Scarlet Justice: Full Blossom – ep. 34
"Elementality"
[Spiral Ahead, Part 2]
Today is the day. The start of our second part of training.
I've made all of the necessary notes and studied them beforehand, so that I know what to do and when to do it as I'm teaching. One of the things that I love about Naruto, and one of the things that makes him a bit difficult to teach, is his curiosity. He loves to explore topics and figure things out on his own. There might be a little bit of that here, but not too much. I want to be able to get through this before having to deal with Jiraiya's nonsense, or that of anyone else high up in the village.
With the Rasengan already learned, I have an idea of what it will take to complete the next stage of the jutsu. There are also some concerns I have that really won't be apparent until later, but we'll be able to watch for that due to our setup. Fio is out running this morning, so I grab my backpack and satchel, check over the room, and lock up before heading towards my destination.
We've picked out a spacious area just outside of the village, surrounded by large and healthy trees. The three people I've selected are already here ahead of schedule. Kakashi, for his expertise and skill as an individual instructor. Yamato, for his help in suppressing the Nine Tails' chakra, since I have a feeling that will come up often. And finally, Hina. She'll be the other half of Naruto's emotional support with me, and will serve as our medic, observer, and primary means of shutting down the fox chakra if it should get unruly. The perfect person to watch over this series of exercises.
"Good morning, all," I say as I arrive. "Naruto should be here in a minute or two...how are we feeling today?"
"Doing alright," Kakashi says as he reads. "You're sure that you need my help?"
"I wouldn't bother you otherwise. You have your own things to do, as I know well enough."
"That's a good point."
"How is Ruki doing?"
"She's doing okay. Just busy right now...they're having a series of events at the shrine, and they were low on staff before, plus she's been training others. But she's taking care of herself."
"Good. Tell her that I miss her dearly."
"I'll be sure to."
"Senpai, a question," Yamato asks me.
"Of course. What might you need?"
"These sorts of exercises usually take a while to see results, but from what I understand...you mean to get this done within a week or two. Do you really think that he'll advance that quickly with the method we're proposing?"
"I do, yes. If Kakashi and I have the right of it, he can complete this art faster than anyone could have realized before. I just hope that it doesn't take too much of a toll on him. That's part of why I asked him to teach me the Rasengan..."
Yamato blinks at that. "Sorry, Naruto taught you the Rasengan? Isn't that jutsu...?"
"This is the same woman who learned that chakra mode of hers in less than a month. Both stages, even," Kakashi says. "That was when she wasn't as much of a threat to the shinobi world as she is now."
"I see..."
"Yo! Morning, everybody!"
Naruto drops in and salutes us.
"Ready to start, ma'am."
I nod and set down my bags. "Good. Welcome to your training session, my love. You might notice the cast we have assembled here, and it's for good reason. This is where we start on the second part of your journey towards an ultimate technique, based on the Rasengan."
"Awesome. Let's do it!" He pumps his fists before pausing. "Oh, right. So...what are we starting with, exactly? I think you mentioned an element, or something like that?"
"I did. Allow us to start from the top. Pay attention, now."
"Yeah."
"There are two main components to the advanced Rasengan that you will be creating over the next few days. The first is something that we went over together, which is shape transformation. You have learned a technique that is among the highest levels of shape transformation to exist in the shinobi world. The amount of skill it takes to compress and stabilize rapidly rotating chakra in the manner that you do is nothing to sneeze at. Humans tend to take things from nature and have echoes of it in their own designs...I believe that the Fourth took inspiration from something he saw in the past, and used that to create the Rasengan. I wouldn't know what at this time, though. With that in mind, he attempted to add his own chakra nature to the Rasengan, but could not do so before he was taken from this world suddenly. And I have someone to testify to that fact here."
"That's right." Kakashi puts away his book and turns one palm upwards. Chakra starts to visibly gather and swirl around inside of it, much to Naruto's shock.
"W-wait! That's...!"
"Yes. This is the Rasengan. You might recall that the Fourth was my old teacher, Naruto." Kakashi has a relatively small Rasengan hovering above his palm. "I was able to copy it when I saw it, but actually getting the technique to work was another thing entirely. As usual, I'm a bit jealous of Lili since she was able to learn it about half a day."
