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6.62% Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve / Chapter 21: CH_21

บท 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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บท 22: CH_22

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.

———

AN: FUCK! — [Nov 24, 2022]

———

.

Another day rolled in, and like every morning, Takuma found himself in the middle of the field, sitting on the ground, doing the post-training stretches so he could leave the training session and return to get his day started.

"You seem down, young Takuma," Maruboshi, performing the same stretches by the side, asked.

Takuma pursed his lips into a line. "I... I think it'd be better to practice the hand seal combination of two seals before trying to learn Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu)."

Maruboshi looked surprised.

Takuma stretched his torso forward to grab the sole of his outstretched feet with his hands. He repeatedly knocked his forehead on his shin with an inaudible groaning.

It had been a few days since Takuma had begun learning the Henge no Jutsu. Every morning, Maruboshi would set out a quarter of an hour in their time to guide him on the jutsu. Throughout the day, Takuma would try to cast the jutsu in his free time and during the scheduled period during his evening training. But no matter how many times he tried, the chakra rattled out of his control, failing the jutsu invocation.

He couldn't understand. After learning the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu) in three tries, why was Henge no Jutsu taking so much time— he couldn't even get past the first hand seal! It looked like he had lucked out by making clones.

A horrifying thought appeared in Takuma's mind. What if Bunshin no Jutsu was to him what Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu) was to Naruto? The blonde protagonist has learned the highly advanced jutsu quickly, clearly showing an affinity with the jutsu. What if Takuma's special affinity was associated with Bunshin no Jutsu, a useless jutsu that couldn't even be used in the field.

Takuma felt sick in the stomach.

"You must not feel down about the jutsu," Maruboshi said with a kind smile. "It took your classmates much longer than you to perform the Henge no Jutsu than you have been trying. You will be able to perform it one day."

"My classmates were eight-years-old; I'm almost eleven; I should learn the jutsu faster than them." It had taken him seven months, but he had covered nearly four years of academy theoretical material— why should learning jutsu be any different?

Takuma got up and half-heartedly dusted himself. "I will go. Thanks for today," he said to Maruboshi before heading out to the training field.

On the way home, Takuma began thinking about the graduation test; the first attempt was in less than two weeks. Thinking about giving the exam made Takuma's body feel heavy. According to the chatter he had heard from his classmates' conversation, the test was divided into two parts— a theoretical and a practical portion. Both portions were divided into sub-parts. The theoretical portion consisted of a standard pen-and-paper test and a face-to-face oral viva-voce with an invigilator. The practical portion was made up of a taijutsu spar, a weapon handling part, a demonstration of the academy three, and a miscellaneous part in which the invigilator could ask anything that hadn't been asked.

There wasn't a single part of the test he felt he could perform well. He still had one year of academic material left that set him back in the pen-and-paper test. There was nothing to be said about his taijutsu skills, his shurikenjutsu had exceeded the passable grade- but they were nothing spectacular, Bunshin no Jutsu was the only academy three he could perform. He could only hope that he would luck out in the viva-voce questioning and the miscellaneous portion of the practical portion, and the invigilator would ask him something he knew.

Takuma sighed. He didn't have high hopes for his luck helping him; fates hadn't been good to him in a while.

———

.

In the academy classroom, Takuma tapped the back of the pencil against his desk. His time in the academy was dedicated to learning the theoretical material so that he could focus on practical skills after school hours. But today, he couldn't concentrate; the thought of opening the book seemed like a massive downer.

'Ugh, what don't they understand by: silence in the classroom?' Takama frowned deeply, and his pencil tapping became more forceful.

He preferred background noise to pin-drop silence during studying. It helped him concentrate; he regularly used the classroom whispers and Kibe's voice as his background noise. He welcomed them. But today, they seem unbearable to listen to, stroking the fire of irritation he felt.

There was only one time in the militant drill sergeant-like Kibe's lessons that the class dared to talk above whispers. Takuma didn't have to open his eyes to know that Kibe was in front of the classroom, personally guiding one of his classmates with either Henge no Jutsu or Bunshin no Jutsu.

Every day, Kibe would call some of his students, one at a time, and ask them to demonstrate one of the academy three. The demonstration would be followed by a guidance session with Kibe pointing out the discrepancies and providing possible tips.

'Nothing to do with me,' Takuma thought as bitterness grabbed him. Kibe had stopped calling him long ago; after numerous times failing to even produce a faulty clone or transformation, it seemed Kibe had given up. He was delighted when he realized he wasn't being called anymore. He didn't have to embarrass himself in front of the entire classroom anymore, Takuma had thought with delight.

But now... Takuma clicked his tongue. Now that he could mold chakra and even perfectly perform the Bunshin no Jutsu, the sweet delight had turned into burning bile. The realization that he had been given up on and deemed a failure and lost cause brought feelings up from deep within.

"Sensei," an annoying voice cut through the chit chat, "you haven't called Takuma up in months. Why is that?"

Takuma's eyes snapped open, and he lifted his chin from his palm to look around the class to find the source of the voice. He knew who it was before he found Hiji sitting on the other side of the classroom with his posse of friends on the backbenches. The Inuzuka boy smirked at Takuma, showing he knew exactly what he was doing.

