Raising her eyebrows, Minko looked surprised to see Raijin's strongest affinity. In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, it was not so common to see a boy with an inclination to Water Release as basically every chakra-user had some aptitude to Fire in Konoha — herself being part of this community.

Feigning ignorance, Raijin looked in Minko's direction with a curious gaze. "It turned… wet? What does this mean, Minko-sama?" he asked while flailing the paper a bit. 

"That means that among the five basic nature transformations, the one you have the most affinity towards is water," she said with an explanatory tone. "This implies that when you are learning elemental jutsus, the ones related to water will be the easiest to learn and experience substantial progress. That is why a Shinobi needs to know their main affinity." 

"Oh, I see… So that's how it is." Raijin felt eager with this discovery, already thinking of possible future abilities he could create or learn from the jutsus the original show already depicted. But just as he was beginning to focus on something else, Minko stood up and went to the bookcase behind her and grabbed an old book.

"This is a book that explains the fundamentals of the five basic nature transformations and some of their usages. It's an elementary textbook that you should read to understand the concepts we just spoke about — treat this as a gift and an investment in your future as a ninja." she said while placing the book on the table and dragging it to Raijin's side with two fingers.

The boy was a bit speechless. When Minko said that she wanted to talk to him, he thought it might've been about his training and some reprehension because of him sneaking out too much. He never imagined that she would aid him in his training venture. He felt very conflicted because he thought that he couldn't do anything of value to thank her enough at the moment.

Holding the book with both hands, he did a thirty-degree bow to show his thanks to her before saying: "I-I… Minko-sama, I don't know if I can thank you enough for your help." His eyes wandered around the room, avoiding direct contact with her.

"There's no need. This book isn't truly valuable to me since it's too elementary, and these chakra-receptive papers won't make a difference. Just go to your room and don't disturb me. That would be enough as a thanks." Minko said in a dismissing tone, asking for Raijin to get out of the office.

Standing up, Raijin locked his eyes with Minko's with a decisive feeling emanating from the glow of his pupils. Turning around, he went to the first floor and directed himself to the room he was allocated with another three kids.

'I guess I've turned soft over the years.' Minko's thoughts could not be heard by anyone, only showing themselves on her expression, which turned to a soft smile while she was looking at the chair that Raijin previously sat on.

~~

Raijin held the book looking intently at its title: "Five Basic Nature Transformations — An Overview". 'This might give me a few insights on the use of chakra. But I think I'll read this only after my leaf-sticking daily practice'. 

His training didn't happen only in the training grounds, he just felt that it would be more convenient to go back to the orphanage instead of staying there all day since he had to eat and do things a human should do. The only thing he had to adapt so that his roommates would not disturb him mid-practice was to place the leaf on his nape instead of his forehead since, in that way, they wouldn't think too much when seeing him meditating with closed eyes.

His leaf-sticking training would last for around twenty minutes. It had been a great improvement considering that, on the first day, he wouldn't last for even ten seconds straight, but still, compared to his gains on the physical side, this result frustrated him.

'I suppose you can only achieve this much after one month of training without insane resources.' Raijin thought while opening his eyes and seeing the leaf not being glued to his nape anymore. 'Anyways, time to read the book that Minko gifted me.'

He then took the book and flipped one page after another in moderate succession, with just enough time for him to assimilate the words inscribed in it. And that continued for a couple of hours before he was done with it. 

Frowning, Raijin released a long sigh. ''This is actually a toned-down version of what I already know. For example, it doesn't say anything about Yin and Yang release, just that some clans have abilities that cannot be explained using the Five Nature Transformations theory or that some abilities seem to be the fusion of two natures, but that there has not been a record of three natures creating a unique ability.'

Raijin frowned but quickly regained his composure. 'Ah… I think I can not be too dependent on these things, I have to find a way to differentiate myself from the rest. Still, it offered me some insights about the basic nature transformations that I didn't know before, like how a combination of two or more of them can amplify the effect of one another. That is an interesting idea to test after learning elemental jutsus.

But still, that is too far off from my current reality. Now, I have to focus on getting better with my workouts and also in my chakra manipulation practices.' He said while taking off to his futon and sleeping. All of these intense exercises and chakra-based practices had taken a toll on him, so he decided to get some much-needed sleep for the afternoon.

After a few hours of sleep, Raijin woke up to see that it was beginning to get dark outside. Looking around, he went to the kitchen and got an apple to chew on. 'I think I need to get in motion to arrange some cash by doing some chores for people so that I can get pocket money in exchange. Then, I can finally get enough money to buy weights — even if they are the cheapest ones.

I could also get myself a calligraphy kit to practice my spelling of kanji and other symbols since my writing is pretty ugly and might make future fuuinjutsu practice more difficult than expected. So, it's decided!' He ended with his hand turning into a fist.

However, seeing that he was not alone in the kitchen anymore, he promptly recomposed himself.

"Raijin, why don't you play with us anymore?" a girl about his age approached him. She asked with a curious expression, thinking that the boy had changed and not approached them for a while.

"I just don't want to." He said with an indifferent tone. His face showed neither happiness nor angriness, it just maintained its normal calmness.

"What do you mean? We would always go play tag and hide-and-seek together and we all had so much fun!" She continued questioning him since the boy displayed an unusual behavior. If even she could discern this, then everyone around Raijin could understand that his personality changed drastically.

"I am just not into that anymore. It's a real waste of my time." he finished eating the apple and walked off to his room to continue practicing the leaf-sticking training.

While he was going to his room, another boy approached the girl. "Who does he think he is talking to you like that, Fumiko? He's getting on my nerves recently." Shinki said with an angry voice. He was about five years old, so it was almost time for him to enroll in the academy, making him one of the oldest boys in the orphanage.

"It's ok. I just… didn't think that he would not want to play with us anymore..." Her eyes got a little wet, but she could suppress the sadness instilled in her when having to break ties with a previous friend.

Looking at her, Shinki could only sigh and stare at the back of the boy who paced to his room as if nothing happened. 

Raijin went to his room and did some leaf-sticking training again. After managing to surprisingly stick a leaf on his nape for twenty-one minutes, he started to brainstorm some ideas for his natural affinity. 'I could develop my water affinity to a blood release just like what Avatar did with the blood-bending thing they developed. 

But still, it would be insane of me to think that the greatest mind and one of the best Water Release users to have ever walked the Shinobi world — Tobirama Senju, wouldn't think of manipulating the water of the human body as a way to eliminate his opponents from the inside out. So, there is probably something that he couldn't figure out about that or it's just that it's not possible and only achievable by the famed Ketsuryugan.'

After coming up with numerous ideas of abilities, Raijin noted them down with one pencil in a little notebook he had found among his items. Them being possible or not, it would call for a test that he could only go for in the future when he had enough power to do it.

~~
~~

A/N:
Hey, people! 
I swear that things will start catching up soon. We still have an event before the academy that should be coming in the next chapter or so.
I hope you guys stick with me for the time being, I promise that you will not regret it!
Thank you all for your continuous support, I really do appreciate you, people!
Getting back to work, peace!