"You've got to be kidding me," Yamato says.
"That sounds about right," Hina says, nodding.
"Sensei talked about adding an element to the Rasengan, as a long term project that he was working on. I was surprised myself back then, thinking that, much like you did, the technique was a complete one on its own. But it was just the first step towards something even bigger." Kakashi has the Rasengan disappear from his palm.
"So it's like Lili said...the Rasengan's not finished. Then we're supposed to add an element to it, or something like that," Naruto says.
"And with that, I will explain how these elements work," I say, taking the reins from Kakashi smoothly. "Do you notice how each of the five shinobi nations is named? Each of them have titles relating to the five basic elements, or nature transformations. We live in Fire Country here, and so the highest ranking military leader here is named the Hokage. There's Lightning to the northeast, Water to the east, Earth to the northwest, and Wind to the west. That much is easy to understand, yes?"
"Yeah, pretty easy."
"Remember now, these are the five basic natures: fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind. I've listed them in a certain order, and I will show you why that is. Hina, shall we?"
"Yes."
We move so that we're standing across from each other, at a safe distance.
"Here is fire."
Hina makes a set of seals before breathing out a mid-sized fireball.
"And here is water."
I snap my fingers and a water shark appears in front of me, shooting forward and completely snuffing out the fireball. Hina easily dodges it, and it crashes harmlessly into a far off tree.
"That fireball got wiped out so easily," Naruto says. "So that means...fire loses to water, then?"
"Yes. Another example for you, this one a little more involved. Yamato?"
"Got it, senpai." He weaves seals before making a sturdy wall of earth.
"Recite the order, love," I say to Naruto.
"Fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind," he says.
"Good. Now, a little flashback for you. Pun intended, of course." I make the snake seal and gather lightning chakra in my mouth, then fire it. It rips right through the wall and sends cracks spreading along its surface.
"That's the jutsu you used for our test in the Academy," he says with realization.
"You remembered, wonderful," I say with a smile.
"Earth...lightning. I get it! The order you said them in...the first one is weak to the one that comes after it. So, water is weak to earth. And lightning is weak to wind. And wind is...what is it weak to?"
"Fire. It's a wheel," I explain.
"I see. So it goes back around in a circle, huh." He rubs his chin. "If there are only five elements though, how come Captain Yamato can make wood and stuff?"
"Those are advanced natures, and they're almost always the result of bloodline limits."
"Bloodline limits?" he asks.
I nod to Hina, and she steps forward. "It's an unwieldy term, to be sure. A way to put it is...there are abilities that are limited by the existence of certain bloodlines. So for example, the Sharingan does not manifest in those who do not come from or share the Uchiha bloodline. Master Kakashi received a Sharingan from a fallen comrade, but did not bring it into existence himself. His situation is different. An example of another bloodline limit present here is my Byakugan." She activates it silently, and the characteristic changes appear. More definition in her pupils, and raised veins near her eyes and around her temples due to increased blood flow. "It is different from the Sharingan in that it is present from birth, yet it also requires years of training before it can be properly used in combat. Not everyone who obtains a Byakugan can properly make use of it."
"I think I get it."
Hina nods and deactivates her Byakugan. "Captain Yamato's ability to create wooden constructs falls under a bloodline limit called Wood Release. It is shared with only one other person in history, the First Hokage, Lord Hashirama Senju. Wood Release, if it were possible to manifest in others, would be a combination of water and earth natures, both of which Captain Yamato has."
"You've encountered a special child with an advanced nature before, Naruto," I say.
"I have? Hm..." He thinks it over a bit. "Advanced...so something that doesn't show up normally. Like...ice? Haku used ice when we fought him, back on our first mission. That's an advanced nature, right?"
"It is."
"So that's a bloodline limit, then?"
"Yes, that's right. Ice Release is made from a combination of water and wind natures. I also fought a woman with that ability, the Luminous Black Wolf herself."
"So you can't just mix elements together on your own?" he asks.