Takuma clenched his jaw but kept his expression schooled. I'm unaffected. He repeated the words like a chant in his mind. He couldn't give Hiji the satisfaction of getting any sort of reaction out of him.

"Oh, shut up, Hiji! Do you have no shame?" another voice sounded from another part of the classroom.

Takuma turned to the front of the classroom and saw a brunette girl with shoulder-length cinnamon-brown hair staring up at Hiji with a frown.

Okubo Momoe. Takuma recognized the girl, and his eyes narrowed when he felt a sense of green jealousy burn inside him. He flexed his neck and tensed his body until an intense wave of jealousy passed through him. He let out a deep breath as he relaxed his body.

He held no strong feelings towards Okubo Momoe— but the same couldn't be said about the 'boy,' the original Takuma. After living in the body for half a year, he realized that even though the boy hadn't left behind his memories, he had left something else behind. Takuma had recognized Kibe when he had found himself in the boy; he had found his way home the same day— and similarly, some things brought up the remnants in the form of emotions/sentiments.

Momoe invoked the boy's sharp sense of jealousy. After observing the girl for a week or so, Takuma deduced the reason behind the sentiment.

Among their peers, Momoe placed at the top in terms of academic scores and practical shinobi skills— no matter what it was, from ninjutsu to strategy, Momoe was good at literally everything— a true overachiever, the perfect shinobi candidate. She wasn't as good as Uchiha Izumi when it came to taijutsu or had the chakra control rivaling Inuzuka Hana or raw power compared to Akimichi Hideaki— but whatever it was, if she wasn't number one, she was number two. And at least number two in everything was much more competent than number one at one thing.

She had a natural charisma that attracted people to her, and when combined with her skills, it was only natural that she sat on the top of the social ladder. On top of that, Okubo Momoe came from a civilian background, with her parents owning a business in Leaf village— her detractors couldn't even point out that her skills were cultivated with the help of a shinobi clan.

'She's everything the boy isn't,' was Takuma's theory behind the feeling of jealousy.

The boy was a poor student; Momoe could seemingly do everything. The boy had no friends; Momoe was surrounded by people who wanted to be her friends. The boy was ignored; Momoe was praised. The boy would return home to nobody waiting for him; Momoe would be greeted by a complete family back home.

"What, I was just—"

"We know what you're doing, so stop it, you jerk." Momoe turned to the other Inuzuka in the class and said, "Control your rabid brother, Hana."

Hana narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it if I don't?" Her three ash-gray ninken jumped up on the table, staring at Momoe.

Hiji snorted in laughter, looking confident with his cousin supporting him. "Know your place, Okube," he said.

"Oh, shut your trap, Hiji," Hana glared at Hiji.

Izumi sitting beside Hana looked at the quarreling parties and tried to abate the situation. "Let's not fight, okay? We can talk about this calmly," she said. But Momoe was already exchanging words with Hiji and Hana.

Takuma observed the situation from his seat. Momoe and the Inuzukas were now fighting with each other, forgetting that he was the initial subject of the discussion, which Takuma preferred.

But it seemed not everyone had forgotten about it.

"Takuma, come up," Kibe sighed.

Takuma could feel the eyes following him as he walked down the classroom steps toward the front. He looked up at Kibe, who had only called him up because he was called out by Hiji. Takuma could see Kibe didn't want to do this, and seeing that look, he felt his mood sour more than before.

"Show me Bushin no Jutsu," Kibe said, his tone giving the impression he wanted to get this over as soon as possible.

Takuma raised a brow. Was luck finally going his way? He straightened up and joined his hands to form the hand seals for the Bunshin no Jutsu.

Ram — Snake — Tiger

Poof! The smoke cleared, and two clone-Takuma stood alongside the real Takuma.

The raucous laughter from Hiji abruptly stopped as the entire classroom went silent. Every pair of eyes were focused on the three Takuma standing in front of the classroom. Takuma could practically hear their thoughts: The only person in the room who couldn't do a jutsu to save his life now had two clones standing with him.

Kibe stared at Takuma and clones with his eyes wide in surprise. Several seconds passed in silence between Kibe and Takuma as they stared at each other.

"Can I go back now?" Takuma asked.

Kibe's eyes widened more. He was looking at the Takuma who stood nearest to him, but the Takuma who had spoken now was the one standing the furthest to him. He reached out his hand to the Takuma next to him, and it passed right through and when he clenched his fist, Takuma disappeared like he never existed. Kibe's eyes didn't move to the real Takuma who had spoken but to the other clone who remained.

Takuma titled his head, confused by the action. 'Maybe he's observing the quality of my clone,' he thought.

"You can go now," Kibe said.

Takuma dispersed the clone and walked back to his seat. He kept his eyes straight ahead. He didn't look at Hiji or Momoe or Izumi or anyone. He sat down on his seat, took out his book, and started reading.

Even though he was no longer irritated and not in the mood to study, he still couldn't concentrate on the words as his eyes cruised over the page. He was too busy keeping the smile off his face.

Today's academy was fun, he felt.

.

———

Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.

The link is in the synopsis!


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