Chapter 6

"You kids have to focus if you're going to get this. This jutsu is so easy five year olds have mastered it." Jiraiya admonished. We had all failed to perform the clone jutsu again for what felt like the millionth time. It was the 5th day on our return trip to Leaf Village and we had a bit of a problem. For whatever reason none of us could master even a single jutsu. We had all tried the clone, substitution and transformation jutsu. But none of us could get it and we had been trying for four days. But that wasn't the scary part.

The scary thing was the way we were failing. We failed in ways that even Jiraiya didn't even know were possible. Clones would just appear as solid white shapes or multicolored flying shapes. Transformations would have similar results. Substitutions would pull in multiple objects that would hit the user instead of switching with them. Even Jiraiya was scratching his head, he tried every single technique in the book to try and help us, but even his infinite wisdom and power couldn't pull a single clone out of us.

The strange thing was that in the other areas we were learning at incredible speed. All of us had taken to sealing like fish to water. Furianus was especially skilled in its use. We picked up the basic skills like tree jumping, camouflaging, and ambushing as if they were as easy as breathing and walking. But, we couldn't get down a single ninjutsu. It was beyond frustrating and almost a little bit worrying. Jiraiya played off our failure saying "We didn't have enough experience" or "Sometimes ninjutsu doesn't come easily to some." Now I could believe that bs if it was just me, or maybe two of us that couldn't manage. All four of us on the other hand that meant it was something completely different. I remembered the Hokage mentioning how we had unique chakra networks that had never been seen before.

However, what if 'unique' turned into 'damaged' then we could kiss our dreams of becoming ninja goodbye, nevermind the fact that we would have to face the legate. Now he might not do anything to us, but we Romans didn't get some kind of ninja protection soon we may soon find ourselves on the lower rungs of the geopolitical food chain in this world. In short we had to figure out what was wrong or else all of us were fucked.

Cincinnatus also understood this which is why he made me forgo my usual mental combat training for full classroom time. He scrounged up every single monk, mystic, and kook that had some connection the chakra in the old world. But it did no good, because that was that world and this was this world. In short our chances were not looking good.

"Alright, you guys take a break for the day. I have some errands to run in town." Jiraiya disappeared yet again to go peek at women.

"I've heard there's a library in this town. So I intend to go see if I can find any information to solve our problem" Muscius said in his usual monotone.

"That's actually a good idea brother I'll help you" Cato offered. It did seem like a good idea. It probably was the only good idea any of us had come up with recently.

"I'll go too" I volunteered. We all turned and stared at Furianus.

"What? Maybe I want to go to the local baths?" He said sheepishly. Our stares intensified to death glares. "Ok fine geez I'll go" He relented. Muscius for once took control of the situation and led us to library.

"We need to split up to cover several topics that I believe will give us the best chance of finding relevant information. I'll focus on medical textbooks. Cato and Furianus you focus on finding whatever you can about ninja arts directly, Caius you look through history books. It is imperative that we leave no stone unturned in this investigation. Get to work" Muscius directed.

I did as I was told and soon had a large pile of history books next to me. There were a surprising amount of books focused on ninja affairs. The only problem was that they said so little. The books were full of material, but rarely did focus on conflicts. It detailed how all the ninja wars were fought, who fought, and who won. But in all the names and dates of battles, not once was a single jutsu or piece of real information disclosed. The books never explained how the fourth hokage used his amazing jutsu to crush the rock villages army. It was infuriating.

Then I realized why there was no information. Why would ninja disclose how they beat the enemy, if it was as simple as a single jutsu then if they explained how they did it. The enemy would then know how to combat that technique next time they had to deal with it. It was in everyone's best interest if there was no information at all. These history books would have nothing of value.

In essence I was wasting my time.

"Well that's four hours of time down the drain" I said to myself. I stood up and stretched. My stomach ached. Maybe the others had found something more substantive. I shelved my books and found my way over to the table they were sitting at.

"Any luck?" Cato asked.

"None, and I doubt we'd find anything of value in history books. The ninja who control the information to the authors would be stupid or insane to reveal their techniques. Have you guys found anything?" I asked.

"We've been about as lucky as you have. The medical books do have information about the chakra circulatory system, it's just that it's not very useful for understanding the mechanics of jutsu" Cato answered.

"There's not a single book ninja arts in this whole library. It's hopeless. Can we go? I'm hungry and my legs fell asleep." Furianus pouted. He was sitting cross legged in the chair.