"Not at all. The ratios have to be absolutely perfect, and can change rapidly at any time. The only way to get the perfect mix and create a new element, one that is not on the existing wheel, is to have it coded into your body. It's a matter of genetics, like how you have much, much, much more chakra than many others in the village. Not everyone is born the same way."
"Huh. Well, I think I understand all that. So...there are five big elements, and then people have special blood that might let them use other elements. And it's the same sort of stuff that gets you the Sharingan and Byakugan and all of that," he concludes. "The elements go in a wheel, and they're strong against certain types but weak against others." He nods.
"That's right. You're getting the hang of this," I say to him.
"Right? I might be a bit smarter than I thought! Okay, so I know enough about the elements, and that the Fourth Hokage was trying to put one into the Rasengan, only it was super hard after he took like three years to make the Rasengan already...and he didn't get to do it before he died saving the village. Now the question is...how do I get one of those nature transforming things?"
"It's already inside of you, love."
"Inside...eh?"
"Here is where we find out which path you're going to take. You see, while we are all born with differing levels of chakra, abilities, bloodline limits, and so on, there is one constant in all of us. We are all born with at least one dominant element. Family and region can affect what that element is, but everyone has one," I say.
"Everyone? Even those who aren't shinobi?"
"Everyone. All living beings, such as humans, have chakra within them. And so everyone has a dominant nature, or natures. Most people have one. Rarer people have two. Exceptional beings have three at once, and we've never heard of anyone with four or all five, but they may very well be out there."
"Whoa. So...does it mean you're a stronger shinobi the more elements you're born with?" Naruto asks.
"Not at all," Kakashi says. "I'm up to four natures now, but I used to only have lightning in my pocket. As you grow, you can train and learn more chakra natures. It's just difficult to start with, and as you might understand, there are enough shinobi who don't get to live long enough to master such things. One of the few is someone you know, the Third Hokage."
"Gramps, huh."
"Lord Hokage is sometimes called The Professor, because of his vast knowledge of jutsu in the Leaf," Hina explains. "Some say that he knows the secret to every jutsu in the village, even the ones he can't personally perform."
"No way..."
"He also can perform all five nature transformations at will," I add.
"That's pretty crazy. But, if I'm hearing right...it makes sense since he's so old, and all that. So if I live long enough, I could learn all five natures."
"It has been said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step," I say to Naruto. My hand comes out of my pouch, and I hold up five square sheets of paper. "This is step one."
"What's that, Lili?"
"Special sheets of paper. They detect what nature that a shinobi is predisposed to. Ane-ue gave one of these to me a few years ago."
"How do they do that?" he asks. I hand off a sheet each to the others, and place one in Naruto's hands gently.
"There is a certain type of tree that responds well to chakra. It properly absorbs it, and uses it to grow. Remember that chakra is life itself. The tree becomes sensitive to chakra, and is eventually harvested for its use in different applications. One of these is simply the creation of chakra-sensitive paper. It reacts to the strongest nature in your system, and has been used for generations to figure out what elements shinobi should train, and how to train them."
I nod to Kakashi, and his paper wrinkles in between his fingers.
"Kakashi-sensei's paper crinkled up," Naruto says. "What's that mean?"
"Did you forget already?" I ask. "Think back to earlier."
His brow furrows as he thinks. "Hmm...oh, right! Kakashi-sensei made the Chidori, so it's lightning!"
"Very good. Hina?"
"Yes." She has the paper start to burn in between her fingers as she holds it up. "My dominant nature is fire, though I also can use lightning quite well."
"Oh..." Naruto nods at that.
"And of course, I end up being a special one," I say as I hold up my paper. It wrinkles and becomes wet all at once, water dripping down my fingers.
"Lightning and...water. Is that right?"
"That's correct."
"Cool. So that doesn't happen usually?"
"It's very often one chakra nature or the other...as I mentioned before, it's rare that someone has two dominant natures at once, but it's even more rare that it happens without a bloodline limit following close behind. Water and lightning natures combined form Storm Release, which is a bloodline limit that currently has only been observed in Lightning Country and the Hidden Cloud."
"Man. There's so much going on..."
