章 21: CH_21

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"Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu) is more complicated than the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu)," said Maruboshi to his eager student. "What you learned right now was to create an illusory clone with no substance, but Henge no Jutsu allows a shinobi to manipulate your body itself, which has substance."

Maruboshi stopped when Takuma raised his hand.

Takuma said, "I haven't transformed yet, so I don't know— but according to the jutsu scroll I have, the jutsu lets us transform into another person, animals, plants, and even inanimate objects; which is fine and extremely useful, but the scroll also said that user will gain the attributes and physical features of whatever they transform into, such as a weapon's sharpness or an animal's fangs— I find that hard to believe"

"And why is that?" a smile bloomed on Maruboshi's face— his student was curious as ever.

"It is supposed to be one of the academy three, the easiest of jutsu to learn, which aren't even used in real-life situations often. But if I could transform into a strong metal, something like titanium, then wouldn't I be impervious to most attacks? If someone is pursuing me and I have no way to lose them or fend them off, can't I just transform into a roadside pebble. A kunai coming to the chest? Pebble. Chained to a wall? Pebble. Infiltration mission? Pebble— that is, dozens of shinobi transformed into pebbles in a civilian's backpack," Takuma said with an incredulous look on his face. "Isn't this too overpowered? I mean, just from the top of my head, I can think of a dozen uses; give me a day, and I will have a list of at least a hundred different scenarios."

Maruboshi laughed merrily. Ever since the day he had started formally teaching Takuma, not one day had gone by since he hadn't said something amusing.

'Children have a vigor that I have long lost,' Maruboshi sighed in thought.

"This scroll you say you have," he said, "did you read the entirety of it? I believe the jutsu scroll for Henge no Jutsu would be fairly long in its length."

A blush immediately appeared on Takuma's face, almost extending down to his neck.

Of course, Maruboshi smiled. As curious as he knew Takuma to be, he was almost as hasty, if not more— always charging forwards as if he was in a hurry, never taking a moment to stop and enjoy his surroundings. Isn't every child the same? Maruboshi thought.

"If you read ahead, you would have found detailed research on the jutsu. There are many restrictions associated with Henge no Jutsu. Yes, while you can transform into inanimate objects, the point about assuming the object's attribute is partially false. If you transform into forged steel and have someone stab you with a kunai, it will still harm you; the wounds will show when the jutsu is released or broken. If you transform your hand into an animal's claw, your grip strength will remain the same, and your claws will be as sharp as a butter knife. Henge no Jutsu can indeed change the body's shape and size, and from the outside, everything would look the same, but even a civilian would immediately know something's wrong from a single touch. The more you deviate from your natural shape, the harder it is to transform, and the poorer the quality of transformation will be."

"What about the pebble?" Takuma asked with a frown.

Maruboshi shook his head. "One of the restrictions has to do with mass. You can't deviate much from your body's original mass. That limit is defined by your skill, and while you can breach that limit" — Takuma's eyes shined — "it requires a tremendous amount of chakra. Even the Hokage would find it difficult to muster enough chakra to transform into a pebble for a couple seconds— and after that, they would suffer from chakra exhaustion. Not at all ideal."

Takuma looked like a dog with drooping ears.

"Shinobi only use it to transform into other people because it doesn't deviate much from the human body's shape— and the mass requirement is eased considerably when transforming to another person because of similar structure and composition. Moreover, transforming into inanimate objects requires a great deal of familiarity with the target object," Maruboshi sighed. "All in all, even if we discount the chakra requirements, the amount of effort required to make it usable is not worth it for most shinobi."

Takuma folded his hands and frowned as he was not convinced. Maruboshi wasn't concerned about that; Takuma was bound to learn with time, and letting him figure it out on his own was in no way a detriment to his growth. After all, making mistakes and learning from them was the best way to learn.

"I implore you to read the jutsu scrolls on your own time. It is normal if you don't understand everything, but knowing more will help you perform an easier and better quality execution." Maruboshi clapped his hand once. "Enough talking; let us move on to executing the jutsu. You need a target to transform into."

Takuma perked up and stood up straight at attention. "I know the hand seals. I can transform into you!" he said.

Maruboshi shook his head. "It's good that you know the hand seals, but I am not a good target for a beginner. I weigh roughly twice as much as you, and our height is substantially different. It is doable as we both are humans, but the amount of chakra for each attempt is not suitable for training. We need a target similar in size to you so that you won't tire out fast even if you fail."

'...even if you fail', Maruboshi thought. Takuma had learned Bunshin no Jutsu too quickly. It had taken three tries. Three! It was too quick, even if Takuma was some kind of prodigy; learning a jutsu after three tries was more than extraordinary.

He could have understood if Takuma was experienced in invoking ninjutsu and was working on a jutsu similar in nature to one he already knew. (Learning a new Katon (Fire Release) jutsu after being well versed in Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)) But Bunshin no Jutsu was Takuma's first-ever jutsu, and he had pulled it off to perfection after three tries— he created multiple clones to boot.