"If you'd stop sitting in that ridiculous position the blood would flow to your legs easier. And we can't leave we must find some information, or else... " Muscius trailed off. We all knew what would happen if we didn't figure this.

"Gah!" Furianus tried to stand up, but his legs buckled. Furianus face planted on the carpet of the library

"You know you're supposed to wait as the blood flows right?" Muscius scolded.

"I didn't think folding my legs this much would be this bad" Furianus responded. I chuckled. Everyone learned that when your legs fall asleep you need to let the blood flow for a bit to regenerate the feeling in them. Although, considering he was the worst at water flow plotting out of all us it made sense that he would get blood wrong as well.

I was about to make that joke, but then I stopped. My mind focus on two words constriction and flow. Then my mind exploded as it all came together.

"That's it!" I exclaimed banging my hand on the table.

"What's it?" Cato asked.

"That's why we can't get the jutsu down!" I almost yelled.

"Why?" They all asked.

"Flow and Constriction!" I excitedly said.

"Huh?" They all gave me looks of confusion.

"Muscius why do we use hand seals?" I asked.

"To mould chakra properly for the jutsu" He answered.

"Right. And what does every ninja besides us have?" I asked.

"Chakra coils, tenutsku, and pathways?" He answered uncertainly.

"Right! So what do we not have?" I asked.

"All of those" Furianus answered.

"Exactly! Guys, clench your hands really hard" I commanded. They did so. After a minute Furianus talked.

"My hands are getting numb"

"Because?" I prompted.

"Because clenching restricts the blood flowing to our fingers" He answered.

"Right! Now do the boar seal" I commanded. They formed their hands into the boar seal. Suddenly realization flashed on their faces.

"Now you get it! Basically the hand seals restrict the flow of chakra to certain pathways in the hand. This restricted flow increases the pressure of chakra in the pathways, this means that more chakra would flow to unrestricted pathways. This mass chakra in certain areas." I explained.

"Also, the hand's pathways connect to every part of the body so that pressure also pushes chakra towards those areas as well!" Muscius added on.

"Don't forget that by putting your hands together your bring the chakra close enough to other pathways in your other hand that the chakra attracts. That's probably why there aren't any one handed seals!" Cato added.

"So maybe the point of multiple hand seals isn't to just mass chakra in certain areas, but also maybe it acts as weaving. Like the chakra attraction of both hands changes the flow and by layering multiple seals weaves this flow together into a jutsu!" Furianus added.

"However, we don't have pathways so that means the hand seals don't work for us since our chaka isn't under pressure the way it is in a normal ninja's body." I dejectedly said.

"But that doesn't mean we can't perform jutsu! We just have to figure out where each hand seal masses chakra, and then figure out how we would need to weave the chakra together to make jutsus. We can control the chakra manually and mass it ourselves, and then we can just weave it using our hands!" Furianus countered.

"But that means we'll have to figure out how each hand seal masses chakra and how combined they would weave together to form a simple jutsu! It'd be impossible since we don't know how chakra masses in hand seals!" Cato said.

"Not necessarily, we know how water flows in pipes. Flow dynamics are the same no matter what liquid you use. That means we can reverse engineer each seal and then it will just take testing to see how the chakra weaves in the hand signals." Muscius offered.

"Even then I'd take an insane amount of work from a genius to get even a single jutsu working!" Cato countered.

"Well in that case it's a good thing we have four geniuses right here." I said. Everyone looked at me, they were all wearing smiles.

"Furianus get some paper and pencils. Muscius borrow that book that had a layout of the chakra network on it. Caius go get us some snacks. I'll go get us some drinks. We meet up in my room" Cato ordered.

"Got it! Let's go!" I said as I ran out of the library.

We all got our items and began to work.

Kek

It was dark outside. We had been working for eight hours straight. We had even skipped dinner only subsisting on the bread and cheese I had bought. Initially, we had problems figuring out the constants for how chakra flowed. Eventually, we had gotten the correct values for the constants needed in the rest of our equations. Since we had no idea how each had seal functioned, we worked on a trial and error basis. We'd form a hypothesis based on guessing and math then depending how that worked. We would tweak based on what we experienced.

We focused on the clone jutsu since it had the smallest number of hand seals, it was also the easiest in concept. Just use chakra to form an outline of a person, and then have the chakra take the color of the mirror image it was taking. This was easier compared to the substitution jutsu or the transformation jutsu.

"Okay let's test this new hypothesis!" Furianus announced.

"It's my turn" I announced. We had been working for a long time and no end seemed to be in sight.