"We can worry about that a bit later. Now, it's your turn. Let's see what chakra nature will be imbued into your new and improved Rasengan."
He nods and focuses.
The paper splits apart cleanly in his hand.
"There we are. Your chakra nature is wind, Naruto."
"Wind..."
"It's relatively rare among those in the shinobi world, and quite strong once mastered," I say. "In terms of battle power, it can become nearly unstoppable. Wind gives you the ability to cut and sever most anything in your path. It is weak to fire, and often shinobi use wind techniques to boost their fire ones in battle when they can. It is, however, strong against lightning techniques. The collaborative efforts don't stop there. With water, you can increase the area of effect and overall damage, for example."
"Wow. So I got a real good one, huh?"
"You did. One of the best wind users in our world, if not the best currently, is Temari from Sand. You've seen her in action before. We also have Asuma here in the Leaf, who channels his nature through the trench knives he so favours. This increases their cutting ability and range, allowing him to shift in and out of close combat at will. It's a very versatile element." Danzo is an expert as well, but...we don't need to talk about that walking trash bin.
"Awesome! I'm so pumped, what are we gonna do next?" Naruto asks eagerly.
"We will have you start to do what wind nature chakra is supposed to do. And that is cut." I take out my notepad and tear a regular sheet from it, then hand it to Naruto.
"So I gotta cut this paper in half?"
"Yes. Using your chakra."
"Shouldn't be too hard..." He puts the paper in between his palms and concentrates. After a few moments of trying, he realizes that he's not getting anywhere.
"It's not something easy to do, is it?" I ask.
"Not really. Hrm..."
"Here. Take another sheet of the chakra paper, and send your chakra through it. I want you to pay attention to how it feels when the paper splits apart. Keep splitting the paper until you think you have it."
"Alright." He splits the small sheet again, then takes one of the pieces and splits it again, then does it one more time. After that, he pauses and looks down at the pieces in his hand for a while.
He nods and hands me the shredded paper, then puts his hands over top of the sheet of paper again. Concentrating, he suddenly stops and lifts one hand away. There's a small cut on the edge of the paper now. Barely beyond a nick, but it's something.
"Think I'm getting it...yeah..."
"Describe to me the sensation from earlier, Naruto. When you split the chakra paper," I say.
"Felt like...I guess the chakra coming out from my one palm was going against the other, and I had the paper in between them."
"Yes. That's the feeling you want to focus on. Split your chakra into two, then grind it against itself. You'll further the sensation of a blade between those two parts, being finely sharpened. That blade of sorts is what you'll use to cut into the chosen object. This is what I learned from talking to Asuma the other day."
"Sharpening, then..."
"Go and try again, love. See if you can get a bit further."
"Got it." He goes back to the sheet of paper, trying to integrate the new knowledge into his routine. A slightly deeper cut in the side of the paper is the result.
"Good. That's enough, Naruto."
"Eh? But I've barely done anything...I can't believe you guys have two and three chakra natures!"
"Certainly, starting from the bottom like this is a challenge. But you really will complete the Rasengan and do what the Fourth Hokage could not," I say confidently. "And you will do it quickly, and efficiently. The secret is something that's unique to you."
"R-really? What is it?"
"Multiple Shadow Clones."
"Shadow Clones?" he asks.
Kakashi clears his throat. "It's a bit hard to explain, but-"
"So the plan is to have a bunch of me do the exercise all at once, and then I'll have them poof out, send everything they've learned back to me, and all that knowledge will become my knowledge. Then I'll make more clones, do the whole thing again, get more knowledge, and repeat it until I know exactly how to use wind chakra," Naruto interrupts. "Right?"
"Yes!" I turn and stick my tongue out at Kakashi. "Nyeh~! I told you he'd figure it out quickly."
"Yeah, yeah..."
"The regular paper was just a test to see where you would be starting from. We'll come back to it a bit later. For now..." I nod towards the tree behind him. "One leaf for each clone. Are you ready?"
He grins and makes the clone seal.
"Hell yeah! Let's get this started!"
