Chương 12: Revealing his ability

"What the fuck was that?" The curse slipped out of Choza's mouth before he could stop it. Choza's face turned red almost instantly. He realized what he had said and looked embarrassed. He cleared his throat loudly, trying to regain his usual composure.

"I mean... that was... highly unusual," he said, fumbling for the right words.

"Very impressive, but... what exactly did you just do? How did you bounce from a tree and a rock? And do you have a summoning contract with snakes? And how did your swords change shape. And did you just TELEPORT at the end? Explain it to me, kid, because right now my head feels like it got hit by one of my own expansion punches." Shunsui sheathed his transformed blades. As he did, the huge black scimitars shimmered and shifted back to their normal form. They became the familiar daisho pair again.

Shunsui reached up and adjusted his straw hat, which had fallen off during the fight and landed in the grass. He picked it up, dusted it off, and placed it back on his head. Then he answered lazily, "Just a little game, sensei. Nothing too serious." Choza stared at him for a long moment. The silence stretched out. Then the jonin let out a deep, rumbling laugh that shook his whole body. His belly moved up and down like waves on a pond.

"Nothing too serious, he says," Choza repeated, still chuckling.

"You bounced from a tree and a rock without breaking a single bone. You summoned a giant snake that almost ate me whole. You cut my vest in half like it was paper after teleporting right next to me. If that is your idea of not serious, I cannot wait to see what you call serious." Choza directed a long, thoughtful look at Shunsui.

"So what was really that? No more jokes. Tell me straight." Shunsui paused. He looked at his sensei, then at his two teammates.

'There is no helping it,' Shunsui thought.

'I would have to reveal my abilities now. I am sure the Hokage would also know about it soon. But that is not all bad. Revealing this will protect me from Danzo and his root agents. They will think twice before trying anything sneaky if the whole village knows I have strange powers. Besides, I am confident in my ability to deal with the low-level threats that would come with this. And honestly, I am too lazy to hide my abilities anymore.

I would have to use them anyways when my life is in danger and during missions. It's the only ability that I have that I can use in fights.' Shunsui took a slow breath and started speaking.

"When I was five years old, I could somehow summon these blades."

"Summon?" Choza asked, raising one eyebrow. With a casual wave of his hand, the swords at Shunsui's side disappeared. One moment they were there, hanging from his belt. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The next moment, gone. Choza's eyes widened slightly. Genma leaned forward a bit. Guy let out a small gasp. Shunsui waved his hand again, and the blades reappeared in his grip as if they had never left.

"That is a very unusual ability," Choza said slowly.

"You can summon only these blades and nothing else?"

"Yes," Shunsui answered simply.

"Anyway," Shunsui continued, "the swords have what I call a release state. When I recite that poem you heard, it changes their form and grants me the ability to create any children's game in reality. The games become real around us. The rules apply to everyone in the area, not just me." Guy looked completely confused. He scratched his head.

"Children's games? Like tag or hide and seek? But how does that make snakes and bouncing trees?" Genma stayed silent, but his eyes were sharp and thoughtful. He was clearly piecing things together. Shunsui nodded toward Guy.

"For example, I once saw a merchant who was selling a game called pinball. It was a wooden board with a small metal ball. The merchant used wooden pegs and rubber bands stretched tight to make bumpers and flippers."

"The player would hit the ball with a little stick, and the ball would bounce around, hitting the pegs and scoring points in holes. I used that idea to turn my surroundings into rubber flippers, rubber bumpers, ramps, and obstacles. That is why I bounced off the tree and the rock without getting hurt. The ground and trees acted like parts of a giant pinball machine. I saved myself from a bad fall and used the bounce to attack you again." Choza rubbed his chin.

"I have never heard of that game. So that is how you saved yourself from colliding with the tree. You made the tree act like... a spring?" Shunsui knew the reason that Choza had not heard about the game was because Shunsui had made up the story of the merchant just now. The game was from his previous life after all.

"Yes," Shunsui said.

"Next, I changed the game we were playing. You might have heard of the game Snakes and Ladders. It is another version of Chutes and Ladders, the board game where players roll dice and move pieces up ladders or slide down snakes." Choza nodded slowly.

"I have heard about that game. I even played it a few times when I was a kid. You move across squares, climb ladders to skip ahead, or slide down snakes when you land on the wrong spot."

"Exactly," Shunsui said.

"So when I decided to play that game, the area around us turned into an imaginary board. There were hidden snakes and ladders throughout the field."

"When you took a couple of steps forward, unlucky for you, you stepped on an area with a snake. That is why the snake popped up from the ground to devour you. And as for ladders, they allow me to teleport to different locations within the area. Of course, you could have also teleported if you had landed on a ladder spot. The rules apply to everyone playing, not just me." Choza frowned slightly.

"But you seemed to know exactly where the ladders and snakes were. You moved like you had a map in your head." Shunsui thought for a second.

'He noticed that already. Smart.' Out loud he said, "Did I mention that I know the game pretty well? I know all the rules and I also do not need to tell the other players what the rules are."

"Oh, and I might have memorized exactly how many steps I have to take to reach a ladder or how many steps an enemy needs to take to land on a snake. I know the places where the snakes are and ladders are. It makes things easier for me. In fact, I place the imaginary board of the game myself." Choza had a thinking look on his face for a full minute. He paced a few steps, arms crossed over his chest. Finally he stopped and looked at Shunsui again.

"I am still a lot confused. My head hurts trying to wrap around all this. But I think I get most of it. It is quite an interesting ability. Very powerful, very strange. I will have to take help from my old teammate to understand this better. Shikaku is good at figuring out tricky things. Would you mind if I reveal this ability to him and the Hokage? They need to know what one of their genin can do." Shunsui gave a small nod.

"I do not mind."

'At least he asked,' Shunsui thought, feeling quietly happy at his sensei's manners. Most people in power would have just reported it without checking. It seemed like Choza was different. He respected boundaries, even with a genin. With that settled, Choza placed a large hand on Shunsui's shoulder. The weight was heavy but gentle.

"Welcome to Team 10, all three of you," he said with a warm smile.

"You passed with flying colors. That was one of the strangest tests I have ever given, but you showed real teamwork, creativity, and strength. And I don't think that any other genin teams would have been successfully in pushing their jonin sensei this far. Now let us go get some barbecue. I need food after that nonsense. My stomach is growling." Guy shouted at full volume.

"Yoshhh!! Barbecue with the power of youth! We will eat until our bellies are as full as our spirits!" Genma stayed mostly silent as he walked behind the group. He chewed on his senbon thoughtfully. Every now and then he glanced at Shunsui, clearly still processing everything he had seen and heard. But he did not ask any more questions yet. There would be time for that later.