I stood up and took a deep breath. First I had to mass chakra in my hands and around the rest of my skin. Once I had done that had to weave the chakra in my hands that would first tie together the chakra from my skin and then ensure the chakra wouldn't radiate away. Lastly, I would have to explode the chakra from my body.

I massed the chakra.

I moved my hands together in hypothesised patterns, weaving the chakra in loops and knots. I began to tune out my sense as all I knew was the energy I was weaving in my hands.

I finished the weaving step. Now came the final step. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Ninja Art Clone Jutsu!" I exploded the chakra.

For one moment I felt nothing, saw nothing and heard nothing. Then something pushed into my consciousness. Cheering.

I opened my eyes. In front of me was a kid that looked 13. He had dirty blond hair that needed a haircut, lazy looking eyes and a smug grin.

"Who's this asshole?" I said absentmindedly. The others howled with laughter. Then it clicked. He was me! I had pulled off the jutsu and then called myself an asshole. It was ridiculous.

I started to laugh as hard my friends. It took a while before we got a hold of ourselves. Cato and Muscius then performed the jutsu.

Two kids with brown curly hair and grey eyes appeared in puffs of smoke. They turned the twins into quintuplets and for a minute it was hard to tell who was who.

Furianus also managed to make a clone who matched his wavy brown hair and blue eyes. The clone also managed to look as smug as he did somehow.

We had done it. We had learned our first jutsu. I felt a wave of exhaustion flow over me as the excitement from was dead tired. I helped clean up and then excused myself to my room. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Jiraiya was at first skeptical of our method, but after several demonstrations we thoroughly convinced him. Our rate of growth skyrocketed. We quickly picked up the substitution and then transformation jutsu. However, while we did learn them, we were by no means proficient with them.

We spent more time increasing our proficiency with them than we did learning them. Originally, it took me 1 minute to perform a clone jutsu. This was a dangerously high delay. So we spent almost three whole days learning how to optimize the process. My new time for a clone jutsu is about 3 seconds. Substitution took 7 seconds and transformation took an agonizing 15 seconds. This was something we would definitely have to work on.

Our sealing training was growing at a very steady rate. We were just beginning to go from the realm of complete theory into basic practical use. I could make a simple storage seal, it could store dead or nonliving things within 1x1x1 foot dimensions. Cato and Muscius were also on my level, however Furianus had sprinted ahead of us skill wise. He was able to create basic explosive tags.

Our journey to the Leaf was uneventful. We did chakra training during the day, physical training during the night and then sealing training at midnight. Cincinnatus had me learn how to use almost every single ranged weapon that existed: Bows, javelins, throwing knives, crossbows, spear throwing and a number of other non traditional weapons. He focused my classroom time on chemistry and biology. My cultural time was spent watching movies, whenever I would ask about the technology in the movie though Cincinnatus would blow me off saying I wasn't ready for the knowledge. I thought it was horseshit, but in the end it didn't matter what I thought. I couldn't get access to that knowledge yet.

We arrived in the Leaf village much like we did the last time. We were shuttled straight to the Hokage. Who upon hearing the legates acceptance of his terms was delighted. When he learned of our unorthodox method of jutsu usage, he was curious but not greatly surprised. He said he would pass on the information to our academy instructor who would try to accommodate us. We would also be able to join the class of shinobi that would be graduating in the next set of exams.

The conditions for our joint custody between the Leaf Village and Rome were complicated, but essentially we were Leaf shinobi, but Rome could give us missions that the Leaf would have to let us go on as long as they didn't hurt the Leaf Village or one of its allies.

We were given a building that would be our home along with a living stipend. We would get to live there for essentially free, but we would have to serve as ninja of the Leaf. The Hokage also gave us a bonus so that we could purchase new clothes, along with basic ninja supplies and tools. We were then shooed out of the office, by a secretary who had a stack of paperwork to deliver to the distraught hokage.

Our building was amazing. It was five story structure out on the outskirts of the village. The first floor had a kitchen along with a large number of tables and chairs. Each level above it contained four apartment sized rooms. These rooms contained a bed, table and desk along with a separate toilet and shower tubs. There was a stepladder that lead from the fifth floor to the roof. There was a basement that was empty. We also had a large backyard that led into the woods.

To summarize it was an absolute palace. I quickly claimed east facing room on the fifth floor, Furianus claimed the west facing room on the fourth. Cato and Muscius claimed the north and south rooms on the third floor. Arminus took the east facing room on the second. This left me de facto control of the fifth floor, Furianus the fourth, the Scipione twins the third and Arminus the second.

