Standing beside his new bed, Raijin dropped his backpack. Releasing a small sigh, he sat on top of the cushion and opened his bag. Rummaging through it, he took out several books and positioned them close to him.

As he finished this, he stared at them. With an eager look, he let his thoughts go wild. 'Now that I finally have more privacy, I can take these out without being scared of getting stolen…

However, I think that it's better to go to the central library first and get some other books to start my study session. With that, I won't be taking unnecessary pauses for some time.'

With that said, Raijin left his books on one of the shelves and took his empty backpack with him while he stood up and left his apartment. As he left and went down the stairs, he saw an eleven-year-old boy getting out of his apartment.

'That guy… He looks oddly familiar. A horizontal scar between his eyes and nose, brown hair, and a ponytail…'

Raijin stopped a bit to think about who he had just seen. After a few moments, and the boy already surpassing him, Raijin came to a realization. "Iruka?!"

He looked at Iruka's back with a surprised expression. 'I think that might be his last year at the Academy as well…

However, that shouldn't matter much to me right now. Even if my situation doesn't change, I can't gain much from him.'

Coming back to the real world, Raijin continued to pace around the village. On the way, he stared at buildings and shops that interested him but decided to ignore them and go to the library uninterrupted.

Without missing a beat, he took his first step onto the wooden floor of Konoha's central library. He held his student ID card with one hand and clasped one of his backpack's straps with the other.

As he arrived at his destination, his eyes scanned the front desk.

In there, stood an old man who wore a Konoha headband on his forehead. His eyes conveyed an uninterested outlook on life while he stared down at a book.

Standing in front of the desk, Raijin quickly made his presence known to the man. 

"Good day, mister."

Breaking out of his concentrated state, the man looked at the child standing before him. After he noticed the age of the person who called him, his expression turned to one of annoyance. 

"I don't have toys for little kids, brat."

He turned back to his book without letting any of his attention slip this time.

Taken by surprise, Raijin's calm face turned to a frown. Extending his student ID card for the old man to see, he replied in a passive-aggressive tone. "I don't want toys. I came here to get books."

As the librarian turned in his direction again, both of them had a momentary stare-off. Exhaling out of frustration, the man took Raijin's card with displeasure. "Kids these days… They think that textbooks are trifling enough to mess around with.

If I catch you doing anything out of the norm, you'll see."

Still feeling a bit weird about the interaction, Raijin turned to the section made for the Academy Student badge. In there, he noticed some bookshelves with their subjects written in silver letters at the top of each shelf.

Walking through the designated section, he found books on topics such as basic Medical Knowledge, fundamentals of Chakra Control, and Nature Transformation Chakra. While he took notice of the amount of theory-based books, he came across E-rank Jutsus and a few D-rank Jutsus manuals.

With his interest peaked, he began analyzing each technique to see if they could be implemented into his arsenal of abilities. By his thought process, he picked the following E-rank manuals:

E-Rank Jutsu: Voice-Disguising Technique: allows the user to alter their voice to mimic the tone, pitch, and accent of another individual, enabling them to deceive opponents or impersonate others with auditory illusion.

E-Rank Jutsu: Clone Technique: This jutsu creates a clone of the user, which lacks substance but appears identical to the real person. While it cannot engage in physical combat, it can be used as a decoy or to confuse opponents.

E-Rank Jutsu: Tranquil Breath Technique: This jutsu enables the user to control their breathing, allowing them to slow their heart rate and steady their nerves. It can be useful for remaining calm in stressful situations or conserving energy during long missions.

E-Rank Jutsu: Transformation Technique: allows the user to alter their appearance superficially, mimicking another person, object, or animal. However, the transformation is easily disrupted by physical contact or stress, and complex details are difficult to replicate accurately.

E-Rank Jutsu: Enhanced Focus Technique: By channeling chakra into their mind, the user can temporarily enhance their focus and concentration, allowing them to maintain attention on a task or study for extended periods without mental fatigue.

"With these, I can combine voice mimicking and appearance disguising. Though I was hyped for getting a perfect disguising technique, I guess this makes sense as well. After all, if people in this world didn't use Henge as often in the original show, then the reason is right here. 

Also, I will have two powerful jutsus for emotional control. With one of them being designed for short bursts and the other for long periods. And, to top it off, I will get the clone technique to make things easier for me.

While I am not in a hurry to get things done, taking this technique already won't be much of a problem. Anyway, if this is what I want for the E-Rank Techniques, then let's start to see the available D-Rank Jutsus here."

As Raijin finished choosing five E-Rank manuals, he looked at the D-Rank Jutsus section. While there was not much in there for him to choose from, he could still get some interesting techniques.

D-Rank Jutsu: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique: enables the user to ambush targets from beneath the ground, dragging them below the surface and leaving only their head exposed. Immobilized and vulnerable, victims are susceptible to interrogation or execution at the user's discretion.

D-Rank Jutsu: Water Release: Hiding in Water Technique: enables the user to blend with water, even in shallow puddles, for stealth purposes. Users can merge into water at their base speed, hiding within one water source. However, the technique provides only limited concealment and is easily disrupted by disturbances in the water, making it less effective for prolonged covert operations.

"These two, while not overly powerful, are the best ones for what I aim to master as my initial skill set. Sigh, it's a shame that I only have this water technique in this section.

I could only find five D-Rank Jutsu Elemental techniques and they all are from different elements. Maybe I will try them later to get a feel for my talent in each, but still…"

After selecting the seven Jutsu Manuals and some other theory textbooks to study, Raijin searched for an empty carrel desk to sit on. Seeing that most of them were vacant, he quickly found one for himself and started to copy the techniques to a separate paper to practice indoors.

Taking out a pen and paper, he stayed there for three hours and a half — rushing against the clock to finish his task. After a few minutes, he was done transcribing the instructions to use the techniques. To ease up, he read a short book on the history of the origin of Konoha.

'This book… It's very detailed. I thought that perhaps they would try to conceal some information in these, but despite painting Madara and subtly implying the Uchiha clan to have traitorous tendencies, it's not bad at all for the information they can divulge.'

Thinking that it was a good read, Raijin closed the book and took his papers and theory books with him after getting the Jutsu Manuals back to their respective shelves. Approaching the exit, he went to the librarian once more.

With a motion to signal his presence, he said, "I want to borrow these three books!"

The librarian, in turn, indifferently took the theory books Raijin handed him and glanced at the papers he carried. 'So he managed to copy those Jutsu Manuals, huh?'

Documenting the book loans, he handed them alongside Raijin's student ID card. "You have one month to get these books back. If you want to extend the deadline, it can only be done here before it ends. On the contrary, you will taxed with a fine."

After that, the elderly man returned to focus on his book.

While Raijin paid close attention to his explanation, he couldn't care less about the man's reaction. His only thoughts were on the paper in his hands and the books he held. Placing them inside his backpack, he only had one thought:

'The grind is back, baby!'

~~

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A/N:

Hey, author here!

Thank you so much for your continuous support!

Alright, getting back to work. Peace!