Is he a prodigy? Maruboshi had been teaching Takuma for nearly half a year now, and after observing the young child's progress during that time, Maruboshi couldn't classify Takuma as a prodigy. Takuma was a fast learner— no two ways about that. He had seen Takuma pick up things blazingly fast.

Takuma spoke with a wit unlike that of an eleven-year-old; Maruboshi frequently found himself feeling he was talking to some. He was amazingly quick with numbers and calculations, as though he had an abacus in his head. And displayed a shockingly deep understanding of history, shinobi or otherwise; in their occasional conversations, Takuma had expressed opinions and views that looked at history and current affairs from various points of view like social, economic, political, diplomatic relations between clans or villages, and many other than applied.

'— a shinobi must see underneath the underneath—'

If some other child had said it, Maruboshi would have brushed it off with a chuckle, but when it came from Takuma, he felt like the young boy of eleven meant it. Takuma was a sheer beginner at tactics and strategies, and he took some time to learn the lessons, but what he knew, he used well enough to get the applause of appreciation.

"...I will give you another target to transform into." Maruboshi weaved the hand seals and felt a flush of chakra spread into every inch of his body. The familiar feeling of being submerged in water enveloped him, causing him to hold his breath without meaning to, despite knowing there was no actual water around him.

"It has been a while since I have been at this height," Maruboshi looked at Takuma, who was now at his eye level. 'Or am I at his eye level?'

"Is this you?" Takuma asked, his eyes wide as he took in Maruboshi's appearance. The usually old man looked shockingly young, so young that he had shrunken down at height, all of his wrinkles and blemishes had disappeared as if they didn't exist, and the gray locks tied in a ponytail had turned into a youthful black.

Maruboshi couldn't see his own appearance, but he nodded. "This is how I imagine how I looked when I was your age."

"Imagined?"

"Visualization is key in Henge no Jutsu, young— no... friend Takuma," Maruboshi grinned, and even Takuma laughed. "I only know my appearance from photo albums and my memories, and thus I could only mimic what I remember from them. Who knows, I might have made some mistakes."

Takuma went silent and looked contemplative.

Maruboshi's eyes shined.

Takuma wasn't a shinobi prodigy such as the likes of Hatake Kakashi; neither did he display the mesmerizing intellectual prowess as that of Nara Shikaku. His taijutsu skills were as far away as they could be like those of the rising star, the Green Beast, Might Gai. He didn't even possess a kekkei genkai (bloodline limit) he could fall back upon. But he did possess one crucial skill. Everyone observed things around them— they saw, they listened, and they felt— but only a few ever used all of those observations to ask the right questions.

"If I don't visualize properly, I might get caught?" Takuma frowned. "No, that would make the jutsu useless in the field; you can't expect the target to stand in front of you until you have perfectly memorized their appearance. That's ridiculous. Then does that mean, most of the time, a perfect imitation isn't possible?"

He went silent for a moment before his eyes shined. "You don't have to perfectly copy someone!" he said.

There it was. The edge of Maruboshi's lips tugged up.

"You can copy someone just close enough that it doesn't raise suspicion at first glance. I don't think I will notice things like a slight difference in height, weight, and build," Takuma said, slowly as if thinking about every word he spoke. "Yeah, yeah, I think I've read this somewhere. Rest you can make up with clothes, posture, way of talking, and other idiosyncrasies unique to the person by observing the person from afar?" He frowned at Maruboshi, "But you still have your original voice. How do you fix something like that?"

There was a full smile on Maruboshi. There were times Takuma's deductions would go to outrageous places, but that was okay; as long as he kept asking the right questions, those deductions would become increasingly accurate as he learned more and gained experience.

Maruboshi opened his mouth, and a boyish young voice came out of his mouth. "By hard practice and some chakra manipulation."

"Teach me that," Takuma said with an amazed look. His expression calmed down, and another frown made up on his face, "But picking out idiosyncrasies of people must take time; wouldn't that be difficult on missions?"

'So hasty,' thought Maruboshi. "Shinobi who go on missions that require disguising always do recon until they're confident to pull it off. Henge no Jutsu is only one tool in the box; many other skills go in to pull off a believable disguise. But for now, let's focus on this one tool. Try replicating this appearance."

Takuma nodded. He didn't immediately weave the hand seals; instead, he walked around Maruboshi, who stood still and let Takuma observe him.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let me try it," Takuma nodded as he formed the Dog hand seal.

The first attempt failed, then the second, then a third... Maruboshi encouraged Takuma to continue and gave tips. After half an hour, Takuma had failed dozens of times.

That day, Takuma tried to cast the Henge no Jutsu until the last minute before he had to absolutely leave to get ready for the academy. But he couldn't even transition to the second-hand seal.

Maruboshi watched the downtrodden Takuma's back as he walked away.

'Maybe it was a fluke,' he thought.

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