Arminus quickly forced Furianus and I to each surrender a room for communal storage. He forbid us from knocking down any of the walls. Otherwise he said we could do as we pleased with the rooms on our floor. My mind began to swim with possibilities of room improvements.

Before any of us could get comfortable Jiraiya dragged us away to a clothes store. Up until now we had been fine wearing our tunics, but they stood out and also weren't recommended for ninja combat. I focused on getting clothes that would have plenty of pockets and areas for weapon storage. I eventually settled on a selection of black and grey t-shirts along with a forest green vest with plenty of pockets, an earthy colored pair of shorts with also lots of pockets, a waist tool holder, a thigh tool holder, a scroll holder, a pair of sandals, and some under mesh.

Furianus had similar clothing choice except his t-shirts were a dark red and he chose a jacket that was dark grey color. Cato wore a simple shirt along with long pants and a single waist pouch. Muscius sported a grey hoodie, along with grey pants and a thigh pouch.

After we had bought our new clothes we then purchased all the basic ninja weapons and tools. We also purchased large amounts of scroll and tag making materials.

Having purchased all our goods we returned home to deposit our spoils. We then all went out to dinner. We talked, laughed, and had merry time. At the end of it our stomachs were full and we were happy.

"Listen up kiddos I have something important to say" Jiraiya said.

"Well go on then" Furianus responded.

"Tomorrow morning I will be leaving the village."

"HUH!?" We all responded.

"But you still have to teach us more about sealing and we just got here?" Furianus said.

"You are correct that your training isn't complete. Truth be told I wish I could stay and train you kids, but I have been away from the frontlines for too long. I have many more errands that I need to run and for the safety of the village it is imperative that I begin to travel again." He said.

"Makes sense." Furianus said dejectedly.

"Listen, you kiddos have potential, but if you need me to hold your hand all the way, then you will never become strong. And don't worry I'll drop by if I'm ever nearby. So let's all have a drink." Jiraiya said.

"Cheers!" We all said before downing some sake. We returned to the building in good spirits, I passed out in my new bed as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I was in the middle of my sleep training when I was shaken awake.

"Wake up kid" Jiraiya shook my shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Meeting downstairs"

"Got it" I muttered. I shook myself awake. I put on my new clothes and managed to drag myself downstairs. A single candle burned at a table. The others were already there waiting for me. I took a seat.

"I won't be teaching you sealing tonight, rather I will teach you what you need to know to stay alive. Not only because I am Jiraiya the Magnificent Toad Sage, but also because I've come to like you kids."

"Are you going to teach us some extremely powerful jutsu?" I asked,

"Nope. All I have to teach you is two things," He responded. The anticipation in the room began to build. He let it before speaking again.

"You will only ever be as strong as the reason you fight for and never ever get complacent. If you follow these two rules you will survive." He said.

The second one made perfect sense, if you got complacent you could be taken by surprise. The other one seemed like some eastern guru teachings. The skeptical expression must have shown on my face because Jiraiya asked

"Do you not believe me kid?"

"No it's not that, it's just that it seems a little." I searched for the words.

"Cliched? Yeah, I know it sounds that way and you'll probably think that it is for a while. But, there will come a time when you feel defeated and drained, but if you have something to protect you will be able to go to beyond your limits. I don't expect you to get it now, but later this advice will save your life" Jiraiya said. It still sounded stupid.

"I have one last thing for you kids." Jiraiya reached into a pouch and drew out 4 tags. They looked like explosive tags, but the seals were all wrong.

"These are reverse summoning scrolls. If you ever find yourself in a position where there are no options left, you use this to summon both yourself and whoever you're holding hands with to a safe place. These will keep you kids alive, but on one condition." He laid out the tags on the table then he held up a finger and paused for a moment.

"You guys become some of the greatest ninja ever, it wouldn't do for the apprentices of Jiraiya the Toad Sage to be mediocre shinobi!" He proclaimed while puffing up his chest comically large. It was too much for me to take and I started to giggle. My giggle caused the others to start and in no time we were all laughing hysterically, even Jiraiya joined in the laughter.

When my laughter subsided I took a tag from the table. "Deal!" I managed to say in between giggles. My friends did likewise.

"Alright, now get to bed you kids. You'll have a busy day tomorrow!" He shooed us back to our rooms.

Sleep came easy that night.

Authors Note: Hurray! I've managed increase my production of chapters dramatically! Next chapter will feature lots of friendly fluff. I want to hear from you guys if you want lots of fluff or faster plot progression. Also I hope my attempted rationalization of why hand seals worked was satisfactory. Reviews are always wanted.