The first layer is coming along smoothly. Each clone out of hundreds has grabbed hold of a leaf, with the intention of cutting it into two. Not as hard as splitting the standard paper, but still much harder than splitting the chakra paper.
Still, he's getting it quickly.
On our side, three layers of defence. Hina is first, with her speed and ability to seal the chakra nodes within the body with her Gentle Fist. Myself, second. A certain seal that I've learned during my time away would work nicely. And last but not least, Yamato. The technique he uses to suppress the chakra of the Nine Tails is an involved one, requiring the use of the First Hokage's necklace and a ritual area. It's called Hokage-Style Sixty Year Old Technique – Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands. Some call it the Tenth Edict to shorten it. Cowardly, if you ask me.
Yamato sits inside of a ring of ten wooden pillars that have tops shaped like dragon's heads. He holds up his palm, which has the character for 'sit' currently emblazoned on it. I don't envy his position and having to sit in place, but I suppose that's the privilege of a senpai to not worry about such things. With all of this, we're set to take on any problems as they might arise.
"Getting it!"
"Whoa, nice job!"
"That guy's good."
"Of course he is, dude. That's you."
"You're also me, though. And you kinda suck right now."
"Harsh..."
I can't help but giggle at that. At least he's relaxed during this stage. The next part will be an even bigger test.
"Alright, darling. It's time to stop and absorb your lessons for now," I call to him.
"Sure!" Naruto has all of his clones disappear into puffs of smoke. "Alright, I really think...I'm...uhh..."
His eyes close, and Hina catches him before he can fall over.
"What happened?" Yamato asks.
"It's the risky part to this kind of training," Kakashi explains. "Shadow Clones allow you to accumulate knowledge across the different copies of yourself, meaning that you can get an incredible amount of information all at once. But that's not the only thing that transfers over. While there's a mechanism that disperses physical and other types of forced damage, all of the mental exertion that goes on normally is carried over along with the information."
"I see. It's no wonder people don't use this sort of training too often, then. The benefits are good, but the risks are heavy, too. And I would imagine that people only use one clone, maybe two. Not a hundred, or a thousand."
"That's right," I say to Yamato. "Naruto is the only person able to do something like this. First because of the sheer number of clones he can create at once, and next because of his recovery speed and sheer fortitude. It's an extreme type of training that only someone like him could accomplish."
I watch as Hina sets him down on a blanket.
"It's more than a matter of ability or lineage...having those isn't enough. It's heart and soul. The things that make Naruto, Naruto. Enough talented people exist in this world, but none of them would have been able to accomplish what he has in his life. That is the truth. And we're here for him, so he definitely won't fail."
"His vitals are normal, and chakra flow is still regular," Hina says as she watches over him. "I think things are going well for now. He should be awake in about ten minutes."
"Only ten?" Kakashi asks. He's already reading again. "He's gotten a bit tougher since we first met."
"How much more training is there after this?" Hina asks.
"The next step is to get this up to battle standard," I say. "That means he'll at least be able to use it for attacking and defending. We've collaborated on something that will push him a bit in that regard. After that will be putting it into the Rasengan itself, and I think I know how we can do that quickly enough...but I want to let him figure it out for a while before then."
"I see. He might be able to do it on his own, considering..."
"I think so, too."
"What are you two going on about?" Yamato asks.
"Girls' stuff. Don't worry about it," I say while waving him off. He sighs and shakes his head.
"Man...what the heck happened...?"
Hina helps Naruto sit up slowly.
"I passed out. That's never happened before," he mutters.
"You've never had to handle that much information at once before. Most people don't, not even you with as many clones as you tend to use. The fatigue from all of your copies comes back to you along with the information."
"So this is going to keep happening, huh."
"It depends on how much progress you make at once. We'll make sure you're not hurting yourself."
"Appreciate that."
"So. Let's see your progress," I say as I hand him another piece of paper. He nods and places it in between his hands before focusing.
The sound of tearing is audible this time, and as he removes his hands, I can see that he's cut a quarter way across the sheet resting in his palm.
"You've got this," I say with a smile. "Ready to go again?"
"You know I am!" He jumps to his feet and makes a seal once more. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"