face.
"Kaoru!" Tadao barked, coughing violently. "Are you serious?!"
Shin sat frozen, eyes wide, tea dripping from his hair and face like he'd been ambushed by a rogue water jutsu.
Kaoru looked completely unfazed. "Of course I'm serious," she said with a bright smile, casually taking another bite of kinoko gohan. "I have to be a good aunt for senpai's cute, little son!"
"But that's a bit too much!" Tadao protested, still red in the face from choking. "You can't just—"
Near him, Shin was calmly wiping himself off with a cloth, a resigned look on his face.
Once mostly clean, he turned to Kaoru. "Then… can I call you aunt?"
Kaoru's eyes sparkled like twin suns. She shot up from her seat and, before Shin could react, scooped him into the air.
"Owwww!" she squealed, rubbing her cheek against his like an overenthusiastic relative at a reunion. "You're so cute! Of course you can call me Aunt!"
Shin, dangling in her grasp like a very confused cat, let out a soft groan. "Aunt… then… can you let me go? I want to finish my dinner…"
"Oh! Right!" Kaoru gently lowered him back into his seat and returned to hers, humming cheerfully.
...
A quiet space of grass, worn training posts, and a wooden fence enclosing the small courtyard. Kaoru stood upright in front of Shin, while Tadao lounged nearby against the wall of the house, half-asleep in the grass.
'Why did they have to start right now…?' Tadao thought grumpily, his eyes half-lidded. 'Couldn't they have waited until tomorrow morning at least…'
"Shin…" Kaoru's voice was soft but firm, drawing Shin's attention. "Close your eyes."
Obediently, Shin shut his emerald eyes.
"Emanate your chakra around you… as much as you can… as far as you can," Kaoru instructed.
Shin's expression grew calm and focused. He released his chakra, a gentle surge flowing outward like invisible ripples in a pond, spreading across the entire backyard with ease.
"Now," Kaoru continued with a small smile, "try to mold your chakra over anything it touches. Sense their forms. Sense their location."
Her smile widened slightly. Shin concentrating was just too cute—it reminded her of Hiroshi when he was young and eager to please.
'Molding my chakra over anything it touches…' Shin repeated inwardly, trying to process her words. 'Like a… like a sensory sheet…?'
It came naturally to him. He imagined his chakra forming a soft, flexible veil—a chakra veil that draped itself over everything it encountered. Thanks to his precise chakra control, the veil molded around objects with uncanny precision.
The moment the veil touched the fence, Shin could feel the exact distance between it and himself. It spread further—covering the trees, the old training posts, the walls of the house.
He could see them in his mind, not with his eyes, but through his chakra.
But then he noticed something strange. Though the veil spread perfectly, it seemed to slip off when it brushed past Kaoru and Tadao—like trying to grab mist.
Shin opened his eyes, puzzled.
"Aunt Kaoru… why can't I sense either you or sensei?"
Kaoru blinked. "That's because—wait." Her expression froze. Then her eyes widened. "Wait! You already got the Chakra Geolocalization Principle? This fast?!"
"Yeah, it wasn't that hard…" Shin said, rubbing the back of his neck as if it were nothing special. "I just thought of making my chakra a veil to cover the things it touched and then sensed their distance from me."
Kaoru's jaw dropped slightly as she turned toward her husband. "Tadao… I don't think even Hiroshi was this talented back then…"
"Yeah, right…" Tadao murmured lazily, eyes still closed. "The kid's a genius. I've already accepted it."
Kaoru turned back to Shin, her expression softening as she recalled his earlier question.
"Shin… the reason you couldn't sense either me or Tadao is because your chakra isn't used to being like this yet," she began patiently. "Sensor chakra is different—it needs to be refined, flexible, and attuned. Right now, your chakra stretches a bit too unnaturally when you try to scan for life… and because of that, it slips past people like us."
Shin listened intently, absorbing every word.
"You see, chakra naturally protects our physical bodies from being easily detected," Kaoru continued, her tone turning almost teacher-like. "But—great irony—it's also the thing that allows us to be sensed in the first place."
She gestured toward the fence and the trees behind her.
"Just like you sensed those objects by molding your chakra over them, in theory, you could sense a person's physical body the same way. But the problem is… our chakra hides our body's presence from that type of detection. That's why you couldn't feel me or Tadao."
Shin blinked slowly, clearly following along.
Kaoru raised a finger, emphasizing the final point. "Only when your chakra adapts to being sensor chakra will you be able to link with someone else's chakra signature. You won't detect their body—you'll detect their chakra. The very thing meant to conceal them becomes the thing you sense."
She crossed her arms, pleased with her explanation.
"You should try practicing with ninja who are around your level," she added. "Their chakra defenses are usually weaker and more natural. That'll help your chakra adapt more quickly."
Shin gave a quiet nod. "Thanks, Aunt."
"No—" Kaoru started, about to correct him with a proud smile, but then a loud snore interrupted her.
She turned around sharply to see Tadao slumped against the wall, completely asleep.
Her expression twitched.
"Tadao!" she shouted, stomping over and delivering a solid smack to his head.
"OW—!" Tadao jolted upright, rubbing the back of his skull. "Huh?! Is it morning already?!"
Kaoru glared at him.
Shin chuckled softly behind her, covering his mouth as he tried not to laugh.
"Wake up, you lazy fucker!" Kaoru shouted, smacking Tadao even harder this time.
"Okay, okay, my love…" Tadao groaned, still shielding his head with one arm as he peeked over at Shin. "See why she married someone like me? Because no one else could stand her."
"Tadao!" Kaoru shrieked and whacked him again, this time with both hands.
Shin couldn't hold it in anymore. He burst out laughing, nearly doubling over, his emerald eyes sparkling with mirth.
To be continued...
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Be sure to check out my original novel Hyperborea!